Fixing the immigration system (international student and tourism) Essay

Fixing the immigration system (international student and tourism) - Essay Example In essence, it is an eye opener to the kind of losses that the American government would face in the event that they continue to lose such students to other countries by imposing stringent restrictions on acquisition of visas. This is actually a very critical source since it fits well in the research on fixing the immigration system by providing information on the fiscal relevance of international students. "Nolo.com."Â  Students and Tourists Affected by New Visa Rules and Procedures - Legal Updates - Nolo.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. . Nolo.com gives an insight on how tourists and students have been affected by the recent fresh visa procedures and rules. This website claims that if one is a tourist or an international student in need of a visa to study in America, chances are that one will have to undergo through intense questioning and scrutiny, as part of a security measure that the American government has taken to ensure that its airline operations remain secure. Furthermore, it explores on the SEVIS system which is a database which schools normally enter the student information. Through this, the USCIS can access information on a student without the knowledge of the student. This puts a lot of pressure on foreign students. Such stringent measures and delaying tactics of issuing visas to tourists and international students tend to discourage most foreigners from opting to go to the U.S. Thus, the website gives useful information to the research on fixing the immigration system by giving details on how such rest rictions discourage most people from considering going to America to visit the country or conduct their studies. Bedard, Paul. "U.S. Tourisms Lost Decade Cost Some 500,000 Jobs."Â  US News.U.S.News& World Report, 10 Nov. 2011. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.

Culture of Dissent Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Culture of Dissent - Essay Example Muto Ichiyo is well known in Japan as a scholar of contemporary Japanese politics and society, and for his involvement in peace movements and people’s movements. He was a prominent member of the 1960s anti-Vietnam War movement.Ichigo begins his article, â€Å"Asian Peace Movements and Empire† with a summary of events beginning in Oct. 2001 and the establishment of the Asian Peace Alliance. As part of that network, it was hoped to create a response to the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan that was representative of all Asian people. Ichigo goes into more detail about Asia’s own problems: the nuclear confrontation between Indian and Pakistan, fundamentalist fighting in India, and human rights violations among others. But in analyzing the conference on Asian Peace he acknowledges that 40% of the discussion revolved around â€Å"the American War†, with the majority of participants concluding that the ensuing violence against civilians had nothing to do with the wis hes of the American populace, but was rather the imperialists justifying a global pacification scheme. He uses the term neoliberal globalization and states the war was integral to that process, and as a result, it â€Å"wreaked havoc† on the world.One of the most forceful voices in clarifying what all of these writers are saying is that of Arundhati Roy in â€Å"The Algebra of Infinite Justice†. Infinite Justice was originally the name for Operation Enduring Freedom until complaints were made by Muslims, who stated only Allah could mete out infinite justice.

