Lorenzo Monaco - The Coronation of the Virgin

An altarpiece with such a beautiful vivid colour scheme — luminous blues and gilding. Such attention to detail.

The Virgin’s robes have faded its original pinkish mauve.

“Lorenzo the Monk”: actual name is Piero di Giovanni. He was a monk at the Camaldolese monastery of Santa Maria degli Angeli, Florence. This ascetic order had been founded in 1012 by a Benedictine monk, Saint Romuald. He was shocked at the decadence of his own monastery, and refashioned it after the mountain locality of Camaldoli in Tuscany where he built a hermitage. 

He was born c. 1370 in Siena — but spent his professional life in Florence. Giotto died 1337. So, he was obviously influenced by Giotto’s portrayal of real-life incidents as though enacted by people expressing believable emotions.

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At the centre, the Coronation of the Virgin following her Assumption to Heaven. On a delicate throne, Christ places a gilded crown on his mother’s head. This scene was depicted in 13th-century France and extremely popular in Florence at this time (although not mentioned in the Gospels). And since the Madonna sometimes personifies the Church, Christ vesting her with a regal crown confirms the authority of Church and Pope. 

Below them, angels make heavenly music in perfect symmetry.

At the left, St. Benedict (6th-century founder of the Benedictines) is shown. The book in his hand inscribed with the opening words of the Prologue of his Rule, which the Camaldolites as reformed Benedictines observed. In his left-hand, the birch he used to chastise errant monks. At his side, sits St. John the Baptist and St. Matthew with his Gospel. 

At the right, St Romuald in his white habit (as was his wont) — with St Peter and Saint John the Evangelist beside him. St Romuald on equal terms — some institutional self-promotion?

Master of Saint Francis - Crucifix

The Master of Saint Francis was active around 1272.
Crucifix was painted around 1265-70.

This is an absolutely beautiful & mesmerising work of art.

Christ hangs in a painful way across the cross. The Christ is depicted as hanging on the cross. Blood drips down the cross in torrents. His legs have buckled from under the weight. The Medieval portrayal of the human body was focused on the feeling as opposed to its accurate form.

On his right, the Madonna is comforted by Mary Magdalene and another holy woman.

This work predates Giotto.

This crucifix is an example of Christus patiens (Christ suffering) which emphasizes the pain/full weight of Christ’s sacrifice. Contrast against earlier iconography of Christus triumphans (triumphant Christ) where Christ was portrayed as healthy and strong to emphasize his divinity and/or resurrection. The curved legs are a stylistic choice to show that Christ is hanging and also severely weakened by his time spent suffering on the cross.

The Virgin of the Rocks by Leonardo da Vinci

Magnificent and utterly spectacular.

This painting was originally meant to be a magnificent altarpiece in the chapel of the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary in the church of San Francesco Grande. Despite being commissioned in 1483; it wasn’t completed until 1508, and over a dispute over payment (imagine not paying da Vinci!!) which caused Leonardo to sell the first version. Hence, there are 2 version in existence.

What is interesting is that Madonna and the family are seated in a mountainous cave — not the usual Renaissance background overlooking some charming & bucolic fields. Though there are a few blooming flowers adorning the family, the background scenes at the back seem to resemble La Gioconda’s.  

The Madonna is robbed in a luxurious sapphire blue (typical). She seems to be looking after the young ones. Her maternal arms spread. The golden flowing band around her waist deeply contrasts with the blue. She has wonderfully curly hair, and is halo-ed. Her face – looking down – captures a demure & devotional lady. She delicately puts one hand around St John the Baptist (older of the two boys). He, in turn, is kneeling and praying in homage to the Christ. St John is painted with such sweetness and affection. He has all the cuteness of babies in their infancy. Plump cheeks, thin locks of sweet golden hair, and that super-cute “baby fat” in the form of baby rolls. His little hands and tiny fingers barely able to come together.

The Christ is propped-up by an angel (with faint wings on her back). Baby Christ may be blessing St John — but he doesn’t seem nearly as cute as St John. Somehow, the Christ baby seems more serious. More grown-up?

The angel is so pleasing to the eye. Even more than The Madonna. The natural elegant tilt of her head, the way her hair flows stunningly over her shoulders, her “ennobled” demeanor, the proportions which complement the symmetry of the other characters. She seems so graceful.

