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Amerigo Vespucci

The explorer Amerigo Vespucci was born in the town of Florence in Italy in the year 1454. Vespucci traveled to Spain when he was older and went on his first exploration for the country in 1499. During this expedition, he explored the area of the mouth of the [|Amazon River and the coast of South America]. However, Vespucci's [|second voyage] ,in 1501, was not for Spain; on his next voyage, he sailed for Portugal to investigate the coast of South America yet again, but this time he sailed much closer to Tierra del Fuego. Throughout this second trip, he wrote letters to a friend in Europe about culture; within these letters, he also stated his finding that these new lands were definitely not part of Asia. In 1508, Vespucci was named Pilot Major of Spain. Unfortunately, Vespucci's third voyage across the Atlantic was his last. In 1512, Vespucci contracted malaria and passed away at the age of 58.

Michelangelo - The Rebellious Slave

The statue of The Rebellious Slave is of a slave whose body appears to be in a aggressive predicament. The expression on the face of the slave demonstrates his yearning to be free of this struggle. Michelangelo paid close attention to detail while sculpting, as well; in the man's upper body, the viewer can see each muscle bulging from the skin, straining to be free of its constraints. Also, this sculpture illustrates the use of realism in that this seems like it could be a logical scene from this time period, and the body looks like a natural body should. This piece of art is all marble, approximately seven feet tall, and was made between 1513 and 1516. It was supposed to stand beside another statue The Dying Slave at the tomb of Pope Julius II, however both statues were unfinished and the project of the pope's tomb was terminated. Currently, The Rebellious Slave is housed at the Louvre in Paris.

This statue is an ideal piece of Renaissance art for numerous reasons. Classicism is seen in this sculpture because of its realistic appearance and its similarities with ancient Roman and Greek statues; typically, Roman and Greek statues would be nude alike with this one, and also incredibly detailed. In addition, this sculpture is associated with the theme of humanism during the Renaissance. Throughout the Middle Ages, all works of art revolved around religion and holy subjects. On the contrary, during the Renaissance, art focused more on everyday people, like the above sculpture. Michelangelo chose not to sculpt a religious person, but instead an everyday, ordinary slave; he also accurately depicted the expression in the slaves face and the manner in which a slave would be dressed. The Rebellious Slave is a brilliant sculpture and is clearly one of the Renaissance in Europe.