Cello Suit No. 1 by Johan Sebastian Bach

As I am very lucky to have a grandmother who was an opera singer who sang music from the Baroque era, I chose a musical piece. Johan Sebastian Bach has been one of my grandparents favorites ever since I can remember so I chose Cello Suite No. 1 because it is a beautiful piece and I have heard it many times.

This piece is the first of six suites. It is also the most known of the six suites as most people are usually familiar with the tune. Sadly, there is not much known on the history of this piece, why it was written or for whom. However, we assume that this piece was written in 1720 when Bach was employed as the Kapellmeister for Prince Leopold in Cöthen between 1717 and 1723. This position is the highest rank a musician could be in during the Baroque era. Interestingly, Bach was actually locked up by Duke Wilhelm Ernst of Weimar, whom Bach was working for at the time, because the Duke did not want him to leave and work for somebody else. Luckily, he got away and was able to work for Prince Leopold in Cöthen. This was a good time of Bach’s life, although he did lose his first wife here in Cöthen, he also met his second here a short time later.

Prince Leopold

Prince Leopold made sure to have the best orchestra. He spent his budget on bringing musicians from all around to play in his court. Prince Leopold was a very young prince but had traveled quite a bit already during his short time so he was very educated on the Baroque era music. He even studied Italian secular music during his travels and was also a talented musician. He was very different than most royal people in the fact that he even oftentimes played with his orchestra (informally) and treated them as his equals. Prince Leopold was in high regard by his court and by Bach. As life in Cöthen was very laid back compared to other royal households, Bach spent a lot of time writing music for the court and for himself. It was a happy atmosphere. Bach and members of the court also traveled with Prince Leopold very often. A few years later, Prince Leopold married though and his new wife was not as easy going as him. She was not in favor of the prince playing music with the court and treating them as his equals. Due to this unfortunate event,  it is said that Bach decided to leave or even had to leave due to the court being dissolved in 1723. Although, Bach’s children were also growing up and he was thinking of moving to a larger city for their education in music. Bach still was not happy about leaving Cöthen though. He even wrote to an old school friend, “There I had a gracious Prince as a master, who knew music as well as he loved it,  and I hoped to remain in his service until the end of my life.” Bach went on to play for other royalty, but I wanted to focus on his time in Cöthen as that is where he wrote Cello Suit No. 1 (through 6).

The piece is a little unusual in a few ways. First of all, Bach was known to be an organist and second of all, the piece was not played publicly during Bach’s lifetime. Therefor it is believed that Bach played this himself to his family and friends in a more private setting. It is just unusual for Bach to produce a musical piece that was not played on an organ and also not played by others, although he did know how to play stringed instruments. Since this piece was not widely known during his lifetime, it could have easily been lost in time. Thankfully, Bach’s second wife, Anna Magdalena (as seen to the right), whom he met living in Cöthen made sure it wasn’t destroyed by making copies of  the original.

Sadly, I could not find any reasons for why Bach wrote this piece and there is no presumed secret love story behind it like in Botticelli’s work. However, I did make the connection that basically at any point, knowing the wealthy and famous (like the Medici Family or the Prince among others) is how many of these men became so successful and engrained in our history. They had to travel quite a bit to meet all the people they did. I also find it crazy how in any point of time in history, so much art has been lost and we are lucky that Anna Magdalena preserved this piece for us!

The Birth of Venus

The Birth of Venus is a famous work painted during the Italian Renaissance by Sandro Botticelli. It is believed to have been painted between 1482 and 1485. It is also believed that Botticelli was commissioned by the Medici family to paint this work as this piece hung in the country villa of the Medici. You can now visit the painting at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy.

  

In the painting, Venus, the goddess of love is centered, standing on a shell. To the left, you have Zephyr, the wind god, and (possibly) his wife Chloris, the goddess of flowers, blowing her to shore. On the right of Venus is Horae, the goddess of the spring getting ready to drape the fabric around Venus after her birth.

Medici Family
The Medici family is to thank for much of the success during the early Renaissance. Much of the famous Italian Renaissance artwork that we see in museums today was purchased by the Medici family as they found it important to study and preserve art. The Medici family oftentimes brought people they thought were talented in and gave them space to study and work. Sandro Botticelli was one of these lucky and talented men. As Botticelli was so close with the Medici family, he was very well known. He made a living by painting mostly religious scenes for people who were throwing themselves at him asking for paintings. The Birth of Venus was painted for member of the Medici family in Florence and kept in their country villa. Botticelli has the Medici family to thank for his successful career and the success of his painting, the Birth of Venus.

