The analysis of two outstanding artworks: The Divine Shepherdess and Child with Saint John the Baptist and an Angel The art works in the art center provides a broad range of artistic visions from different period of times as well as various cultural backgrounds. Among them I choose two religious painting as my favorite: The Divine Shepherdess, from 1780-1800, which is an oil painting on canvas; and Domenico di Bartolomeo Ubaldini’s Madonna and Child with Saint John the Baptist and an Angel, from 1518-1520. The latter one is also an oil artwork, but on panel, not on canvas. According to the annotate of The Divine Shepherdess, the theme source comes from the words of Saint Antoine, who said: “Mary is the Good Shepherd who pastures the church with the blessed fruit of her womb.” In The Divine Shepherdess, Mary has been portrait as a young woman with care and love, providing protection and shelter to the lambs. Sitting on a rock under a tree, Mary wears a tunic with delicate gild flower patterns embroidered on it. On her shoulder hangs a dark blue mantle, which embroidered with identical gild flower pattern as her tunic and trimmed with lace. On the shepherdess’s dark wavy hair she wears a golden lace timed hat with red feather on the top. Two angles, one on the top corner at each side, hold a crown and are about to put it on Mary’s head. The red and white ribbons around the angles symbolize Mary and the lambs. Near Mary’s right hand was a shepherd’s crook, symbolic of the love and care she provides her children (which had been represented as the flock of lambs here). Rose is another symbolic figure in this painting: she held a rose in her left hand, while had her right one rested on the head of a lamb, which shows great attachment to her and carries a rose in its mouth. In fact, each of the lambs carries rose in the mouth, for rose, the Virgin’s Flower, stands for Mary. The shepherdess and her flock are concretely painted while other parts are blurred to different extents. The background is yellow at the center and light blue for the rest. The mood of this artwork is pleasing, comforting and peaceful. We could notice the divine and tender love radiated on Mary’s face, indicating her love and caring for the lambs. In response to her generous tenderness, the lamb on her right hand side looks at her with affection. On the other hand, the red and dark blue construct deep contrast feeling to each other. However, the whole scene is perfectly conflated. The colors of the apparel of the shepherdess do not stand out incongruously, but response to the tone of the painting harmoniously. Elements in this painting have both lavish and simple, natural features, for instance, the intricately embroidered tunic and mantle of Mary, and the natural appearance of the lambs and the angles. But none of these conflicts with others, the sacredness as a divine figure and the love as a protector combine in Mary. Compared to other portrait with similar theme, this one reflects its cultural background ---- influence of Spanish culture, which is more daring on the uses of colors, and energizes the artwork in its special qualities. The other artwork that I am favor of is Domenico di Bartolomeo Ubaldini’s Madonna and Child with Saint John the Baptist and an Angel. As the annotate of this painting, Puglio developed his distinctive style, which combines Andrea del Sarto’s “rich color” and “the expressive sfumato, or smokiness, of Leonardo da Vinci.” The whole painting casts a mainly gloomy but gentle tone by the lack of brightness in most area and the luminous emphasis at central figures: Madonna and the infant in her arm. Madonna is the most luminous figure in this painting. Wearing a dark blue hat, Madonna was dressed in a bright red tunic. She has her right hand around the back of the child, Jesus, who stands on the altar with one of his foot, while the other one rests on Madonna’s left arm. The Child Jesus puts his arms around the Virgin’s neck, implying they are closely associated. We could see the cross is been held in the Child Jesus’s hand, which probably foretell his future sacrifice. At the bottom right corner, John the Baptist has been depicted as infant at seemingly the same age as Child Jesus. Saint John raises his arm, with a scroll bearing the first few words of the phrase ‘ECCE. AGNVS DEI QVI TOLLIT PECCATUM MONDI’ (Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world). In this artwork, we are not able to see the whole phrase but several letters among them, but it is definitely presenting the same words. The pleasure on Saint John’s face while looking at the scroll foretells his devotion in the future as a Baptist. An angel standing next to the Virgin looks at the Child Jesus, who looks over his shoulder. The caring face of the angel indicates Jesus’s sacrifice is praised not only by the common people, but holy figures. The background is mainly dark grey, makes the figures at the front to stand out. Personally, I think the painting is aesthetically attractive because of the special style of the artist. Realistic are the faces of the figures, which look like real human with beauty appearance, and their bodies. Idealistic elements include the glowing casts on the Virgin, the Child Jesus, and Saint John the Baptist, and the sacredness the artist tries to convey through the image. These two painting, The Divine Shepherdess and Madonna and Child with Saint John the Baptist and an Angel, have various similarities and differences and it is quite interesting to make a comparison between them. Both of them present similar holy figures: the Virgin, Jesus Christ, and the angels, and similar theme: both of the artworks indicate that the close relationship between Virgin Mary and her child. But the emphases of both painting differ from each other. In The Divine Shepherdess, the Virgin Mary has been presented as the main subject matter and she represents the role as a protector, or shelter and the lambs are the ones to be protected. While in Puglio’s artwork, the Virgin means more a sacred figure which gives birth to Jesus Christ, and same value and focus are put on the Child Jesus and Saint John the Baptist. The holy familial theme is been strengthened by the scene of new birth being presented. Strategies of the artists used to reinforce their own style are also impressive. The overall tone of The Divine Shepherdess is bright, rich in color and splendor in detailed performance, noticing the gild patterns embroidered on the Virgin Mary’s tunic and mantle. Each pattern is delicate and detailed painted, not to mention the lace trim of the mantle. Around the Virgin’s hat and hair, we can see a faint halo decorated by golden straight lines and coiled lines, as well as tiny stars. Response of the figures at the front, background plants are also in romantic style: rose in the color red, the same as the tunic that Mary wears, and the leaves in white, same color as the fur of lambs. Red roses are surrounded by white leaves, which symbolizes the lambs surround the divine shepherdess. We can also notice flowers in dark blue at the bottom right corner, respond gracefully to the shepherdess’s hat and mantle. Generally, the whole work is a great job in which the artist skillfully manages the colors as symbolic feature and enhances the unity of the painting. Despite the color, the extent to which the artist details the objects also implicitly makes the whole image more forceful. For instance, the lambs and the Virgin are detailed in terms of shape, size, etc. While the angels, the tree and the background are relatively vague. Different from The Divine Shepherdess, the artist of Madonna and Child with Saint John the Baptist and an Angel uses the same scale of visual resolution for both the objects and the background ( the Virgin Mary, the Child Jesus, Saint John the Baptist, and the angel). However, it is neither highly defined at the edges nor extremely vague. As what is indicated in the annotate, Puglio, the artist, is famous for his “expressive sfumato, or smokiness” style, which influenced by da Vinci. Another similar feature compared to The Divine Shepherdess of this painting is its rich color. The artist uses colors to make contrast between the objects and the background (the fair skin, the red tunic and the dark background) instead of creating a harmoniously conflating feeling as The Divine Shepherdess conveys. In a nutshell, I had a joyful experience from the museum tour, during which various style of artworks gave me a broader view of artistic achievement from different time periods, and inspire me to develop an interest in exploring art.