Such a special painting. 

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Sebastiano del Piombo at the National Gallery

Note: This is part of a series on room 12 of the National Gallery. An incredible & priceless repository of masterpieces of the Renaissance. 

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Sebastiano del Piombo was one of the most outstanding portrait painters. Some of his portraits are v. famous and instantly recognisable — e.g. Pope Clement VII — but, for some reason, the importance and the name of this artist has faded.

It was Pope Clement who, in 1531, appointed Sebastiano to the lucrative position of the “Keeper of the Papal Seal” (“del Piombo”), from which his nickname is derived. The post demanded frequent attendance on the Pontiff, even on excursions outside Rome.

In his own time, Sebastiano was as famous as his contemporaries Raphael, Michelangelo, Giorgione and Titian. He was born in Venice and began art training relatively late. He entered the studio of Giovanni Bellini and subsequently studied with Giorgione.

At some point, I need to visit his key work, “The Judgment of Solomon”, which was a little-known canvass until the 1980s — Kingston Lacy, in Dorset.

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Judith, or Salome

My favourite.

So striking and v. powerful; and also beautiful.

This is a painting of Salome (daughter of Herodias) and Salome is (it seems to me) alluring and beautiful (lascivious?) — but also cold & ruthless. The contours and details of her magnetic eyes and nose are amazing. Those tight lips suggestive of a short-temper. And ... those little threads of hair by her ear are just delightful. 

Salome, at the request of her mother, asked for the head of St John the Baptist from King Herod. On a platter.

Her sleeves are incredibly and so delicately painted. The folds of her vibrant blue dress shimmer in the light while also balancing the shadows in its crevices.

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Portrait of a Lady

Beautiful.

This lady reminds me of “the Madonna” in Sebastiano’s other famous painting which I reviewed before. (“The Madonna and Child with Saints and a Donor”). 

The portrait style is interesting (probably mannerist).

The subject’s assured stance and gaze suggest that she was probably some prominent figure of her time, yet she remains (apparently) “unidentified”. Her magnificent costume, trimmed with exquisitely painted fur, adds to her imposing presence. She holds pieces of cloth with a Latin inscription warning of the risks of love: “the snares of Venus: beware”.

The fabulous green in the folds of the curtain is such a wonderful contrast.

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The Raising of Lazarus

Amazing.

Enormous and captivating in its drama and religious reverence. A vast landscape extending to the horizon. 

The pink (originally red; which has since degraded) and blue robes of Christ are a recurring colour theme of Sebastiano. Christ stands out — as does Lazarus. Lazarus has yellow-brown hue of jaundiced flesh. Face dark and covered. 

All attention is directed towards the Christ & his outstretched arm and finger. In other paintings, a subject of Sebastiano’s “looks” at us. Here, Sebastiano doesn’t “include” us in the environment. I love the reactions of the women (light green dress and blue). So much drama & shock.

There is a huge backstory to this painting.

In 1511, the Sienese banker Agostino Chigi visited Venice. He was the financier to the popes and kings. At that point, his master Giorgione had died, and Titian was in Padua. So, Agostino Chigi reckoned that Sebastiano was the finest artist Venice had to offer. He invited him to return to Rome. Thereafter, Michelangelo befriended and promoted Sebastiano — mostly because he saw him as a useful rival to Raphael, whose rising popularity seemed to the Florentine to be undermining his own. (They fell out later on with respect to the Sistine Chapel’s “Last Judgment”). 

Cardinal Giulio de’ Medici organised a public contest between Sebastiano and Raphael by simultaneously commissioning the painting of ‘‘The Resurrection of Lazarus” from Sebastiano and the “Transfiguration” from Raphael. The “Lazarus” was shown first, and critical opinion regarded it favorably with Raphael’s latest works. Raphael became anxious to prevent the two paintings from being exhibited side-by-side, and this only happened after his death in 1520.

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The Madonna and Child with Saints and a Donor    *reconsidered*

I wrote about this painting in August 2023:

Not sure what to think of this.

Perhaps somewhere in the middle of late and high R.. It seems to have a triangular composition at its centre; but background is a strange curtain under which John the Baptist sleeps (which suggests a private viewing?). The Madonna does have a disproportionately large size and has her arms around the Christ and the donor. Long fingers too. Donor = friend of Michelangelo and Sebastiano and was a wealthy friend. The Christ is barely holding on and he seems to have a similarly disembodied presence too with an asymmetric twisted figure. 

