Trying to get a better feel of the works in the museums.

The staff here are very friendly and helpful. The National Museum of Fine arts staff did not charge me on the second day when I went doing sketch studies.

Apart from sketch studies, if you do not use flash photography, they allow you to take photographs. I have a relatively primitive equipment a Sony Digital Camera(DCR-TRV 480E) but it still opens up new worlds which the naked human eye cannot see.

There are several ways to enhance our vision through these recording devices. Just as CT and MRI help us see inside the human body (in my field of medical specialization) , night vision mode and zoom are two very useful tools to be able to see things with a fresh perspective.

Here are a few examples.:

Death of Dragut by Giuseppe Cali (1846-1930):

Cali, the son of Neopolitian settlers painted this lovely piece. The imagined episode of the Great Siege of Malta of 1565 shows the moment when the Rais Dragut died under Fort St.Elmo.

Due to its heightened Realism and dramatic treatment this painting can truly be said to have introduced full-blown continental Romanticism into Maltese Art.

With Medium Zoom

The Dynamics of the position of hands in the painting along with still life.Watch the facial expressions.

“Fire on the Tiber” by Claude Joseph Vermont (1714-1787),

This is how the painting looks to the viewer in the gallery

Now see the study of the detail-using a relatively simple equipment which any layman can acquire at a modest price

See the dynamics, the expressions, the use of hands, face and trajectories.

The artist depicts the human story in this work.

Andrea Vaccaro’s painting “Salome Receiving the Head of the Baptist”

This is how the painting looks to the viewer in the gallery

Now using Night mode + Zoom-The same work can be seen in a whole new light

Further Zoom and Night mode-and more information-fresh perpectives.

Next time, you go to a museum, try doing this with a very simple equipment, and it will enhance perception manifold. All it takes is a little effort, and you will go very far.

The rewards are great. Happy Hours of viewing and studying-The Human Story.

STATUES-MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS MALTA