FOREIGN

PAINTERS AND
THEIR WORKS
10 Most Famous Paintings of
All Time

Birth of Venus
Botticelli

Sandro

Created around 148587

It depicts the goddess Venus (or Aphrodite as she is known in Greek
mythology) emerging from the sea upon a shell in accordance with the myth

Completed in 1486,
Sandro Botticelli'sThe
Birth of Venushas become
one of the most heralded
works of the Renaissance
and a lasting symbol of
feminine grace and
beauty.
TYPE: TEMPERA ON
CANVAS
THE BIRTH OF
VENUSDEPICTS
SEVERAL GODS.
IT'S AN EARLY WORK
ON CANVAS.

THE BIRTH OF
VENUSHAS A
COMPANION PIECE.
IT'S BIGGER THAN
YOU'D THINK.

La Primavera by Botticelli

IT MAY HAVE BEEN

MEANT TO REPLACE A
LOST MASTERPIECE.
THE BIRTH OF
VENUSMAY HAVE BEEN
INSPIRED BY A POEM.
IT TOOKTHE BIRTH OF
VENUSCENTURIES TO
FIND FAME.

Venus Rising from the

Sea ('Venus
Anadyomene')

Water Lilies
Claude Monet

Water Lilies (or Nympheas) is a

series of approximately 250 oil
paintings by French Impressionist
Claude Monet. The paintings depict
Monets own flower garden at Giverny
and were the main focus of his artistic
production during the last thirty years
of his life. The paintings are on

WATER LILIESIS NOT

ONE PAINTING BY
MONET.
TYPE: OIL ON CANVAS
BEFORE HE
PAINTEDWATER
LILIES,MONET
PLANTED THEM.
THERE WOULD BE NO
WATER LILIES IF
MONET HAD OBEYED
THE CITY COUNCIL.
THESE PAINTINGS
WERE THE FOCUS OF
MONET'S LATER LIFE.
MONET CELEBRATED
THE END OF WORLD
WAR I BY GIVING
FRANCEWATER

Night Watch
Rijn

Rembrandt van
Completed in 1642
It depicts a city guard
moving out, led by
Captain Frans Banning
Cocq and his
lieutenant, Willem van
Ruytenburch.
The painting was
coated with a dark
varnish which gave the
incorrect impression
that it depicted a night
scene, leading to the
name Night Watch.
This varnish was
removed only in the
1940s.

Completed in 1642,
Rembrandt van
Rijn'sThe Night
Watchis not only a
highlight of a career
that spanned over
600 paintings, but
also acclaimed as
arguably the greatest
portrait of the Dutch
Baroque era.
TYPE: OIL ON CANVAS
ITS ALTERNATE TITLES
ARE MUCH LONGER
AND MORE SPECIFIC.

THE NIGHT WATCHIS

NOT SET AT NIGHT.
IT'S BIGGER THAN
YOU'D THINK ...
... WHICH MEANT THE
VERSION YOU KNOW
WAS EDITED.
ITS RETURN TO
PUBLIC DISPLAY WAS
CELEBRATED WITH A
FLASH MOB.(VIDEO)

The Scream

Edvard Munch

The Scream is a
series of
expressionist
paintings and prints
by Norwegian artist
Edvard Munch,
showing an
agonized figure
against a blood red
sky.
The landscape in the

THE SCREAMISN'T ONE

PIECE, BUT FOUR.
TYPE: OIL, CRAYON,
PASTEL, TEMPERA ON
CARDBOARD
THE ORIGINAL NAME WAS
NOTTHE SCREAM.
THIEVES LEFT A
MOCKING NOTE
WHENTHE SCREAMWAS
FIRST STOLEN.
ARMED GUNMEN
STOLETHE SCREAMIN
2004.
TWO MILLION M&M'S
WERE OFFERED AS A
REWARD FOR ITS
RETURN
AND IT KIND OF
WORKED.

