During my visit to the Met, I focused on the Italian Renaissance portion of all the art work displayed. I personally have a thing for love and any/all art that has anything to do with it. So the three paintings below are just some of the ones that really stood out for me and spoke to me in ways other paintings did not.
The Painting above is called Venus Blindfolding Cupid by Tiziano Vicellio. One thing that really struck me about this painting is how everyone is looking in a different direction. There is not one individual who has their respective eyes focused on a similar area as the other individuals in the artwork. Another thing that caught my attention immediately after reading the title of this piece, the fact that "Cupid" is so hidden. He is on the lap, of whom im assuming is Venus, where she is blindfolding him. he is barely visible within this piece yet he carries such a great significance. One thing i realized is how Cupid is portrayed to be a child. This could symbolize many things. For one, i believe the reason this artist portrayed Cupid as a mere child, is to basically express the innocence one has as a child, and due to this innocence, a child can easily play "matchmaker" and see who belongs with whom. Blindfolding him would just represent the taking away of any bias. He can use his innocence by feeling the connection between two individuals instead of seeing which two look good together. Having Venus, Goddess of Love, Beauty, and fertility, as the one to blindfold cupid allows this painting to tie together.
The painting above is called The Adimari Cassone by Giovanni de Ser Giovanni Guidi. From this oil painting many things can be see. For one, everyone within the artwork is paired off with another individual where it being female or male. Looking at this painting, I noticed how it was a very long piece and was originally made as four different panels of which was connected at some point. This shows the symmetry used by the artist in effort to express the balance of love. In the two center panels, one group is seemingly interacting with one another in the form of dance and the other group seems to be a bit less enthusiastic, which causes to just take a stroll. The panel on the far left represents the older love lives. And the panel to the right, in my opinion, represents the other side of love that is "hidden" which is love of the same sexuality. There seems to purpose to why these panels were placed in this order. The Adults, in the first panel, are sitting and relaxing and enjoying the view rather than "being" the view. The second panel are the young energetic couples of whom love to have fun rather than be as their elders are. The third panel, has couples strolling around the area which represents "coming of age" and basically shows that they are one step behind sitting down as the elders would. And as for the fourth panel, i believe this symbolized the fact that they were not accepted in a sense. They were hidden from the big image and thats basically what society did to them in reality. If you notice, the last panel really has nothing to do with the rest of the art work, and yet the artist still included it. 
This is A Portrait of a Woman and a Man at a Casement by Fra Filippo Lippi. As i walked around all the oil paintings, for some odd reason, this one just stood out to me the most. The strong facial expressions which are being held by both individuals tells so many stories and so many secrets. It seems as if the woman and the male have a secret love interest for each other but they are hiding it from others. Possibly, the woman is married to a high official and the man is but a normal citizen. With this, they are having an affair which no one but these two individuals know about. They make no contact but their body language speaks to one another. They both have the kind of look which says "we will meet again."
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