Many paintings by famous artists contain interesting historical facts of their creation. We learn more about them.
The peak of expressionism, experts called Vincent van Gogh's painting "Starry Night" (1889). But the author himself attributed it to the category of extremely unsuccessful works, since his state of mind at that time was not the best. So, five interesting facts about the famous picture.
Friends quarrel
The picture appeared after a serious quarrel with a friend Paul Gauguin, who came to Van Gogh to exchange experience and fruitful cooperation. Mental illness worsened again, at the peak of an emotional breakdown, he cuts off part of his ear and carries it to a brothel to a familiar prostitute. This was done with a bull defeated by a matador. Brother Theo was forced to take the unfortunate to a clinic for the mentally ill. There, an expressionist created a famous painting.
Starry Night was created by the artist’s imagination. Therefore, the researchers tried in vain to determine the drawn constellation. For the artist, at the request of his brother, a separate room was allocated in which he could create his masterpieces, he was forbidden to go outside.
Saw the invisible
Aggravation of mental illness and a subtle perception of the world allowed him to see and portray turbulence. During Van Gogh's life, it was impossible to make out the vortex flows. However, the genius Leonardo da Vinci could see a similar phenomenon before him.
The painting in the eyes of the artist was not his best work, ordinary, because he preferred to work from nature. She was put on display, Van Gogh himself said that her goal was to show the world how not to portray the night landscape. But expressionists considered the main manifestation of feelings, so Starry Night was for them an icon of style.
The artist painted another painting with that name. The landscape turned out to be excellent, so she ignored indifferent connoisseurs. Van Gogh wrote to his brother:
“Why can't bright stars in the sky be more important than black dots on a map of France? Just as we take a train to get to Tarascon or Rouen, we also die to get to the stars. ”
It’s sad, because during his lifetime the artist managed to sell only one picture. These are interesting facts about Starry Night.
"Three heroes"
This picture was created by Vasnetsov for 27 years. A huge canvas accompanied the artist and his family during the journey from Moscow to Kiev, where he worked on the frescoes of Vladimir Cathedral, and in the summer from the city to the village. An interesting fact about the film "Three Heroes" can be called the fact that the author was able to complete the work a few decades later thanks to Vasily Polenov, who refused to accept the first draft, begun by oil, until a large-scale version was written.
Collective image of heroes
These Russian heroes lived at different times, therefore the collective image of heroes turned out. The idea of the artist was the idea of the hero defenders who went on patrol to find out if anyone was offending anyone. In the historical museum, he was allowed to take ancient armor that helped him create folk heroes.
Dobrynya Nikitich, according to epics, is a boyar or a relative of the prince. Researchers saw his prototype in the uncle of Prince Vladimir the Red Sun. But in fact, the character of Dobrynya absorbed the features of relatives and the author himself.
Ilya Muromets, according to the epic epic, was an old Cossack and a peasant son. Historians have found several prototypes. One of them is a holy elder resting in the Kiev Pechersk Lavra. According to epics, Ilya at the end of his life's journey went to die in a monastery. The Kiev-Pechersk hero had the nickname Chobotok. The fact is that he managed to fight off the adversaries with one boot. The model drivers were a cabman and a peasant.
In epics, Alyosha Popovich is the son of a Rostov priest who was distinguished by cunning. The annals of the prince's warrior by the name of Alexander Popovich appear in the annals, and he became his prototype. Sources put forward two versions of the time of his life: the beginning or end of the XI century or XIII century, in which he fought with the Tatar-Mongols. Alyosha Popovich has the appearance of the son of Savva Mamontov, who was a friend of Vasnetsov and a philanthropist.
Hero Attributes
On his neck near Dobrynia hung a pectoral cross with a knife with which he killed, according to legend, the Snake. Contemporary folklorists believed that Vasnetsov wanted to draw a parallel and depict the struggle of the peasantry against paganism, for which Prince Vladimir and his uncle Dobrynya advocated. But Vasnetsov portrayed an encolpion cross with a relic. He was worn as a decoration and a talisman over his clothes.
In the hands of Dobrynia Nikitich is a sword that emphasizes his belonging to the military nobility. On the head there is a helmet in the form of a Greek cap, borrowed from Byzantium. It was written from the exhibit (XIII century) of the Armory, which is located in the Moscow Kremlin. Presumably, he came to Moscow in the 15th century, and the Byzantine princess Sophia, who married him to Ivan III, brought him. A relative of the prince is dressed in expensive brocade clothes and armor. Armor made of steel plates is worn over chain mail. In Ancient Russia, the nobility paid them for the acquisition of land.
