Advent Calender - Day 6

This is a detail of Benozzo Gozzoli's Magnificent frescoed (wall-painting) chapel for the Medici Palace in Florence painted between 1459-62. It is one of the few parts of the Palace interior that is still in it's original state. The image shows a group of angels kneeling in worship. Their halos read different variations of 'We worship thee, we glorify thee'.

Advent Calender - Day 5

Rollover to reveal image!!



This is a wine Cooler made by the workshop of Flaminio Fontana, thought to have been made for Cosimo I de'Medici.
It is made of tin-glazed pottery otherwise known as Maiolica.

Imagine serving the wine on Christmas day out of this!!

Tatlin's Tower

Pop in to see the Large Model of The Monument, to the Third International otherwise known as Tatlin's Tower, in the courtyard of The Royal Academy of Arts. It is exhibited there as part of the Building the Revolution: Soviet Art and Architecture 1915-1935 exhibition.

This model represents a small scale example of a work of architecture envisaged by Vladimir Tatlin but never completed. It is an incredible work of fantasy expressing the avant-garde context in which it was created. It comprises an intertwined metal framework with three rotating geometric forms, the lowest one being a cube which would have been used for a variety of events and would have completed a single rotation over the period of a year.

This structure would probabaly have been for all intents and purposes unbuildable as well as totally impractical but the opportunity to see the model at least gives us a framework with which to imagine how incredible it would have looked! Especially when you consider that it would have been 400 metres tall making it over twice the height of the Gherkin in London!

As the Tower is in the courtyard of the Royal Academy it is open to the public for free and is worth having a nosy at.

Also bear in mind that the Degas Exhibition ends on the 11th, if you want to go and see this exhibition it might be worth booking as the show has been very popular!

For a review of the Building the Revolution: Soviet Art and Architecture 1915-1935 exhibition visit: http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/oct/30/soviet-architecture-royal-academy-review?INTCMP=SRCH

Advent Calender - Day 4

Day 4!!



The Seasons 'Winter' By Jasper John
This is an etching and acquatint on paper. This is in the Tate Britain Prints and Drawings room.
I particularly love the little snowman outline in the image.

Advent Calender - Day 3

Day 3
What lies beneath?



Today's painting is Snow Storm - Steam Boat off a Harbour's Mouth, exhibited in 1842
This exquisite painting can be found in the Tate Britain alongside the rest of the Turner Bequest given to the gallery in 1856.

The myth behind this image is that Turner painted it while attatched to the mast of a ship.

For More details look at the the Tate Website. http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?workid=14786&tabview=work

Advent Calender - Day 2

Second installment of the advent calender!



Camille Pissarro, The Louvre painted under Snow, 1902
This painting can be seen in the National Gallery.

Leonardo Da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan

This weekend I attended the Leonardo exhibition and was even lucky enough to see the show for an hour before it opened which was truly an unforgettable experience! I will not deny that the experience was less amazing when the gallery opened, as it was very busy, but even then it was totally worth it.

Leonardo’s Ladies

Leonardo’s Ladies are clearly given the starring role within the exhibition; they appear on the press releases, the posters, the flyers, the bags, the catalogue and most of the other merchandise and are displayed prominently within the exhibition.

Seeing the two portraits of ladies, ‘The Lady with an Ermine’ and ‘La Bella Ferroniere’, as well as the chance to see the two versions of the ‘Madonna of the Rocks’ together are presented as the main attractions of the exhibition.

Leonardo La Bella Ferroniere c. 1490       Leonardo Lady with an Ermine c. 1489-90 

Having seen these paintings the importance given to them becomes clear, particularly the portraits with their beautiful textiles, such as the chemise which emerges at the join between dress and attachable sleeves on the Bella Ferroniere and the variety of textures presented in Lady with an Ermine, particularlly the fur (This provides an interesting link with my earlier blog post on fur). As well as the way that they seem to engage the viewer whether interacting and holding the gaze or turn away from the viewer. The Lady with an Ermine seems to turn away reacting to an event outside of the picture.

They are very compelling, although it is difficult to get near them.

Dramatic Drawings

While the paintings are probably the main attraction, they should not be viewed at the expense of the various drawings on display. These drawings can reveal the working method of Leonardo as well as his incredible skill as a draughtsman and the variety of his interests, including landscape, anatomy and animals among many others.

Leonardo Drawing of a Skull from Anatomical book B 1489

This incredible drawing of a skull shows Leonardo’s interest in conveying naturalism as well as his dexterity with a pen. The text written in Leonardo's hand, written from right to left, (Leonardo was left handed) discusses the portrayal of veins in the drawing, although these are inacurate.

Boltraffio’s Brilliance

While the exhibition is, of course, first and foremost about Leonardo the artist Boltraffio emerges from it in a very positive light. This stunning drawing shows the mastery of his use of Metalpoint heightened with white on blue paper. It appears to be a preparatory study for a Madonna Lactans similar to the Madonna Litta in the exhibition.

Boltraffio Drapery Study c. 1490-1

I had not heard of Boltraffio before and am very glad that my horizons have been broadened to include him. His drawings are particularly proficient and hold their own against the work of Leonardo.

Worth the Wait?

Although all the tickets are sold out now it is still possible to queue outside the gallery in the morning for tickets. I would personally thoroughly recommend the exhibition it is an incredible chance to see some works that are not often easy to see such as the unfinished St Jerome from the Vatican. However it does require a degree of patience as it is a very busy exhibition and crowds build up in front of the more popular paintings, having said this some of the equally stunning drawings are easier to get at.

If you are planning to queue then just make sure to get there pretty early as the queue starts to build up early, think Wimbledon tennis style queuing and make sure to wrap up warm.

For more information visit:

http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/leonardo-da-vinci-painter-at-the-court-of-milan

P.S. There is a beautifully illustrated catalogue at the incredibly reasonable price of £25 for a soft back copy.