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We\u2019ve asked members of the Getty community to share short, personal reflections on works of art they\u2019re thinking about right now. These recordings feature stories related to our daily lives.\n\n\n\nThis week, educator Kelly Jane Smith-Fatten learns about Michelangelo by drawing from his drawings. To learn more about this work, visit: https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/298166/.\n\n\n\nOver the next few weeks, look for new recordings every other Tuesday.\n\n\n\n\n\nTranscript\n\n\n\nJAMES CUNO: Hi, I\u2019m Jim Cuno, president of the J. Paul Getty Trust. In a new podcast feature, we\u2019re asking members of the Getty community to share short reflections on works of art they\u2019re thinking about right now. We\u2019ll be releasing new recordings every other Tuesday. I hope you\u2019ll find these stories about our daily lives\u2014from laundry on the line to a dog at a scholar\u2019s feet\u2014thought provoking, illuminating, and entertaining.\n\n\n\nKELLY JANE SMITH-FATTEN: \n\n\n\nHi, I\u2019m Kelly Jane Smith-Fatten and I\u2019m a gallery educator.\n\n\n\nThe past few months, I have been thinking about Study of a Mourning Woman by Michelangelo Buonorroti. It\u2019s a drawing of a woman draped in heavy cloth, made using a quill pen and dark brown ink. The woman\u2019s head is covered in the cloth as well, and she tilts her head slightly down, towards her arms which are folded over her chest, with one hand coming up to her face and covers part of it. It\u2019s as though she\u2019s cradling herself in her arms.\n\n\n\nThis work has taken on special meaning to me. It was on view in the Michelangelo exhibition that had opened at the Getty just before the pandemic hit. I was fortunate enough to visit that exhibition a few times before the stay at home orders, and it was just magical. I was inspired. I planned to keep learning and spend more time in the galleries, but of course, the museum closed abruptly in March.\n\n\n\nAt home, I wanted to see if drawing from the image of Mourning Woman on my computer screen could continue the exploration and magic of what it was like to experience the drawing in person. Drawing from drawings is a way to look really closely and learn about what the artist did on paper. Anyone can do this. It doesn\u2019t matter what your drawing comes out looking like, it\u2019s the act that allows you to discover more about the object.\n\n\n\nWe gallery educators always encourage this in the galleries, but I wasn\u2019t sure what it would be like online. So I pulled up the artwork and began drawing, zooming in really close to see the details of Michelangelo\u2019s line work: where he chose to draw lines closer together or further apart, or where he left the paper clear of ink to create a sense of light.\n\n\n\nEventually, this experiment led to drawing classes I led over Zoom with volunteer docents, focused on Study of a Mourning Woman. They wondered who might the woman be, what she was feeling internally, and how her gestures and the drapery of the fabric expressed that feeling. Their questions and interpretations showed me that there are so many possibilities within this one drawing.\n\n\n\nIt has become a kind of friend, as can happen with art sometimes.\xa0I connect the posture and emotion of the Mourning Woman with how I\u2019ve felt now and then during this exceptional time.\n\n\n\nBut drawing from this object, I am reminded of Michelangelo\u2019s words to his student: \u201cDraw Antonio, draw Antonio, draw and don\u2019t waste time.\u201d To me, these words are a hopeful reminder that art matters, what we do now matters.\n\n\n\nCUNO: To view Michelangelo Buonarotti\u2019s Study of a Mourning Woman, made about 1500\u20131505, click the link in this episode\u2019s description or look for it on getty.edu/art/collection.