Category: Metropolitan Museum of Art-New York
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The Solemnity of Mary, The Holy Mother of God
Virgin and Child (c1670) Murillo. January 1st the Catholic church celebrates The Solemnity of Mary, The Holy Mother of God. In this painting, we see the baby Jesus at Mary’s breast and his focus is taken away from his mother for second, perhaps he notices our presence. Mary’s gaze has not left her son, she…
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The Baker’s Cart
The Baker’s Cart (1656) Jean Michelin. At first glance, I assumed this was another LeNain peasant painting. I was surprised to see that it was Jean Michelin, an artist that I have not encountered yet. The gallery card says that Michelin liked to pose peasants with dignity similarly to the LeNain brothers, but he did…
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A Peasant Family
A Peasant Family (c.1640) Antione LeNain. This is an interesting piece in the LeNain oeuvre as it shows a posed family indoors wearing what I’ll call upper-class peasant wear. They have on leather shoes and colorful jackets, and look a little better fed than the typical LeNain peasant painting. Comparing the clothing in the painting…
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The Fortune Teller
The Fortune Teller (c.1630) Georges De La Tour. The well dressed young man is hoping to gain something from having his fortune read. Instead, he is going to lose some of his valuable possessions. La Tour is cautioning us to not trust false wisdom, for it can lead to downfall.
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Diana Leaving for the Hunt
Diana Leaving for the Hunt (c.1635) Simon Vouet. I had to do a double take when I saw this painting for the first time at the @meteuropeanpaintings when I saw that the painting was by Vouet as this looks nothing like his work during his time in Rome. Vouet presents an idealized vision of the goddess and…
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Lute Player
Lute Player (c1625) Valentin de Boulogne. A finely dressed solider plays the Lute for us. From the Met’s Catalogue entry: Together with Jusepe de Ribera, Valentin de Boulogne was the greatest exponent of Caravaggism in Rome, where he spent virtually his entire career, establishing a reputation among collectors for his paintings of gamblers, fortune tellers,…
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The Musicians
The Musicians (c.1597) Caravaggio. On the surface, we seem to be interrupting three musicians in a cramped room, warming up before a performance. Beside them, a young Cupid divides a bunch of grapes, perhaps to share as a pre-concert snack. Painted for Cardinal Del Monte, a devoted patron and lover of the arts, the scene…
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Dormition of the Virgin
Dormition of the Virgin (c1612) Carlo Saraceni. After the Carmelites rejected Caravaggio’s intensely realistic take on the Dormition of the Virgin, Saraceni was commissioned to create a new version. His interpretation draws on Northern Italian influences, with a Renaissance-inspired color palette and carefully arranged figures. Yet the work remains grounded in naturalism and in its…
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The Holy Family with the Infant St. John the Baptist
The Holy Family with the Infant St. John the Baptist (c.1600) Caravaggio. The attribution to Caravaggio is not universally agreed upon by Caravaggio scholars. However, The Met attributes it to Caravaggio and I’m not in a position to argue. It is disappointing that there is very little written about the piece on the Met’s website…
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Pilot Washing his Hands
Pilot Washing his Hands (1643) Mattia Preti. Here we encounter Pilate, who is looking directly at us, washing his hands as Jesus is being led away in the background. Pilate knows Jesus is innocent and he attempted to get the crowd to release Jesus, but they did not. He is washing is hands to show…