Experience Logs 2
Entry 1:
“Madonna and Child”
Studio of Raphel Sanzio
Italian (1483-1520)
This piece caught my eye when I was visiting the Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art at Saint Gregory’s College on April 2. It was a piece done by Rhapel Sanzio, who was a child prodigy, and was a contemporary and equal of Leonardo and Michelangelo. Raphel was commissioned by the Pope Julius II to decorate the papal apartments in the Vatican. This piece is a copy of the “Connestable Madonna”, which was also painted by Raphel, and is in the Hermitage Collection in St. Petersburg. This copy is done with tempera and oil on wood panel, and depicts Madonna holding the holy child reading what is believed to be the Word. They are outside, and the background shows a tree, lake, and other natural landscapes.

Entry 2:
“Oklahoma Landscape”
Connie Seabourn Ragan
1951-
This is also a piece I saw when visiting the Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art at Saint Gregory’s, painted by Connie Ragan, a local Cherokee artist. This piece stood out to me because of use of watercolor and the very entergetic, almost frenzied landscape the Ragan depicts. It very much breaks the traditional genre of early American landscape paintings. The very intense colors of the painting is balanced out between warm and cool parts of the painting. Overall it is very balanced with the elongated and shortened froms, and smooth and rough textures, and it is all punctuated by the small central black birds. Being from Oklahoma my whole life, it was very easy from me to relate to this piece and see what the artist was trying to depict.

Entry 3:
“Esther Before Assuerus”
Francesco Barbieri (Il Guercino)
1630
This is one of the bigger paintings that I saw while visiting the Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art at Saint Gregory’s. This painting was inspired by the story of Esther from the Bible. During the biblical times entering the king’s chamber without summons was punishable by death. Although, because the king loved Esther, he held out his staff showing that he would hear what she had to say. Guercino shows this most intense and dramatic scene of the story by showing the exact moment the King holds out his staff, as Esther faints with relief. The background of the painting is not completely discarded, but all of the attention is directed to the figures and their gestures. The piece is done with oil on canvas and the artist uses many different textures in the clothing of the figures, with delicate and precise brush strokes adding even more emphasis to the event.

Entry 4:
“Suit of Armor with Shield and Halberd”
Vincenzo Zenon
1446
It was very cool to come across this suit of armor by Vincenzo Zenon while at Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art at Saint Gregory’s. The armor has three distinctive inscriptions on it that gives most of the information about the armor. It tells us who it was made by, when it was made, and where it was made at. Most likely, it was made by many different craftsmen that were all under the master craftsmen, Zenon. One of the most prominent inscriptions is on the top part of the shield there is a winged lion that is resting its paw on a book. The lion and the book served as major symbol for Venice and for St. Mark the Evangelist. This armor was completely made out of metal and stands about six feet tall.

Entry 5:
“Madonna and Child”
Spinello Aretino
(1333-1410)
I found this piece interesting at the Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art at Saint Gregory’s because it was also a piece titled “Madonna and Child”. I liked seeing the different interpretation that Aretino had of Madonna with her child, and the somewhat different style that he used. It was painted with tempera and gold on panel, and show Madonna seated on a cushion, clothed in white and wrapped with a blue mantle. She is holding her child on her left knee, who is clothed in grey and red and holds a goldfinch in his hand. The goldfinch is an important part of the piece because it is fond of eating thistles and thorns and because of the crown of thorns Christ wore, the goldfinch is a symbol of the Passion of the Christ. This piece was most likely part of a portable altarpiece used by a traveling priest.