Types Of Journalism

Types Of Journalism most used in Media

March 12, 2019 By Hitesh Bhasin Tagged With: Management articles

The meaning of the term journalism is an activity or a profession to collect information and write for newspapers, magazines, websites or to broadcast it through various media such as television, radio or live streaming.  

Every journalistic type uses a different method and writes for a different type of people or audience. We will learn about the traditional as well as modern journalisms.

1) Agricultural journalism :

2) Arts journalism :

3) Business journalism :

4) Celebrity journalism :

5) Civic Journalism :

6) Community journalism :

7) Crime journalism :

8) Cultural journalism :

9) Cyber journalism :

10) Weather journalism :

11) Sports journalism :

12) Political journalism :

13) Scientific journalism :

14) Lifestyle journalism :

15) Education journalism :

16) Defense journalism :

17) Fashion journalism :

18) Environmental journalism :

19) Investigative journalism :

20) Comic/ Graphic journalism :

21) Tabloid journalism :

1)  Agricultural journalism :

Agricultural journalism is a modern type of journalism and has been growing recently for past few decades. The job of an agricultural journalist is to provide news related to the agriculture land, problems and issues of farmers of a country, and modern agricultural methods and techniques.

2) Arts journalism :

This field is for the art lover people. There are various forms of arts such as dance, music, literature, films, drama, painting, poetry, and many more. The job of an arts journalist is to analyze the trend of the art world and share news related to it with the audience.

3) Business journalism :

Business journalism is about collecting news about business around the globe. A business journalist has to collect news about the launch of new products in the market, unions, and procurement of companies, the performance of companies, economic ups, and downs etc.

Reporting news about business requires great skills because it is one of the most difficult types of journalism. Therefore, business journalists have to prepare well-searched analytical reports to produce accurate news about the business world.

 

4) Celebrity journalism :

The word paparazzi has become quite popular in the past few years. This term is specially given to celebrity journalists who work to gather news about celebrities like movie stars, singers, musician and business tycoons.

Celebrity journalism is all about providing news about the professional and personal lives of celebrities. It also includes interviewing celebrities and reporting gossips. A large segment of journalistic audience entertains themselves by reading or watching news about the celebrities.

5) Civic Journalism :

A civic journalist interviews common people and ask about their problems, issues or opinions. The information collected in this way is used to make news stories and presented to the whole world. A civic journalist has to do a lot of research and be present amongst people to make news stories.

6) Community journalism :

This field produces news about a certain community, town, vicinity, or area. Therefore, it is also called local journalism by laymen.

 

7) Crime journalism :

This field of journalism has always been popular since the beginning of journalism. People are always curious to know about the crimes taking place nationally or internationally. They always want to know what exactly happened and seek accurate details about the criminal cases. People find such news amusing and entertaining.

8) Cultural journalism :

The world is full of different cultures and religions. The job of a cultural journalist is to explore the different cultures of the world and report about various customs, festivals, history, languages, and art of those cultures.

This field of journalism is fun to work for and provide an opportunity to journalist to travel and live in various parts of the world.

9) Cyber journalism :

This field of journalism is booming at a fast pace. It came into existence soon after the invention of the internet. Cyber journalism is also called online journalism. This type of journalism has become a popular career choice of many youngsters because of its interesting work style.

10) Weather journalism :

This is one of the oldest types of journalism and is usually sidetracked by the people. However, there is still a small segment of the population such as farmers, who relies on the weather forecast for their day-to-day activities.

11) Sports journalism :

This type of journalism is related to covering a sports event, sports series or a sports person. This field of journalism is fun to work for, with additional benefits like traveling to different countries, chance to watch live-sports events and opportunities to meet sportsperson. Working in this field requires skills like knowledge about the rules of the game, omnipresence, good communication skills etc.

12) Political journalism :

This type of journalism is one of the serious types of journalism. This field can be divided into three categories such as local political news, national political news, and international political news.

A political journalist has to carefully study political events (like elections), election campaigns, bodies, figures and report news in an unbiased manner. Being is a political journalist is a very difficult and risky job because it can make you bad in the eyes of common people and politician because of your opinionated news.

