The British Museum Gallery Visit

On the 31st of March I visited the British Museum in London. This was an interesting gallery visit because it enabled me to search for depictions of the 'mother and child; in different forms other than paintings. This is an A2 research page of that visit. On this page there is the guide/map which I picked up and various images which influenced me during my visit. Many of the depictions which influenced me were either paintings or drawings. Two of which were from the famous Renaissance artist Raphael. The first to give me inspiration was a drawing of 'The Virgin and Child' which is thought to be in preparation for the cartoon of 'Mackintosh Madonna'. This image can be seen above and is also on my A2 page. It is thought to have been completed in black chalk with a few touched of white heightening. This is a medium I am familiar with since practicing it in my unit 3 coursework. This image along with another drawing by Raphael of the heads of the virgin and child have influenced me because of the closeness between the two figures. this places an emphasis on the bond between a mother and her baby which is a key concept in the title of 'mother an child'.

Another artist whose work was featured at the museum was that of Andrea Mantegna. This was a copperplate engraving of the Madonna and child. I was drawn to this because of the vast amount of fabric enshrouding the Madonna and child. This is something which seems to be similar in nearly every historical depiction of the Madonna and is a concept I have explored in a previous post. I liked this image because unlike the drawings, it was an unusual medium to come across and it was amazing to see how much detail could still be achieved.  

The last object I came across was an ivory statue of the Madonna and Child. Although there was no artists name attached to it, I was attracted to its beauty because of the fine details that could be produced in such a sculpture. The fact that the artist has chosen to carve this subject into ivory places emphasis on it being a precious and important subject matter. The artist has focused on the tender relationship between mother and child which contrasts to the Byzantine era which I have researched which focuses more on the simple nature.

To develop this visit further, I aim to include some of these historic artists in my portfolio. This visit has enabled me to obtain a unique cultural view into the way that mother and child is viewed by different cultures. It is important to note that there are similarities in every culture.