Sydney Roberts

1010A Museum
February 23, 2015
Philadelphia Museum of Art Report
The Altarpiece showing scenes from the Passion of Jesus Christ had no
known artist. This altarpiece is Flemish/Dutch and is estimated to have been
made anywhere from 1505-1550, during the later Renaissance period. While
the artist is unknown, from the style, it is guessed that the piece represents
most northern art, and parts of southern Netherlands. This altarpiece depicts
Jesus Christ in the last few days while he was alive. This altarpiece is made of
gilded and painted wood sculptures as well as tempera-painted panels. I
liked this piece because it was like nothing I had seen before. The bright
colors and the detail of the sculptures stood out to me because of the
elaboration. The gold also caught my attention, and the altarpiece was large,
which surprised me.
The painting Prometheus Bound by Peter Paul Rubens was painted around
1618. The bird was painted by Frans Snyders, a Flemish man who was known
for his paintings of animals and flowers. Rubens was Flemish and this piece
and his other works emerged in the seventeenth century Baroque period.
This style of painting is an oil on Canvas. This Northern European painting
stood out to me because I have an interest in Mythology, and the illustration
of the classic Prometheus story was shocking because of the realism of the
human figure, which is what Rubens was known for. This painting stood out
to me because I recognized the artist as well from his other works.
The Book of Hours for Paris Use was estimated to be made in Paris in 1420
by the Circle of the Boucicaut Master. This style would have been the midthirteenth century Gothic Era. This illuminated manuscript had gold and was
tempera on vellum. This specific illuminated manuscript was used primarily
to respect the Virgin Mary, with a calendar and prayers. During this time, the
middle class emerged, creating an increase in literacy. This illuminated
manuscript stood out to me because of the reds and blues in the images.
There was also a lot of detail on the pages. It is interesting to me that a book
can be considered a piece of art, so to see the Book of Hours, I was intrigued.
The Gross Clinic was painted in 1875 by Thomas Eakins, an American artist
who was known for his oil on canvas realism paintings. This late 19th century
piece showed realism and was a form of a self-portrait, since Eakins himself
is in the portrait. Eakins was alive during the Impressionist period, but was
not a fan of that style. He was a master in the style called Orientalism
painting. This painting stood out to me because of the lighting and the actual

subject of the painting (a doctor performing surgery in what seems like a

theatre style classroom). The lighting was unique because it portrayed a
spotlight on the surgery, which made the image pop out and look even more
realistic. I was also surprised at the size of the painting in the museum,
making me feel like I was standing right next to humans.
The collection Fifty Days at Iliam was finished in 1978 by Cy Twombly, an
American painter. These paintings consist of oil, oil crayon, and graphite on
canvases. The style closest to this collection is an abstract expressionist
style. This collection of modern and contemporary art is made up of ten
canvases total. This 20th century collection of paintings was based on
Alexander Pope's translation of Homer's Iliad and presents as a narrative.
Twombly spent most of his life in Italy and this is where his inspiration was
pulled from the classical Greek literature, although he is an American. The
Iliad compiles the story of the final 50 days of the Trojan War. The
Philadelphia Museum of Art has an entire room dedicated to this collection,
the first one starting on the left wall, and continuing around in a circle. The
paintings were disturbing to me, and was a style I was not familiar with. I
found the entire collection to be eerie. The first thought I had when I saw the
collection was the mental state of the artist during the creation of these
pieces. It is interesting to find later after viewing these pieces that Twombly
became an inspiration to many contemporary artists for his raw
interpretations of literature.
My visit to the Philadelphia Museum of Art was very interesting. I found that
after learning about the different artists and styles of art, I was more aware
of the differences during my journey through the museum. The art stood out
to me more and I became to appreciate the different styles. It was hard to
narrow down just five pieces of art that I found interesting: they were all from
many different styles and time periods and had great meaning behind them.