Museum Report

I attended the art museum at the Getty Center built on the mountain sides of north Los Angeles. While attending the Getty I chose to photograph the ‘Madonna and Child’ along with ‘Flowers Still Life’ and my textbook object was the Galatea. My first museum object the Madonna and Child was created by Luca Della Robbia in Florence, Italy during the mid 1400’s.It’s a picture that displays Madonna in a blue robe, sitting down, holding what seems to be her naked child and alongside is a person unknown but perhaps a relative of Madonna. They seem to be in a setting of indoors because in the background are windows with houses visible.

My second museum object is Flower Still Life which was created by Rachel Ruysch after 1700.The vase contains flowers of different sorts and colors in a pattern going diagonal opposite to the tables edge. The flowers feel so vivid with life that it gives meaning to its title. The flowers appear to be indoors with little light portrayed in the background. For my in-text object I chose, Galatea, which was created by the famous Raphael in Rome, Italy. Galatea is shown as the center of attention surrounded by strong body figures giving a firm and aggressive view. It displays Galatea making her escape with a couple of dolphins as she flees the scene from her lover Cyclops Polyphemus.

The Madonna and child has certain similarities and differences that can relate to the Galatea. First and most, there is a sense of love and beauty in both of these objects. But what does separate these two objects is the motion and activity that is taken place in the Galatea. There are all sorts of figures in the Galatea, such as flying angles with crossbows, a couple of dolphins and even a horse. However, the Madonna and Child is a more realistic object showing a mother holding her son with flowers in the surrounding. The Madonna and Child is strictly about love and compassion whereas the Galatea is a combination of love, grace, and betrayal.

A painting does not have to involve humans to demonstrate love and beauty. A great example of this is Flower Still Life by Rachel Ruysch. It portrays flowers from random seasons all put into one vase to display an intriguing but breath taking beauty of nature. This painting is very unique in the way the colors where chosen and the creativity of the angle that the vase is positioned on the table. Compared to the Galatea, Flower Still Life demonstrates the power of life without an angry fist or massive physics as shown through the artworks of the Galatea. Flower Still Life has a meaning far greater than the Galatea object. The Galatea is sending a message of deceit in a world of fantasy where love goes beyond reality, it is a true painting of classic art.

When visiting the Getty Center I noticed that the Madonna and Child object was different from that of the text book. The Museum object seems to be a true painting and representation of the Madonna and Child. However, the in-text object demonstrated a picture in a stone figure made out of terracotta with polychrome glaze. In other words, the in-text object was not a painting but nonetheless a great representation of the Madonna and Child. While in the Getty Center I also noticed from the Flower Still Life object that is was quite different from the painting in the textbook. The in-text object displays the flowers in a diagonal position, where as the museum’s object was in an almost perfect face to face position. The flowers also happen to be different in colors and positioning.

From visiting the Getty Center I learned a lot of the similarities and differences that objects are displayed. An object may be displayed in a different manner but it can still give the same meaning it has. The Galatea happened to be my favorite object even though I didn’t encountered it at the museum.