13) Scientific journalism :

The job of a scientific journalist is to report science-related news to the common people. To work in this field requires a good understanding of the field and effective writing skills. He/she has to break down the news in simple language, so that laymen can understand, without compromising with the meticulousness.

Scientific journalistic writers write for science journals, science subscriptions, and informative features. The number of readers of scientific journalism is increasing, making the rise in the number of scientific journalists.

14) Lifestyle journalism :

In recent years, the interest of people has increased in reading about lifestyle. Lifestyle journalism includes music, leisure, entertainment, gardening, cooking, home, shopping, yoga and exercises, and healthy eating habits. This section provides readers with tips to lead a better and healthy lifestyle.

15) Education journalism :

The job of an education journalist is to report various events and developments in the field of education. The main focus of education journalism is to spread awareness about education and inspire people to go for higher education. The audience of education journalism is mostly students, teachers, and researchers.

16) Defense journalism :

This field provides information about what is happening in or with the military forces (such as Army, Air force, and Navy) of a country. It provides news about the latest equipment, events, technology of various military forces. Reports created by defense journalist make people aware about the national defense and also inculcate patriotism in the citizens.

17) Fashion journalism :

Magazines like Vogue, Elle, W, L’Officiel, Jalouse are elite magazines of the fashion world. These magazines provide information about the latest trend in the fashion market. They also include photos of models, interviews of fashion models and highlights of the latest fashion shows. Besides, magazines fashion journalist can also work in fashion channels, websites, YouTube channels etc.

18) Environmental journalism :

An environmental journalist writes about the environment related issues and writes articles to make people aware of the protection and conservation of it. It also includes environmental events, policies held by environmental organizations for various causes. Environmental crises can be covered by an environment journalist.

19) Investigative journalism :

Investigative journalism is one of the difficult types of journalism because sometimes a case can take months to years to find information about.

Investigative journalists expose scandals and make headlines. Sometimes a story is published as the facts are being found in daily newspapers. To become an investigative journalist, one should have knowledge, persistence, and patience

20) Comic/ Graphic journalism :

This is an evolving and interesting branch of journalism. Comic and graphic journalism has been an integral part of print media, but it has recently become part of cyber journalism. Cartoons and comic characters are used to depict real-life instances from recent news articles.

This type of journalism is appealing and grabs the attention of the audience easily. This style of journalism is part of newspapers, monthly subscriptions, and news websites.

21) Tabloid journalism :

Tabloids are favorite of many readers, who seek entertainment from the print media. Tabloids are hit with many untrustworthy newspapers and websites. A tabloid journalist writes about the information from interviews of celebrities, statements made by them, release of a movie, latest technologies, newly released books etc. tabloid journalism is also famous by the name of “yellow journalism”. News in tabloids is highly-embellished and unreliable.

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Paintings of Company School !

The eighteenth and nineteenth century India witnessed a new genre of painting popularly known as ‘Company School’.It was so named because it emerged primarily under the patronage of the British East India Company. 


 As British officials traveled through the country and encountered unusual flora and fauna, stunning ancient monuments, and exotic new people, they wanted to capture these images to send or take home. Eighteenth- and nineteenth-century travelers had to hire Indian painters to do the job. The works produced by these artists, undertaken in a European style and palette, are known collectively as “Company” paintings.

 This style of painting arose in a number of different cities. Work from each region is distinguishable by style, which grew out of and was heavily influenced by earlier local traditions.The Company School paintings display an amalgam of naturalistic representation and the lingering nostalgia for the intimacy and stylization of medieval Indian miniatures. It is this intermingling that makes the Company school so unique even though the paintings neither had the accuracy of the photograph nor the freedom of the miniatures. The artists of this School modified their technique to cater to the British taste for academic realism which required the incorporation of Western academic principles of art such as a close representation of visual reality, perspective, volume and shading. The artists also changed their medium and now began to paint with watercolour (instead of gouache) and also used pencil or sepia wash on European paper.

