Sydney Robertson Blog

  Madame Francois Buron - 1769 France  Jacques-Louis David is a French painter born in 1748. After his father passed away, David started studying painting. With the help of his mother and uncles he was afforded a solid education. David went on to work n the studio of Joseph-Marie Vien ( J;acques-Louis David ). David's paintings were directed towards the idea of political ideology, he wanted to focus on civic virtue. There is not enough history on David's opinions but he was incredibly fond of the revolution and was a major supporter.  The Madame Francois Buron panting is one of Jacques-Louis earlier paintings. It is a oil painting on Canvas and is available to view in the Art Institute Chicago in Gallery 216. I was drawn to this painting because during this era, it was not common for there to be women that were well read or scholarly (Megotti Art and scientific discovery in the 1700's: Classical era ). During the classical era, writing and literature started to become far...

 Medusa,   Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio - 1597 Caravaggio has some amazing paintings and it was hard to choose which one I liked the most. I found Medusa and was completely taken by the detail and expression. Caravaggio did this oil painting on canvas in 1597. Caravaggio was fascinated with the myth of Medusa and the monster like look she gave. In this specific painting Caravaggio uses his own face in place of Medusa's as a way of showing that he is immune to her gaze that turns people to stone ( Medusa (Caravaggio) ). I think it is very interesting that Caravaggio used his own self portrait in this painting. Instead of using the actual face of Medusa, he wanted to use his own face and portray that he is immune to her powers and cannot be turned to stone. Even though the myth of medusa may not be real, Caravaggio wanted to portray that he was real and show a real person in his painting ( Medusa (Caravaggio) ).  Although the head is decapitated, it shows the fina...

  The Garden of Earthly Delights is a Northern Renaissance painting that quickly caught my eye. Artist Hieronymus Bosch was born in C. 1450 and he lived in the town of Hertogenbosch in northern Braband which is now known as Holland. His painting style is more of a surrealistic, cartoon like style. Bosch learned how to paint from his grandfather and father. The painting is now hung in the Mueso Nacional Del Prado in Madrid Spain.  This painting caught my eye because it is a painting that I believe is very different from the rest of the Norther Renaissance painting that I was looking at. The three different wood pieces to this painting are the most intriguing to me. Each one is connected to the next but they all tell a very different story. The left piece seems to be more calm and relaxing. There are fewer people and more animals in their natural element. The middle piece seems to have the most going on, there are lots of people that are clothed and naked. Large group of animals...

 Hello!  The Louvre Museum is some of the most amazing architecture that I have seen pictures of. The three dimensional . I have always been so incredibly impressed with renaissance architecture and the ideas and designs behind all the buildings. Renaissance architecture uses elements from ancient Greek and Roman architecture, specifically focusing on the symmetry and proportion. I personally have never been to the The Louvre or Paris but I would love to go to experience the art and culture. 

Hello everyone!  Happy spring semester! My name is Sydney Robertson, and I am a senior, I am majoring in Homeland Security and plan to commission into the Air Force once I have graduated.  My husband and I just moved up here from Boise, ID and we live on Eielson, AFB. We are expecting our first baby here any day now as I am 39 weeks!  My relationship to art is through my mom, grandmother and great grandmother. Both of them are watercolor artists and have created some amazing artwork. I however cannot paint or draw to save my life; we have many paintings that have been passed down in our family.  History of Watercolor