Jessica Coughlin

Research Assignment #8

Professor McCaslin

3/24/2020

Michaelangelo-Portrait of Andrea Quaratesi

In Michaelangelo’s portrait of Andrea Quaratesi, I believe he uses the Chiaroscuro technique, which means light and dark. In the portrait, I see different values of light and dark which add a 3D effect to the portrait and make the subject appear realistic. In my opinion, the use of value in this piece of artwork creates the appearance of contrast in space, meaning Andrea Quaratesi appears to sit with his left shoulder closer to the viewer, even though all parts of Andrea are drawn on the same surface. This overall made the portrait look more like a photograph than a drawing, in my opinion. I prefer Michaelangelo’s style over Max Beckman’s because there is more detail and the portrait appears more realistic. Beckman’s style uses harsh lines, while Michaelangelo’s style appears smooth. That being said, Michaelangelo’s portrait gives off a calming appearance, while Beckman’s appears more chaotic. After spending time studying Michaelangelo’s drawing, I realized my initial reactions may have been a bit harsh. I initially thought there was not much going on in the drawing, the subject looked bored, and therefore, I did not find the portrait very engaging. However, after spending time studying the portrait, I felt as though the portrait was calming. There are no harsh lines and the blending job was incredible. Nothing appears “off” and I feel a sense of harmony from looking at it because everything about the subject is realistic. Perhaps Andrea was a young boy who was growing bored of sitting still for a portrait, and that is why his eyes are wandering, rather than looking straight at the artist. 

Max Beckman - Self Portrait

Max Beckman’s self-portrait is quite different from Michaelangelo’s portrait of Andrea Quaratesi. There are more harsh lines and less detail when it comes to values and blending. Beckman does, however, use cross-hatching, a technique that refers to the appearance of texture or shading created through the use of close, parallel lines. Perhaps Michaelangelo did use this technique as well, but chose to completely blend out the lines, whereas Beckman did not. Upon looking at this portrait, I initially felt a sense of chaos and perhaps a bit of fright. The subject appears angry, and I believe that the harsh cross-hatching lines actually add to the anger captured in this portrait. If the artist had chosen to blend out the cross-hatching lines, there would have been a sense of harmony within the drawing that would contrast the effect I believe the artist was trying to portray: anger. Another aspect of the drawing that adds to the angry effect for me is the size of Beckman’s forehead. It reminds me of Ebenezer Scrooge, the cold-hearted, angry old man from A Christmas Carol. After spending time studying Beckman’s portrait, I found it quite engaging. It makes me wonder why Beckman is angry in the portrait. The only clue I found is what appears to be a barn or house in the back left of the drawing.