For Art History class, our assignment was to choose a painting by a known artist and analyze it. It was hard getting the minimum amount of words in, lol, but I did it and received full points.
If you need to analyze a painting for class, look at the colors, composition, hues, scene, and use metaphors that come to mind. To reach the minimum amount of words needed, I went back to each paragraph and added in flowery sentences to fill it out more. You may use for reference, but no copying.
The Battle of the Amazons by Peter Paul Rubens, oil painting c.1618
The Battle of the Amazons is currently located in the Alte Pinakothek museum in Berlin, Germany. It is the second painting of the same name painted by Rubens, the first having been completed c.1600. This oil painting was produced during Ruben’s years in Antwerp after he had returned from Italy and is a prime example of the Baroque style of painting.
The scene is of a mythological battle. The Amazon women locked in combat with the Athenians. They fight with reckless abandon, horses rearing up in fear and excitement. The foreground shows the heat of the battle as the participants surge in a circular motion across and to the sides of a bridge that spans the river. The people and horses are angled to this invisible circle, be it though body or limbs, giving an impression of a constantly moving battle with no end. Brush strokes at the bottom right enhance this fluid motion. The only break in the circular scene are those swept away by the river, becoming smaller and smaller in the distance. There is no escape through the river for it leads to the horizon where a burning city completes the scene of destruction. The rolling clouds in the stormy sky enhance the feelings of doom amid the fight to the death. The clouds’ angled lines seeming to swoop down to join the battle.
Earthy shades from off white to dark brown, faded blues and greens comprise the majority of the color scheme. The muted colors and low saturation gives the scene a dreamlike quality. It could be dusk or the brink of dawn. In comparison, the red of the occasional tunic stands out. Red represents the color of blood. The clouds, made up of grays and blues mixed with the charcoal smoke from the burning city, become lighter in color as they move to the right. The river is muddied from the blood and disturbances along its banks.
Multiple scenes make up the whole. The charge of warriors ready to join the fray is more than the bridge can hold and results in a crush of bodies sliding down the banks into the river. The bridge looks as if it will crumble and fall under the weight upon it. On the middle of the bridge, Theseus and the Queen of the Amazons are locked in battle. Nearby, an Amazon has been speared and is falling off her horse as she fights to keep hold of her banner in the grips of an enemy. Her red robes a portent of her end that day on the battlefield. Underneath the bridge is a boat packed so full of refugees it is sinking under the weight; the river ready to sweep its passengers in the current. The river is an equalizer for it takes no sides. Amazon, Athenian, horse; none are immune when it claims them.
The vividness of the atmosphere makes one almost forgets what isn’t there. Most warriors’ bodies remain clean of blood and any visible wounds in the midst of the fight, as well as the horses. All corpses but one lacks the evidence of their demise. A streak of blood smeared across the forehead of a warrior falling to his doom, a bloody knife held high, and a decapitated corpse hanging off the bridge are reminders to the violence of the scene.
The scene is filled with life and death. The contrast between the two like night and day. The warriors twist their bodies and tense their muscles in the spirit of being alive. Those who lost the fight lay slack, their still forms lacking intensity of movement. The seemingly never ending circle in the foreground is a metaphor to the circle of life.
Bibliography
Addison, J. D. (2003). Classic Myths in Art: An Account of Greek Myths as Illustrated by Great Artists. In J. D. Addison, Classic Myths in Art: An Account of Greek Myths as Illustrated by Great Artists (p. 203). Kessinger Publishing.
Neret, G. (2004). Rubens. In G. Neret, Rubens (p. 29). Taschen.
unk. (n.d.). Peter Paul Rubens, Late mythological paintings. Retrieved 2010, from MoodBook: http://www.moodbook.com/history/baroque/rubens-late-mythological-paintings.html
