The Most Famous Paintings

Europe is a land of treasures, called Art. Picasso, Leonardo da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli, Tamara de Lempicka, Modigliani, Rafael Santi, Eugene Delacroix, Artemisia Gentileschi, all of them were born in different countries of Europe. The life of these incredible people were full of ups and downs, all of them were born in different centuries, but they had one mission - to create life, show the beauty... As Picasso once said "Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life", thats what they tried to do, they were doctors, phsichologists, they`d helped people to live...

Today we have opportunity to see their masterpieces in the museums of  Louvre,  Uffizi, Rijk and in the other museums.

Which painting located in which place, what story it has, we will explore together!

All we know for sure half-lenght portrait painting  Mona Lisa.

Location Louvre, France

Artist - Leonardo da Vinci, Italy.

Year - 1503 - 1506 or 1507.

Model - Lisa Gherardini.

This painting is the most visited and best-known work of art in the world. It holds Guinness World Record for the highest incurance valuation in history at US $US100 million in 1962 and equivalen to $650 million nowdays. Mona Lisa had moved from one place to another, from Napoleons bedroom to the Brest Arsenal, during the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871). and during World War II it was again removed from Louvre to the Chateau d`Amboise, than to the Loc-Dieu Abbey and Chateau de Chambord, then finally to the Ingres Museum. On 21 August 1911. it was stolen, one woman sprayed it with red paint, a rock was thrown at the painting and so on...

Next story is about a very famous painting, called The Night Watch.

Location - Amsterdam Rijk Museum.

Artist - Rembrandt van Rijn.

Year - 1642.

This art work is in the collection of Amsterdam Museum, but is prominently displayed in the Rijkmuseum as the best known painting in its collection. The size of the painting is very huge ( 363 cm x 437 cm). Rembrandt knew how to use grammarly  the light and shadow in the paintings. The painting was completed in 1642, at the peak of the Dutch Golden Age. The painting first  hung in the Groote Zaal, later moved to Amsterdam Town Hall, then to the Trippenhuis. During the World War II the canvas was detached from its frame and rolled around in cylinder and hidden in the caves of Maastricht, Netherlands. The painting had been attacked three times, first by jobless shoemaker in 1911, second by unemployed school teacher with a bread knife in 1975 and the last time on 6 April 1990 an escaped phsychiatric patient sprayed acid onto the painting with the concealed pump bottle. The masterpiece was an inspiration for Peter Greenaway, who shot a movie about the Night Watch in 2007.

The last painting about what about I am going to tell, is one of the most mystical paintings.

Primavera (Spring)

Location - Uffizi gallery, Florence.

Artist - Sandro Botticelli

Year - late 1470s or early 1480s.

Primavera is the large panel painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli. The painting depicts a group of figures from classical mythology. The painting features six female figures and two male. The movement of the composition is from right to the left. In far right you can see Zephyrus, who kidnaps the nymph Chloris, whom he later marries and become into a deity- Flora. The figure in the center is the goddess of  beauty Venus, in the air above her a blindfolded Cupid, the son of the Venus. The three dancing figures are three Graces from Greek mythology and then the Roman God of the War - Mars. Some art historians proposed that the model for Venus was Simonetta Vespucci, who was known as the greatest beauty of her age in Northern Italy.

The painting was hanging in the palace of Lorenco di Pierfrancesco di Medici then removed to the Villa di Castello until 1815, when they were transferred to the Uffizi. During World War II it was moved to Montegufoni Castle.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mona_Lisa#History

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Night_Watch

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primavera_(painting)