It was viewing time already in the cobbled street gallery, as the sun had been busy painting the buildings and cobbles slowly, while continually adding more light, creating changing combinations of light and dark in true Baroque tradition, although its technique preceded it by infinite years.

We entered the museum of art uncertain of its contents but inspired by the natural paintings already seen. The primary painter was a Spaniard named Francisco de Zurbaran, a baroque artist, his paintings masterfully contrasted light and shadow. He was seen in a similar light to Carravagio who was a master of this chiaroscuro style, as he set about brightening his famous works, although it is believed that Leonardo da Vinci was the first to portray depth in his renaissance art through the use of light and dark.

Murillo was there as well continuing the Da Vinci theme, joined by a couple of Rubens who also uses the chiaroscuro style of painting to gain this strong feeling of depth in his works. So what did all this mean to two uneducated, sporadic viewers of artwork. Recently I had read ‘The Art of Therapy’ by Alain de Botton, and now try to use his method for making art more meaningful to me.

So in a general sense I looked at the particular theme on show, and tried to look honestly at the light and dark sides of myself, and see how it looks when I weave that into a painting. I associate more strongly with the light which gives me a positive outlook on life but try not to deny the darker side, making myself more aware of where it lies in my body and to look at ways of making a fuller artwork within myself. 

I tried to see what the artist was attempting to represent in the person he had painted and then looked at the contrast of light and dark in this man, and myself. Having Parkinsons Disease, it also helps my brain to work at thinking of these things so I try to work out these puzzles to hopefully increase and enrich my neuronal activity. 

I could not help but reflect on my visit the day before to a small chapel attached to one of those cobbled street galleries. It was once a dark cave and now is brought alive by a few paintings including a few pieces by Goya. Goya spent time in Cadiz but was mostly ill while here, and ended up going completely deaf, eventually spending time in a ‘Deaf man’s house’ in Madrid. But he could still see, so in 1808 when Napoleon invaded Spain, he painted scenes of horror with dark and emotional undertones that he had witnessed. I’ve read that these experiences were shattering for Goya and I wonder if he eventually saw the unseen light in his works – the courage to expose the terror being inflicted on his people.