Something Beautiful

Colors (& porcelain)

It took me years to realize how much I love colors. Here are a whole bunch of them in this Sample plate by the Royal Copenhagen Porcelain Manufactory.

The plate is one of 69 works done in porcelain at the Google Art Project. 

Bottle vase (Philbrook)

One of the many pleasures of browsing the Google Art Project is discovering new museums.   This afternoon I happened across a work from the Philbrook Art Museum, located in -- of all places -- Tulsa, Oklahoma.   The Philbrook is represented by 57 works at the GAP.  

One work which attracted my eye is this bottle vase, made in the 1700s. 

Quilts!

It's a day on which we can use contact with a comforting part of the past.  Toward that end, here are 14 quilts at the ever-amazing Google Art Project.  (To be absolutely accurate, several of these are merely quilt-related works, rather than actual quilts.) 

If I were going to pick just one, it would probably be the Album Quilt, done in the 1840s by Elizabeth S.J. Hopkins.   There are several others, though, that I like very much also. 

 

 

Heads

In yet another experiment, I put the word 'head' in the Search window at Google Art Project.  I was expecting a modest number of results but thought some of them would be worthwhile.   To my surprise, the search returned 539 works, nearly all of them interesting and many of them wonderful.   It's hard to sort through so many.  I would suggest that you just keep paging through.  You'll soon see that your time is well spent. 

 

 

Memling Altarpice

This altarpiece by Hans Memling was done c. 1480. From left to right, you can see a Nativity, an Adoration of the Magi, and a Presentation in the Temple. 

We can see this work in exquisite detail, thanks to the Prado Museum's generous large images.  

To me the figure of St. Joseph on the left, wearing a warm winter hat agains the December cold, is especially delightful.   All in all, however, there is nearly everything to love about this work.   

Crozier

Google Art Project calls this a pastorale, by which I assume they mean a bishop's crozier.  Quite beautiful, with its silver, enamels, lettering and the Annunciation scene in the center of the curl. 

Renoir (GoogleArt)

Google Art Project has 54 works by Auguste Renoir.  Have a look and you'll see that not only the individual works but the collection as a whole is just lovely. 

This small compilation has two portraits by this artist of two other artists - one of my favorite kinds of paintings.   One is a portrait of Claude Monet and the second is a lithograph of sculptor Auguste Rodin.  

Nativity (P. Christus)

Here is a Nativity c. 1452, by Petrus Christus with a most unusual feature -- the Christ child is crying!

In addition to the six basic elements of a Nativity (3 Holy Family members, 2 animals, stable), there are three angels added above the scene.   

There is at least one other distinctive touch: if you look closely on the left, you will see the rear-end of the donkey.  As mentioned, the infant is crying, an event which must have occurred often but is almost never depicted.   

Another unusual feature is the archway surrounding the entire scene, with assorted niches filled with human figures.  Here Christus has cleverly told the story of Adam and Eve in two scenes on either side of the picture (avenging angel and Adam on the left; Eve and the serpent on the right).   He has similarly told the story of Cain and Abel in just three scenes above the stable (Abel sacrificing a lamb on the left; Cain offering vegetables on the right; Abel being slain by Cain at the top).   

 

Nativity: St. Joseph at work

This is one of my favorite Christmas paintings.   It was done in 1403 by Konrad von Soest, a German artist as part of a much larger altarpiece. 

It is unusual because St. Joseph is shown caring for his family.  

The baby has been born; mother and child are resting.  St. Joseph, however, is hard at work -- his cheeks are puffed up as he blows on the fire, apparently preparing a meal.   (Note that an angel announces the Child's birth to a shepherd in the right background.)

Nativities

Let's look at some paintings of the Nativity in honor of Advent.  Here are leaves from several illuminated manuscripts that depict this event: 

•  Nativity, with shepherds, by Spitz Master, c. 1420
•  Nativity, with two angels, by Willem Vrelant, early 1460s (sweet)
•  Nativity, with angels and shepherds, by Simon Bening, c. 1525

  Each of these is a true Nativity because it has the 6 necessary elements: 3 Holy Family members, 2 animals (donkey, ox), and a stable.