Talented Tyrants

[Odovacar]

Some of the tyrants of the past, whom we know as blood-handed, had great artistic talents, in fact.

It's interesting because even if art doesn't make us to be heroes or martyrs, but it's supposed to makes us better persons.
Cruel mercenaries are not known from their poems..

However in the past things were different. Art in some period was a skill, important just as riding, or archery. (Even if not that important maybe..)

Henry VIII. We know him chiefly because he had unusual divorcing habits.
He also sent his formers friends to the gallows, to ease their headache. A pain which he frequently caused to his ministers with his new political ideas.

Do we know him as good lute player and composer too?



Another Henry. Henry IV, of Germany.
A cruel, red handed (and red-haired) sadist, who "inherited" Sicily from the normans. He had castrated a boy, and committed various other crimes, albeit definitely he did not discover the Big brother show.

-"É ich mich verzige ir verzige ich eher die Krone"
(Rather than giving up you, I would give up the crown)

-did he write..(His intention was rather poetic though..)

He had good poems, look after them if you are interested. I think this is very interesting.

Do you know talented tyrants like them?

[Edelward]

Strangely, you picked names related to film 'Henry' about a serial fellow.

I offer you Nero

[Entropy Judge]

Henry VIII was a tyrant?

[Dust be in Thy Mouth, Infidel!]

Henry VIII was a tyrant?

Yep. Executed a couple of his wives, peaceful rebels, ministers and holy men. Killed a lot in his final years, he'd gotten very suspicious of people by then.

[René Artois]

Yep. Executed a couple of his wives, peaceful rebels, ministers and holy men. Killed a lot in his final years, he'd gotten very suspicious of people by then.

Also the way he had people executed, he had his cook boiled to death in his own cooking pot and had some priests roasted over a fire. Also had people killed regularly for questioning his actions to him.

The final execution toll i can't remember exactly (and was in the tens of thousands), but it did average out to about 5 a day, for the 7 years of his reign. Also mass executions of 20-30 people, burning down chapels and killing priests.

[Odovacar]

Henry VIII was a tyrant?

Pretty much he was.
He had people executed with mock trials for not wanting to do as he commanded...

[SigniferOne]

Nero is definitely up there in this category. He was an incredible connoseur.

[Dr. Croccer]

Guess who.

[Jagdpanzer]

I wouldn't call Hitler a talented artist, Dr. Croccer. He was rejected twice by the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna because he was considered 'unfit for painting'. Afterwards he earned his living by selling picture postcards and simple paintings of familiar places in Vienna that he had painted himself.

Background: Hitler often claimed to be something of a frustrated artist, and art was certainly one of his major interests throughout his life. He probably sold several thousand paintings and postcards during his stay in Vienna, some of which turn up even today. Hitler himself made no great claims to greatness as a painter (architecture was something else....). There was a thriving market for his paintings during the Third Reich — and even today, there are eager collectors.
The best book on the matter is Frederic Spotts' Hitler and the Power of Aesthetics, which takes Hitler's artistic side seriously. Spotts comments: "He had a modicum of talent —— at least in sketching buildings —— but what technique he learned he picked up on his own. Like most amateurs, he began by painting simple landscapes. With neither innate originality nor professional training, he went on to imitate the watercolors and prints of the south German school and the postcard scenes —— everyday urban views —— that were popular at the time..... Moreover, he had to paint the sort of thing that an unknown and untalented amateur might be able to sell, and that was inexpensive reproductions of familiar places" (p. 125). Spotts' book also has color reproductions of four of Hitler's paintings.
These illustrations of Hitler's art are taken from a coffee table book on Hitler published during the Third Reich, several million copies of which were printed. These are the examples of Hitler's paintings one was likeliest to see during the Third Reich. One assumes these were thought the best of his work. It's interesting that they are all from 1914-1917. By 1938, Hitler decided to prohibit reproductions of his paintings.
The source: Adolf Hitler: Bilder aus dem Leben des Führers (Hamburg: Cigaretten Bilderdienst Hamburg/Bahrenfeld, 1936).

Source (with a few Hitler paintings): http://www.bytwerk.com/gpa/hitlerpaintings.htm

[Dr. Croccer]

I wouldn't call Hitler a talented artist, Dr. Croccer. He was rejected twice by the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna because he was considered 'unfit for painting'. Afterwards he earned his living by selling picture postcards and simple paintings of familiar places in Vienna that he had painted himself.


Source (with a few Hitler paintings): http://www.bytwerk.com/gpa/hitlerpaintings.htm

Yes. He was rejected because he couldn't not draw without a model of some sort, all his ''fantasy'' drawings were poorly done IIRC.

Still, his paintings are quite good.

[SaberHRE]

Yes. He was rejected because he couldn't not draw without a model of some sort, all his ''fantasy'' drawings were poorly done IIRC.

Still, his paintings are quite good.

The middle one is actually not bad. Are you sure it's Adolf's though?

[cupoftea]

Guess who.

It starts with a H... And it ends with "itler"?

[Markas]

Thing is it's supposed to be Himmler.

[Odovacar]

Thing is it's supposed to be Himmler.

Himmler before he got his first salary as SS boss

[bushbush]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor...2C_and_culture

completely useless emperor, but was a very reputable artist.

[conon394]

He was an incredible connoseur.

Surly you jest Sig?

[SigniferOne]

Surly you jest Sig?

Well only in part. Nero's taste wasn't as high as someone like Hadrian's, but on the other hand the Neronian period of art was a flourishing one under the Principate. A high level of painting was reached in painting the Domus Aurea, at least if we can judge from the surviving fragments of it.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

You also had a whole bunch of tragedians, historians, and poets appear during the epoch, either sponsoring Nero's programme or criticizing it (see Battle of the Books during Nero's Reign).

[Exarch]

Holy Roman Emperor, the one, the ONLY, Frederich II Hohenstaufen,
Stupor Mundi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stupor_Mundi

he wrote a book on falconry, could speak 5 languages, a superb statesman, an atheist/or at least an agnostic and frequently came to butt heads with the pope who hated his guts.

[Timoleon of Korinthos]

Dionysius the Elder of Syracuse was a mediocre poet, but he won once in the festival of Dionysius in Athens as a tragedian.

[Dust be in Thy Mouth, Infidel!]

But he composed Greensleeves, so that's ok then.