‘Company Paintings’ were first produced in Madras Presidency in South India. This new style of painting soon disseminated to other parts of India such as Calcutta, Murshidabad, Patna, Benares, Lucknow, Agra, Delhi Punjab and centres in Western India. The introduction of photography in 1840, however, brought about a new dimension to painting. Now the emphasis came on producing works which could capture “objective reality”.

Calcutta was among the important early production centers, as the site of one of the oldest British trade houses. The city’s most enthusiastic patrons were Lord Impey, chief justice of the High Court from 1777 to 1783, and the Marquess Wellesley, who served as governor-general from 1798 to 1805. Both had collected large wildlife park and hired artists to paint each of the birds and animals in them.

A Company-established botanical garden in Calcutta then undertook a similar project for the samples of plant life it had collected. Other influential painting centers were in Varanasi, a major Hindu pilgrimage site that drew many tourists (who knew it as Benares)

Delhi’s market expanded after the city’s occupation by the British in 1803. Its magnificent  monuments were the most popular subjects, and its artists were unique in using ivory as a base for painting. Other common subjects from this time were the residences, servants, carriages, horses, and other possessions that Company employees had amassed; Lady Impey was the patron of a number of such scenes.

While in the early phases of this school artists depended on a few key patrons.  By the beginning of the nineteenth century, enterprising Indian artists had begun to create sets of standard popular subjects that could be sold to any tourist passing through the major attractions. Such groups might depict a range of monuments, festivals, castes, occupations, or costumes of the subcontinent.

Patna was one of the major centers of Company painting because it was home to both an important factory and a Provincial Committee, and thus to many British colonials.

Among the famous artists of the genre were Sewak Ram, who worked in Patna, and members of the Ghulam ‘Ali Khan family of Delhi.

Ram seems to have moved there in the 1790s to find work; by the 1820s, his large-scale paintings of festivals and ceremonies were being collected by the likes of Lord Minto and Lord Amherst, both governors-general.

When brothers William and James Fraser were sent by the Company in 1815–16 to tour newly conquered lands in the north of the country, they took artists from Delhi with them. It was probably at this time that Ghulam ‘Ali Khan made contact with them, but his known works date to after the Frasers’ return to Delhi in the 1820s. Khan is particularly noted for his scenes of village life; other members of the family were especially skilled at portraiture.

sourcehttps://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/cpin/hd_cpin.htm

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Headlines classification

Headlines included in schedule may be classified according to the uses for which they are intended and the kind of job that they have to perform. 

In general, they fall into the following groups

a) Large headlines, Banners and Spreads. 
b) Top heads.
c) Secondary heads. 
d) Subordinate heads.  
e) Contrast heads. 
f) Special feature and departmental heads.

 a. BANNER HEADS: 

A banner headline is run across eight columns, and placed on top of the front page of the newspaper. It is set in the highest point size that the newspaper style permits. No other headline on the front page is written in a point size bigger than the banner headline.  Newspapers today run banners in the upper lower format too.

The range of the Banner heads extends from 72 points to 120 points, or even larger in certain instances. 

Bolder, larger, open-faced types are usually used in banner heads, since the banner holds the best position on the page and it should be strong and bold. Banner heads are generally set in Bodoni Bold, Bodoni Bold Italic, Gothic face types such as Tempo, Spartan and Railroad Gothic etc. 
The usage of bold and italics depends upon how many banners are there in the page. 
 In writing headlines  set in lower case and all caps are more legible, and most desirable from the standpoint of the reader. 


 b. SPREAD HEADS: 

For important and heavy display purposes after the banner comes the  spread heads. They display the biggest news of the day with the banner heads. 

Generally the spread heads that are found in the schedule are of the two column and the three-column variety. They may consist of one or more decks with different widths depending on the importance of the story and the effects that are desired on the page. 

In a two column head, the first deck ordinarily consists of 24-30-, Or 36 points type. The second deck is generally set in 14 point, which provides good gradual decrease down into a smaller body type of the story, which follows. The width of the heads differs invariably affecting the number of decks it has and their width.

c. TOP-HEADS: 

From the standpoint of display Top-Heads come after the banners and spreads. They are called Top-Heads because they feature on the top of the page over some of the biggest and important stories of the day. 

