The art that I enjoy throughout history are the ones that either break normal conventions of art at their respective times or are just straight up weird. Art for a long time in history was focused on careful skill and strong geometry that makes viewing art from these periods a bit less interesting to look at (for me at least) simply because of how structured they are. These are amazing pieces of art and are key pieces to the understanding of the properties of art/design, but art with a bit more use of the artist's creative license is always more appealing to me. 

  These two pieces that caught my eye the most at the National Gallery are examples of this. Both "Cupid, Venus, Volly, and Time" by Bronzino and "The Ugly Dutchess" by Massys show paintings of strange figures that go against the standards of both art and culture when they were made. The satirical portrayal of an old dutchess that is foolishly aging goes against the normal beauty standards at the time; creating a figure who is quite terrifying to look at, but at the same time, draws viewers in to look at just the sheer bizarreness of this painting. The same can be said for Bronzino's piece; the confusing addition of several forms in this piece makes its meaning hard to decipher even for modern art historians. The strange creatures and busy composition makes the piece feel complicated and just odd. Art like these two pieces are always so cool to look at and are a needed breath of fresh air from all the other artworks from their time periods.