Raphael for example his art work shows his ability to adapt to new styles and use his own personal style to create these amazing paintings. His piece the Madonna and Child with Book was created during the High Renaissance, displaying the techniques used in this period.

Overall experience has given me a new found appreciation for art. Taking a art class is great but being able to see art in person compared to a projector screen is way better to understand the emotion and appreciation of art pieces that have been created by these artistic genius's.

The Man behind the Painting of the Madonna's...

For those who don't know Raffaello Sanzio, many know him by Raphael. He is an artistic genius known for his paintings. His father, Giovanni Santi, was a painter as well and taught Raphael his techniques. He later joined a workshop of Perugino, there he stayed learning the classicism if the 15th century and humanist ideas. He borrowed these ideas with his own personal style and created works in this period. It showed his ability to create works of art that displayed grace, harmony and clarity. Later on he moved to Florence where he realized his style was dated. He followed Leonardo's ideas and created a series of Madonnas. Raphael was known for his Madonna Paintings, but also created many other art pieces as well.

Madonna and Child With Book, after researching this painting, he depicted this image as a mediation piece. Raphael preferred clairity in his images, using simplicity, naturalistic and triangular compositions.

European Art: 16th Century

Raphael's work, The Madonna and Child with Book.

Before going to the Norton Simon Museum, I visited their website to view the collections they had for European Art in the 16th Century. I came upon Raphael's painting of the Madonna, so I new ahead of time which painting I was going to use for my "A Project".

As I'm standing in front of this painting, realizing that I had imagined the piece to be a lot larger in person, obviously, my assumptions were wrong. Continuing to study the Madonna and Child with Book, I felt at ease, peaceful and sort of a tranquility to the painting.His use of color like blues would give the impression of tranquility like the water and sky. The Madonna's face expression and the serene landscape in the background prove a sense of calmness that Raphael was trying to show. The Madonna and child looked very naturalistic, by the way the child was painted his body looks like of a real child. One thing that I have to point out is the position of the Madonnas arm, it looks un-natural, the arm would not be placed at that angle, whereas a persons arm would look completely different. Like a typical Madonna painting she wears a deep blue robe, which the sihouette enclose herself and the child. Also, the way the figures are placed shows a triangular composition.

My Visit To The Norton Simon Museum

Sat. 10/09/10

On my way to the Norton Simon Museum I find myself lost in the city of Pasadena, wondering where is this Museum and how long is it going to take to get there. After finding the very Museum that seemed to be takin forever just to arrive, I ended up passing the entrance and had to completely drive around just to get back. Parking by the way was a mess, at this point things weren't going to plan, but finally after the headache, reaching my destination was a relief.


 

As I'm walking towards the entrance I noticed life sized sculptures that looked to be made of bronze. As we walked in I wondered off to the European Art of the 19th Century where I seemed to be more interested to a particular artist by the name Edgar Degas. His paintings and sculptures that reflect modern life for example "Dancers in the Rotunda at the Paris Opera". His use of pastels and art of dancing is what connected me to this piece, mostly because of my passion for dancing.

Continuing my way through the collections, I was able to look at all the works of art that were displayed in the Norton Simon Museum. After seeing all the pieces, I went back to the collection of European Art:14th-16th Century, where works of Early Renaissance, High Renaissance and Mannerism were displayed. Since our discussion of class was in this time period, it was better for me to chose from an artist that was discussed in class, for the reason that I had more background information about the artist.