It is difficult to find uniformity in the newspapers as to the number of decks or styles of the forms used in these Top-Heads. However from the general study of newspapers  may find three types of Top-Heads, namely:

 (a) Multiple deck headline, 
(b) Two deck headline, 
(c) Single deck headline. 

 For multiple deck Top-Heads, the form combined is four or sometimes more than four. 
In this particular style of head the top most deck casually consists of three to four times. The letters used are generally of the bold face type, which are set in about 30 to 36 points.

The second deck is smaller than the first and may vary in the type used. This deck is generally set in 14 point bold face. 
The third deck ordinarily set in larger type than that in the second and the fourth decks, which might be set in 18 point bold face.

d. SECONDARY HEADS: 

There are various other stories which need prominence in display other than top stories which fall under top-heads. Such headings and stories are placed above the fold, and they are referred to as secondary heads.

 Usually the same style and method is used in secondary heads as in the top heads. The secondary heads may have one to two decks. The top deck may consist of two lines or in some instances 3 lines. The second deck consists of 3 to 4 lines and their size and type is same as that of the top heads' second deck. If two secondary heads are included, the no. 3 headline, each consisting of two lines, with the first deck set in 24-point type and the second in 12 or 14-point type. 

The secondary heads have an important place in the daily news headlines. They brighten up the center area of a page. When there is an abrupt drop from major headlines, which are huge and strong, to smaller structures, the page may appear to be grey and weak. To overcome such an unwanted effect good usage of secondary headlines will help the sub-editor. Secondary  headlines are of prime importance in inside-page makeup. Here they are ordinarily used in place of top heads, which frequently are reserved for the front-page use only. 

They are also used as main heads for stories in the inside pages. In the interest of the good design and makeup of the newspaper two or three types of good secondary headlines should be provided, with appropriate sizes and styles of types and fonts. 

 e. SUBORDINATE HEADS: 
For smaller and less important stories headlines in type sizes from 18 point downward to 12 point are used. Sometimes down until 8 point. Such headlines are known as subordinate heads. In most of the newspaper we find that subordinate heads have 1 or 2 decks with 2 or 3 lines. The headline forms that are used are often flush-left or drop-line and generally they are written in bold face or bold face Italics. For example: English India should agree to tripartite talks India should agree to tripartite talks 66 There is no Telugu example in italic letters. In many instances we find cross-line and inverted pyramids being used. However, cross-line form of head in subordinate headlines is not advisable because it is too small to admit a sufficient number of words in it. Usage of larger sizes in subordinate heads is necessary as one can be assured that greater attention value and sufficient tone is present to break up the dull mass of body type in a color. Though there is a necessity of using several subordinate head it should always be remembered that their usage should not be indiscriminate. Even though arrangements such as usage of more number of subordinate heads provide for a larger number of stories on the page, such a practice is a great mistake. The resulting page designs are grey, dull and uninteresting. So usage of subordinate heads has to be done with lot of caution so that the page design does not get spoiled.

 f. CONTRAST HEADS: 

Any headline that is used to add some variety and liveliness to the page are called "feature" or "contrast heads". Placing two headlines of the same type and sizes beside each other in adjoining columns may not be so appealing to the page design. To present such inevitable usages contrast heads are very useful. If 2 heads are arranged in the manner mentioned above tend to make up a single unit as far as tone value is concerned. Greater contrast it is believed, will make the resulting effects less monotonous and more interesting. Contrast heads are generally set in italics or any other type which can bring a wide contrast and make it different from the types used in the main headline dress. About two or there lines are used in a single column in width and size, depending upon the effect that is desired. Many headline schedules have box heads or partially boxed heads as the contrast heads. Contrast heads can be of one deck or two decks according to the importance of the stories that are featured in the newspaper. Common sizes used in contrast heads vary from 18 point, 24 point, to 30 point fonts. The 'Astonisher' type of headline is a good example of a contrast head. 

