Tuesday, August 12, 2008

More Raphael


Now that my study of Matisse is winding down, I do believe I will study Raphael for a while. He was considered 'A Master' by the age of 15.

7 comments:

Wendy said...

Hmmm - those faces! Beautiful!

Christy said...

Indeed.

He had a perfection that goes so far beyond other artists he almost stands alone.

Christy said...

You know you are looking at perfection when the face of an old man literally is as beautiful as the face of a youth.

It is so good, it is almost hard to look at it without flinching at the impact of its' beauty.

OH RAPHAEL!

Wendy said...

I keep returning to this sketch, these faces and these hands. I wonder what it was that Raphael saw and sketched. It's beautiful because it's loving.

The old face has gentle eyes filled with soft amusement. It's there in his mouth and the relaxed muscles of his face. His hands, palms outwards, seem to be saying - "not for me, no thanks".

The young face though, seems to be looking in the same direction as the old man and responding to the same request/invitation with some surprise and a tiny bit of trepidation/disbelief. His palms are inward and he gestures to himself, "who me? Really?"

The sketch says a whole lot. And every time I look at it, I wonder some more.

Christy said...

Me too, I keep coming back to this sketch even though I have his paintings available.

The emotion of it is so damn... hypnotic.

Pitch perfect.

I always got the sense it is a perfect metaphor for the reactions of age vs youth.

The old man is suspicious and refusing, the youth is eager and... seduced, not paying attention to the trepidation of someone wiser than him.

It is so beautiful. I am glad I am not the only one focused on it because I was really starting to think I was seeing things, feeling things, that maybe no one else saw.

I was thinking, 'It is just a freaking sketch Christy!'

But there is nothing about it that is common.

Wendy said...

No - it's not "just a sketch" is it? He has captured an inner soul to both subjects with that sketch - and they are still talking/revealing.

Christy said...

Unlike any other work, all I can think is "Perfection".

A perfectly executed work of art.

I come back again and again because I have to see it to believe it.