When I found out I was going to look at Old Master paintings at the Met, I knew I was going to enjoy it. I had been lucky enough to go to Europe two years ago and for two weeks I saw an abundance of Old Master paintings. Listening to tour guides explain the meanings and techniques behind the paintings helped me learn how to analyze them myself. Thinking back to that experience, I was prepared for this visit and ready to see how my analysis skills grew. The woman who led our tour of the master paintings at the Met reminded me to look at several aspects of the paintings including: color, shadows, dimension, differences in stylings of the time periods, texture, light, positioning, realism, and perspective.
I thought it was interesting to see how the Madonna and Child painting evolved over the years. Berlinghiero’s Madonna and Child from the early 1200s was more iconic, with few colors, not so realistic, abstract, little individual expression, child looked like an adult, there was no relationship between them, and it was overall more symbolic instead of realistic. Duccio’s Madonna and Child had a closer relationship between the two figures and the child looked more like a child. Giovanni Bellini’s Madonna and Child explored light more than the others as well as asymmetry. The plumpness of the baby and the overall detail led to more realism in the painting. As the time periods passed, I was able to see how the paintings became more realistic with the incorporation of light, shadows, and details such as wrinkling in clothing and skin. Besides the fact that I was interested in the progression of the art, I was attracted to the Madonna and Child paintings for probably the same reason most people are; Every one can relate to having a mother, and it is captivating to see a relationship we can all understand portrayed in front of us.
Peter Paul Ruben’s painting of himself, his wife, and his child was another painting that caught my attention and left me with many questions. Why is the parrot in the corner and what does it mean? After looking this question up, a source said it symbolized perfect motherhood, but I do not understand how. The first thing that catches my eye in the painting in his wife, and that is probably due to the luminescence of her chest that stands out. Secondly, the child stands out due to his yellow attire placed next to his parents who are both wearing black. By highlighting the child, it is evident that the child is loved. Another thing to note is the eye contact of the figures. Peter Paul Rubens is looking at his wife, and his wife is looking at the child. At first I thought he was jealous of this child, that his love with his wife was distracted by his child’s presence. After looking at it for longer, I felt that their bodies were positioned too closely together for any hostility to be present. Peter Paul Ruben’s seems to be gazing at his wife as if she means everything to him. I found it interesting when the tour guide said that experts can identify artists by their brush strokes and this painting was an example of a time when they did that.
Nicole Lennon
