Painting is a unique field of art, where each canvas represents a unique world. Brush movements, density of colors, richness of shades - all these elements create a unique harmony. However, this is not the only thing that makes the paintings special. Every work of art contains secrets that sometimes can be solved, and sometimes they remain incomprehensible mysteries.
Let's plunge into the world of painting and look at some fascinating facts about famous works of art that have excited the minds of researchers and connoisseurs.
"The Persistence of Memory"
Salvador Dali is the most prominent representative of surrealism. His paintings cannot be confused with anyone else. One of his most famous works, The Persistence of Memory, has been a source of discussion for many years. In this painting, the painter depicted a clock that seemed to melt and spread across a branch, a chest of drawers and the face of a sleeping man. Many tried to understand the meaning of this picture and found a reference to Einstein’s theory of relativity. In fact, the artist was inspired by Camembert cheese, which melted in the sun. It was this state that Salvador Dali decided to convey in his work.
"Last Supper"
Leonardo da Vinci is the author of many painting masterpieces of the Renaissance. “The Last Supper” is one of his most famous works. After all, it carries a deep meaning for the entire Christian world. The main characters of the picture are considered to be Jesus Christ and Judas. It is ironic that the same sitter posed for both images several years apart. At first, a young guy from the church choir was ideal for the great master to create the image of Christ. Three years later, Leonardo saw a drunkard lying on the street and painted an image of Judas from him. Having sobered up, the man said that just a few years ago his life was completely different, he sang in a church choir and posed for an artist. Ironically, the same person was captured on canvas in opposite images.
"The last day of Pompeii"
The image of a woman has always inspired great artists. This happened with the outstanding artist, Karl Bryullov. His hand belongs to one of the masterpieces of world painting, the painting “The Last Day of Pompeii”. After analyzing the painting, art historians came to the conclusion that in a crowd of people the artist embodied the image of his beloved, Countess Yulia Samoilova, in various girls at least 4 times.
Painting by Gustav Klimt The Kiss
Gustav Klimt's painting of the kiss can be divided into three parts:
- dirty golden background, which can be understood as the sky,
- a meadow covered with flowers, completed by a steep slope representing the earth,
- a couple merging into one - a man and a woman - symbolizing the union of heaven and earth.
The rationale for this approach is the floral motifs moving from the meadow to the woman, and on the other hand, the rectangular shapes visible in the golden sky behind the woman's back, although not clearly, as we see, already clearly outlined and partially painted black, also on the man's robe.
From this it follows, first of all, that after transferring to earth what is blurred in the sky, it becomes more obvious and more concrete. Secondly, that the masculine aspect associated with the sky is zero (one might say black and white, if not for the fact that what is different from black is more golden than white) and angular, and the feminine aspect associated with soil - polysemantic, colorful and streamlined.
Tahitian pastorals or a vision of the Garden of Eden - the golden division of the picture by level
Life in paradise was a state of innocence, although in this sense it was not symbolized by the white lily, two large flowers of which grew from the stem, marking the exact golden division of the width of the image. The modest, simple dress of the Tahitian woman, by the way, is in the color of lily petals, and is of course more favorable to a color image, even if it may conflict with our imagination of a completely naked Eve in paradise.
This Tahitian woman stands on a line that marks the inverse golden division of the width of the image, passing through the inner edge of her right calf, between her chest and the outer corner of her left eye - her body is naturally bent, and her left hand holds a cup resting on her thigh. Such a geometric composition, according to which the buds of lilies and Tahitians are their mirror images relative to the center of the width of the image, imposes on us an unconscious association that, in a symbolic sense, this particular lily flower.
However, note that the vertical line passing through the center of the tree trunk is the golden division of the width between said vertical line passing through the standing girl and the right edge of the image, and the vertical line passing through the top of the seated girl playing the trumpet is the golden division dividing the width between the center of the tree trunk and the right edge of the image. This also means that the center of the tree trunk is halfway between the two girls. Additionally, the right edge of the tree trunk runs in the middle of the image between the right edge and the vertical line through the standing girl.
In conclusion, immersing ourselves in the unique stories behind the creation of famous works of art reveals the richness of artists' creativity and their interaction with the world around them. Each painting becomes not only a reflection of skill and inspiration, but also an eternal testimony of time and human destiny.