Rubens and the birth of Baroque
Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) was one of the preeminent representatives of Baroque art flourished in Europe during the 17th century. Rubens and his studio pioneered a new style with a considerable number of paintings, and exerted a powerful influence on his contemporaries and artists of later generations. Rubens was also a skilled diplomat, who engaged in negotiations with royal courts throughout Europe.
This exhibition focuses on Rubens’ relationship with Italy, where ancient and Renaissance art once thrived. Rome was also the center of Baroque art. Raised in Antwerp, Rubens became familiar with ancient culture as a child and had a special admiration for Italy. Beginning in 1600, he lived in the country intermittently for a period of eight years, and made great advances in his painting by studying the works he saw there. Along with Rubens’ own paintings, this exhibition presents ancient sculptures, and works by Italian artists from the 16th century and the Baroque era. While examining what Rubens learned from Italy, it will shed light on the artist’s ties to the Italian Baroque. This will be the largest display of Rubens’ art in recent years in Japan.
Baroque (stylized as BAROQUE and previously as baroque) is a Japanese rock band originally formed in 2001. Originally signed to S'Cube, a sub-division of the independent record label Free-Will, the band later switched to the company's Firewall Division, with distribution handled by Sony Music Entertainment Japan. After releasing two albums, along with a greatest hits compilation, several singles and home video releases, baroque disbanded in 2004.
They became the newest band to play at the prestigious Nippon Budokan after just two years and three months into their career. They have also been credited as one of the bands that started oshare kei, a subgenre of visual kei that features more colorful outfits and utilizes upbeat and "happy" music.
baroque reunited for a free concert in 2011 and fully restarted activities in January 2012. That same month, baroque became the first independent band to have three of the top five positions on Oricon's main chart. However, bassist Bansaku left the group several months later and guitarist Akira followed in 2013, leaving only the duo of vocalist ryo and guitarist Kei.
Birth, also known as parturition, is the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring. In mammals, the process is initiated by hormones which cause the muscular walls of the uterus to contract, expelling the fetus at a developmental stage when it is ready to feed and breathe. In some species the offspring is precocial and can move around almost immediately after birth but in others it is altricial and completely dependent on parenting. In marsupials, the fetus is born at a very immature stage after a short gestational period and develops further in its mother's pouch.
It is not only mammals that give birth. Some reptiles, amphibians, fish and invertebrates carry their developing young inside them. Some of these are ovoviviparous, with the eggs being hatched inside the mother's body, and others are viviparous, with the embryo developing inside her body, as in mammals.
Large mammals, such as primates, cattle, horses, some antelopes, giraffes, hippopotamuses, rhinoceroses, elephants, seals, whales, dolphins, and porpoises, generally are pregnant with one offspring at a time, although they may have twin or multiple births on occasion. In these large animals, the birth process is similar to that of a human, though in most the offspring is precocial. This means that it is born in a more advanced state than a human baby and is able to stand, walk and run (or swim in the case of an aquatic mammal) shortly after birth. In the case of whales, dolphins and porpoises, the single calf is normally born tail first which minimises the risk of drowning. The mother encourages the newborn calf to rise to the surface of the water to breathe.
Most smaller mammals have multiple births, producing litters of young which may number twelve or more. In these animals, each fetus is surrounded by its own amniotic sac and has a separate placenta. This separates from the wall of the uterus during labor and the fetus works its way towards the birth canal.
Humans usually produce a single offspring at a time. The mother's body is prepared for birth by hormones produced by the pituitary gland, the ovary and the placenta. The total gestation period from fertilization to birth is normally about 38 weeks (birth usually occurring 40 weeks after the last menstrual period). The normal process of childbirth takes several hours and has three stages. The first stage starts with a series of involuntary contractions of the muscular walls of the uterus and gradual dilation of the cervix. The active phase of the first stage starts when the cervix is dilated more than about 4 cm in diameter and is when the contractions become stronger and regular. The head (or the buttocks in a breech birth) of the baby is pushed against the cervix, which gradually dilates until is fully dilated at 10 cm diameter. At some time, the amniotic sac bursts and the amniotic fluid escapes (also known as rupture of membranes or breaking the water). In stage two, starting when the cervix is fully dilated, strong contractions of the uterus and active pushing by the mother expels the baby out through the vagina, which during this stage of labour is called a birth canal as this passage contains a baby, and the baby is born with umbilical cord attached. In stage three, which begins after the birth of the baby, further contractions expel the placenta, amniotic sac, and the remaining portion of the umbilical cord usually within a few minutes.