My visit to the Yale Art Gallery was fun. I was accompanied by my two daughters, Divinia and Kenadie, who is seen in the photo here with me. The building that houses the Yale Art Gallery as we know it is actually the second location that the Gallery has embodied. The building located at 1111 Chapel Street in New Haven was designed by Architect Louis I. Kahn and reopened the Gallery at this location in 1953. The construction consists of brick, concrete, glass, and steel paired together in a geometric form. The entrance to the gallery sits high above street level and is inviting to passersby. We climbed the stairs and began our experience in the African Art gallery, which has been regarded as “one of the most important repositories of African art in the United States” (ArtStor). I decided that this visit would be planned to view sculpture. There were many artist renditions of pagan images and pieces that serve genuine functions in the African culture. This was the favorite of my 7 year old daughter Kenadie. It is a helmet mask, which is from a region of Africa I cannot determine, based upon my failed photography of the item and its description. Another carving made from wood and accented with pigment that interested us was Bamgboye of Odo-Owa, which comes from Yoruba, Nigeria. It is described to be an Equestrian Shrine Figure from the late 19th early 20th century. As we made our way through the exhibit this Bronze Christian Processional Cross from Ethiopia in the mid to late 18th century drew our attention. It made me think of the celebratory processions that take place in Italy. A Nigerian carving titled Canoe to Heaven from the late 19th to 20th century also caught my eye and made me think of a child’s toy. At first sight I wasn’t sure of the medium but read to discover it was formed from metal and accented with pigment. The Kakuungu Mask from Suku in the Congo carved in the late 19th to early 20th century is made wood, raffia, pigment, animal hair and tortoise shell. This mask was used by charm specialists during initiation to keep subordinates in line as a way to teach obedience. It’s also used to scare away any threatening forces, but my seven year old daughter didn’t find it scary. The perceived mythical powers of the mask, including its ability to travel great distances in record time, are put to song by the tribe. The next sculpture from elephant ivory tusk is called an Ifa Divination Topper (iro ifa) from Yoruba, Nigeria or Republic of Benin. It’s carved with great detail and was worthy of mentioning and highlighting.

As we move from the African art onto European collections we come across a beautiful golden cross. It is a Double-Sided processional cross by The Master of the Gubbio Cross, which was crafted in Umbria, Italy ca. 1310. The medium is tempera and gold on panel and I was delighted with its three dimensional appeal.

My daughters and I viewed and admired a lot of sculptures on our museum outing but I have selected The Crucified Christ as my topic of focus. I was attracted to it based upon the placement on the red wall and the bronze gleaming against that background. It measured about four feet high hanging on the wall and sort of beckoned me to it. It is interesting to compare the two likenesses of Christ on the cross from the Double-Sided Cross from the 1300s and this gild bronze sculpture from ca. 1690-1700. Italian artist Camillo Rusconi sculpted this in the Baroque era, which is represented here in the ornate design of Christ body, crown, and limbs. I truly admire the detail of artistry used to define the toenails and veins in the feet. The change in texture of the nails through the hands and feet offer a realistic display and you can almost imagine the pain of them being driven through the flesh. This sculpture truly touched me on an emotional level.

The artist Rusconi was born in Milan, Italy in 1658 and died in 1728. He made his home in Rome and contributed much artistically to the city in the form of sculpture. He was a commissioned artist who reproduced religious likenesses and for some time he depicted angels alongside French sculptor Pierre Le Gros. His style has been described as classical artistry and he is renowned for his marble statues of Apostles Matthew, James the Great, Andrew and John, which were sculpted on a grand scale referred to as over-life-sized. A year before his death he was named principe of the Accademia di San Luca, which is a Roman association formed to support artists and promote their work. During that period the academy was directed by Italian architect and painter Federico Zuccari, who credited Camillo Rusconi for inspiring the style of many artists who have followed.

Sources:
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/513041/Camillo-Rusconi
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O2-RusconiCamillo.html
http://www.artstor.org/what-is-artstor/w-html/col-yale-gallery.shtml
http://www.answers.com/topic/accademia-di-san-luca