Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Art Analysis: St. Peter's Square

Historical and artistic context
  • Time: 1656-1657
  • Style: 17th century Baroque Art
  • Artist: Bernini, Gian Lorenzo (1598-1680)
  • Material and technique: Marble. Open, dynamic arquitecture, well integrated in its urban environment
  • Location: Vatican City, Rome (Italy)
Iconographic analysis
  • Name: Colonnade in St. Peter's Square
  • Type of building and function: The open basilica was designed by Bernini as an appropriate forecourt, designed so that the greatest number of people could see the Pope give his blessing, either from the middle of the façade of the church or from a window in the Vatican Palace. The project also aimed at highlighting Michelangelo's Dome.
Formal analysis
  • Compostion, space, decoration: square framed by two straight and slightly converging arms that open in an elliptical square. Tuscan colonnades, four columns deep, originating three passages, the central one being wider. Columns are 15m tall. Entablature with balustrade (horizontal axis) which is crowned by 140 statues (vertical axis). The freestanding columns show a marked architectural chiaroscuro. Awe effect after crossing the colonnade and facing the square's magnificence.
  • Size of the square: 340m - 240m. At the centre of the square, flanked by fountains, stands a 25m tall obelisk, surmounted by a cross, reaching 40m in total.
Meaning
  • Michelangelo's Dome represents the head of the Church. The elliptical center of the piazza encloses the visitor with the "maternal arms of Mother Church" in Bernini's expression.

Sunday, December 16, 2012

TURKEY

Turkey is an Eurasian country located mostly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia and on East Thrace in Southeastern Europe.
Turkey is bordered by eight countries.



 Turkey is one of the seven independent Turkic state. The country's official language is Turkish which is spoken by approximately 85% of the population as mother tongue.Its capital is Ankara but its larges city is Istambul.


 Hagia Shopia  is a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, and now, is a museum in Istanbul in Turkey. Its a good place to visit.



Other place to visit is the Library of Celsus which is ancient Roman buildin in Ephesus,part of Selcuk.It was buil in honor of the Roman Senator Tiberuis Julius Celsus. It's s honored  as a Greek and a Roman on the librar.









Saturday, December 15, 2012

ICELAND

Iceland is a Nordic European island country situated at the confluence of the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans.The country has a population of about 320.000 and a total area of 103.000 km. The capital is Reykjavík which is also the largest city.





















Iceland is volcanically and geologically active. The interior consists mainly of a plateau characterised by sand, lava fields, mountains and glaciers. It has also many geysers. It has a temperate climate despite a high latitude just outside the Arctic Circle.




Iceland's cuisine is based on fish, lamb and dairy products. Fruits and vegetables aren't generally a component of traditional dishes due to the climate. Breakfast usually consists of pancakes, cereal, fruit, and coffee. The main meal is dinner, which usually involves fish or lamb. Coffee is very popular in Iceland. It's drunk at breakfast, after meals and in mid-afternoon. Coca-cola is also popular.



Here, you have a video where you can see all the beauties of Iceland.


 


-What things do you like about Iceland?



Friday, December 14, 2012

FRANCE !



France is a unitary semi-presidential republic located mostly in Western Europe, with several overseas regions and territories. France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean.

France is the largest country in Western Europe and the third-largest in Europe as a whole. It possesses the second-largest exclusive economic zone in the world. France has been a major power with strong cultural, economic, military, and politicalinfluence in Europe and around the world.

The name "France" comes from the Latin Francia, which means "country of the Franks". There are various theories as to the origin of the name of the Franks. One is that it is derived from the Proto-Germanic word frankon which translates as javelin or lance as the throwing axe of the Franks was known as a francisca. Another proposed etymology is that in an ancient Germanic language, Frank means free as opposed to slave.

GEOGRAPHY

From southwest to northeast, France shares borders with Spain, Andorra, Monaco, Italy,Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg, and Belgium. France also borders Suriname to its west and Brazil to its east and south, by way of the overseas region of French Guiana, which is considered an integral part of the republic.

France is divided into 27 administrative regions 22 are in metropolitan France (21 are on the continental part of France; one is the territorial collectivity of Corsica), and five are overseas regions. The regions are further subdivided into 101 departaments. 




AGRICULTURE

France has historically been an important producer of agricultural products. Large tracts of fertile land, the application of modern technology, and EU subsidies have combined to make France the leading agricultural producer and exporter in Europe.

Wheat, poultry, dairy, beef, and pork, as well as an internationally recognized processed foods are the primary French agricultural exports. Rosé wines are primarily consumed within the country, but champagne and Bordeaux wines are major exports, being known worldwide. 

