I met my friend Lisa outside the famous gallery and we also saw our friend Harry there. I liked several of the paintings in this fairly small exhibit and made some brief sketches, an image of which I include here.
The composition on the left is from an olio su tela (oil on canvas) by Pietro Liberi (Padova 1614-Venezia 1687). She is called “Annunciazione” and was painted around 1670. I like the subtle, not quite vertical sweeping curve of the figure on the lower left. And how the angel above’s curling form lead the eye back into the lower figure. There is a wonderful diagonal that gives movement and interest with a beautiful balance of light and dark.
The sketch on the right was done from another, smaller painting with the same title. This artist is Livio Mehus (Oudenaarde 1627-Firenze 1691). It was very interesting to see the same subject handled in similar, yet different ways. It is a good reminder that although artists may influence one another (I do not know if these artists knew each other or not because I forgot to read the background information on the wall), each has his own voice.
If you find yourself in Firenze subito, go see this exhibit. She ends on 3 Febbraio.