Exploring The Concept Of Empowerment Social Work Essay

Exploring The Concept Of Empowerment Social Work Essay Empowerment can be defined in general as the capacity of individuals, groups and/or communities gain control of their circumstances and achieve their own goals, thereby being able to work towards helping themselves and others to maximise the quality of their lives. In health and social care empowerment means patients, carers and service users exercising choice and taking control of their lives. It is not that one is empowered means he or she become all powerful like God. Even if we are empowered still we have limitation. Actual meaning of empowerment is that one feels that he or she able and feels powerful enough in certain situations to take part in decision making. I also will explain how politics played a part in disempowering women in health and social care services. It is a greatest challenge in health and social care to achieve progress with the empowerment of carers and people who receive services. Beginnings of twentieth century women were disempowered because of politics played a part. Emancipation is a commonly used word in other western European countries to refer to what in the UK mean by empowerment. The word emancipation has is useful because it has overtones of the struggle for votes for women in Britain at the beginning of the twentieth century, so it reminds us that empowerment  Ã‚  in the health and social services has a political aspect. When carers and people who use services experience being disempowered and excluded, this is a form of political disenfranchisement. In other words, it is as though they have no vote and are not treated as full members of society. In contrast, when people become empowered, they can exercise choices and have the possibility of maximising their potential and living full and active lives.   There is a tension between enabling people to take control of their lives and recognising that workers may need to intervene and take control sometimes, in order to protect other people. This applies to both empowerment and advocacy. Empowerment for people with learning disabilities is the process by which they develop increased skills to take control of their lives. This will help them achieve goals and aspirations, maximising their quality of life. A key feature in empowering people is giving them a voice and actively listening to what they have to say. Empowerment is, therefore, closely linked to the concept of advocacy. Empowerment in learning disability can be described as a social process, whereby people who are considered as belonging to a stigmatised social group can be assisted to develop increased skills to take control of their lives. This increased control will help them to achieve their goals and aspirations and thus potentially maximise the quality of their lives. The concept has connections with assertiveness and independence and is clearly linked to the various forms of advocacy. When considering the current climate it is somewhat an indictment on our times that the Government sees the need to name the White Paper regarding its vision for learning disability services as Valuing People. The title alone inversely suggests that as a society we are not valuing people. The content presents the evidence on levels of exclusion, disempowerment and lack of valued social roles facing those with a learning disability and how services should be planned to address this. (A similar Scottish Executive Review of Learning Disability has the title The Same As You.) For the individual with a learning disability, the subjective experience of empowerment is about rights, choice and control which can lead them to a more autonomous lifestyle. For the professional, it is about anti-oppressive practice, balancing rights and responsibilities and supporting choice and empowerment whilst maintaining safe and ethical practice. Education is often seen as the main engine of empowerment, equality and rights of access. Thus, as a group, people with a learning disability can be at a particular disadvantage. They may have to be enabled and supported to perhaps overcome social obstacles and can be dependent on others to make important information accessible to them, assist them with advocacy and help safeguard their rights. A key feature in empowering individuals is giving them a voice and then listening actively to what they have got to say. Person Centred Planning with its focus on placing the individual at the centre of the process and using techniques to obtain meaningful participation can be a major contribution to finding out what people have got to say. Empowerment will bring along with it rights and responsibilities plus also potential risks for people. It is often the fear of physical risk which can inhibit empowerment processes for people who see themselves as responsible for vulnerable people. They may fear a blame culture if things go wrong. Surprisingly, as recently as 1998, the Social Services Inspectorate noted there were no systematic approaches for risk assessment and management in the field of learning disability. The Foundation for People with a Learning Disability set out to identify good practice in how to reconcile the tension between ensuring the safety of an individual with a learning disability and empowering them to enjoy a full life in the community. A report was produced called Empowerment and Protection (Alaszewski et al, 1999) which suggested that organisations needed to develop risk policies which embrace both protection and empowerment issues at the same point. The definition of risk should look at consequences and probability. Procedures should also include, from the start, the wishes and needs of the person who has the learning disability and involve them  throughout, including the decision making stage. Such comments about organisations developing appropriate risk strategies show that empowerment is not there just  as a concept for front line staff, but should penetrate the strategic planning levels. Valuing People states (Section 4.27) that people with a learning disability should be consulted for their views on services and these views utilised at a corporate planning level. In Mrs Ali case she is empowered by Muslim religious faith to take of her bed-bound husband although in contrast her care taker Jean believes that Mrs Ali should be empowered. This indicates religion also empower some people to take care vulnerable people.

Organizational Design At Microsoft Essay -- essays research papers

ntroduction The ongoing case study presented by Microsoft and the scrutiny of the Justice Department and Congress serves as an excellent departure point to establish the nature and premises of organizational theory and design since it allows for examination from both the viewpoint of the public and the economic aspects of the situation in which Microsoft finds itself. While issues of organizational structure and corporate policies as related to costs, revenue, profit and market structure are inherent in the study of any company or organization, it is important to recognize the unique aspects of Microsoft. Microsoft, undeniably, has a larger presence throughout the computer software industry and the users of its many products since its operating system defines, to a great degree, how work is done in the modern business world. With a company that has virtually always been in a "near-monopoly" situation such as Microsoft, it comes as no surprise that there are many who believe the company should be split into two (or more) independent organizations. However, that has little to do with the organizational design reality that actually is the Microsoft Corporation. Most companies grew out of their perpetual search for profit and how to make that profit grow bigger each year and Bill Gates and Microsoft are certainly no exception to that rule. In fact, they are the personification of the rule! Such a determined search for ever-increasing profits has resulted in large, vertically integrated organizations. But it is essential to keep in mind the fact that economic growth does not end in profit accumulation. In the case of the computer and software industry, growth came in the form of reliance on external economies, that is, keeping apace with the technological progress of other companies in the same industry rather than each company going its own way. Microcomputer companies that remain active to this day are the ones that view computers as open ended machines, ready to be upgraded and improved from time to time, at pace with the current technology advances. Again, Microsoft presents the definitive example of such a company. Organizational Design for the 21st Century Any business or business process has had to face a certain level of re-engineering or reconstruction in order to fit into the managerial revolution of the 1990s and the move into the 21st cent... ...loyees and grand plans for the future. For both start-up ventures and existing firms, entrepreneurship carried on in the pursuit of business opportunities spurs business expansion, technological progress, and wealth creation. The Connor Model would certainly verify that fundamental fact. In order to adequately plan for the future, especially in terms of making the appropriate organization design plans for the future, Microsoft has had to broaden its collective understanding of information and other aspects associated with non-bureaucratic organizational design in order to appropriately commit to the ideas Connor advocates. Clearly, the current changes in organizational environments, are disturbing the century-long domination of the bureaucratic organization but a company such as Microsoft has not had to deal with such hidebound "traditions." However, it is also important that it not allow itself to be "married to" the unique traditions and processes it has established. Considering the past performance and accomplishments of the company, regardless of decisions made by the government, it is likely Microsoft will continue to evolve in ways that assure its success

