“Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (April 6 or March 28, 1483 – April 6, 1520), better known simply as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance, celebrated for the perfection and grace of his paintings and drawings. Together with Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, he forms the traditional trinity of great masters of that period.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raphael
Cherubs by Raphael
A Cherub is a type of spiritual being mentioned in the Bible, usually associated with the presence of God.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherub
Sistine Madonna, also called The Madonna di San Sisto, is an oil painting by the Italian artist Raphael. Finished shortly before his death, ca. 1513–1514, as a commissioned altarpiece, it was the last of the painter's Madonnas and the last painting he completed with his own hands. Relocated to Dresden from 1754, the well-known painting has been particularly influential in Germany. After World War II, it was relocated to Moscow for a decade before it was returned to Germany. There, it resides as one of the central pieces in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister.
The two Cherubs are taken from the botton of the painting titled, “Madonna di San Sisto.” Here is a link to an image of the entire painting.
http://stephengjertsongalleries.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Raphael-The-Sistine-Madonna.jpg
“A prominent element within the painting, the winged angels beneath Mary are famous in their own right. As early as 1913 Gustav Kobbé declared that "no cherub or group of cherubs is so famous as the two that lean on the altar top indicated at the very bottom of the picture."[ Heavily marketed, they have been featured in stamps, postcards, t-shirts, wrapping paper, and even condom wrappers.[ These cherubs have inspired legends of their own. According to a 1912 article in Fra Magazine, when Raphael was painting the Madonna the children of his model would come in to watch. Struck by their posture as they did, the story goes, he added them to the painting exactly as he saw them.[ Another story, recounted in 1912's St. Nicholas Magazine, says that Raphael rather was inspired by two children he encountered on the street when he saw them "looking wistfully into the window of a baker's shop."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sistine_Madonna
From a trip to an old junkyard I found a white metal figure of a Cherub in a pile of junk. Looking around for possibilities I found an old rusted chromed toaster. I decided to make a reflective composition out of the pieces. A piece of white wall material in the background completed my Homage to Raphaels Cherubs. I kind of see this photos process as “found studio art.”
Raphael
http://www.galen-frysinger.com/european_train/vatican02.jpg
http://rlv.zcache.com/cherub_from_sistine_madonna_by_raphael_sticker-p217193687128525709qjcl_400.jpg
"The First Kiss, 1873" by William Adolphe Bouguereau
http://www.popartuk.com/g/l/lg3486+the-first-kiss-detail-1873-william-adolphe-bouguereau-poster.jpg
