#IBmakingart
The piece of artwork I chose to examine was, Portrait of a young man, Probably Robert Devereux (1566/1601), Second Earl of Essex. The painting was created by Nicholas Hilliard, a British Goldsmith and Limer, but became popular through his Portaits through the members of the British Court. Nichols Hilliard used flesh banks of colors to create his artworks. Nicholas Hilliard also studied many variations of art technique such as the French limning technique of chalk painting, best exhibited by Gian Lomazzo. The size of the Portrait consumes must of the oval canvas it was painted on. when analyzing this painting, I believe Nicholas Hilliard used a oval canvas to help complement the shape of the head, especially in the paintings of the Court. The oval style allows Nicholas Hilliard to not only use the majority of the space, but to limit the amount of distractions in the background to take away from the protrait in the foreground. The social context of this painting would be it was created in London in 1558. During this time in London, the still were under the same governmental structure they are under today, which is hierarchical. There was a very define social class structure at the time which view the members of parliament as top class citizens, or know as untouchables. It was possible to move social classes but very rare. Only then I ale had money to afford self portraits, which explains the popular of paintings of the Court at this time. This painting followed the social trend at the time of representing the officials of goverement. I thought it was interesting that Nicholas Hilliard used the color dark blue in the background and used a black/grey color on the young mans clothes. The darker colors of blue and green were symbolic to those of power, through the perception of valuables such as emeralds (green). Many people view clothes as an outward representation of monetary value at the time so by the painter not adding colors that represent royalty and colors that would make the clothing noctiable confuses me. Another observation I encountered was that usually when a portrait is made, if there is no background setting the primary option of background color is white, to limit the distraction from the persona, but the painter chooses to use a dark blue background, which could show the cultural influence of royalty in the painting. The white lack around the young mans neck is one of the more obvious signs of power through the perception of this painting. The value of this painting would be to show respect to those in power over you. If the title of the painting it states that this young man is son to be the Secound Earl of Essex, this painting could be a tribute or in honor of this occasion coming to be, and this young man gaining the power of the court.
I really like that you reflected on the artist's choice of using a dark blue background for the portrait. This is something that I would not have necessarily noticed if you had not mentioned it. I think this is very interesting because I agree that it potentially is connected to royalty. Overall, great job!
ReplyDeleteKenan, your blog post is really good because you hit many key points about this piece of art. First, the color scheme that you noted is significant; the dark blue and green symbolize power, which becomes evident in the painting. Also, I like your analysis on the value of the painting, being the fact that you should respect those above you. I think you did a good job with your blog and using the color scheme to draw valuable points about the painting.
ReplyDeleteYour comment on the social structure's influence on this painting was really insightful, and I think it shows a deep understanding of the relevance of the self portraits. Your exploration of the use of colors within the painting pointed out another connection to social class that I would not have picked up on myself, good job!
ReplyDeleteI think your blog was really interesting. I like how you analyzed the author's color choice in the painting and how it is symbolic of power and then how you connected the artwork to royalty. Overall I agree and you did a good job!
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Kenan! I enjoyed reading this post as you have a lot of insight about the portrait that you analyzed. Your input of societal effects on the painting were very well written and helped me understand the painting more. One suggestion I have would be to include an actual picture of the painting so I could look at it and see for myself. Overall, great post and looking forward to reading more..
ReplyDeleteSome good thoughts here and nice connections to context and how the artist included or was influenced by that context.
ReplyDeleteThink about format and organization and use paragraphs to better develop your argument.