Peter Paul Rubens, a Flemish Baroque painter of the sixteenth and seventeenth century focused his work namely upon the nude, a typical fixation, especially with Italian-based artists during the Renaissance and Mannerism periods. Italy - particularly Florence and Rome – was at the heart of the Ren...

There were several long term and short term causes of the Protestant reformation. The immediate cause that started the reformation was Martin Luther's act of posting the Ninety-five Theses on the door of the Wittenberg Cathedral in the Holy Roman Empire. Luther was a priest in the Catholic f...

Through the development of Carnival, art forms such as the mas, calypso and steelband have added to the eminence of the festival. However, it is the creation and depiction of the mas that has through time been the hub of the festival displaying multiple artistic sources. Such sources include the eth...

Saint Catherine, originally named Caterina Benincasa, was born in Siena, a city in west-central Italy south of Florence. She was born on March 25, 1347, the feast of the Annunciation. She had a twin sister who did not live long after her birth. Catherine was the youngest of twenty-five child...

The era known as the Renaissance began approximately around the beginning of the fifteenth century. The philosophy behind the whole movement is one of "rebirth" or the re-establishing of ancient classical culture. Following the collapse of the Roman civilization, much of Europe fell into decline,...

Raphael's "School of Athens" is considered by many art historians to be the absolute masterpiece of the Renaissance. It is the perfect pictorial counterpart to the enormous changes in thinking that came about in the 1300s as a result of economic and technological developments. Its rational perspe...

During the Medieval period (600 A.D. to 830 AD) in Europe only a few leaders showed great glory and compassion. Mythical characters usually made up these leaders. Yet Charlemagne wasn't a figment of our imagination. He is one of the world's finest leaders. Charlemagne established the t...

Michelangelo was pessimistic in his poetry and an optimist in his artwork. Michelangelo's artwork consisted of paintings and sculptures that showed humanity in its natural state. Michelangelo's poetry was pessimistic in his response to Strazzi even though he was complimenting him. Michelangelo's ...

The Great Schism From 1305 to 1416, the Catholic Church reached its lowest point in history. Corruption was widespread, the Church's authority was undermined, and its leadership was divided. The Church no longer had a strong foundation, the papacy jumped back and forth from Avignon, Fran...

Top of the Class Looking back through the ages has been an enlightening experience. I have found that the intellectuals of the time delved for a deeper meaning in all that is life. With the advances in science, the philosophers were at once able to substantiate their claims. We can call the eighteen...

The Borgias were one of the most important families in Italy, during the last years of the renaissance, if not the most important one. Not because of their goodness and kindness, the exact opposite, due to the behavior of some of the members of the family the Borgia name was soon known as a synonym...

Debates about the ethics of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (PAS) date back from Ancient Rome. Michigan Circuit Court judge Richard C. Kaufman, while presiding over a case involving the infamous Jack Kevorkian, and after extensive study into the subject writes: "The evidence is, then,...