Cultural Relevance of Artwork Essay

The very spirit of an artwork remains in the time it was created. There is no better way to appreciate art than to understand its situational context, that is, the space and time of its creation. Works of art are like photographs taken in a particular time and place. In this paper we explore the situational context of three works of art: (1) Produced in the late seventeenth century, Wedding of Mary and Joseph is Peruvian painting; (2) Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Acrobats At The Cirque Fernando (1879) shows two young Parisian girls; and (3) Figure of a Mother Holding a Child, created in the nineteenth century by an unknown Lulua artist (See Appendix). All three pieces of art tell interesting, unique tales about their makers and the conditions of their times. What’s more, layers upon layers of human thought through different times and places of human history may be unearthed through this process of art appreciation. Our present understanding of historical societies and cultures must also influence the process of interpreting a work of art. After all, one scholar may consider a painting with the eyes of a sociologist in our time, while another may be a trained psychologist. Such designations did not exist before now. Regardless of how an artwork is interpreted and with what lens and in which frame it is looked through; works of art stay alive as we glean historical information through them. As the following section on Wedding of Mary and Joseph shows, it is possible to develop various interpretations about the time and place of an artist even if researched historical information is there to assist us in our interpretation. Wedding of Mary and Joseph Produced by an unknown artist, Wedding of Mary and Joseph is an oil painting on canvas, depicting the couple getting married before the high priest who is clothed in a â€Å"richly flower-patterned hooded mantle (â€Å"Wedding of Mary and Joseph†). † There are clergymen assisting the high priest. Joseph is carrying his staff which has flowers at the top. Moreover, both the bride and bridegroom have golden halos. Ann, the mother of Mary stands right behind the bride. By Ann’s side is a suitor of Mary who has been rejected by God’s command. The suitor is shown breaking his staff, which has not flowered like the staff of Joseph (â€Å"Wedding of Mary and Joseph†). The painting is enriched by â€Å"gold stamping,† which â€Å"unifies the composition (â€Å"Wedding of Mary and Joseph†). † There are Peruvian flowers scattered on the ground where Mary and Joseph stand. This transfers the scene of the Bible from the Holy Land to Peru (â€Å"Wedding of Mary and Joseph†). Furthermore, it describes an important movement in Peruvian art history by the name of Cusco School (Bennett). Indeed, this painting accompanies a very important period in Peruvian history. Spanish colonization had not only managed to transfer the Spanish Inquisition to the Spanish territories around the globe, but also brought European art into Peru (Bennett). The Spanish Inquisition had claimed many lives in Europe. In Peru, the Inquisition had centered on the discovery of people who were Jews by birth, but had claimed to have converted to Christianity. These people were suspected to have gone back from Catholicism to Judaism. Thus, the Peruvian Inquisition was about punishing the Jews or converted Catholics for apostasy (Lea). The Peruvian Inquisition had taken place in the seventeenth century. Seeing that the sociopolitical environment of Peru revolved around religious affairs at the time, it is not surprising that the Christian, Peruvian artists started a new art movement – the Cusco School – to create religious art in particular (Bennett). As a matter of fact, the Wedding of Mary and Joseph is a perfect example of Cusco art. The Cusco School happens to be the largest movement of art in the Peruvian art history. The movement was represented by â€Å"mestizo painters and sculptors who produced countless depictions of religious figures adorned in gold (Bennett). † The Spanish colonizers had used religious art to teach Christianity to the New World. Subsequently, the native artists of Peru had begun to meld European art with their local style and tradition (Bennett). So, while the figures of Mary and Joseph in the Peruvian painting reveal European, Christian influence on the Peruvian artist; the flowers and long tailed birds of Peru scattered on the ground show that the artist continues to love his land despite colonization. The golden halos of the bride and the bridegroom are, of course, the signature of the Cusco School. Hence, the painting, Wedding of Mary and Joseph, reveals itself as an excellent tool to understand the