In the XVI century, the most popular type of helmet was a shishak (on Ilya Muromets). For additional protection, shelomas were sometimes used, they were worn on top.
According to the Nikon Chronicle, the prince awarded Alexei Popovich hryvnia for victory over enemies. For the first time in Russia, Yushman - plate armor - was mentioned in the middle of the XVI century. He was brought from Persia. A compound bow consists of a tree of different species. The top of the arrow was painted in different colors to quickly find the right one, for example, in order to pierce the enemy, clad in armor, or to defeat his horse. Alyosha Popovich took a harp on a hike, which indicates his love of music.
In the foreground, the artist depicted a young shoot, as a sign of continuity of generations. Behind the heroes you can see the mounds. This is a tribute to those who, like today's real heroes, defended their homelands.
Interesting facts about the painting "Again deuce"
This canvas is very well known to today's students. Since in the general education program there is an item on the description of the picture. The plot is simple and straightforward, but many do not know interesting facts about the canvas. It turns out that Fyodor Reshetnikov's picture “Again Two” is included in the trilogy of his works. The first work of the triptych is the canvas "Arrived on vacation." The author wrote it in 1948. The picture depicts a young Suvorovite who came to visit his relatives. The boy is very happy to honor his grandfather as commander-in-chief, thereby showing that he is pleased with his position.
The artist decided to write the following picture at school, making the main character an excellent student. To do this, he asked the teacher for permission to sit in the place he needed and write from nature. The teacher called an excellent student and asked him to answer a simple question on the topic. However, the boy could not gather his thoughts, he felt ashamed for it, and he lowered his head. The fact is that he took the artist for checking.
Change of concept
Then Fyodor Pavlovich decided to change his plan and portray the lone, only the action of the plot to move to the house. He assigned the main role to his neighbor - the young goalkeeper. Only he did not begin to disclose to him details regarding the name of the picture. The difficulty at the time of painting was a dog who refused to stand upright. I had to resort to tricks - to give the dog sausages so that she remained in the right position for at least a few minutes. If you look closely, the first picture of the triptych is depicted in the background. "Again deuce" was written in 1952.
Third picture
The final picture of the trilogy is Reexamination, written in 1954. The action is transferred from city to village. A boy sits at a table and prepares for a new exam. You can see how unhappy he is, because he has to learn lessons when friends walk and have fun. One of the pictures of the trilogy again hangs on the wall, emphasizing one theme.
Interesting facts about the painting "Mona Lisa"
The expression on the face of the woman depicted in the picture suggests that she is hiding a secret that no one can solve. The famous painting once again heated passions around itself thanks to the novel "Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown. Readers gathered families at round tables to quickly unravel all the classified facts described in the book.
Canvas Leonardo da Vinci is famous for other facts. This is a picture of a famous artist who is also famous for his work on human anatomy. The canvas is written in a peculiar manner. But the most interesting fact about the picture is that it is most often stolen. These data are known to a wide range of people, but there are others that are less popular.
Seven new facts
Also interesting facts about the masterpiece of world painting are the following:
- The name of the canvas "Mona Lisa" has a spelling error. "Mona" in translation from Italian means "Madonna". It is still unknown who Leonardo da Vinci portrayed on the canvas. Some believe that it was a self-portrait in a female form. But most believe that the depicted girl - Lisa Gerardini - is the mother of two sons.
- The world masterpiece of art is damaged. A stone was thrown at him from the hands of Hugo Ungaz in 1956. Since then, paint damage has been seen near Madonna’s left elbow.
- A masterpiece of world painting is considered priceless, so it is impossible to insure it.
- It is seen that in the picture a woman without eyebrows. According to rumors, experts, trying to restore the picture, accidentally erased the eyebrows. But some scholars believe that the author didn’t specially finish the picture because he was a perfectionist.
- The painting is in the Louvre in a special room. With the help of modern technologies, the room was given a special temperature so that the masterpiece was stored in optimal conditions. The picture itself is enclosed in bulletproof glass. Such a room cost the museum more than seven million dollars.
- Experts have proven that three different layers are applied to the painting. But it is not known what is depicted on the lower layers. One version is that a woman holds her hand in a chair instead of a hand.
- Marcel Duchamp in 1919 wrote a copy of Mona Lisa, but painted her mustache and beard.
This work of art is considered an unsurpassed masterpiece in world classics.