Breakfast Scene by William Hogarth

William Hogarth's Breakfast Scene from Marriage a la Mode was created in 1745. It was painted during the "Natural Art" period which took a break from the Rococo style during the Enlightenment. This painting is the first of it's kind that I've seen so far: a humorous painting dealing with the wealthy class. A lady is dancing in her seat, a man is yawning away in the back, the man toward to front has a hysterical expression on his face, and the man sitting down looks glum, unlike the rest. Hogarth actually created a satire to signify the dark side of prominent English families. He did not intend for it to be a completely comedic painting. However, the expressions may speak otherwise. 

Fragonard's The Swing

Jean-Honore Fragonard's The Swing is a beautiful, light, elegant, and soft painting created during the Rococo Era in 1766. I have seen this painting before, and it reminds me of a similar Rococo painting hanging on my living room wall. The pastel colors with the subtle attention to detail is exquisite. I am very fond of the scene itself: a very graceful girl is swinging timidly, but she has another flirtatious side to her. She is throwing her shoe at Cupid to signify her love for her lover. A very delicate theme, that has a very aristocratic taste to it. 

Feast of Nicholas by Jan Steen

Jan Steen shows a scene within a family, a very likely scene to happen in a modern family, in Feast of Saint Nicholas. It was created during 1660-1665 during the Baroque period in Northern Europe (Amsterdam). One of the things I most liked about this painting was how the artist portrayed the family and how realistic it was. For example, there is a crying boy, naughty children, gentle mothers, and a big mess on Christmas Day. It is very possible to see this happening in a modern day family. Also, the use of soft colors, lighting variety, and attention to detail (like for expression) makes this painting realistic. 

Rembrandt's Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp

Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulip was made in 1632, by the world famous artist Rembrandt. It was created during the Baroque art period in Northern Europe. Since I am a student who is interested in pursuing medicine one day, this painting was of particular interest to me. It showed how medicine evolved into what it is today. Rembrandt showed a physician with his students, in a group portraiture. All of the students are immensely focused (they are in Medical School after all) as Dr. Tulp shows them the carcass. Rembrandt used triangular diagonals and attention to detail (they are incredibly focused), which created a full effect for the painting.