culture of Peru with respect to Spanish colonization. By discovering more about the conditions of the artist’s time, history of the Americas may also be studied in great depth. Moreover, this painting helps viewers to appreciate how artists are influenced by their environments and the times. Acrobats At The Cirque Fernando Produced in another place and time altogether, renowned Parisian painter, Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Acrobats At The Cirque Fernando (1879) shows two real girls, most probably between twelve and fifteen years of age, taking turns to perform their act at the circus (Mancoff). The facial and bodily expressions of the girls and their onlookers are open to any number of interpretations. One of the young girls is carrying balls around her chest while the other is communicating with the audience as part of her act. The girl who is communicating with the audience has a questioning, innocent expression on her face. The one who is carrying balls is possibly waiting for her turn to perform. She, too, is innocent and fresh in appearance as the other. However, she seems to be dwelling on her new experiences of semi-adulthood. Perhaps she is musing on the boys in her life – the young men who admire her very much. The audience depicted in the painting, behind the bodies of the two young girls, appears to consist of men alone after all. The men appear like judges, in their black coats, giving them the semblance of uniformed officers. Only one of the men has his face visible through the painting, and the face is hard enough for the girls to display their innocence in all its glory with the assumption that the counterpart of a harsh and doubtful attitude must be softness. Although the girl carrying the balls has her back turned toward the hard faced man, she knows that she too would have to perform. The expressions of the male and the females in Renoir’s Acrobats At The Cirque Fernando are rather similar to the expressions of the two sexes depicted in many of the artist’s works of the time. The woman is seen as the adored and innocent object that performs, even though the man is hard faced, perhaps weary of the work that he performs to fend for his family day after day. The woman is the amuser, the muse, and the object of entertainment to fend for. After all, she is beautiful (Norfleet). The only beautiful facet of the man is that he is strong – in Renoir’s paintings, at least. What is more, the man is always staring at the woman in Renoir’s works. He fondles her whenever he has the chance. The woman remains faithful to him – this is depicted through the innocence on her face. If she becomes unfaithful she knows that the hard faced man would discontinue supporting her. The French word for ‘thank you’ is merci, which, if used in English, perfectly describes the attitude of the woman in late nineteenth century Paris. Although Paris was one of the first places in the west where women were generally believed to have been liberated, Renoir’s painting reveals that the women were definitely not liberated through promiscuity or debauchery. Rather, the urban Parisian women in the late nineteenth century seem to have been given permission by their men to be out and about, entertaining them, while remaining faithful to their innocence as well as their marital vows (Norfleet). As the facial expression of the young girl carrying the balls in Renoir’s Acrobats At The Cirque Fernando reveals – women understood their position in Parisian society even as they were aware that men and women are equally dependent on each other. Then again, the painting remains open to numberless sociological interpretations. Figure of a Mother Holding a Child As our analysis of Renoir’s painting shows, it is possible to understand the situational context of a painting in any number of ways. Sociologists and historians may be more interested in discovering the history of society in a block of time. If psychoanalysts were to join in, there would be various intricacies of the human mind revealed through artworks. On that note, Figure of a Mother Holding a Child is a very interesting sculpture because there are multiple ways of understanding its import. On one hand, the sculpture is a perfect depiction of the pain of starvation that the African people have been experiencing for a long time, and that nobody outside of Africa has done anything consequential about – despite the fact that the entire world discusses it. On the other hand, it represents a ritual that the Lulua tribe of the Democratic Republic of Congo had practiced for its own survival (â€Å"Figure of a Mother Holding a Child†). The sculpture is that of a skinny, African female with an infant in her arms. The woman’s head is