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：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：In Dutch vanitas imagery of Homo bulla est there is a sad child （homo） holding a scalloped shell filled with soap and water. Although the child is amused and playing with the formation of beautiful transparent water circles, his expression is mischievous and melancholic. Blooming flowers and dead trees, burning urns, and cloudy landscapes also accompany this gloomy imagery, which alludes to a warning about moral behavior. The first part of this essay deals with a brief history about the symbolism of the skull in vanitas imagery （1590-1630）. And the second part of the essay focuses on two prints by the Dutch artist and printmaker from Haarlem, Hendrick Goltzius （1558-1617）, who honored this proverb Homo bulla est in Allegory of Transience as a remembrance of the brevity of life.

摘要：Lavinia Fontana’s(1552-1614)Galatea and Cherubs riding the Stormy Waves on a Sea Monster(aka Galatea)of 1590 is an intriguing mythological *** painted on copper,it is a fine example of Lavinia’s exploration of new artistic techniques and materials as well as testimony to her bold artistic ***’s Galatea was part of a private collection in Bologna(Diletta Badeschi).This work fascinates the viewer with its erotic audacity and complex iconographical *** scholarship by Daniele Benati,Fausto Gozzi,and Enrico Maria Dal Pozzolo assist in unraveling the meaning of this *** this essay there are additional interpretative suggestions.

摘要：Giorgio Vasari’s conception of artistic creativity is related to his theory of painting. He proposes two alternatives in a painter’s development or achievement of artistic creativity: imitation (imitazione) and invention (invenzione).Imitation is the copying of art as a method of learning, whereas invention is independent of imitation and constitutes the means for conceiving artistic ideas. Imitation serves to guide and teach the artist in composing and creating perfection. Vasari maintains that artists must study antiquity and the masters, so that they may learn how others acquired the experience of imitating nature. For Vasari, imitation draws upon three different sources: the first two are copying from nature (copia dal vero) and the third one is selecting from one’s work (imitare se stessi). He emphasizes that copying from nature is important for the artist so that he may learn to create forms that are alive as visualized in the Fine Arts.

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：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.