Not sure if I warm to this painting. It feels a bit unsettling.

I was totally wrong. It’s not “unsettling” at all. It’s amazing how much art we learn in a space of a year.

It’s beautiful and very intense & dramatic. I love the tenderness of The Madonna and the cute way the Christ’s plump hand reaches for her breast. I have since learned that it was a private devotional painting.

The saints are St Joseph and John the Baptist (pointing to the Christ, and as an adult). The Christ v. similar to Raphael’s “Madonna della Seggiola”.

Hans Holbein the Younger at the National Gallery

Note: This is part of a series of a write-up vis-a-vis room 12 of the National Gallery. It is a breathtaking collection of portrait masterpieces of the Renaissance.

Hans Holbein the Younger was the 16th century German artist who — like successful Renaissance artists generally — spent much of their career attached to a court. In this case, Henry VIII’s court.  

He is one of the great painters in the history of art. His reputation emerging from his ability to draw and paint with such compelling verisimilitude — as if the subject were alive. In today’s photographic era, we take these kinds of paintings for granted — but in the 16th century this was considered a wonder.

Due to the Protestant Reformation, a wave of iconoclasm swept across Northern Europe in which religious work, even made under the auspices of the Catholic Church, was destroyed. The artist’s livelihood was severely compromised. The severity of Protestantism meant that his earlier work was too indulgent for the residents of Basel. So, Holbein fashioned a new career in Catholic England.

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“The Ambassadors”

Really compelling, and huge. The sheer detail is incredible.

In the 16th century, this must have been mesmerising.

A paean to two scholarly diplomats (to the court of Henry VIII) and to the artist’s virtuosity (in using anamorphic perspective).

Between them, Holbein has depicted a broad array of wide interests — a compendium of the culture of their age. A celestial globe, astronomical and navigational instruments

On the marble floor, between them, is a distorted skull. Memento mori. The brevity of life.

The threads in the tapestry is sumptuous defined. 

From the anamorphic perspective, the viewer is reminded that all their wealth and power is void in the end by inescapable death.

Painting from the perspective of the left-hand side.

The skull “seen” from the right-hand side.

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Portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam

Really like it.

The humanist scholar Erasmus rests his hands on a book. I love the soft tawny furry sleeves and interior, and the sharp nose and slight-wrinkled lips.

The book inscription says “The Labours of Hercules of Erasmus of Rotterdam”. Reference to his editions of the Holy Scriptures. Graco-Romano columns and books in the background tell us about his interests. 

A man of wealth and luxury, but also a reserved & serious scholar. A man of distinction.

The beautiful wooden frame seems so fitting.

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Christina of Denmark, Duchess of Milan

Beautiful painting by Holbein.

This is a portrait of the 16-year-old widow (widowed in black) Christina of Denmark. 

This painting was commissioned by King Henry VIII. She lived in Brussels, and he lived in London; and before the internet, he needed to “see” her. He sent Holbein to capture her. She piqued the King’s interest as he was looking for a new bride. He kept the painting even though they never married. Sadly Holbein lost favour with the King after the Anne of Cleves portrait.

There is some interesting shadowing (against the wall) and she is wearing exquisite black robes with browny fur. She is certainly tall, she has charming elegant pursed lips and engaging eyes. Her hands are beautiful and elegant — made more striking by the white ruffle. And the gloves between her fingers are a sweet homely charm.

Beautiful and elegant, propitious.

A large & imposing painting.

There is an interesting talk on this painting on YouTube by the National Gallery:

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A Lady with a Squirrel and a Starling (Anne Lovell?)

Another lovely portrait. Beautifully painted. Simple but elegant clothing, and a stoic look.

The squirrel and starling allude to a special family connected to Henry VIII.

Apparently, the pet squirrel is a heraldic symbol. He sits on the woman's arm; nibbling away. He seems to be chained.

Venetian Renaissance and mannerism at the National Gallery - Part 1

Note: This blog entry is the first of a series on the beautiful art at the National Gallery in London. This blog focuses on Venetian late Renaissance. Room 9 (Venice 1530-1600) visited Sept 2022. The rest will be under the 2022 visits under the National Gallery heading.

