My Kid Could Paint That

This child doesn’t have a beard so much as mutton chops, but I could not resist including it. The image is jarring to see such a hairy person in royal garments. The child’s round cheeks combined with facial hair also creates confusion over her gender. 

The painting of the hair itself is good, it looks thin and soft like a baby’s should. Fontana was known for doing portraits of royal family members. She is considered the first female painter to work within the male sphere. Paintings of babies were often used like pictures are today; to show other family members how cute it is and that it is healthy. Think of the family of a distant cousin huddling around a canvas and cooing over the new family member. Fontana puts great detail into the clothing which shows status. The paper and writing also signifies status and education. There is a hint of a crown on top of the child’s head, signifying royal blood. Fontana is not my favorite painter, but she does not shy away from weird subject matter.

There is an actual condition where some children are born with hair all over their bodies, but usually it falls off and they look normal within a couple years. It is very interesting to see a child painted like this. I would have thought that the parents would have told Fontana to not paint the excess hair. The hair and beard make her look much older than she probably is.

Magnificent Beards

By HARPER TRUOG

It is only fitting that God have an awesome beard. The beard looks like thunder clouds; he must have created clouds in his beard’s image. God’s face even has a stormy expression. The beard invokes power and majesty; it is full and poofy. A great beard is an aspect of the divine. Michelangelo wanted God to look like the all-powerful deity he is, so God had to have a beard. The image of God as a muscular, bearded, man is the default setting in Renaissance art and in western culture.

The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel features nine scenes from the book of Genesis, The Creation of Adam being one. The ceiling shows just how talented Michelangelo is at creating a mass of figures. The Creation of Adam is one of the most famous scenes from the Sistine Chapel and has been turned into a Renaissance icon. Replicas and parodies have been produced for years. The image of God and Adam’s hands almost touching has become the image of God reaching down and impacting human lives. 

Caravaggio’s use of light never fails to impress. The skull on the desk is highlighted and bright against the dark, almost black, background. Skulls in paintings usually mean the ever presence of death. Saint Jerome translated the Bible into Latin, a dead language. He also died of old age and since that is the age being depicted in the this painting, he is close to death. The red cloak indicates his rank as cardinal even though there were no cardinals during his lifetime. It is added in for artistic interpretation because he was secretary to the pope and those people were depicted as cardinals.

Caravaggio rarely puts halos on holy figures, but he chose to in this painting. It is thin and small, but stands out against the dark background. Saint Jerome is associated with encyclopedias literature, so he is usually depicted writing a book. Saint Jerome’s beard adds to his experience living as a hermit. It’s long and shaggy signifying his religious status and living conditions.