larger than her body. The bone lines on her neck are particularly telling. Even so, the bone lines on her neck and the wrinkles on her face had actually been created by the artist to show that the Lulua peoples had used scarification to adorn their bodies (â€Å"Lulua Tribe: Democratic Republic of Congo;† â€Å"Figure of a Mother Holding a Child†). Indeed, it is scarification that adorns the woman carrying the infant. Just the same the viewer is made to feel sorry for the woman and her child because they appear extremely poor. Made with wood and copper alloy, the woman in the sculpture has bulging eyes and a â€Å"pointed base (â€Å"Figure of a Mother Holding a Child†). † According to the Brooklyn Museum, the base was most probably â€Å"thrust into a pot containing earth and various bishimba, or materials of mineral, plant, animal, or human origin endowed with protective powers (â€Å"Figure of a Mother Holding a Child†). † In actuality, the sculpture had been created for a Lulua woman who had experienced difficulties in childbirth. The Lulua people believed that it was the evil spirit which interrupted the process of childbirth for women. So that the woman would attract the ancestral spirit of the Lulua tribe and get rid of the evil spirit, the artist gave her the sculpture to care for until delivery. The bulging eyes of the sculpture reveal that the woman is aware of the influence of the evil spirit that is stopping her from becoming a mother (â€Å"Lulua Tribe†). The Lulua peoples had migrated from western Africa to the Democratic Republic of Congo during the eighteenth century. These people lived in â€Å"small regional chiefdoms,† and therefore formed closely knit communities (â€Å"Lulua Tribe†). Because they were immigrants, they were rather concerned about their continuity. Moreover, the Lulua people believed that their sculptures had to be created for religious reasons (â€Å"Lulua Tribe†). The Lulua artists who created sculptures such as the Figure of a Mother Holding a Child must have had faith that they were carrying out their moral duty toward their own people. Indeed, the religious values of the Lulua people were guarded by their art. Sculptures of females were quite popular among them, as these figures exemplified â€Å"the union of physical and moral beautify (â€Å"Figurative Sculpture†). † The Lulua people believed in equating proper behavior with physical beauty (â€Å"Figurative Sculpture†). It can be inferred that the Figure of a Mother Holding a Child and all other sculptures created for the same reason were reminders for the Lulua people that the human body cannot be separated from morality. This principle is clearly exemplified by the bond between mother and child. Conclusion We focused on the political conditions surrounding the artist of Wedding of Mary and Joseph. Societal context of Renoir’s painting, Acrobats At The Cirque Fernando, was explored with a brief overview of gender relations in 19th century Paris. This study may have been conducted with historical information gleaned through novels, too. Finally, the cultural context of Figure of a Mother Holding a Child was explored. Although this discussion was centered on political, societal and cultural contexts of three works of art, it was clarified as part of the discussion that an artwork may be appreciated in any number of ways. There are countless theories and innumerable stories about the history of mankind. What is more, every piece of artwork tells a tale about the space and time of its artist alone. The work lives on as students of art and historians delve into paintings over and again. Any number of assumptions could be made about the situational context of an artwork thus. Perhaps, therefore, it is reasonable to state that a work of art has as many minds as interpreters as the number of people that consider the artwork through the passage of time. Moreover, only assumptions can be made about the situational context of an artwork. History is best left to those that lived it. After all, we only make educated guesses about what people of the past lived through to gather useful information for our lives in the present. Works Cited Bennett, Caroline. â€Å"Art and Architecture. † Viva Travel Guides. 11 Nov 2008. . â€Å"Figurative Sculpture. † Central African Art. 11 Nov 2008. . â€Å"Figure of a Mother Holding a Child. † Brooklyn Museum Collections: African Art. 11 Nov 2008. . Lea, Henry C. â€Å"Inquisition in 17th Century Peru: Cases of Portuguese Judaizers. † Modern History Sourcebook. 11 Nov 2008. . â€Å"Lulua Tribe: Democratic Republic of Congo. † For African Art. 2006. 11 Nov 2008. . Mancoff, Debra N. â€Å"Paintings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir. † How Stuff Works. 2008. 11 Nov 2008. .