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The Way to Calvary by Jacopo Bassano (1544-5)

This is early into Jacopo Bassano’s career. 

I think we see mannerism here. Christ’s elongated narrow anatomy through long fingers and his emaciated long face. Face drained & torpid, slightly detached with a few drops of blood flowing from his pierced brow. A bit disembodied. Christ stumbles - worn out by the beatings and exhaustion - but it looks like a strangely elegant fall. However, the Christ’s plight is hardly noticed by most participants in the painting. He’s right at the bottom, not occupying the centre. There is no linear perspective and no classic triangular composition. The painting is a bit of a mess and welter, and the viewer isn’t quite sure where to look. There seems to be two halves. In the upper-half, two figures seem transfixed by the sight of a floating suspended bit of rags. One has the expression and comportment of horror (why?). There is other drama than Christ.

Then, there is the exquisitely-bright and long loose flowing garments and gowns. Hard to believe Jesus would be wearing such refined rosy garments. The Virgin Mary weeps and and Saint Veronica - not Mary Magdalena- holding up a cloth for Christ (ref. to the ‘Veil of Veronica’). St Veronica is incredible here. The meticulousness of her beauty (e.g. such exquisitely braided brunette hair, or the hint of rosy-tint flushing to her lovely ears etc.) and the grace of her posture make her presence captivating.

This painting (as an altarpiece?) is a evocative, reflective and interesting. There is no calm or peace. There is tension and drama - but not all Christ? Christ’s apparent remoteness from his eventual execution is - according to the National Gallery - indicative of his divine superhuman dimension. That’s probably true, as it doesn’t fit in with emotional charge of the rest of the piece.

Very interesting.

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The Adoration of the Magi by Paolo Veronese  1573

Although there is some sense of linear perspective, the thrust of the main drama is pushed to the bottom which is the clear focus of the painting. It is ornate but also a bit complex. So I think it could fit in both High or late Renaissance - but more in the latter.

The Three Magi genuflecting before the baby Jesus bathed under long delicate rays of divine light. The lighting only focuses attention - no artistic effect in creating shadows. The whole setting is unrealistic. The stable sits on Roman ruins (= Christianity trumping the former pagan order) and not clear where the stable starts and the ruins end. Christ has farm animals all around. The skyline is pretty simple, and then there are bizarre angels whose limbs vanish to leave wings and heads floating down. The robes of the Magi are really quite exquisite. Are the soldiers’ caps’ plumage related to the Swiss Guard. Mary is also adorned in similar lavish and lustrous robes. Her face is detached and inscrutable. 

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The Conversion of Mary Magdalene by Paolo Veronese  1548

There’s quite a lot of interesting details here. 

It is worth noting that the Catholic Church has recently - belatedly - acknowledged that there was no evidence that Mary Magdalene was ever a prostitute. She came from a respectable family and was one of Christ’s closest disciples. Her name has been tarnished for millennia. 

There is skilful use of shadowing; but the canvass light is coming from - not Jesus - the viewer. In fact, apart from a few people and the viewer; most of the scene with the Christ is similarly not observed. I think it’s interesting that there are people simply sauntering by in the back. Indeed, someone is looking down by a pillar. 

In this painting, Mary is clearly overwhelmed and deeply affected by the Christ’s teachings. Her necklace of precious metals is broken. Her features combine both shock and awe. Her dress matches the Christ’s toga-like (pagan-esque?) cloth. I like the two males pivoting to take in the drama; like “what’s going on?”. The angelic cupid-like bum protruding is about to be clothed, on the left-hand side; and that is very Renaissance. 

And while Mary’s reaction is quite poignant and effecting; to me, I feel the Christ is too detached and his movements seem strange. As if to say “what me?”. Probably related to the need for heavenly grace in the pose; otherwise too earthly. He seems to have a knee sticking out too. Not sure if his pose is natural against a background of Roman architecture and columns. 

It is quite beautiful, but there is a certain something in the Christ which - for me - which holds the painting back.

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The Consecration of Saint Nicholas by Veronese  1562

Quite beautiful.

This depicts the election of a new Bishop. One received a vision of a young-man called Nicholas kneeling. The figures interact in a vista which is completely unrealistic; curtains on one side and an elegant classic column on the other. A young Veronese in the background by the Bishop? And a strange twisted figure - almost falling - in the angel bearing the mitre and crosier. 