g. CUT-LINES: 
Like the headlines there are various types of heads, which accompany pictures, and are basically used to display and advertise the news as well as enlarge upon it. Such types of heads should also be included in the headline schedule. Lines that are used to explain or to help tell the news involved in an illustration or a picture are called cut-lines. A line, which is placed over or above the picture, is called "over-line" or "caption", and the lines of type that are placed beneath or under the picture 63 are called as "underlines". These over-lines and underlines together are called cut-lines. Newspapers use cut-lines either ways i.e. over and under the picture according to their convenience and page design. Generally bold face types and Italic faces are used for cutlines. The bold ones are more preferred as they have a stronger design and more contrast is shown. Flush-left form or over-line flush-left form are more often used in this case. Some times these pictures are given titles, which form a part of the cut-lines. These titles can feature either above or below the picture. Another common plan that is used in cut-lines is that, first few words in the first line of the under-lines acts as a title. These words are usually set in capitals. Ordinarily 14 or 18-point type is used over pictures of one column in width and 18 or 24-point type are used for picture in two-column width. When cuts are from one to three columns in width, the under-lines usually run the full length of the printed picture. If the picture or illustrations exceed 4 or more columns, cut-lines should be set in two or more columns depending upon the size of the picture. Such an arrangement for larger pictures is necessary because it is difficult to read lines that are longer than three columns. Square-Serif, Gothic, Roman types are commonly used for cut-lines. Some newspapers prefer to box the caption over the picture, and others let the first few words of the cut-line to serve as a caption. Added emphasis could be created by making captions or some times the underlines to feature in capitals or 2.1

 
Most of the  newspapers commonly use banner heads for their best news.

 a) The cross-line: This is one of the simplest forms available. It basically consists of a single line and one or more columns in width. It may run flush on both sides or words and is centered in measure. Many newspapers commonly use this type. When headlines have one or more columns,

 b) The Drop-line: This type is also known as the 'step line' or 'step head' because the lines in this type are indented and step down uniformly and progressively from the left. It usually consists of two or three lines. The drop line form is used as the main headline as the top deck, when the news has two or more decks. Ex:

 c) The Inverted pyramid: This form is usually employed more as a subordinate deck in a headline. It generally consists of three lines, write the top line exceeding all the way across the column. The next two lines are set to be shorter than the one above, with words centered according to the count or measure. It is one of the difficult forms of headlines as it takes more time of the sub-editor's time in setting. Still it is one of the most widely used forms of headlines.

d) The Hanging intention: The desire to include more lines into the headlines have resulted in this type of headline. Like most of the smaller types of headlines, this type is also used as a subordinate deck. The first line is set to flush on both the sides; and the other lines that follow are indented from the left with an even amount of space. 

 e) The Flush left: It is one of the modern headline forms. It is simple in its design and provides for a lot of freedom in writing headlines. In this type there are one or more lines and the lines are always set to flush to the left hand side of the column.

f) The Spread: A headline or deck, which extends over two or more columns in length, is known as the 'spread'. The 3S flush-left, the drop-line and the cross line are the most common headlines used in the spread. The above-mentioned forms of headlines are very popular and most commonly used in most of the newspapers and magazines. There are various other headline forms or styles, which are used less commonly used or out of use. Some such forms of headlines arc listed to know the variety in headline forms.

a) The Flush line: The unit count in this form of headline must be exact in order to avoid, unwanted amount of white space between the letters or words. Hence, sub editors take great care while writing these headlines. It is the flush-left form taken to it extremes. The amount of white space is reduced between the words to a minimum and the headline looks crowded and uninviting. In most of the newspapers this headline is replaced by the flush-left due to its greater  simplicity. E


b) The Astonisher: It belongs to one of the recent trends in headlines. In this type, a smaller line is set in a smaller type above the main deck. This smaller typed line is a striking statement or facts or idioms, which are intended to gain the attention of the reader. Occasionally it reads into the main deck. This is also called the 'read in' headline, 'over line' headline. Or 'whip-lash'

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Rasa – Indian Aesthetic Theory

Rasa is a central concept in Indian aesthetic theory. The term has a variety of meanings Aesthetics refers to a distinctive type of emotional experience that can be experienced in connection with an artwork. The concept is presented in the Nāṭyaśāstra (200-500 C.E.), traditionally attributed to Bharata, a work that amounts to a collection of knowledge on dramatic performance (including music and dancing).

