Saint Francis in the Desert is a mixed oil and tempera painting by Giovanni Bellini. He painted it in Venice, Italy around 1477-1479. The painting portrays Saint Francis standing on a rock, facing the sky with his palms face out and toward the sky. Saint Francis is depicted to be communing with God in a landscape filled with references to the crucifixion and to Moses, whom the Franciscans identified with their founder. The building behind Saint Francis is believed to be a monastery. There is some speculation as to what exactly Saint Francis is doing however. Many say the scene is of religious ecstasy and that Saint Francis is having some sort of worldly experience: receiving Christ’s wounds. At the time, monks were known as humble people and those who renounced worldly goodsThis painting is interesting because it demonstrates the access to materials the Venetians had. This is one of the earliest paintings in oil, and the Venetians were one of the first to have access to oil due to their central location around other nations. The funny reason why this painting was the most interesting for me is because I had just learned about it in my Art History class about two weeks prior to visiting the Frick Collection. I had studied in depth the art of the Renaissance in Quattrocento Italy so at the Frick I was actually able to recognize the painting immediately.

I first read the ebook version of The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton, and quite frankly I really enjoyed the plot. Wharton’s writing style strongly resemble that of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, and many of the themes from The Age of Innocence overlap with that of The Great Gatsby. Both authors seem to really have a passion for writing about the complications and imperfections of society and love. The two texts also anchor on detailing the convoluted social expectations during this time as well as the juxtaposition of a character’s facade and internal thoughts.

I then went on to read American Rhapsody by Claudia Roth Pierpont. Pierpont lays down a biography of all the twist and turns in Edith Wharton’s personal life and explains the influences it had on Wharton’s writing. When I read the assignment’s question, I was confused as to what I was suppose to write about. The prompt was “determine whether Claudia got Wharton’s writing style right”. My initial reaction, after reading the first couple pages of Pierpont’s essay, was that the essay didn’t explicitly comment on Wharton’s writing style. Pierpont simply put several of Wharton’s writing into context by explaining what was happening in Wharton’s life prior and following Wharton’s completion of a new literary piece. But, after reading more of Pierpont’s essay, I realized that Pierpont subtly inputs her own view of Wharton’s writing style throughout her essay, which I only detected after a more careful second read. Even in the opening of her essay, Pierpont describes “Beatrice Palmato”, a story written by Wharton, as “exquisitely detailed and explicitly pornographic” (13). Although this comment isn’t about The Age of Innocence, Wharton noticeable seems to “exquisitely detail” certain points. For example in Chapter 3, Wharton really gets lost in describing the drawing room and everything that the women are wearing.

Only at the end of Pierpont’s essay does she explicitly state that Wharton’s writing has “a strong plot, a brilliant but self-divided heroine, and a full supply of negative heroes, and a smash surprise a the end” (33).  I definitely feel that Wharton’s writing has a strong plot because it hooks the reader right off the bat and continues to draw in the reader as the plot progresses. In The Age of Innocence, I feel that Madame Ellen Olenska shone through as the “brilliant but self-divided heroine” because even though she does agree to have an affair with Newland Archer and many of her actions are seen as unconventional, she has clear values and boundaries set for herself , which is exhibited when she declines Archer’s offer to run away together.

Lastly, after getting an understanding of what Wharton’s life was like, I had a better grasp on the reason why Wharton choses to write about a racy topic (the protagonist commits adultery).

Prompt: I’d like you to say what captures you about the image–that is, about what can be distributed infinitely through digital sources–and what is important about the print itself as a unique object.

This image is a daguerrotype by Vera Lutter. The daguerrotype was one of the first practical methods to obtain a permanent image with a camera. One creates this type of image with a silver-plated copper plate, which is then sensitized to light using an iodine and bromine coating. Daguerre then discovered that the latent image on an exposed plate could be brought out or “developed” with the fumes from warmed mercury. The use of mercury vapor meant that photographic images could be produced in twenty to thirty minutes rather than hours.

I chose this image because of its significance in my life and because of it’s ability to capture the essence of the bridge within the picture. The rugged wire cables, huge granite blocks, and graffiti tags along the metal beams perfectly capture the Brooklyn vibe. While the contrasting black and white colors help illustrate the grandiosity of the bridge. Even the wooden walkway is clearly depicted in this photo, crossed by many since the bridge’s conception, yet empty in this picture. Perhaps, this photo is meant to capture the solitude one can experience even when they are in one of the most populated cities in the world.