Botticelli’s Influences
Botticelli actually based his painting on an ancient sculpture of Venus as shown below. This sculpture is also in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.
Another possible influence on Botticelli’s painting could be a love for the beautiful Simonetta Vespucci, wife of Marco Vespucci of Florence. Simonetta was so beautiful and loved by many, even by the Medici family. A humanist scholar and poet, known as Politian was friends with and studied under the Medici family. He wrote La giostra di Giuliano de’ Medici which is believed to have influenced Botticelli’s painting due to a similar scene being described in the poem. A Latin piece of literature known as Metamorphosis written by Roman poet Ovid, may have also influenced Botticelli’s painting as it also contains a descriptive scene that reads similarly to the scene portrayed in the Birth of Venus. Botticelli eventually met Simonetta and it is believed he used her as his model for his paintings of Venus. Sadly Simonetta died at the young age of 22. Some believe Botticelli was even in love with her as he wished to be buried at her feet when he died. After his death, it is said that his request was carried out and he was buried by Simonetta. Whether every bit of this is exactly true remains a mystery, but I like to believe it is.

Botticelli also painted Primavera (shown beneath) which also contains Venus in the center.  However, unlike in the Birth of Venus, Venus is clothed and it seems to be set in a later time. Simonetta was also assumed to be the model for this painting. The paintings were made to be hung next to one another as Primavera shows Venus at a more mature stage. This painting also hung up in the Medici villa and is now in the Uffizi Gallery.

Similar paintings have been painted before, none of which became as famous and known as the Birth of Venus. The first known painting was the Venus Anadyomene (Venus Rising from the Sea) by Apelles which is sadly now lost. The photo below of the Mural at Pompeii is believed to be another copy of the Venus Anadyomene.
   

My Opinion
I especially like the Birth of Venus painting because I find it to be unique to most other Renaissance paintings. As was usual during this time period, most art work was very realistic with proper proportions. Bodies were standing in realistic poses. However, in the Birth of Venus, all the characters are floating. Venus herself seems to be floating over the shell for her stance would not allow her to realistically be standing like that without falling over or out of the shell. Another unique part of this painting is that besides Eve, women were not painted nude up until this time in the Renaissance. Understandably, this is the birth of Venus so it would seem strange for her to be clothed. It was also different from other artwork during this time because it was not a classical religious piece of work. I think I enjoyed this painting much more after doing a lot more research on it. I love the idea of Botticelli falling in love with Simonetta who is supposed to be portraying the goddess of love. On the right is another painting of Simonetta named Ritratto ideale Simonetta Vespucci by Botticelli. All the other possible influences make this painting more interesting along with the fact that the Medici family commissioned Botticelli to paint this painting and that it hung up in their villa. And that Botticelli most  likely met Simonetta through the Medici family.
I enjoyed researching all the history behind the artwork and have realized that historic artwork like the paintings and sculptures from the Italian Renaissance have a huge amount of history behind them, more than I ever believed.

My Quick Introduction!

Hello! My name is Emily. I am majoring in Economics. I am originally from Germany and moved to Alaska in middle school. I’ve lived there the past nine years. Three weeks ago I moved to Charlotte, North Carolina where I am staying for the next year which is why I have to take all online courses for now. I work at a Wells Fargo bank here. I am hoping to eventually move back to Germany, specifically Berlin. It has to be one of my favorite places in the world.

One of my main hobbies (besides fishing) is pottery. I’ve spent a lot of time throwing bowls, cups, etc. in the ceramics arts room at UAF which I definitely miss most about being on campus. I am currently looking for a new place to start pottery again down here. I also spend a lot of time painting. I like to paint landscapes and repaint photos I’ve taken from hiking trips. I enjoy looking at other peoples artwork whether it’s going to an art museum or looking at a friend/family members art and being able to give constructive criticism. A favorite artist of mine is Gustav Klimt. I especially love the way he used gold leaf to produce such beautiful art. I’ve seen some of his art work in the museums in New York City. I saw some of his original work that my parents had hanging up in our home while I was growing up, which I was extremely excited about.

Well that’s a short introduction of me. Looking forward to seeing everyone’s posts throughout the semester!