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Baroque Blog By Gabrielle Baxter

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  The Rape of Proserpina by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, 1622 I want to first point out that the Latin translation of the word rape means seized or carried off and does not refer to sexual violence in terms of this work of art.  The above is a marble sculpture by the artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Bernini began the sculpture in 1621 and completed it in 1622.  The story behing the sculpture is the abduction of Proserpina, the daughter of Jupiter and Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture. Proserpina was attacked by Pluto, the god of the dead, and dragged into the underworld. When Ceres realized that Pluto had abducted Proserpine, she became angry and caused the earth to dry up, and the harvests to fail. Jupiter saw from the heavens that the earth was barren and dead. He decided to intervene, and eventually a deal was made where Proserpine would spend half of the year with her mother and half of the year in the underworld with Pluto. Unlike sculptures done during the Italian Renaissance, that ap
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Art Analysis

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The above painting is by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt. It was painted in 1902 and is called Birch Forest I . I chose this painting because although I like a lot of Klimt's pieces, this one is more muted than most of his works which have a lot going on in them. When I look at this photo, even though you do not see the tops of the trees, you get the sense from the lines that they are very tall. I really enjoy this painting because Autumn is my favorite time of year, although not long enough in Alaska and looking at this painting brings a sense of calmness and relaxation. Across Klimt paintings, you can see he favored gold and to me this painting resembles Autumn in Alaska. The yellow leaves lighting up the ground giving it that golden look that contrasts the darkness of the tops of the trees as well as the depth of the forest thick with trees.  "Gustav Klimt." Paintings, Biography and Quotes,  2011  https://www.gustav-klimt.com/Birch-Forest.jsp#prettyPhoto
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Gabrielle Baxter Introduction

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Hello Everyone! My name is Gabrielle Baxter and I have lived here in Fairbanks, Alaska for about 27 years. I am married with two little boys and a little girl who is due any week now. Some of my interests include fishing, reading and hanging out with family. I recently started back at UAF to finish my Bachelor's degree after a long break and hope to finish in the next few semesters.  Vase with Poppies by Vincent Van Gogh, 1886 I chose the above painting by Vincent Van Gogh because to me it is more similar to water color and poppies, although very simple, are one of my favorite flowers. I enjoy a lot of different types of art but I don't necessarily think I have a relationship to art in any way. My husbands grandfather was really into painting and it was after seeing some of his work that sparked my interest into wanting to take some painting classes to learn some of the different styles and techniques. Although it is probably not what most would consider "art", I sta
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