Armor of Infante Luis, Prince of Asturias (1707–1724)

 

I specifically wanted to choose this piece because I wanted to analyze armor. I believe it is fascinating to explore the role art plays in something like a suit of armor, where the actual art and aesthetic arguably takes on a secondary role, as its primary purpose is arguably function. This armor seems to strike a delicate balance between the two, as it retains the traits of quality armor, with a solid chest plate, shoulder guards,  waist guars, and helmet. Additionally, the chest piece and helmet appear to be cushioned, and the undergarment of the armor is made of a fine red silk, with the actual armor being embroidered with gold.

 

Armor

1535

German, possibly Brunswick.

I chose this piece as a continuation of my former discussion in regards to armor. I believe that it is fascinating to examine how military and social hierarchy potentially reflects in armor. While this isn’t a perfect example, since these pieces are 200 years apart, the former piece was armor gifted to Prince Luis by his great grandfather Louis XIV of France. That armor was meant for a king, unlike this one, which was meant for a common knight, and as such far less lavish.

Armor (Gusoku)

18th century

Unlike the previous two, where I chose them to engage in a discussion on how art impacts armor, I picked this one because I recognized it from a video game I played a month ago and got really excited. I could also talk about how different cultures have different styles of armor, but I would be lying if I didn’t talk about the game.

Partisan ca. 1700

French

This one just looks cool, so I picked it. I saw it and thought to myself “wow, what a fascinating sword spear thingamajig”. I doubt that it’s any more effective than a regular spear, but it deserves style points in my humble opinion.

Terracotta oinochoe (jug)mid-4th century B.C.

Greek, Attic

 

I typed classical into the search option on the met gallery tour webpage thing hoping to find a Da Vinci painting or something. Evidently, I did not, but I found this ancient Greek jug, and when I was in Greece I happened to purchase a small imitation terracotta jug for like six euros (I should’ve bought more to be honest), and it reminded me of that, so I decided to put it on.

Compositional Sketches for the Virgin Adoring the Christ Child, with and without the Infant St. John the Baptist; Diagram of a Perspectival Projection (recto); Slight Doodles (verso)1480–85

Leonardo da Vinci, Italian

Guys I figured it out. If you want to find a work by da Vinci on the Met’s website, don’t type in “Classical” like I did, but instead type in “da Vinci”. I should’ve done this the first time, but evidently I did not. Anyway, I picked this one because I don’t often get a look at da Vinci’s sketches of art. It’s usually either full paintings, or sketches of complex machinery or science, so seeing this art in process was quite fascinating.

 

L’Idea della Architettura 1615

Vincenzo Scamozzi Italian

I must be in a da Vinci mood because next I decided to look up Vitruvian Man. I don’t know what I was expecting, since that would probably come up when I typed in da Vinci if they had it. So I picked this one, because it’s kind of like the Vitruvian Man. I also picked it because I’ve never heard of this guy, so I was curious. He was actually an architect who made many contributions to the theory of architecture, and designed the Procuratie Nuove on the Piazza San Marco in Venice, which sounds impressive.

 

Leonardo da Vinci, the Vitruvian man, ca, 1490, pen and ink with wash over metal point
on paper; image courtesy of Gallerie dell’Accademia, Venice

After failing to find the Vitruvian Man at the Met, I thought to myself “hey wait a minute, why don’t I just find out what museum displays the Vitruvian man and go to their website. So I did, and evidently I was successful. I don’t know why I was so intent on getting da Vinci work in here though. Maybe it’s because I entered an essay writing contest in high school to win a trip to Italy, and the subject was da Vinci. I lost but I still must have some sort of fascination of sorts with his work since I keep looking it up.

 

Bronze helmet late 7th century B.C.

Greek, Cretan

After I found the Greek pottery, I wanted to explore more Greek stuff. However, I got sidetracked by my da Vinci side quest. But now I’m back on track. I chose this piece because I think it’s just a genuinely cool looking helmet. I like the pattern, it’s cool that it has turned green over time due to it being made of bronze, and it ties into my earlier discussions about armor.

 

Clearing Weather at Awazuca. 1832

Utagawa Hiroshige Japanese

I absolutely love how this looks. It’s a beautiful landscape view of a lake/bay. I love the boats coming in because I think they are really well printed. I like the choice of colors, primarily black and white only using blue for the water, orange to show the sun rising or setting over the mountain, and possibly some green in the trees. Speaking of the mountains, I love how they look in this. I just love how this whole thing looks, so I put it in my gallery.