That Nāṭyaśāstra enumerates eight rasas that can be aroused in audience members through skillful performances.

These include

1.     the erotic (śṛṅgāra), 

2.     the comic (hāsya),

3.     the pathetic or sorrowful (karuṇa),

4.     the furious (raudra), the heroic (vīra),

5.     the terrible (bhayānaka),

6.     the odious (bībhatsa), (hateful)and

7.     the marvelous (adbhuta). 

8.     Later interpreters often acknowledged a ninth rasa,

9.     the tranquil (śānta).

Rasa Bhavam

Each rasa corresponds to a bhava, an ordinary emotion that is presented in the drama. 

Rasa, however, is a distinctively aesthetic kind experience in which one savors the essence of an emotion type. It is considered to be an achievement, both on the part of performers who are able to bring out the universal dimensions of emotion presented in a play and on that of the audience member who is sufficiently cultivated to appreciate such universalized emotion.

Rasa can be attained only by the person who is detached from personal motives and interests and identifies with the supreme universal Self. 

Abhinava also emphasizes the ninth rasa, the tranquil (śāntarasa), which he sees as the goal of all the other rasas. 

He compares the experience of this rasa to that of spiritual liberation (mokṣa), which is the goal of every human life.

Emotional states and Rasa 5 The permanent emotional states alone are said to obtain the status of the Rasa. 

They are eight in number of which

 four are primary and 

four are secondary. 

The primary Rasa produces the respective secondary Rasa in the following manner: 1. Erotic (Shringar) to Comic (Hasya); 2. Heroic (Veer) to Marvellous (Adbhut); 3. Furious (Roudra) to Pathetic (Karun); 4. Odious (Bibhatsa) to terrible (Bhayanak); The erotic, comic, heroic, and marvelous are positive traits of mind, however the furious, pathetic, odious, and terrible are negative. The Erotic (Shringar)

 Rasa is derived from the dominant state of love and has its basis in shining and brighter aspects of the world such as white, pure, and beautiful. 

The Comic (Hasya) Rasa has its basis in the dominant emotion of laughter. It is derived from showing unseemly dress or ornament, impudence, greediness, quarrel or defective limb. 

The Heroic (Veer) Rasa has its basis in the superior type of persons, grandeur, greatness, goodness, strength and energy. It displays concentration of mind, perseverance, diplomacy, discipline, military strength, aggressiveness, reputation of might, and frightening capacity etc. 

The Marvellous (Adbhut) Rasa finds its basis in the dominant state of astonishment. It is derived from the determinants such as sight of heavenly being or events, attainment of desired object, entrance into superior mansion, temple, audience hall, seeing illusory and magical acts etc.

 The Furious (Roudra) Rasa finds its basis in the dominant state of anger. It is derived from the determinant such as anger, rape, abuse, insult, untruth, allegation, jealousy and the like. The Rakshasas, Danavas, and haughty men are its sources.

 6 The Pathetic (Karun) Rasa is rooted in the dominant state of sorrow, misery, and suffering. It is derived from determinants such as afflictions due to separation from dear ones, divorce, loss of wealth, person, death, accident or plight and captivity. 

The Odious (Bibhatsa) Rasa has the dominant state of disgust. It is derived from determinants such as hearing of unpleasant, offensive, impure, harmful things or seeing and discussing them. On the stage it can be represented by consequents such as stopping the movement of all limbs, narrowing down the mouth and the like. 

