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The Mona Lisa is one of the most famous paintings in the world. She was created by the master, Leonardo Da Vinci. I say this painting in person in 2017 when I visited Paris. She was a beautiful lady with a true representation of Da Vinci’s style. However, you can’t help but wonder several things while staring at Mona Lisa.
Questions like who was she and why is this painting more famous than the others? Thankful the guys at Stuff You Should Know decide to answer those questions.
Leonardo Di Vinci is probably one of the most famous artist that emerged out of the Italian Renaissance. He was fascinated by a variety of academic subjects outside of his artistic pursuit. He traveled all over Italy completing work for some of the most powerful families at the time. People can recognize his unique style on sight. Some can name and describe several of his most famous masterpieces. I personally love his unique style towards painting and pursuing several subjects of study. So when I landed in the city of Milan this summer, I was determined to see one of his most famous pieces of work. This master piece was the Last Supper in the Convent of Santa Maria.
Art is created and displayed all over the world. It is studied in school and celebrated by many. However, it seems like some of the world’s greatest masters come from the Italian Renaissance era. Masters like Leonardo Da Vinci and Micheal Angelo. People study these works, and almost every person on Earth can recognize the styles that were created on sight. Seeing these pieces in person are on people’s bucket list. So when one is in Italy, how can one see many master pieces that rose from this great Italian period? Well, I may have found paradise. A paradise that contains pieces from the Medici Archives, artwork from the greatest religious churches, and pieces created by the greatest artist of their era. Where is this paradise? Let me introduce you to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy.
Monet was an artist that came out of the Impressionist era of the art world. One of his most famous paintings being the water lilies from his garden. However, it wasn’t until his later years that his passion for painting manifest with pure dream worthy quality. This passion helped him push forward after World War I, and losing his first son along with his wife. After World War I, the world was celebrating it’s new found peace at the same time mourning the loss of family and friends. Monet was like many and fell into depression and left the world of art for a few years. However, he soon found the inspiration to paint again after his friends encouraged him to pick up the paint brush and use his sadness to paint.
He created his dream gardens at his home in Giverny. He painted in the dream like quality finished and unfinished brush strokes. He wanted to take viewers into his garden and surround in this paradise he created for himself. Monet was a mad man. He filled 2 studios full of paintings of his paradise and he shared it with the world. He didn’t let his growing age stop him. He didn’t let his medical difficulties stop him. He never let blindness impede upon his dream. He started to play with the styles that manifested with artist like Picasso but stuck to the dream like quality.
Culture Adventurer 