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Portrait of Vincenzo Morosini by Jacopo Tintoretto  1575

Wow.

Tintoretto gives us the frailty and vulnerability of old age and tiredness. It evokes a sense of tenderness and sentimental affection for the elderly. Especially, in his eyes. The penetrating gaze. The lines, furrows, creases in the skin around his sunken eyes. The fact that one eyelid droops slightly is skilful. His thinning wispy beard hair and those big age-old ears also begins to droop. The decay is counterposed by an elaborately and excessively ornamented scarlet-coloured robes

As per the National Gallery, the gold over his shoulder is a mark of a Venetian order of knighthood.

Captivating and charming.

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The Vendramin Family by Titian  1540

Amazing. Very special to look at. I feel there’s something epic or heroic in this painting.

Titian came to Venice in about 1500 at the height of its splendour - despite its onset of political, military and commercial decline (due to struggles on the peninsula against foreign powers). He was apprenticed to Bellini and then Giorgione. The arts were resilient and by the mid-16th century; the artistic mantle had been conferred from Florence/Rome to Venice via Titian (who succeeded Bellini as painter to the city). Titian would be commissioned by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and then Philip II of Spain. Titian’s versatility of approach and variety of his portraiture treatments were so outstanding that successors - even Impressionists - used him as a source-book - including Rubens, van Dyck, Reynolds and Rembrandt.

In this painting, Andrea Vendramin kneels in the centre beside his brother Gabriel surrounded by Andrea’s seven sons.

What is remarkable is the sheer fastidiousness. Firstly, there is the stooping, bent-forward, respectful-like modesty. Andrea’s disposition and demeanour speaks to a sense of propriety and humility. Their facial expressions are interesting. Andrea’s short but coarse disorderly beard; and his brother’s shaggy overgrown beard. And yet, such ostentation and splendour. Titian gives us ceremonial robes so sumptuous that they shimmer in the light. They are the focus. The surrounding landscape is unadorned and plain. And yet, their brightly-coloured lustrous fibres create a magnificent silky material and fur that gleams in smoothness. It screams wealth and opulence. I love how the folds in the robes create dark patches of shadow in between the glittering.

The sons were painted by assistants, so need not concern us too much. But they are charming in their own ways.

All-in-all, it’s captivating and very beautiful. It combines the aristocratic dignity with patrician wealth and status. It bears grandeur.

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The Good Samaritan by Jacopo Bassano  1562

The famous parable.

Traveller attacked by robbers and left for dead. A Samaritan stopped and cared for him - using oil and wine. A priest and Levite passed him by.

We’ve definitely left the High Renaissance with their depictions of an idealized or ‘normal’ man. Humanist in nature, this focuses on a ‘moment’ and the subject is strange and contorted. We seem to have an elongated emaciated man. Bones noticeably protuding under his skin; and the skin itself is pallid, ashen-gray and wan; almost imitating a cadaver. The high contrast between the colours of the two people and the landscape is striking. The horse is almost impossible to discern. I like how both characters aren’t looking in our direction.

This must have been a striking painting at the time, and perhaps made more poignant be the fact that the Samaritan doesn’t seem to notice us. The kindness and compassion is quite moving; and Bassano amps it up through the bloody bandage around his head, the affixing of a foot on some higher ground to leverage the traveller’s weight. It’s a beautiful moment.

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The Tribute Money by Titian  1560-8

Fascinating. Christ being asked by the Pharisees whether they should pay tax to the Romans.

There is something disembodied in Christ’s eyesight and posture. He doesn’t seem to be addressing the man at all - but rather looking beyond him. It seems the raised arm and elbow might be rebuffing the Pharisees’s coin. Interesting finger, elongated a bit? Smooth, delicate and wrinkle-free. Christ has lovely neat hair, and a glowing complexion with beautiful garments. All set against some vague unrealistic environment of a wall and a sky with clouds. 

The Pharisees’s arm is fascinating. That amazing nuance of his arm’s flesh becoming flaccid with old age; and the muscles protruding under the thin skin. His other hand grasping some other wallet or object. And a spectacled observer in the corner. Then there are the grey hairs of his scalped having been combed; and the blood vessels in his throat.

Beautiful contrast in colours, details and postures; and that pointed finger as a cautionary suggestion.