The Terrible (Bhayanak) Rasa is rooted in the dominant state of fear. It is derived from the determinants such as hideous noise, sight of ghost, panic, anxiety, or voices of jackals and owls, an empty house, dense forest, sight of murder or death of hearing and discussion of such events and also horripilation, change of color and loss of voice etc. The wise should know that the Vibhav and the Anubhav are such matters in the art of acting as are actually created by human nature, and as closely follow the ways of human nature and worldly conduct” (Ibid:10). ‘Lokatraya’ has been the core content of the art. The human nature and conduct of the world being the guiding principle

Nishpatti According to Bharata, “Nishpatti is a manifestation (Abhivyakti) of what was already latent.” Abhinav says, “All Rasas are dominated by pleasure, because of being the manifest and uninterrupted form of tasting ones own consciousness” (Ghosh M.M. 1950:8) Debate over Shantih: Is it a Rasa? Abhinav Gupta considers Shantih (peace) as the ninth Rasa. This is the point of debate over its status of Rasa in the tradition of Sanskrit scholarship in art and literature. The debate provides new directions and insights in exploring the nature of man and the nature of art from the point of view of dramatic performance and aesthetic realization of both entertainment and instruction for proper education and culture. 

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Michelangelo, his Paintings, and Sculptures

Michelangelo was one of the most inspirational and talented artists in modern history. Michelangelo was born on March 6, 1475 in Caprese near Arezzo, Tuscany Italy.

At age of 6, Michelangelo was sent to a Florence grammar school but he showed no interest in schooling. His father realized he had no interest in family's financial business and agreed to send him, to the painter Ghirlandaio to be trained as an apprentice at the age of 13. Michelangelo learned the technique of Fresco and draftsmanship (. a person who draws plans and sketches)

 He was the first artist who was recognized during his life time. He is also the first western artist whose biography was published when he is still alive. Two biographies for him was written, one was by Giorgio Vasari, who praised Michelangelo as the greatest artist since the beginning of renaissance. He is the best documented artist in 16th Century and has influenced so many areas of art development in the West. Together with Leonardo Da Vinci, the two stood out as strong and mighty-personalities with two  opposed attitudes to art, yet with a bond of deep understanding between them.

During his life, the western world underwent the Renaissance, which  changes in all aspects of life and culture, with dramatic reforms sweeping through the worlds of religion, politics, and scientific belief. 

Michelangelo was one of the most fervent(having or displaying a passionate intensity.) advocates of this exciting new philosophy, working with a remarkable energy that was mirrored by contemporary society. 

One of  the Italian Renaissance, his extraordinary talents emerged in early works such as the Pieta for the Vatican,  .and the statue of David commissioned for the city of Florence. 

(One of Michelangelo’s masterpieces, the most poetic and marvellous sculpture ever created.. Michelangelo arrived in Rome in 1496 when he was 21 years old .   It was while in Rome, that Michelangelo sculpted Pieta, now in St. Peters in the Vatican, in which the Virgin Mary weeps over the body of Jesus. Michelangelo went to the marble quarry and selected the marble for this exquisite piece himself. It was frequently said that Michelangelo could visualise the finished sculpture just be gazing at a block of stone.

WHEN AND WHEN MICHELANGELO’S PIETA’ WAS CREATED

Michelangelo’s Pietà is the first sculpture created in Rome by Michelangelo, who at that time was in his early 20s (1497-1499) and was rather famous.
It’s one of the great masterpieces created by Michelangelo  and is also the only work where his signature is visible, carved on the sash running across Mary’s chest.

2. WHO COMMISSIONED MICHELANGELO TO CARVE THE PIETA’

Cardinal  Jean de Bilhères, who served as French ambassador of Charles VIII to the Papal States, commissioned Michelangelo to create the Pietà, a work that had to be his funeral monument and had to be placed in the Chapel of Santa Petronilla in Saint Peter’s Basilica. However, when the sculpture was displayed to the public, everybody stared at it in fascination and admiration, so in 1517 it was decided to place it in the sacristy of St. Peter’s Basilica.

3. MICHELANGELO’S PIETA’: STYLE

The agreement between Michelangelo and his client to make the Pietà, was signed on August 27th 1498, and contains the description of the subject.
Michelangelo didn’t limit himself to create the Pietà following the classical model, which established Mary’s vertical bust and Jesus’ horizontal body, but he modernized a traditional composition and gave the work a natural appearance never seen before.

