I'm scrolling through my phone, and I see these blogs on the seven most famous painting, etc. so what makes a painting famous why does everyone flock to it think about these things?
I was looking at Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa... do I really need a photo for you to see what I am talking about? That's Famous... but if it is OK with you, here is the picture.
Why is Leonardo famous? Well one of the most brilliant men ever to live in that time period, in so many categories but let's talk about art.
Early Christian Art falls into a category known as DESEGNO. We have all seen this category of art history -stainless windows with flat silhouetted shapes of figures, gold leaf paintings the figures do not look realistic, and they actually come from the Red-Black Vase painting -Greek Classical Art. You walk like an Egyptian tell a story you know exactly who's walking and if they're Egyptian or not.
Art History Review: Giotto introduces to the world that if you change the value, something will look more realistic, more three-dimensional, as if they're in the room with you today.
But Giotto had the edges of his object outline and therefore it still had a flat feeling to it. Now when looking at art, you have to be very careful. Art doesn't like to jump too far so Giotto's darker farther way is a new beginning, and the keeping it flat was a continuance of the old so before there was except.
DESEGNO is about careful designing the page with shades colors, values and textures, and patterns in a beautiful, artistic way that has form and purpose. This should be its own blog on how that's used are every day.
So, Giotto continues to design the page this way with purpose and careful design yet he's introduced one concept -value changing- darker farther away.
So let me get back on topic with Leonardo da Vinci's, Mona, Lisa, as Mona is getting darker further away -thank you Giotto, Leonardo introduces a concept called Chiaroscuro - meaning the shadow side of the object gets darker farther away until it disappears into the background, and for the first time the outlining of a shape is no more.
By doing this Leonardo introduces a new term in art called SFUMATO, but that brings up a different blog all together. ( his edges of his object get real soft and fuzzy the Italians call it Leonardo's Smoke; everything gets softer and softer. Look who he influenced when you see the Vermeer painting:
Notice how soft the lips are, the edges of the nose, lower right side of chin, his handling of edges is absolutely beautiful and when you add the detail that the dark background could smear into the light flesh yet his color stayed clean, means he spent a long-time laboring over this effect.
Thank You Leonardo!
The softening of edges helps create softened, but do not lose the minor detail that his colors, intensity of colors, his color scheme, his lost and found edges- where he loses and finds, size of the canvas, subject matter, ALL PLAY A MAJOR ROLE SUPPORTING HIS MESSAGE!
Leonardo's Chiaroscuro is seen when you look at the left side of Mon's arm and you see it disappear into the background, eventually the art world will call that a lost edge. As posed to the found edge of the top of her hand with the light against the dark surrounding area (another blog off topic).
Notice the Early Christian Art has the edges outlined.
The Disegno is designing the page with pattern- repeating shapes, textures- dappling into the gold leaf, color and
all these elements used together to purposefully tell a story.
What's your message and which art tools from the old (master) guys are you choosing to use when you need them or not. Art is about choices, your choices, your art, YOUR VOICE!
So, what makes Mona great? The introduction of a new way of seeing and doing art. When Leonardo (we are on a first name basis now). As time goes on, we all make a choice whether to make a painting flat which means not making three sides to a box, not introducing Baroque concepts of Recession, which adds to Giotto's darker farther away, which creates three-dimensional / realistic art tools known as Chiaroscuro and Sfumato,
Old (master) guys tools used in art today, used in every type of art today, do I have to have a blog on the words every type of art today?
P.S. We are not finished talking about Leonardo our friend, he has more to offer us.