摘要：This essay is twofold： the first part focuses on the interpretation of the concept of Hell in Dante＇s Inferno and Italian culture as depicted in Last Judgment scenes such as Giotto＇s in the Arena Chapel of Padua; Signorelli＇s in the Orvieto Cathedral; and Michelangelo＇s in the Sistine Chapel in Rome. The second part deals with the drawing illustrations for the text of Dante＇s Divine Comedy composed by the Florentine painters Sandro Botticelli, Giovanni Stradano, and Federico Zuccaro. Here the emphasis is on Dante＇s Inferno, which comments upon Neoplatonic personalities, Florentine politics, and current popular art. Comparisons with some of Botticelli＇s, Stradano＇s, and Zuccaro＇s drawing illustrations indicate the assimilation of classical artistic concepts such as Horace＇s ut pictura poesis [as is painting so is poetry] as well as Plato＇sfurorpoeticus [poetical inspiration] promoted in the writings of Marsilio Ficino, a Renaissance Neoplatonic philosopher.

摘要：Giorgio Vasari （1511-1574）, painter, architect, and writer, was fascinated with the image of Saint Francis because of the association of La Verna with Arezzo, his native town, where the miraculous event of Saint Francis＇s stigmatization occurred in 1224. Also in Arezzo, in the church of San Francesco, the beautiful frescoes of Piero della Francesca＇s Legend of the True Cross were commissioned by his wife＇s ancestors, the Bacci family. This study discusses Vasari＇s two types of religious representation of Saint Francis. One type is devotional, as in the paintings of Holy Families, e.g., The Holy Family with Saint Francis of 1541, at the County Museum of Art of Los Angeles, CA. The other is historical, focusing on the miraculous moment of the stigmatization, e.g., Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata, 1548, in the church of San Francesco in Rimini. Employing mannerist colors to express the spirituality of the event, Vasari created a new conception of piety, where sobriety and humbleness are honored. These paintings reveal the humanness and sanctity of the protagonist, Saint Francis, devoid of any heroic glamour.

摘要：The purpose of this essay is to identify and analyze one of Lavinia Fontana＇s mysterious paintings, traditionally entitled Cleopatra but here considered to be an inventive portrayal of an ancient scientist, Cleopatra the Alchemist （ca. third century BCE）. There are four parts to this study. The first is an iconographical analysis of the painting by Lavinia Fontana＇s Cleopatra the Alchemist （1605） at the Galleria Spada in Rome. The second section deals with the origin of the Egyptian Cleopatra the Alchemist as an Egyptian scientist and of her inventions, which include the alembic and the ouroboros motiE The third section consists of an emblematic comparison between the imagery in the painting and alchemical references. The last brief section considers problematic copies of the painting

摘要：The first part of this essay deals with Giorgio Vasari＇s conception of architecture in sixteenth-century Italy, and the second part examines Vasari＇s practical application of one of his constructions, the loggia （open gallery or arcade） or corridoio （corridor）. The essay also discusses the merits of Vasari＇s open gallery （loggia） as a vernacular architectural construct with egalitarian functions and Vasari＇s principles of architecture （design, rule, order, and proportion） and beauty （delight and necessity） for the formulation of the theory of art in Mannerism, a sixteenth-century style of art.

摘要：This study aims to visualize Giorgio Vasari＇s statement in discussing Jacopo Tintoretto＇s Female Concert of 1576-86, now at the Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden （see Figure 1）. Two conceits （concetti） are considered in analyzing Tintoretto＇s female imagery： （1） a fanciful invention of musica extravaganza; and （2） a Venetian allegory of bellezza. The first part of the essay discusses the provenance of the painting and the second part presents an iconographical interpretation of the imagery. This essay also focuses on the iconography of the painting based on viewing the subject and does not postulate on its iconography based on disappeared paintings or on a speculative decorative cycle on the theme of Hercules. Relying on well-documented research on music in Venice, on Mannerist practices, and on art theories during Tintoretto＇s life, some intriguing observations are made about the painting.

摘要：The first section of this essay deals with an iconographical analysis of Lavinia Fontana’s(1552-1614)Prudence or Personification of Wisdom of 1590,while the second part provides an iconological interpretation,demonstrating Fontana’s application of emblematic *** painting is presently on display at the Galerie Maison d’Art in Monte *** this time there is lack of knowledge about the patronage of this commission,except from the art gallery’s records showing that it acquired the painting from a private collection in New York.

摘要：Josefa Figueira de Ayala de Cabrera D’Óbidos was a renowned Baroque painter from Portugal who lived between 1630 and *** was an accomplished artist and one of the most notable female artists of her *** works included both secular and religious themes,and she used a variety of mediums with great *** having different surnames,she signed her paintings under Josepha emÓ*** article concentrates on the artist’s landscapes(vedute)and integrated still-life paintings(bodegones).It delves into her capacity to depict the changing seasons through these *** expertly combined Baroque tenebrism and illusionism with her love of Nature,highlighting both the physical and spiritual aspects of the natural *** paintings are visually captivating,with beautiful colors and intricate *** incorporated emblematic and mystical symbolism,which added to their spiritual significance in portraying the flora and fauna of her homeland.

摘要：Jan Haicksz Steen （1626-1679）, a Dutch actor, poet and painter, engaged the viewer with various innuendos and double entendres in his paintings about Woman at Her Toilet. decoding the conceits introduces the viewer to Dutch artistic astuteness and popular culture. Steen drew the observer into his picture plane through a series of emblematic vignettes. Although he raised questions about cultural mores, morality, and religiosity, none are judgmental. On the contrary, it is the viewer who might or might not articulate a moral judgment according to personal experiences. For Steen, the imagery, filled with complex conceits, is an artistic visual representation to delight the eyes, tantalize the senses, and maybe even spark the intellect.

摘要：From the variety of types of portraiture,there evolved the imaging of a self-portrait as we see in Saint Catherine of Alexandria by Barbara Longhi of Ravenna(1552-1638).The self-portrait is a unique work of art,an intimate record of a sitter’s *** is an acknowledgment of worth,an exercise in technique,and a designator of era,style,and *** self-portrait can be a study in expression,an impersonation of a virtue,or a document in a history of *** William Shakespeare noted in Hamlet,“[The self-portrait is]to show virtue her own feature,scorn her own image,and the very age and body of the time his form and pressure.”In the sixteenth-century in Italy,artists often included themselves or their self-portraits in religious and secular scenes as a type of signature,as seen in the paintings of the Longhi *** their many depictions of Saint Catherine of Alexandria,the Longhis composed two types of such images:a single-solo-image of the saint;and also her presence in a group with saints-a theme known as holy *** her paintings,Barbara Longhi preferred to depict the solo image of Saint Catherine of Alexandria,using herself as a model for the figure of the saint or as a muse impersonating or personifying the saint’s virgo *** essay is composed of two parts:(1)a brief explanation of the meaning of self-portraits in sixteenth-century Italy;and(2)a study of Barbara Longhi’s self-portraits as Saint Catherine of Alexandria.

摘要：This essay examines an American 19th-century sculpture, Howard Roberts＇ Hypatia, both historically and aesthetically （see Figures 1 and 2）. Problems of interpretation are found at both levels because of limited documentation. However, a speculative analysis adapting Plotinus＇ notions on the ＂delight of the intellect＂ and of ＂seeing＂ assist in considering beauty in the carved form, even if the subject is grave. What prompted this commission and who commissioned this work are questions to be considered.