Great Expectations Essay

Charles Dickens is best known as a writer of novels, many of which are read today and regularly used in stage productions, on television and in the cinema. He was also a journalist, he used his stories to get across what he felt were important messages.  Although he tried to get his message across he wanted his work to be entertaining. In so doing, he created some of the most well remembered characters of English literature, such as Mr Pickwick, Oliver Twist and Ebenezer Scrooge. Dickens wrote about Victorian life and particularly Victorian life in London. Dickens campaigned for things he believed in like the welfare and education of children. He addressed the public in public speakings and through his writings.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Great Expectations†Ã‚  Chapter one  At the start of â€Å"Great Expectations† Charles Dickens introduces us to a boy called â€Å"Pip†. This name is explained in the novels very first sentence and stated that this is the name he is commonly called by in the second.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"My father’s family name being Pirrip and my Christian name Philip, my infant tongue could make both names nothing longer or more explicit than Pip. So, I called myself Pip, and came to be called Pip. Pip goes onto explain that he never saw his mother or father and so the audience straight away feels very sorry for this young boy. â€Å"As I never saw my father or my mother,†Ã‚  The setting in the first chapter is a graveyard with Pip looking at his father and mother’s tombstones. Pip must be quite imaginative as he uses the shape of the letters on his father’s tombstone to create a mental picture of what he and his mother was like. â€Å"The shape of the letters on my father’s, gave me an odd idea that he was a square, stout, dark man, with curly black hair. From the character and turn of the inscription, ‘ Also Georgina Wife of the Above ‘, I drew a childish conclusion that my mother was freckled and sickly.† We go on to learn that he also had five brothers that must of all died at an early age.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"To five little stone lozenges, each about a foot and a half long, which were arranged in a neat row beside their grave, and were sacred to the memory of five little brothers of mine-who gave up trying to get a living exceedingly early in that universal struggle†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Ã‚  Throughout this novel the narrator is a young Pip and this is to make the reader feel empathy for the character for the whole of the novel. It also means there is a childish view on things and a lack of understanding. For example in the graveyard he can’t really understand why his father, mother and five brothers were dead and he was still alive. Although the reader feels sad because of this Pip is not that sad as he can’t understand the situation fully. When the focus switches to the scenery and Pip starts to describe the churchyard and its view. Pip begins to cry and almost out of nowhere â€Å"Hold your noise!† Cried a terrible voice, as a man started up from among the graves at he side of the church porch. â€Å"Keep still, you little devil, or I’ll cut your throat!†Ã‚  This is the introduction of Magwitch an escaped convict from a nearby jail. In Charles Dickens days capital punishment was enforced in the United Kingdom and conditions in jails were very poor an so Magwitch would have been n a terrible condition. First impressions of Magwitch are that he is an evil man for the obvious reason of him being a convict. He has no sympathy for others. â€Å"A fearful man, all in coarse grey, with a great iron on his leg.† The iron is the giveaway that he is an escaped convict. The iron is like a clamp that will have maybe been connected to a ball and chain.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"A man with no hat, and with broken shoes, with an old rag tied round his head.† This shows the terrible condition that he is in.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"A man who had been soaked in water, and smothered in mud and lamed by stones, and cut by flints, and stung by nettles, and torn by briars; who limped, and shivered, and glared and growled; and those teeth chattered in his head as he seized me by the chin.† These things are what make me think he has escaped.  Magwitch is also quite a violent man, Pip is only a young boy and he feels it necessary to grab him by the throat and threaten him. He bullies a young child into getting things for him.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"After darkly looking at his leg and at me several times, he came closer to my tombstone, took me both arms, tilted me back as far as he could hold me; so that his eyes looked most powerfully into mine, and mine looked most helplessly up into his.†Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"You know what a file is?†Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"And you know what wittles is?†

The Duomo of Florence essays

The Duomo of Florence essays In the Florence Cathedral, Florence, Italy, there is a cathedral church whose octagonal dome, built without the aid of scaffolding, was considered the greatest engineering feat of the early Renaissance. Dedicated to Santa Maria del Fiore, Our Lady of the Flower, it is also known as the Duomo, after the Italian word for cathedral. Created by many great Early Modern artists, this piece of architecture is a perfect example the Renaissance style. We can come to a better understanding of why this is so by exploring what the characteristics of the Renaissance style. To understand the properties of the Florence Cathedral that fit the Early Modern style, I will begin with a description and its history. The cathedral's architectural style, although greatly influenced by French Gothic elements remained distinctively Florentine, especially the geometric patterns of red, green, and white marble on the building's exterior. Construction of the cathedral began in 1294 on the site of a Christian church founded in the 6th or 7th century and continued until 1436. Several celebrated Italian architects were involved in the project, including Giotto, Arnolfo di Cambio, Andrea Orcagna, and, most notably, Filippo Brunelleschi, who was responsible for designing and building the dome. The cathedral's exterior is ornamented with sculpture and mosaics by Italian artists Donatello, Nanni di Banco, and Domenico Ghirlandaio, among others. The building's stained-glass windows are the work of the Italian architect and artist Lorenzo Ghiberti, and the interior is dec orated with sculpture and fresco paintings by several Renaissance masters. Construction of the campanile (bell tower), situated to the right of the entrance to the Duomo, was begun by Giotto and completed according to his plans in 1359, after his death. Nearly 278 ft high, the campanile is embellished with red, green, and white marble panels of relief sculpture by Italian artists ...