Composition Analysis of "Saint Praxedis" (Vermeer)
This week I did one of my routine visits to the permanent exhibition at the National Museum of Western Art in Ueno. I try to go at least every few months to keep up with any changes to the main gallery. This time around they had moved things quite a bit, unfortunately keeping one of my favorites in storage, Joaquín Sorolla's The Drinking Jug , but rightly bringing out a Vermeer and Tiepolo I hadn't seen before. <-- Family of Darius Saint Praxedis --> Before I share my analysis, this is just an anecdote, but... Sometimes I get funny reactions while drawing at museums. Maybe its because I was too tired that day to conceal I was drawing, or maybe it was just the character of the tour groups, moving through the gallery at break-neck speed. At one point I held up my pencil in an admittedly stereotypical 'artist taking a measurement' pose, and someone snapped like 3 photos of me. Shutter sound and all! I had to suppress my laughter! What's the deal with that?! We...