Sunday, August 24, 2008

Biking to Michelangelo

We live near the Hometown University campus, so when SodaBoy and I discovered there was an exhibit featuring Michelangelo originals on display at the art building, we were thrilled. Yesterday was the first available non-work day, so we took advantage of the nice weather, and biked over. Biking to an art exhibit was a fun new experience.

The exhibit was pretty awesome. It was all simple stuff, drawings and writings, no splashy paintings or sculptures. Still, it was pretty incredible to see these objects preserved, pieces of paper that are, in some cases, nearly 500 years old. There were sketches and studies from famous works, made all the more interesting because you could see where erasures and re-drawings had been made. I found the sketch for theThe Sacrifice of Isaac to be particularly compelling.

Note: Cameras had to be checked at the entrance, so this second photograph is not mine. I downloaded it from the Hometown University website, on the "press" page for the exhibit.

5 comments:

Mary Stebbins Taitt said...

WOW! How very cool. Biking and art! Especially THIS art. WOW! Wish I could have been there to see it too!

a/k/a Nadine said...

What a neat excursion.

BrightBoy said...

My goodness, signed by Michelangeo. Can you imagine? I, too, find an odd thrill in looking at and handling very old things.

The knowledge that a book in my hand or a certain tree was around at the same time as the Founding Fathers of this country, or when the greatest personalities of Renaissance Europe lived and breathed, is awe inspiring to me.

It's like you're connecting with those people and times when you encounter something like that.

Lewis said...

I've never seen anything by Michelangelo myself - although I've had the opportunity! Mainly just by being in the right place. We didn't manage to see the Sistine Chapel in Rome, and we only saw the copy of the Statue of David in Piazza Repubblica, Florence.

It's a shame.

But seeing some of his more workaday pieces, I think it's more meaningful than those monumental sights that everyone goes to see. I think it gives you more of a perspective on the artist, rather than what they were commissioned to make or to paint.

Mary Stebbins Taitt said...

It's astounding to see this art!

I'm really loving it.


The face of the child doesn't look very child-like in this rendition.