4. MICHELANGELO’S PIETA’: DESCRIPTION

Mary is represented by Michelangelo as a young woman, sat on a rock symbolizing the Calvary (or the Golgotha), the mount where Jesus was crucified.
Jesus, instead, lays down on his mother’s legs, dead.
A lot has been written about Mary’s face, too young according to some critics, but Michelangelo probably wanted to allude to Virgin Mary’s beauty, which is more spiritual than physical.

5. MICHELANGELO’S PIETA’: FORTUNES AND EVENTS

Since its creation, Michelangelo’s Pietà has been considered a masterpiece.
In 1964 Michelangelo’s Pietà was loaned to the 1964–1965 New York World’s Fair and visitors waited in queue for hours to admire the sculpture!

He was now a man at the height of his creative powers, and, in 1504, back in  Florence, he completed his most famous sculpture, David. David, depicted at the moment he decides to battle Goliath, was a symbol of Florentine freedom. It is said to be a masterpiece of line and form. A committee, including Leonardo da Vinci and Sandro Botticelli, was created and decided on its placement, in front of the Palazzo Vecchio.

Michelangelo’s David stands nearly 17 feet tall.  Remember that the biblical figure of David was special to the citizens of Florence—he symbolized the liberty and freedom of their republican ideals, which were threatened at various points in the fifteenth century by the Medici family and others. Watch a video about the importance of the figure of David for Florence.David of Angelo

His paintings and frescoes(a painting done rapidly in water colour on wet plaster on a wall or ceiling, so that the colours penetrate the plaster and become fixed as it dries.) were largely taken from mythological and classical sources works. He manage to combine his high level of technical competence and his rich artistic imagination to produce the perfect High-Renaissance blend of aesthetic harmony and anatomical accuracy in his works.
This grand fresco contains over three hundred figures over five hundred square meters of ceiling. It took Michelangelo four years, lying on his back, to complete this masterful work, which stands even today as a testament to this one man's dedicated and accomplished artistry. The scenes depicted are from the Book of Genesis, the most famous of which is The Creation of Adam. The outstretched hands of God and Adam are an iconic image, perhaps the most widely known and imitated detail from any renaissance piece. Michelangelo, in this work, demonstrated his deep understanding of the human form, and how to depict it in a huge array of different poses.

Michelangelo became, during this time, an expert in portraying the human form, drawing from life and studying anatomy. He also obtained special permission from the Catholic Church to study human corpses to learn anatomy, though exposure to corpses had worsened his health condition

Michelangelo accepted many commissions, sculptures and paintings during his time in Florence, many of which went unfinished when, in 1505, he was called back to Rome to work on a Tomb for Pope Julius II. It was planned to be finished within 5 years but he worked on it (with frequent interruptions) for over forty years, and it seems it was never finished to his satisfaction. Fortunately, Michelangelo also completed some of his best, and most well-known work, during this time, most notably the fresco on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, which took him four years to finish.

Michelangelo's art has far reaching historic influence. His world is genetically a two-fold system continually expanding. Measuring his internal development from the Pieta through David to The Last Judgement, we view the path of an experience in which each stage provides the foundation for the next, from sculpture to painting, painting to architecture, architecture to the art of poetry.

In western world, he was the first - Picasso the last - to regard himself as an absolute and mythic cultural experience. He managed to combine his high level of technical competence and his rich artistic imagination to produce the perfect High Renaissance blend of aesthetic harmony and anatomical accuracy in his work.

Just like William Shakespeare on literature, and Sigmund Freud on psychology, Michelangelo's impact on art is tremendousMichelangelo not only outshines all his predecessors; he remains the only great sculptor of the Renaissance at its best. What most Late Renaissance artists lacked was not talent but the ability to use their own eyes and share a vision with either their contemporaries or posterity. Michelangelo's extreme genius left little scope for works that escaped his influence, damning all his contemporaries to settle for aping him. Appreciation of Michelangelo's artistic mastery has endured for centuries, and his name has become synonymous with the best of the Renaissance Art.

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