New York City and the Arts

The trip to the Metropolitan Museum was fascinating.  We explored Old master paintings, specifically Italian and Netherlandish paintings.  I’ve always loved the Renaissance stuff, so this guided tour was a real treat for me.  We also looked at some Medieval paintings, which don’t really cut it for me because I find they lack emotion.   For instance, looking at Berlinghiero’s Madonna and Child gives me a weird feeling.  Paintings such as these were used solely for religious, nonsecular purposes.  The early 1300s brought in a new variety of paintings, which can be seen in those more modern Madonna and Child paintings, in which the mother and child bear contact with one another and the child actually looks like a youth instead of a great symbol.  Giotto di Bondone’s paintings also portray religious figures as real people, which I think makes the paintings more beautiful when they convey more emotion.  This painting makes much more use of color, which is inviting to the eye, taking the audience more into consideration.

The 1400s encompasses my favorite paintings, those of the Renaissance.  These are different because they were commissioned by citizens instead of made for religious purposes.  One of my favorite paintings in this collection was the painting by Fra Filippo Lippi, who painted the profile of a woman and part of the profile of a man.  The story behind is supposedly that the girl is a soon to be bride being painted and her fiance decides last minute that he wants to be part of the painting and so Lippi probably offended, paints the man on the side, barely showing the groom.  I love stories of painters that express their dignity being offended through their art.  What I love most about this painting is the view outside the window- a lush green village scene.  The idea of putting landscaping in the background was daring at the time.

Perhaps my most favorite painting, as much as I enjoy Renaissance paintings, is one by a Baroque painter (1630’s), Peter Paul Rubens.  I really love how he celebrates the female body in almost all his paintings.  My favorite is the scene of him, his ravishing wife, and plump, healthy son in what seems to be an affluent garden.  The colors and lines of the painting all are directed towards his new wife.  Her youth is underlied by the fountain and the roses in the background.  The idea that the painting was done in appreciation of his love is chilling to me.  One distinction between this painting and others of different eras is the fact that Rubens lets his brush strokes show, which to me separates paintings from photographs.  The texture appears more beautiful to me when you can see the brushstrokes.  The painting is of a happy family in a luxurious setting; What else could one ask for?

Walking around the museum after the tour, I discovered some other paintings that I really enjoyed.  I love Greek mythology and so I really enjoy paintings about Greek Gods and Goddesses, especially because the stories behind the paintings are quite interesting.  One that I especially enjoyed was by Rubens, who I have decided is my favorite master painter.  He manages to capture the story of Venus and Adonis in his painting.  The painting shows a bare, beautiful woman who seems to be pleading for a lover to stay, while a child with wings does the same.  The background, which shows two dogs and his hunting spear makes it obvious that the man is going off to hunt.  Also, the ominous, dark sky seems to be in agreement with the woman who warns the man to stay.  The real story is that Venus (the blond woman) and Cupid (little boy) try to restrain Adonis from going off to hunt because they know he will be killed.  I think Ruben’s beautiful painting does a perfect job at depicting this lovely since between the Goddess and the mortal.

– Mariam Kirvalidze