Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Flying Saucers in Classic Artwork (pt. 1)






"The Madonna and Child with the Infant St. John" aka "MADONNA COL BAMBINO E SAN GIOVANNINO" is a pretty typical Renaissance painting. Everything looks normal and expected - all except for the UFO hovering in the background! weird. The addition of this unknown flying object has mystified people for years. Conspiracy Theorists and Ufologists go cuckoo for this painting I'm sure. And this UFO can't be downgraded or passed off for a weather balloon! BURN!

But what does this flying object have to do with the subject of the painting? What is the connection? Is it a "heavenly body" or is it the mysterious flying object quoted in the book of Ezekiel? If it is a host of angels, are they holed up in that flying metal object? Some people think that it's connected to the Nativity Star to the left or the Announcement to the Shepherds from the Nativity story. Or it could just be the Millenium Falcon or ET's ride...Nobody knows. Its color, shape, lights, light rays, position in the sky all seem to hint to a real deal flying saucer. The spottings and popularity of UFOs only really picked up in the mid-50s. But did these Renaissance men and women also see them as well?

p.s. Is it about to abduct that poor soul in the background? That dog also looks like it has taken notice. Look at it howling. hehe

Here is more background information:

MADONNA COL BAMBINO E SAN GIOVANNINO
(Madonna and Child with the Infant Saint John)
Attributed to Sebastiano Mainardi or Jacopo del Sellaio
Firenze, Palazzo Vecchio Museum, Sala d'Ercole
photos copyright of Diego Cuoghi, 2003
http://www.sprezzatura.it/Arte/Arte_UFO_5_eng.htm

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Dinner is Served!! (Menu by Michelangelo)



While Michelangelo was quarrying marble in Pietrasanta he jotted down these three menus for three different kinds of meals on the back of a letter that had been sent to him on March 18, 1518 by Bernardo Nicolini. Never the one to waste paper, Michelangelo took it upon himself to scrawl out a pictorial menu. Waste not, Want not, eh? Looks like fish, bread, and wine is on the menu.


Michelangelo Buonarroti
Three Different Lists of Foods
pen and ink on paper
1518
Casa Buonarroti, Florence, Italy
8 3/8 x 5 3/4 in

Friday, July 17, 2009

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Self-Portrait, drawing



Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres
Self-Portrait
graphite on paper
1835
Musée du Louvre
11 3/4 x 8 5/8 in

For educational purposes only

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Hi-Res, Vincent Van Gogh Self-Portraits, Paintings, Chart Diagram



Van Gogh produced many Self-Portraits (some disputed and some attributed) during his short life. Here is a visual chart that I made of his many painted Self-Portraits in chronological order. There are many I have never seen before and then there are of course the most famous ones. (Some of these are merely "attributed" to him, so in all possibility, they could even be by someone else!)

Done with thumbnails from http://www.vggallery.com/painting/main_se.htm

Enjoy!

Boy Picking His Nose



Here's a lesser known work of Andy Warhols.
Ewwwww....Is he picking his nose with his entire hand??

Andy Warhol
Boy Picking His Nose
graphite on paper
11 x 8 1/2 in
The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh