Art Case Study

Everyone wants to understand art.... In the case of a painting people have to understand. If only they would realize above all that an artist works out of necessity, that he himself is only a trifling bit of the world, and that no more importance should be attached to him than to plenty of other things, things which please us in the world, though we can't explain them (Barnes).

I selected this painting because the colour contrast of the pink dress against the dark background caught my eye. I also found the expression of the young woman to be interesting.

Knowing the sex of the artist introduces the preconceived notion of how the artist may view the opposite sex. In this painting, because I know the artist is a male when viewing the subjects of the painting I understand why they are painted in the way they are. His gender influences my

The Mona Lisa has been one of the most debated paintings of all time. The look on the face of the women in this painting leaves a person’s mind wondering. No one really seems to know what this mysterious woman is thinking or feeling. The questions that cannot seem to be answered are what make this painting so famous. The reason for that is because it is raveled in mystery and secrets. All of the small details make the painting stand out by being different from others and the details also make it far more remarkable as well. And surely, the smirk on the face of the Mona Lisa is the major key factor to the painting being so interesting. “Leonardo da Vinci was one of the

Sometimes words cannot exactly explain what we want to convey, so we need a visual to support it. A similar thing was observed in the article of Alan M. Dershowitz, he cleverly makes use of Ben Shah’s painting in the article to grab the attention of folks. The author writes about a murder case of a paymaster and a guard of the South Braintree by Sacco and Vanzetti, both were Italian immigrant anarchists. Surprisingly, the truth was not revealed that whether Sacco and Vanzetti were the killers and this case is still unsolved. I agree with the author that the trials could not get to the fair results. I believe that the painting is an ironic symbol of the justice. It silently expresses a lot what the text can’t. I think the painting adds words

context such as race and gender, and the history of the painting. In addition, I will be

You can see that when viewing a painting like this there are many questions that arise in your mind. Looking at the Mona Lisa I get drawn in and a sense of wonderment comes over me. I start to imagine the person in the painting and what her smile was really about. A strong, confident women is what I think she was, and that was brought out beautifully by de Vinci. I also think that the way he painted the Mona Lisa shows a lot about what and how Leonardo viewed women. Many say that it was painted for the love of his mother. What do you

Concerning color, there is a stark contrast between the figure on the painting and the background. More specifically, the figure of the woman is predominantly delineated in white color, especially pale, ashen white, as far her apparel and facial complexion are concerned, while there are also various hues of grey, with respect to her hair and accessory feather. These white and grey shades are vividly contrasted with the prevailing red and crimson hues of the background (viz. the drape, armchair, and table). Moreover, one can detect colors of dark green (jewelry), some beige on the left (pillar), and darker or lighter shades of blue on the right side of the canvas (sky), which all in concert and in addition to the subtle purple hue forming the sun or moon exude a certain dramatic sentiment. Also, there is brown, which often easily segues into gold (viz. books and attire details respectively). The main contrast of colors between white and red would be interpreted as serving the purpose of rendering the figure of the woman, and especially her face, the focal point of the work, despite, paradoxically enough, the lush red shades at the background. Bearing that in mind, the significance of the woman’s face will be enlarged upon later, when discussing aspects of her identity.

The model in the painting was viewed more as a real subject or person and less as a generic face of upper class in a work of art. It was so odd to some viewers they seek to find the real women in the painting witch was unusual.

Da Vinci was born in Italy and, a true Italian patriot he was, he spent most of his lifetime there during which Da Vinci completed many commissions, e.g. the Sforza family who took Da Vinci into their service. His service for the Sforza family continued until Da Vinci returned to Florence when Milan proved to be unsafe. Returning to Florence, Leonardo created many master inventions, appreciated today by many historians and scientists. The famed Mona Lisa portrays a young woman, or in the words of Da Vinci “une donna vera” whose identity is now confirmed but is still theorised to this day. Such theories

The feel of the picture lends to emotions of unease and recognition of sexual innuendo. The colors of the painting are vibrant, but for the most part are dark. The heavy tones and shades of the colors are well balanced throughout the piece. It can be noted that the brightest shades of color are found on areas depicting the actual woman. In areas that are understood as landscape, the colors are more dreary and create a sense of instability. Even Hess observes that the

The portrait is displayed horizontally with a gold trimmed frame. The subject is a female that looks to be in her early 20’s sitting upright on a large brown chair. If the viewer travels up the painting the first indication of the woman’s class is her satin, blue dress. The saturated blue shines and falls in the light like water. Paired with the dress are her exceptionally detailed endings to her sleeves. The lace is even painted as though it is translucent, allowing a little of the blue dress to show through the sleeve. Flowers throughout history have symbolized innocence of a woman and her virginity. The repeating theme of flowers, in the sleeve cuffs and ribbon) in the woman’s attired suggests her purity or innocent nature. Another very details section of the painting includes the corset/torso details. The sewing suggests texture in the torso with small beading in between. Towards the top of the chest in the center, the female seems to bear an extravagant, ribbon piece with a tear drop bead in the center. The light pink

 The two portraits are associated with mysteries that have baffled analysts and historians for many years. First, the identity of the women was vastly unknown. The exact identity of the woman in the Mona Lisa has remained a mystery. While searching for answers, historians sought to know the time when the portrait was created. According to them, the portrait must have been created when Francesco Del Giocondo and his wife purchased a house in 1503 or during the birth of their son in 1502. Thus, some analysts conclude that the portrait was dedicated to the wife of Francesco Del Giocondo. The nature of clothing often backs the argument. The gown and scarf represented an aristocratic status. The

The Mona Lisa is respectively one of the most famous paintings in the history, and was painted by one of the most infamous artist of all time Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo has his own mysteries, because no one knows much about the man at all, aside from the basics. He was born on April 25, 1452 in Vinci, Italy. His father was a notary and his mother was a maiden, they were never married, Leonardo was their only child. However, his parents together had 17 other children. He was extremely intelligent and was a master at many skills, science, math, architecture, art and was among the first to dissect a human body. He began painting at the age of 14 as an apprentice for Andrea del Verrocchio. By the age of 20 Leonardo had outshined his teacher and Verrocchio knew that he could never be as good as da Vinci and he never painted again. Throughout da Vinci’s life he painted many, many

While painting The Battle of Anghiari, Leonardo started working on one of the most famous paintings ever made, Mona Lisa (Leonardo world ¶ 12 and 31). Leonardo probably used the wife of a Florentine silk merchant as his model of Mona Lisa (¶ 12 and