Goya & Rembrandt

Photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Painted by Goya, this work is titled José Costa y Bonells (died 1870), Called Pepito. This boy, Pepito, was the son of King Ferdinand VII's doctor. I like how Goya uses highlight to emphasize the creases in the child's clothes as well as creates dimension inside his plumed hat. I do think it is odd, however, that the child's face is not as highlighted as his clothes. Perhaps Goya emphasized the clothing's highlights in order to convey the sense of a certain type of material, potentially an expensive one.

Photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

This painting by Rembrandt is called Woman with a Pink. The "pink" is a carnation, a symbol of love and marriage. Rembrandt's highlights are very bright, especially the ones present on the woman's jewelry. The shadows he creates are so dark that the figure seems to melt into the background. What I found odd is the highlight surrounding the woman's hands holding the pink; it seems unnatural. The extra light is most likely to highlight the pink as emphasis of its importance (love and marriage), but it seems like the flower and the hands themselves emit their own glowing light that is not natural.