My Trip To the Metropolitan Museum

This past week I went to the Metropolitan museum of Art to look at some Italian Renaissance artwork. I was skeptical of going to the museum at first, mainly because it would take away from the stuff i would rather be doing. However, once I got there and actually experienced the artwork firsthand, I can honestly say that I was amazed at the beauty of the artwork of the Italian Renaissance.
The first painting that really caught my attention was Madonna and child by Titian (Tiziano Vecellio).The term Madonna is an old Italian word for a noble woman and is used in reference to images of the Virgin Mary. It's a really old painting dating back to 1510. It is also very similar to a work done by Caravaggio called The Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist. They both depict the virgin Mary, mother of Jesus, and an infant Jesus. Paintings like this were very popular around that time, mainly because the church was of vital importance to people living in Europe. Famous artists were propositioned to paint pictures incorporating the virgin Mary and Jesus.

Another interesting painting from the Italian Renaissance which incorporates Mary and Jesus is Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints by Raphael.
This important early altarpiece was painted for the small franciscan convent of Sant'Antonio in Perugia and hung in a part of the church reserved for nuns. Some say it was the nuns that had asked Raphael to draw the Infant Jesus and the Infant Saint John the Baptist fully clothed.
Finally, the last painting I looked at was called The Holy Family with Saints Francis and Anne and the Infant Saint John the Baptist by Peter Paul Rubens.

Again, you can clearly see that the Virgin Mary and Jesus were the main focus of this picture. Its safe to say that a lot of art that came out of the Italian Renaissance focused on the images of Mary and baby Jesus.

All in all, I enjoyed my trip to The Metropolitan Museum of Art. I got to see some beautiful Italian artwork and ,at the same time, learned something new about the artwork from that time period.