Every Thursday, as part of my personal “enriched environment” initiative, I post a piece of art, usually from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which recently released online some 400,000 high-resolution images of its collection. All artwork will show a sun (or sunlight) somewhere.
I won’t name the piece or the artist, but instead invite you to study the art and post a comment addressing one or more of these questions:
- What is going on in this picture?
- What do you see in the picture?
- What does it make you think of?
- What observations can you make?
Note: To embiggen the image, click on it!
How big is this painting in real life? The amount of detail stuns my mind. There’s even a flock of birds in the sky.
The sun is at an unusual position this time, to the right of the frame. ( People always talk about it’s “default” position in these paintings.)
The shade on the right side of this huge public square is a major part of this picture.
The women seem to have so many layers of clothing on. Many of the men have short pants and the lower part of their legs are covered with knee-high white stockings.
This painting looks like it took many hourse to paint and a very fine brush to get all the windows right.
Everybody’s out doing their Christmas shopping !!!!!! 🙂
Hi, OK, the detailing is beyond unbelievable, I mean seriously. All the perfectly formed arches, the tiny cats (or are they dogs?) , the exact shadows of the people standing in the sunshine! And I adore the way the architecture is so rigidly formal, but the awnings hang out like loose rags. Wowzer!
Hello and Merry Christmas!
Thank you for posting such a happy sunshiny picture! Everyone is out and busy and talking to their friends or looking down from the window.
But of course as Issa says, there is a lot of shadow on the right side of the picture, and the people in the buildings on the left seem to WANT shade because they are hanging out huge cloth awnings to block the sun. It is curious because why do they wear so many layers of clothes if they don’t like the heat?
Thank you again !!!
By the way,, it is curious that the architecture is so exact and formal but the awnings are strung sloppily like gigantic rags.
Thank you !
I cannot figure out where in Europe this painting is taking place. However I do have a question. . Other commentors have noticed the ” exact” shadows of the people standing in the square. However I cannot understand why the people standing on the right side of the picture in the shade of the building also have shadows. These shadows are just as exact as the other people’s shadows BUT THEY ARE GOING IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION.
I cannot believe they are caused by the sun reflecting off the windows of the building on the other side of the square. They’re too perfect.
IT SEEMS FALSE.
the tall phallic tower is rising up and penetrating a circular hole in the clouds
Is there going to be a public market here? It looks like that could happen.
But my guess is that a public market would get set up early in the morning.
I wonder what this enormous public square is meant for.
Are people gathering for a reason? Or are they just going about their business?
Is there a reason why you posted this right before Christmas and the other holidays?
I wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season.
Half the picture is light blue. The other half is tan. As someone else said, the sharply pointed tan tower penetrates the light blue. Masculine (tan) and feminine (pale blue).
The phallic tower rises up out of the shadows.