Perspectives

“What would this painting by Titian have looked like four hundred years ago?” I always find myself asking myself new questions – and noticing details I have never appreciated before – when I visit galleries. Some of this comes with my studies. I saw a portrait in the entrance of the National Gallery of Scotland today that I started to study using some of the symbols I learned to look out for earlier this year in school. Other times, questions come because I start to wonder. “If I were standing in the scene of this painting, what would I see around me?” This question came to mind as I looked at Tintoretto’s painting of Christ Carried to the Tomb. At the top of the painting there is a foot of an angel visible, with no body. This is because the whole painting was not taken out when removed from its frame. 1 I had to imagine what might be at the top of the painting – the details I couldn’t see. Then I thought “What would be around and behind me?”The more time I spent in the gallery, the…