Monday, February 18, 2013

Michelangelo-The Creation of Adam


This beautiful fresco by Michelangelo Is considered the most famous and widely know part of the celing of the Sistine Chaple (painted circa 1512- 4th panel). This part of the fresco is believed to depict the narrative of the book of Genisis in which God gives the spark of life to to Adam (The first man). Actually, according to the Bible scripture God actually BREATHS the life into Adam...but many errors have been depicted in Michelangelo's works (according to theorist it is one of Michelangelo's most popular traits, which in turn makes his pieces stronger) The point where Adam and Gods fingers are almost touching is essentually God giving Adam life, I like that Michelangelo didnt need to put a spark or some type of light between the fingers to show the magnitude of this moment in time, the whole piece itself depicts that at its fullest. The divine energy of God is depited in God's flowing hair and beard, and also to me it shows the power and strong effect this moment will have on the world.
To me this piece (although inaccurate according to the bible) is very powerful overall, it hasa sence of power and movement like we are watching the moment actually happen in from of us (thanks to the swirling angles, the flowing rob, and the swaying of God's hair and beard). When i look at this piece it makes me want to stare at it like im waiting for there fingers to touch and to see what happens afterward. Michelangelo definetly knew what he was doing when he painted this section of the fresco.

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Jan van Eyck - Madonna of Chancellor Rolin (1)

Jan Van Eyck Madonna of chancellor Rolin
There are many things I like about Jan Van Eyck's artwork, the intricate detail in all of his pieces is absolutely outstanding and the subtlety of the symbolism in his work always have me looking for every detail when looking at his work. For this particular blog I chose  Jan Van Eyck's oil painting Madonna of Chancellor Rolin (dated 1435); in this piece Mother Mary is being crowned by a hoovering angel as she presents the baby Jesus to Chancllor Rolin.
The thing that I like over all about Eyck's pieces of art are the emotion portrayed in the peoples faces, its hard to interpret what exact emotions he was trying to get across to the viewer. I like this because as the viewer we can make a range assumptions and/or stories about what these people are feeling, making us want to keep looking and ultimately connect with the piece. I think Eyck may have done this on purpose so that the viewer wouldn't focus as much on the people in the piece but more on the details around them, whether its in the intricate detail of the clothing they are wearing, the scenery in the background ETC.