Ancient pieces of art collection are usually hard to find. However, courtesy of the world’s leading museums, one can find assembled pieces of artwork that date back to over a thousand years ago. Among these museums is the famous Norton Simon Museum in California – United States. My visit to the museum was an amazing experience as an Art & Architecture student. This is because I happen to find and learn more about its history and the stellar collection of not only ancient European, US and Asian art but also the modern works that industrialist Norton Simon assembled.
The Triumph of Virtue and Nobility over Ignorance stands out among the collection of ancient art in the museum (Norton Simon Museum). It is one among Giovanni Battista Tiepolo’s art pieces uniquely created with fresco decorations. Dated between 1740 and 1750, the painting features a balanced masterpiece of an airborne figure designed for a ceiling. The medium of the image is oil on canvas with a dimension of 320 x 392.4 centimeters. Critically, the painting’s combination of shimmering colors is credited with creating an illusion of atmospheric effects. The virtue is dressed in white while the Nobility holds a spear as well as a Minerva statuette. Then, there is the Fame blowing the trumpet on the lower side as the poppy falls from the sky. The illusion created with the painting is that despite being in a state of fall from the sky and the act of blowing the trumpet, there is ignorance in that the Virtue seems to be little concerned about the situation. The creativity conveyed by the painting demonstrates the unique skills exhibited by the 17th Century artistry.
Works Cited
Norton Simon Museum. "Norton Simon Museum." Home » Norton Simon Museum, www.nortonsimon.org/art/detail/F.1972.26.P. Accessed 27 Jan. 2017.