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Lamentation of the Dead Christ by Giovanni Battista Naldini  1572

Christ is yellow. One of his hands has gone black from decomposition. Facial expressions and movements all-round seem a bit disembodied. There seems to be a dark calliginous shadow just above the middle and on top of the crowd. Crucifixions ongoing in the background.  Christ doesn’t have the graceful idealized form; a little skinny. Feels a bit like there isn’t a balance in the painting. It’s not comfortable to look at.

I don’t find this painting all that moving.

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The Madonna and Child with Saints and a Donor by Sebastiano del Piombo 1517

Not sure what to think of this.

Perhaps somewhere in the middle of late and high R.. It seems to have a triangular composition at its centre; but background is a strange curtain under which John the Baptist sleeps (which suggests a private viewing?). The Madonna does have a disproportionately large size and has her arms around the Christ and the donor. Long fingers too. Donor = friend of Michelangelo and Sebastiano and was a wealthy friend. The Christ is barely holding on and he seems to have a similarly disembodied presence too with an asymmetric twisted figure. 

Not sure if I warm to this painting. It feels a bit unsettling.

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The Aldobrandini Madonna by Titian  1532

Typical Renaissance pyramid structure, and nicely balanced with symmetry in the composition, I think. And such an intensely strong arresting vibrant blue. The Virgin sits with elegance and grace. There is a decent perspective against an arcadian vista with an angel soaring high above. The Virgin is accompanied by John the Baptist while Christ is held in such loving tenderness and affection. Both John and Jesus are painted with such innocence and pulchritudinous. This lady’s hair is beautifully arranged with a sumptuous golden piece of cloth about her neck and shoulders.

Very beautiful.

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The Family of Darius before Alexander by Paolo Veronese   1565

Wow! I love it. 

Its enormous; pantheonic. So much to take in and so much detail. Large-scale grandeur.

Family of Persian emperor Darius coming before Alexander the Great, asking for mercy. But, the mother of Darius addresses his friend Hephaestion. Alexander brushes this off and protests the family.

Firstly, there is just so much richness in colour; the scarlet reds, blue-indigos, yellows, and beautiful forest green (man standing next to Alexander of Masedonia). The imposing Roman classical architecture - against the clear cloudy sky - holding even more people higher-up. There is a disparity in shade and light between both sides. It seems to be darker at Alex’s side. I love the monkey grasping a chain (symbol of the Asian?), the horses against the columns, and the cute dog at the side (restrained).  They eye flies around trying to catch everything and it feels like there is motion in the painting. Everyone is doing something. I think there is a slanted symmetry of shade and weight. Not sure if this is closer to High Renaissance. The mother looks shocked - through her hand gestures; and Alexander’s hand raised in protest against any worry and distress.

A fabulous epic, full of dignify and drama; and very beautiful. 

(Man with a turban in the background, and beautiful monkey playing with a chain)

(A boy pivoting to observe resting on an ornate shield, alongside a lovely - if not slightly menacing - dog)

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The Dream of Saint Helena by Veronese  1570

So lovely. 

Here, St Helena - mother of Christian emperor Constantine - dreams a vision of the Cross on which Christ was crucified. 

She is just beautiful with swan-like grace and the painting has geometric balance around her. The window is the dreamworld perspective and yet the whole canvass is saturated in a certain hue, and we see 2 cute angels struggling to balance Christ’s cross - an object of profound religious importance.

St Helena is painted in such opulent colours of Venetian golds, oranges and rouges; and in soft delicate fineness. The green shoulder wrap, and the subtle red brushstrokes towards the bottom of her dress. The brushwork creates such incredible folds in her garments. Her lovely hair, dainty hands, beautiful face and carefree expression make this quite an intimate sensual painting. St Helena is glamorous and irresistible.

Love it.

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The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine by Parmigianino  1527

Parmigianino (AKA = ‘little one from Parma’) is iconic of mannerism.

In this painting St Catherine receives a ring from Christ. The Christ is looking at Mary, and it seems as though there is a mirror in the room. But that looks like a doorway onto a hall with two people in the distance observing the moment.

There is a haloed man at the bottom left giving the painting a curious imbalance breaking the illusion of a home scene. The wheel opposite him may try to balance the canvass. The graceful elongation of the figures and the augmented reality makes for a distinct feel.

This painting has the feel of a dream. Interesting.