Dec 09 2009

First painting, First Impression

Published by Mary Priolo under Michelangelo's First Painting

     To be completely honest I don’t know what I expected from Michelangelo’s first painting, and I was soon to find out as I walked in and a large sign directed me to it. I guess I was almost purposely expecting the opposite of what you would think; this large grand feat of paint. In doing so I was correct at first glance. It was a small oil painting of what appeared to be intertwining demons surrounding St. Anthony.

    The colors in this painting tell me that St. Anthony is the “victim” in this painting. The vibrant reds and greens seem to portray so much power, and St. Anthony is a faded shade of black. What caught my eye was the fact that Michelangelo painting a very calm face on St Anthony. To me this means two things, that it represents that no matter what power anything has you can always persevere, and be mentally sound. Also I felt it showed a touch of comfort from Michelangelo that a Saint will resist all evil, because if a saint cant how can he?

    I was fooled I expected the opposite and at first glace that is what I got but as with most great art, after careful study, I discovered a great intricate painting.

 imagesCALON4HR

5 responses so far




5 Responses to “First painting, First Impression”

  1.   # Ason 13 Dec 2009 at 1:55 am

    Cut him some slack Solana, he did this work when he was only 14 or so.

    That’s more talent than I had at 14.

  2.   # solanaon 12 Dec 2009 at 12:03 am

    I completely missed the work when I walked into the room. I really don’t think that should have happened, especially with Michelangelo’s FIRST work? I felt like it was a disappointment.

  3.   # Jason Waton 12 Dec 2009 at 12:00 am

    I thought it was interesting how so many people looked at the painting because of his name. Even though it wasn’t an amazing painting, it was definitely interesting.

  4.   # Angela Ngon 10 Dec 2009 at 12:41 am

    I thought that it would be bigger too, but Michelangelo isn’t as much of a painter as he is a sculptor. I think the scale of the original has to do with it. The size wasn’t a big disappointment, the fact that it was a copy was a bigger disappointment.

  5.   # Alina Pavlovaon 09 Dec 2009 at 5:30 pm

    true, the size of the painting was a huge disappointment. but as it was his first work, i think Michelangelo can be forgiven.
    and i find it interesting that you also analyzed the painting in terms of color – i did the same. except i thought that the white face of St. Anthony signified his purity among the evil ugly creatures he was surrounded by and was trying to be tempted by.