Picturing the New World: The Hand-Colored De Bry Engravings of 1590 is a resource from UNC Libraries that presents the digitized engravings Theodore De Bry (1528–98) illustrated for A Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia. These hand-colored engravings were based on the watercolors of John White, who became part of the first British colony in North America, which was established off the coast of what is now North Carolina in 1585. Although the colonists were only there for about a year, White painted the environment and people of North America.
In 1588, A Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia was published, containing stories and descriptions about the new land. De Bry worked directly from John White’s watercolors to create 27 engravings for the illustrated edition to create what would be the first published images of Native Americans. However, the digital collection notes:
While the De Bry engravings shown on this site represent the earliest published images of Native Americans, viewers should be careful not to interpret these as accurate depictions of the inhabitants of North Carolina in the late sixteenth century. The images shown here are twice removed from John White’s original watercolors. In the engravings created by Theodore De Bry, there are many subtle but significant changes from White’s originals: the facial structure of most of the people has been altered, resulting in portraits that look more like Europeans; the musculature on most of the people is much more defined in the De Bry engravings; and the poses of many of the subjects seem to reflect classical statuary. The colorist for this volume has contributed to the distortion of the original images by adding a pale skin tone and blonde hair to some of the people and decorating much of the vegetation in colors that are unlike anything that occurs naturally in this part of the world.
For more information and to explore the digital collection, visit Picturing the New World: The Hand-Colored De Bry Engravings of 1590.
Oxford University Press’s Grove Art Online and the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, have created a new web module called Italian Renaissance Learning Resources with the support of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation. The module features eight units that provide thematic access to the art of the Italian Renaissance: Virgin and Child, Picturing Family and Friends, The Making of an Artist, a New World of Learning, Presentation of Self, Time and Narrative, Recovering the Golden Age, and Artists and Patrons. The eight units are can be cross-searched, and essays are presented for each theme. The website features more than 340 images as well as a host of other educational resources, including selections from primary source texts (transcribed but not digitally reproduced), a glossary, as well as discussion questions and activities for classroom use.
For more information, visit the Italian Renaissance Learning Resources.
The Art of the Sublime is a research module that explores the concept of the sublime during several artistic movements, including the Baroque, the Romantic, the Victorian, and the modern. The project contains essays and case studies, illustrated by works of art from the Tate’s collection as well as literary examples. More about the project:
In 2008 Tate initiated a project to explore the history and current relevance of the sublime, particularly as reflected in Tate’s collection of historic and modern works of art. Supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the project embraced a range of activities and outputs, including an exhibition and display at Tate Britain, conferences and specially made films.
To explore the project, visit the Art of the Sublime.
The Getty launched an app to go along with its exhibition Florence at the Dawn of the Renaissance, which ran from November 2012–February 2013. The app explores 7 objects from the exhibition in depth, including slide shows, animations, X-Ray and UV photographs, and pan and zoom functionality.
For more information, visit the Florence at the Dawn of the Renaissance iPad app, or stop by the VRC to check ours out!
The Medici Archive Project has recently launched its BIA Digital Platform which allows users to search and view digitized material from the Medici Archive, which is housed in the Archivio di Stato di Firenze. In addition to viewing archival documents, users can enter transcriptions, provide feedback, exchange comments, and participate in digital humanities projects. From the project’s website:
The Medici Granducal Archival Collection (Mediceo del Principato)–among the most exhaustive and complete court archives of early modern Europe–is one of the most frequently consulted collections at the Archivio di Stato di Firenze. Over the past fifteen years, the Medici Archive Project has been using computing technologies to facilitate scholarly research on this collection. With BIA’s launch, the Medici Archive Project will double its online text content and it will inaugurate a new digital imaging function by putting online 120,000 digitized documents—a number that will continue to grow. Additionally, BIA will enable community sourcing with new applications for online manuscript transcription and its online forums for scholarly discussion. Scholars anywhere in the world will now transcribe, edit, and comment on archival material in the database, collaborating in real time and making use of the forums to share expertise and knowledge.
The Medici Archive was established in 1569, and the material, which consists primarily of letters, takes up nearly 1 mile of shelf space. In order to search the BIA digital platform, you must register for a free account. After registering for a free account, you also can save documents and search terms pertaining to your research.
For more information, visit the Medici Archive Project or explore the collection’s highlights pertaining to topics such as Women Artists and Women Patrons of the Arts or Cabinet of Curiosities.
Leonardo Live documents the exhibition “Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan,” on view and sold out at the U.K. National Gallery. The film will be shown at Chicago’s Music Box Theatre, opening on March 14th at 7pm.
After limited screenings in the UK in November 2011, an expanded presentation of LEONARDO LIVE featuring bonus content will be available at movie theaters around the world, in limited screenings only. Captured live on the eve of the exhibition opening in London this fall, LEONARDO LIVE will provide a high-definition walk-through of the landmark exhibition, in-depth commentary about featured pieces in the exhibit and extra content.
To buy advance tickets or to see a preview, click here.
A recent episode of NOVA’s Mystery of a Masterpiece investigates whether a portrait sold for $20,000 in 1998 is a lost Leonardo. Full episode available indefinitely online.
The Cranach Digital Archive (cda) is an interdisciplinary collaborative research resource, providing access to art historical, technical and conservation information on paintings by Lucas Cranach (c.1472 – 1553) and his workshop. The repository presently provides information on more than 400 paintings including c.5000 images and documents from 19 partner institutions.
The metadata is extensive, with especially detailed provenance information. Images for most works include high-resolution overall views, reverse views, infrared images, UV images, detail images, and photomicrographs.
A new website allows microscopic study of Jan van Eyck’s Ghent Altarpiece:
In 2010, Van Eyck’s renowned Ghent Altarpiece was subjected to an urgent conservation treatment within the Villa Chapel in St. Bavo Cathedral in Ghent. To enable this work, the altarpiece was temporarily dismantled, which in turn made it possible to undertake a technical documentation campaign, funded by the Getty Foundation. This project generated a wealth of high-definition digital images that will be integrally placed on the internet, which will allow anyone to study these paintings in microscopic magnification, and to peek under the paint surfaces by means of Infrared reflectograms (IRRs) and X-radiographs.
The first part of this project is available now, in full resolution. Users are able to study the underdrawings of any two panels side by side.
Via Historians of Netherlandish Art.
Note: In order to see images of the Ghent Altarpiece linked above in LUNA, you must be a member of the UChicago community.