World famous paintings. Once again, do we know them all?
In this issue, we will introduce 10 world-famous paintings that have left their mark on history.
1) Mona Lisa
Artist: Leonardo da Vinci
Production period: 1503 - 1519
Collection: Louvre Museum, Paris
The Mona Lisa is without a doubt the most famous painting in the world.
Painted by the versatile genius Leonardo da Vinci during the Italian Renaissance, which flourished from the 15th to the 16th century, this work still attracts tourists from all over the world to Paris today, with its mysteriously charming smile.
The model for this painting is said to be Madame Lisa Gherardini Gioconda, wife of the great Florentine merchant Francesco del Gioconda. However, the model is still a mystery, and the theory of Madame Gioconda is still a hypothesis.
The exquisite and beautiful shading achieved by repeatedly applying transparent paint using the chiaroscuro technique, and the contrast between the woman in the foreground and the majestic nature in the background, are highly regarded as representative of the Italian Renaissance.
The Last Supper
Author: Leonardo da Vinci
Date: 1495 - 1498
Collection: Basilica di Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan, Italy
Leonardo occupies the top two places in the list of masterpieces. He is also called the greatest genius in the history of mankind, and his achievements were significant.
Christian religious paintings were the most common subject matter in Europe at that time.
In this mural, Jesus is sharing bread with his 12 disciples while telling them that there is a traitor among them. After this, Jesus solemnly accepts the betrayal and climbs the hill of Golgotha carrying the cross on which to hang himself.
(3) Starry Moonlit Night
Author: Vincent van Gogh
Production date: 1889
Collection: The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York
This masterpiece by Vincent van Gogh, known for the dramatic life he led, is almost abstract, with a strong texture of paint visible when viewed up close.
In this painting, the strong texture of the paint, as if the brushstrokes have remained in the thick paint, which is typical of his style, is seen in the cypresses and the stars and moon shining brightly in the dark blue sky.
The starry night sky, which looks like something out of a picture book, gives the viewer a sense of security, but at the same time, it also evokes the overwhelming energy with which the artist Van Gogh painted his works.
When Van Gogh painted this work, he was convalescing in a mental hospital called Saint Remy. It is said that he painted this painting based on the view from the window of his hospital room.
(4) The Scream
Artist: Edvard Munch
Date: 1893
Collection: Oslo National Museum of Art, Oslo, Norway
Munch's world-famous "The Scream" is not only one work. There are several studies in oil, pastel, and lithographic prints.
The pastel was sold at auction in 2012 for approximately 9.6 billion yen.
The work was stolen and gained public recognition after it was found safe and sound.
The work has such iconic appeal that it even influenced pictographs.
5) Guernica
Author: Pablo Picasso
Date of creation: 1937
Collection: Queen Sofia Art Center, Madrid, Spain
This is the most recent work on this list.
Guernica" depicts the key moments of the German carpet bombing of Guernica, a Basque city in northeastern Spain, during the Spanish Civil War.
Picasso is famous for inventing techniques such as cubism, and his characteristic painting style is retained in "Guernica.
It expresses the horror of war as an artistic legacy of mankind's mistakes of the 20th century.
The work was temporarily stored at the Museum of Modern Art in New York for safety during World War II. Picasso himself had requested that the work remain in New York until democratic government returned to Spain.
Guernica" finally returned to Spain in 1981, after the death of Franco, the monopoly ruler of Spain, and the return of democracy.
(6) The Kiss
Author: Gustav Klimt
Date: 1907 - 1908
Collection: Belvedere Museum, Vienna, Austria
While "Guernica" depicted the violence of mankind, "The Kiss" depicts the love of mankind.
Created during Klimt's "golden age," the work is characterized by the abundance of gilded robes surrounding the two life-size lovers. The excessive decoration shows the influence of Byzantine art, and the flat pattern of the garments shows the influence of Japanese painting.
Although this work is in a museum collection and has not been auctioned, Klimt's works often fetch extremely high prices at auctions.
(7) Girl with a Pearl Earring
Artist: Johannes Vermeer
Date: 1665
Collection: Mauritshuis Museum, The Hague, The Netherlands
This small work depicting a mysterious girl is often compared to "The Mona Lisa.
However, "Girl with a Pearl Earring" is said to be an imaginary woman, not a real person.
The girl with a blue and gold turban around her head and large pearl earrings is depicted in a very simple composition against a dark background.
If you look closely, this work is also depicted in an out-of-focus manner. According to one theory, Vermeer painted using a prototype camera room called a "camera obscura. Although the photographic technique of sensitizing light-sensitive paper as we know it today had not yet developed significantly, it is thought that he painted without underpainting by projecting the outside scenery directly onto the canvas in this room.
8) The Birth of Venus
Artist: Sandro Botticelli
Date: 1485
Collection: Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy
This painting by Sandro Botticelli, one of the three major painters of the Italian Renaissance, is painted in tempera, a mixture of egg and pigment.
It is believed to have been commissioned by the Medici family, a wealthy family based in Florence at the time that was engaged in various artistic support activities.
Venus, born from a giant scallop shell, is being blown to the knight by the wind blowing from the left hand side of the screen by Zephyrus (the west wind).
The body of Venus is a departure from the rigorous classical realism found in the works of Leonardo da Vinci and Raffaello. Most notably, Venus' neck is impossibly long in real life, and her left shoulder is tilted at an anatomically impossible angle.
Such depictions are only meant to emphasize the beauty in the painting, and are in keeping with the later style of Mannerism.
Las Meninas
Author: Diego Velázquez
Production date: 1656
Collection: Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain
This work, the centerpiece of the Museo del Prado, one of the largest museums in the world, was painted by the master Velázquez. Many art historians have been fascinated by and attempted to decipher the complex events that take place in this depiction of the imperial family and the artist himself.
Velázquez's paintings are known to have influenced many painters. Although the painting appears very realistic and serene, a closer look reveals that the artist has created the maximum effect by omission and drawing with the minimum number of hands necessary.
(10) The Creation of Adam
Artist: Michelangelo Buonarroti
Date: 1508 - 1512
Collection: Sistine Chapel (Vatican)
The interior of the Sistine Chapel, where this work is painted, is filled with wall and ceiling paintings that took Michelangelo, a renowned sculptor, an enormous amount of time to complete. Among the paintings in the chapel, which depict biblical stories and deities from the Old Testament one by one, "The Creation of Adam" is on the ceiling and must be looked up to see it in person.
Michelangelo's other famous work, "David," is unique in its muscular and beautiful depiction of the body.
Incidentally, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel had accumulated much damage due to years of candle soot.
The restoration work completed in 1989 required an enormous amount of time, and people were very surprised to see the original paintings restored to their luminosity and vibrancy.
The following related articles are also recommended
Leonardo da Vinci: The Master Explained The Master Explained
Leonardo da Vinci's famous works explained!
What was Van Gogh's "Sunflowers"? The legendary painting is explained.
10 unknown facts about Edvard Munch
The amazing life of Vincent van Gogh explained!
What is "The Weeping Woman"? Picasso's masterpieces explained!
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