More Saints at The National Gallery

Saint Sebastian 

This week we (CityLit Art students as part of a 100 paintings course) were looking again at ‘Saints’ – it’s been quite a theme so far .


 I liked the attached Donne Triptych by Hans Memling (around 1478) , the way the hinged sections were constructed made for interesting perspective (like on the floor) and showed artists great skills.

A Triptych by Memling.

 While I was not particularly happy with the Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian - 1475 (by brothers Antonio and Piero del Pollaiuolo) – it is far too obviously symmetrical for my tastes and the viewing needs to be from lower and further away.


On the other hand I really did like ‘Christ crucified’ (also 1475) by Antonello da Massina -which is if anything even more symmetrical!

Add caption

It is quite interesting as the group begin to get to know each other, we’ve got 20 weeks together and I think it will be interesting to see how that goes– I find with people that I meet often my first judgements are not always 100% right–


It is a varied group (as you’d expect in London), all with their own stories, one person I was chatting with yesterday was a German woman who has lived in UK for about 25 years and has just taken, like  a UK citizenship test (at her expense)  -think away from the ‘Art’ Brexit will continue to be a theme.

Next appointment is a return to the V&A