Activity #2

At first glance, the

sculpture"Madonna and Child" by Florentine in 1860 seemed like

a very fascinating one and I immediately chose it. The sculptor

uses various art elements to depict Mary's love

towards the child. The sculptor ensures that we follow the line between Mary's eyes and the

child. Mary's eyes are so fixed on the child's face that our attention is automatically drawn to it.

The sculptor also shows Mary's fondness of the child by the way Mary's body is contoured, her

hips toward him, to support his weight, and her shoulders thrusted away from him in order to

view his face. The artist uses warm colors in the sculpture, probably to convey a sense of

warmth between Mary and the child. The second work of art I chose was "Breezing up a fair

wind" by Winslow Homer (1873-1876). What striked me first about Homers painting was the

fact that the boat seemed to be experiencing turbulence. The contrast between the cool colors

used for the sky and the warm colors used for the boat and its constituents also caught my

attention, it seemed that the artist was somewhat trying to convey a message of calm in the

sorrounings, but turbulence in the seas. The artist also seemed to use athmosepheric

perspective to highlight the fact that the people on the boat were in such peril.