The Mute Women

                                                                    Michelle as The Mute Women

                                                                  The Mute Women (original) 

        The Renaissance was a cultural movement that existed roughly from the 14^th century to the 17^th; it started in Italy and later spread to all of Europe.  This time period was extremely important because the Dark Ages were ending and the world was entering a new time period. The word “renaissance” means rebirth, the rebirth of a new era.  Not only did this time period consist of financial growth it most importantly was an age in which artistic, social and scientific thoughts turned to a new direction. Paintings were no longer two-dimensional and artists started taking more liberty with their work. 

        Raffaello Sanzio also known as Raphael is an Italian painter during the Renaissance, he was born on April 6,1483 in Urbino, Italy.  Unlike many of the other famous artists during the Renaissance he was extremely productive running a workshop with many assistants. It is said that he has three phases of his work. His early work where his teacher was a major influence on him, The Florentine period where he lived in the city and then his last years where people say his best work was produced. Many of Raphaels' painting consisted of women and some of his most famous works of women consist of La Velata, La Fornarina (The Bakers Daughter), and La Muta (The Mute Women).

        The Mute Women is a painting of a women sitting down with her hands crossed with no expression to her face. This painting intrigued me and is definitely my favourite painting of his, because the subject has to expression it can relate to everyone. It also makes you wonder what Raphael would have been thinking when he gave her this expression. In my opinion this is his best painting, and that is why I chose The Mute Women for my project.

Michelle As "The Mute Women":
       Photoshop is not my strong point so I was not looking forward to doing this project. After working hard on the photo and messing up many times i finally got the end product I wanted. I really enjoy how it turned out and i think Michelle looks good as The Mute Women. The photo i used for this project was the same photo i used for the mixed lighting product. To take the photo I used my Canon Rebel T3 with the 18-55mm lens.