work of the month


(click on image to enlarge)

The Piazza Farnese Decorated for a Celebration
in Honor of the Marriage of the Dauphin, 1745

Giovanni Paolo Panini (Italian, 1691-1765)
Oil on canvas; 65 1/2 x 93 1/2 inches
Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.

WHAT DO YOU SEE?

Below is a list of questions the Museum posed to our visitors, both in the Gallery and on-line. Highlights from the collected responses are posted here. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and ideas with us.

  • What questions arise for you as you view this work?
    - Maybe more about what the painter was thinking, feeling, or going through at the time.
    - I wonder what everyone in the painting is looking up at.
    - Why is there people in the streets and why is there flags on the buildings?
    - Why are the clouds so dark?
  • What do you enjoy most about the work?
    - The many people, the details to examine, think about.
    - The color.
    - I enjoy the buildings and the astmosphere.
    - It apears to look near the Revolutionary War period.
    - The sky.
  • What do you dislike about this work?
    - The competing scale: tiny people (who interest me) vs. enormous architectural features (which interest me less).
    - The graphics (sculptures).
    - That the streets are crowded.
    - Everybody looks mad.
  • Is there a story in this work for you? If so, what is the story you see in the work?
    - I had to read the placard to understand a story. I didn't see the people looking toward the temple but toward the sky over me.
  • What do you think this work means or says?
    - Awe in the face of power, wealth, royalty.
    - I think the work says that their is a celabration.
    - Freedom.
    - Togetherness.
  • What aspects of the work are you most curious about, and what answers would you like to have about those aspects of the work?
    - Why celebrate a "pagan" Roman festival during such a Christian age?
    - How old it is?
    - The top of the building looks like the Washington Monument.
    - The central point.
  • Further Comments
    - I am a visitor here in Virginia on business from California. I think your museum is a wonderful treasure. I especially loved the vessels and glass. Some pieces made me almost gasp!
    - I see people looking toward the sky in fear as if the wrath of God was upon them.
    - Its great.
    - Happy People.
    - I love the work.
    - Very beautiful

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