Art History Lecture w/ Tom Richards – Hands

An Installment in the Art History related content on The FAA Collective Patreon

Dear Patrons,

This week on The FAA Collective Patreon we are excited to present you with a fantastic art history lecture with Tom Richards, Assistant Director of The Florence Academy of Art! Focusing deeply on a specific theme, Richards takes us on a journey through time, through art history, exploring figurative art and how the hands depicted in the artworks contribute to the whole, in both sculpture and painting. When looking at paintings and sculptures, many people would focus only on the anatomy, or the likeness of a portrait, yet in this lecture Richards shows how hands, complex structures that are unique to each individual, and hold no small portion of the identity of a person, can be used as narrative, compositional, and psychological tools in the hands of an artist. Deftly combining historical context for the artists and artworks shown with the keen eye and knowledge from years of working as a painter, Richards guides the viewer through a meditation on an often overlooked element in many paintings and sculptures. We hope you thoroughly enjoy this lecture!

Information on the artworks discussed can be found below!

Tom Richards was born in London in 1982. In addition to his experience as a painter he has an MA in Art History from the University of St Andrews, graduating in 2005. Since then Tom has divided his time between London and Florence. In recent years he has exhibited his work in London and undertaken numerous commissions in Europe and beyond. Before joining The Florence Academy of Art he trained extensively with Charles H. Cecil, a former colleague of Daniel Graves.

To view his work please visit:

https://www.instagram.com/tominflorence/

https://www.tawrichards.com/

https://www.florenceacademyofart.com/alumni-gallery/tom-richards/

Selected artworks shown in the video lecture:

Farnese Hercules, Glykon, reproduced from the original by Lysippos, Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples, Italy

Compianto sul Cristo morto, Niccolò dell'Arca, Chiesa di S. Maria della vita, Bologna, Italy

Madonna Panciatichi, Desiderio da Settignano, Bargello Museum, Florence, Italy

Dama col mazzolino, Andrea del Verrocchio, Bargello Museum, Forence Italy

Ratto di Proserpina, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Galleria Borghese, Rome, Italy

The Penitent Magdalene, Titian, Pitti Palace, Florence, Italy

Christ and St. Thomas, Andrea del Verrocchio, Orsanmichele, Florence, Italy

Noli me Tangere, Titian, The National Gallery, London, UK

Deposition of Christ, Bronzino, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Besançon, France

Blind Old Beggar, Jusepe de Ribera, Allen Memorial Art Museum (AMAM), Oberlin, OH, US

Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata, Giotto, Louvre, Paris, France

Weeping Woman, Vincent van Gogh, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, US

Apollo and Marsyas, Jusepe de Ribera, Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Belgium

The Deposition from the Cross, Jacopo Pontormo, Church of Santa Felicita, Florence, Italy

Supper at Emmaus, Titian, Louvre, Paris, France

Gentleman with a Gold Chain, Jacopo Tintoretto, Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain

Marten Ryckaert, Anthony van Dyck, Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain

Portrait of a Lady, Anthony van Dyck, Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan, Italy

The Return of the Prodigal Son, Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia

Portrait of François Langlois, Anthony van Dyck, The National Gallery, London, UK

Charles Stewart, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry, Sir Thomas Lawrence, The National Gallery, London, UK

Miss Elizabeth Haverfield, Thomas Gainsborough, The Wallace Collection, London, UK

Banquet of the Officers of the St George Civic Guard, Frans Hals, Frans Halsmuseum, Haarlem, The Netherlands

Portrait of painter Elizabeta Nikolayevna Zvantseva, Ilya Repin, Ateneum, Helsinki, Finland

Margaret, Countess of Blessington, Sir Thomas Lawrence, The Wallace Collection, London, UK

A Lady with a Squirrel and a Starling, Hans Holbein the Younger, The National Gallery, London, UK

Portrait of Innocent X, Diego Velázquez, The Doria Pamphilj Gallery, Rome, Italy

Las Meninas, Diego Velázquez, Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain

Portrait of Bartolomeo Panciatichi, Bronzino, Uffizi, Florence, Italy

Henry James, John Singer Sargent, National Portrait Gallery, London, UK

Mrs. George Mosenthal, John Singer Sargent, Private Collection

Carolus-Duran, John Singer Sargent, The Clark Institute, Williamstown, MA, US

The Jewish Bride, Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands