My Kid Could Paint That

Pontormo, Joseph with Jacob in Egypt, 1518

Pontormo uses his manneristics ways to insert four seperate scenes into one cohesive painting. All the scenes work together and make the painting flow in a certain direction. The first scene in the bottom left corner is Joseph introducing his father to the Pharoah of Egypt. Jacob is on his hands and knees on the ground out of respect for the Pharoah. Joseph is wearing a purple robe and pointing to his father on the ground.

The next scene in in the bottom right corner is Joseph sitting on a cart listening to a message about his father, read to him by a messenger who is on his knees next to Josephs cart. . This message is thought to be the news of his fathers illness. Joseph is sitting and holding his eldest son Ephraim on his lap.

The third scene is Joseph in the same clothing as the previous scenes walking up the mysterious stair case with his son. The stairs do not seem to be going anywhere in particular, a very maneristic thing to do. Pontormo is not accurately representing a set of stairs but puts them in the painting as a transition for all the scenes to cohesivly fit together as one piece of work.

The fourth scene is on the balcony at the top right of the painting. Jacob is on his death bed and is blessing his son and all of his grandsons before he passes away. All the scenes work in a way to bring the viewers eyes to the scene at the top.

Pontormo painted this painting for Pier Francesco Borgherini in his bridal chamber. This painting was a set of four panels all portraying scenes from the book of Genesis. Pontormo brings his own life in to the painting by inserting his apprentice Bronzino as a young boy sitting on the stairs in the front wearing a brown coat. Overall this painting is a great representation of four scenes from Josephs life and an example of a manneristic painting at work.

Pieter Bruegel, Peasant Wedding, 1567

Here we have a classic work of Bruegel where the title is barely present in the painting. The viewer can assume the festivities occurring is the reception of a wedding, as the title suggests. But where are the bride and groom? A necessity that a wedding needs to occur. You can presume that in the top left corner where a crowd of people are gathered is where the wedding occurred, and the tables with all the food and merriness is where the celebration takes place.

Drunk in Love, by the incredible queen herself, is a great connection to Peasant Wedding. Although Beyonce is known for being the queen and having nothing to do with a lonely peasant, I believe she and Bruegel could be good friends. They both were famous of their times and put out fantastic works that made the viewers and listeners wanting more and more.

Drunk In Love by Beyonce connects with Pieter Bruegel's Peasant Wedding in many ways. First Beyonce talks about being in love. That is what is pictured in this painting. Although the love is not being shown you can assume there is love in the air, or why else would there be a wedding occurring. Also in Beyonce's Drunk in Love we can find out from the title people are drinking and being merry. Just like the people in Peasant Wedding drinking and celebrating the recent wedding festivities.

Editor's Note: While we love Queen Bey, we also know that the video for said song runs towards the racy (if not raunchy). Thus, if you so desire to listen to a clean version...you know what to do.

Durer, Nemesis (The Great Fortune), 1503

Henri Matisse, Femme Au Chapeau, 1905

Henri Matisse depicts his wife Amelie Matisse in his 1905 Femme Au Chapeau or Woman with Hat. She poses with a fantastic fan and honestly a fabulous hat that I wish was a part of my wardrobe. Amelie Matisse sayid in a 1906 interview that her outfit was completely black when her husband painted her. She always wore black, but her husbands eclectic mind put this painting to a new level of excellence.

Little did I know while researching crazy hats that this painting that I loved was a transition point in Matisse's career. This painting is typical of a Matisse, the brush strokes and the colors make it unmistakable. This painting is different because it was the star of his 1905 show that started a modern art movement called fauvism. Fauvism is French for "wild beasts." This art movement was an avant-garde style that used color to emphasize certain qualities of the subject. Another famous artist of this time was Andre Derain. The subject was simple but had a certain amount of abstract to set it apart from other works of modern art. 

Piero Della Francesca, Brera Altarpiece, 1472

At first glace Piero Della Francesca's Brera Alterpiece of Madonna and Child looks like an awkward family portrait including the Virgin Mary with a very large lap. For some reason there is also an egg on a string above Mary and Baby Jesus.

While reading Michael Baxandall's Painting and Experience in Fifteenth Century Italy, we learn to look at the painting with a more critical eye. Baxandall taught us to look at the stance of a the figures and where they are placed. The Angels and Saints are focused around Mary and Jesus putting the focus on the center of the painting. It is thought that St. John the Baptist and St. Francis are in the group symbolizing a momentous occasion. He would also say look at the colors. Mary is wearing her typical blue robe,and Jesus has a necklace of red beads with the foreshadowing and symbol of blood.

The egg above is thought to be a round ostrich egg. This could be symbolizing the fertility and creation. Although I enjoy looking at this painting I cannot get over how awkward and uncomfortable the people look. How can Mary balance Jesus like that? Why is the man at the bottom in a full ninty degree angle? And of course, why is there and egg on a string?

Raphael, School of Athens, 1511

In Raphael's School of Athens, Epicurus is depicted on the left side reading a brown book. He is thought to have lived from 340-270 B.C.E. Epicurus is the founder of the philosophy called Epicureanism.

Ghirlandaio, Portrait of a Young Girl, 1490

Domenico Ghirlandaio, while not always an exceptional artist, loved to paint and to make people happy. He is said to have accepted every project that came to him in his workshop. He made an effort to complete all works by himself and rarely used the help of his apprentices, one of whom was Michelangelo.

This painting, Portrait of a Young Girl, was painted in 1490 not for a chapel or a famous family but for this young girl. He knew he would not become famous over a work like this, but did not care for fame but instead to please his customers.

Domenico Ghirlandaio was born Domenico di Tommaso di Currado di Doffo Bigordi. Him and his brothers changed their names to Ghirlandaio when they became famous for making hair garlands for young Florentine girls. Ghirlandaio is an adaptation of garland-maker in Italian. This young Florentine girl is wearing one of these hair garlands.

Domenico Ghirlandaio, Sketch of the Colosseum. 1400s

I know this is not a painting, nor is this Ghirlandaio's most famous work, but it captures what type of artist he was and how he was not an impostor or fake.

It was said that Ghirlandaio was an expert at sketching without a ruler or compass. This is not typical of most painters or artists of this time. He was able to work with just his eyes and did not need to measure his subject. He sketched objects such as columns, birds, amphitheaters, and arches.  These were all studied and found to be perfect in proportion. Sometimes he would even sketch a little person next to his subject so the viewer can see that the proportions were perfectly even.

This sketch of the Colosseum is very impressive. Compared to a picture from now you can see no difference in the location of cracks, archways, and windows. It looks as if he used a ruler or a compass to get the measurements exact, but when you find out he did not, you cannot help yourself from being stunned and amazed.

Giotto, Marriage of the Virgin, 1305

Marriage of the Virgin was painted by Giotto in 1305, the painting now hangs in the Arena Chapel in Padua, Italy. I hope I am not the only one who has looked at this painted and immediately thought "wait Mary the Virgin got married? Since when?" that would be embarrassing. With some research I found out it is common knowledge that Mary was married to Joseph. I have already shown my lack of knowledge of The New Testament, but it appears Mary to pregnant. Her forearm and hand rest on her stomach, an act that many pregnant women do.

I looked at the painting and immediately knew it was by Giotto. The blue background is a signature color of Giotto's that appears in many of his paintings. The structure behind the marriage ceremony looks similar to other buildings in Giotto's work. This structure draws your attention to Mary and Joseph. It encompasses them and makes them the center of the fresco.

Rene Magritte, Le Coup au Coeur, 1952

When seeing Rene Magritte's Le Coup au Coeur it immediately reminded me of the fifth novel on the fourth day of The Decameron. The tale is about a young women named Isabella who falls in love with a man, but she must keep it secret from her brothers. Her brothers find out that she has a secret affair, and they go off to kill Lorenzo, Isabella's lover. She finds out and is heartbroken. Lorenzo comes to her in a dream and she figures out the truth. Isabella, enticed by her love, goes to where he was killed by her brothers and digs up her lovers body. She cuts off his head, wraps it in a napkin, and brings it back to her room where she plants it in a basil pot. Isabella becomes obsessed with her basil and does nothing else but tend to it and water it. He brothers become infuriated with her obsession and take her prized basil plant away. She dies a few days later from being heartbroken.

Le Coup au Coeur in French translates to The Blow to the Heart. This is exactly what happens to Isabella, she is in love with Lorenzo but takes a blow to the heart when her selfish brothers viciously murder him. The bright and vivid rose symbolizes the love Isabella has for Lorenzo and later her basil plant. The basil plant flourished with all the care Isabella put in to it. The brilliant rose dazzles the viewers to see love, but the thorns are replaced by a stinging dagger. The dagger is a symbol for the hatred Isabella had for her brothers and for her lose of her love.

Edouard Manet, La Rue Mosnier aux Drapeaux,  1878