TOURISM

With 79.5 million foreign tourists in 2011, France is ranked as the first tourist destination in the world, ahead of the United States.
France, and especially Paris, have some of the world's largest and renowned museums, including the Louvre, which is the most visited art museum in the world, but also the Musée d'Orsay, mostly devoted to impressionism, and Beaubourg, dedicated to Contemporary art.
Disneyland Paris is France's and indeed Europe's most popular theme park, with 15,405,000 combined visitors to the resort's Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park in 2009.

FRANCE IS ALSO THE COUNTRY OF THE FASSION

Fashion has been an important industry and cultural export of France since the 17th century, and modern "haute couture" originated in Paris in the 1860s. Today, Paris, along with London, Milan, and New York City, is considered one of the world's fashion capitals, and the city is home or headquarters to many of the premier fashion houses.


We have already been in the capital, Would you like to go again?

**Is this entry there are some linkers about words or other things about France. If you don´t know its mean click in the linkers**


Luxembourg.

It´s located between France, Germany and Belgium it belongs to the European Union. The country has three official languages: German French and Luxembourgish. It is the smallest country in the European Union with 380000 inhabitants. Luxembourg is a parlamentary democracy, and it is a secular state.



This city attracts tourists because Luxembourg has a lot of famous beautifull castles. It´s a luxury country, tourist how have visited the country sais that Luxembourgers people is always drinking beer. Is that a stereotype? perhaps..



1-. Say a typical mail of Luxembourg.
2-. Would you like visit Luxembourg?

Italy


Italy is a unitary parliamentary republic in Southern Europe.The territory of Italy covers some 301,338 km2




Italy endured numerous invasions by foreign peoples, fromGermanic tribes such as the Lombards and Ostrogoths, to the Byzantines and later, the Normans, among others. Centuries later, Italy became the birthplace of Maritime republics and the Renaissance.

Modern Italy is a democratic republic, it is a country of affluence cultural, gastronomic and architectural It is also a member state of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, theWorld Trade Organization, the Council of Europe, the Western European Union and the United Nations. Italy has the world's ninth-largest defence budget and shares NATO's nuclear weapons.



Prehistory and antiquity

The Ancient peoples of pre-Roman Italy such as the Umbrians, the Latins. Volsci, Samnites, the Celts and the Ligures which inhabited northern Italy, and many others were Indo-European peoples. In the 8th and 7th centuries BC Greek colonies were established all along the coast of Sicily and the southern part of the Italian Peninsula became known as Magna Graecia.

Arquitecture of Italy

Italy has a very broad architectural style and diverse.
Below I'm going to show some pictures of the arquitecture of Italy: 






CHINA


China is a country in East Asia with a population of over 1.3billion.The capital is Pekin but Shanhái has the most of the population.There are 22 provinces and 5 regions.

China is also the second economy and comercial power in the world.




Place to visit :
The Great Wall of China that was built in 4 differents dynasties

 Hong Kong that is a very modern  city in which there are a lot of skyscraper.



Peking  that is a modern city but also with a lot of historical information.
If you go to china, what place do you prefer to visit?
Do you like chinese food?

Thursday, December 6, 2012

SPAIN

Today is a special day for Spain. Today are commemorated thirty-four years since ratification by referendum of the Spanish of 1978.




It´s a sovereign country, member of the European Union, constituted in social and democratic State of right and which form of government is the parlamentary monarch.

Its territory is organized in 17 autonomous communities and two autonomous communities cities by the capital in Madrid. Spain is situated in western Europe, being the fourth extensive country in the continent.






According to the spanish constitution, the Castilian or Spanish is the official language of the State.


The spanish economy is the number 13, thanks mainly to the tourism.
 During the last four decades the spanish tourism industry has grown to become the second biggest in the world. 
Today, the climate of Spain, historical and cultural monuments and its geographic position together with its facilities make tourims one of the Spain´s main national insdustries and a large source of stable employment and development.

It´s necessary to emphasize that Spain is the second country in the world after Italy with the more monuments World Heritage.    

Nowadays, the president of the government is Mariano Rajoy.

One of the most important provinces of Spain is Córdoba!

Córdoba was an Iberian and Roman city in ancient times, in the Middle Ages it became the capital of an Islamic caliphate. 

Its historic centre was declared World Heritage by UNESCO in 1994, but 10 years earlier, 1984, had been the Mosque. It was nominated for the European Capital of culture for 2016. Being a finalist to represent Spain. 

And TODAY, the Yards of Córdoba have been declared World Heritage by UNESCO.




*There is a list of the 12 most important monuments in Spain, called "Tesoros de España" 
Mention one of the list, and its characteristic.