Girl with a Pearl Earring

Johannes Vermeer
Sometimes
referred to as the
Dutch Mona Lisa,
the Girl with a
Pearl Earring was
painted by
Johannes Vermeer.
Very little is known
about Vermeer and
his works and this
painting is no
exception.
It isnt dated and it
is unclear whether
this work was

NO ONE KNOWS FOR

SURE WHO THE GIRL
IS.
TYPE: TRONIE

Art of Painting

THE GIRL MAY BE

VERMEER'S
DAUGHTER.
GIRL WITH A PEARL
EARRINGISN'T ITS
ONLY NAME.
THE PAINTING ALSO
HAS A NICKNAME.
THE UNCERTAINTY OF
HER STORY IS A KEY
TO ITS ALLURE.

Young Woman
with a Pearl
Necklace

VERMEER LIKELY
USED THE SAME
EARRING FOR
ANOTHER OF HIS
PAINTINGS.

Guernica

Pablo Picasso

Guernica is one of Pablo Picasso most famous paintings, showing the

tragedies of war and the suffering it inflicts upon individuals, particularly
innocent civilians.
Picassos purpose in painting it was to bring the worlds attention to the
bombing of the Basque town of Guernica by German bombers, who were
supporting the Nationalist forces of General Franco during the Spanish Civil
War.

 ANOTHER STAGE OFGUERNICAINVOLVED COLOR.

Guernicais one of historys most recognizable grayscale
paintings, but at one point during the pieces development,
Picasso entertained the idea of adding color to the project. He
included a red teardrop sprouting from a crying womans eye,
as well as swatches of colored wallpaper. None of these
elements made the final cut.

TYPE: OIL ON CANVAS

ANTI-WAR MASTERPIECE

The Creation of Adam

Michelangelo

The Sistine Chapel ceiling, painted by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512,
at the commission of Pope Julius II, is one of the most renowned artworks of
the High Renaissance.

Michelangelo painted
the fresco ceiling of
the Sistine Chapel
including the most
famous panel called
The Creation of
Adam, which depicts
God giving life to the
first manentirely
standing up.
The artist invented a
series of scaffolds
specially designed to
attach to the chapel
walls with brackets so
he and his assistants
could be close enough
to the ceiling to reach
above their heads to
work and paint.
TYPE: FRESCO

Vinci

The Last Supper is a 15th century mural painting in Milan created by Leonardo
da Vinci and covers the back wall of the dining hall at the monastery of Santa
Maria delle Grazie in Milan. It represents the scene of The Last Supper when
Jesus announces that one of his Twelve Apostles would betray him. Leonardo
began work on The Last Supper in 1495 and completed it in 1498 though he

 IT'S BIGGER THAN YOU THINK.

Countless reproductions have been made in all sizes, but the
original is about 15 feet by 29 feet.

YOU WON'T FIND IT IN A MUSEUM.

AlthoughThe Last Supperis easily one of the worlds most
iconic paintings, its permanent home is a convent in Milan,
Italy. And moving it would be tricky, to say the least. Da Vinci
painted the religious work directly (and fittingly) on the dining
hall wall of the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie back in
1495.

ALTHOUGH ITS PAINTED ON A WALL, IT'S NOT A

FRESCO.
Frescos were painted on wet plaster. But da Vinci rejected this
traditional technique for several reasons. First off, he wanted
to achieve a grander luminosity than the fresco method
allowed for. But the bigger problem with frescosas da Vinci
saw itwas that they demanded the painter rush to finish his
work before the plaster dried.

 DA VINCI USED A BRAND NEW TECHNIQUE ON HIS

FUTURE MASTERPIECE.
In order to spend all the time he needed to perfect every
detail, da Vinci inventedhis own technique, using tempera
paints on stone. He primed the wall with a material that he
hoped would accept the tempera and protect the paint against
moisture.

RENOVATIONS ELIMINATED A PORTION OFTHE

LAST SUPPER.
In 1652, a doorway was added to the wall that holds the
painting. Its construction meant that a lower central chunk of
the piecewhich included Jesus' feetwas lost.

TYPE: TEMPERAONGESSO,PITCHANDMASTIC

Starry Night

Vincent van Gogh

The Starry Night
was painted by
Dutch artist Vincent
van Gogh.
Starry Night is one of
his most famous
paintings and has
become one of the
most well known
images in modern
culture.
The painting shows
the village of SaintRmy under a
swirling sky, in a
view from the asylum
towards north. The
cypress tree to the

 IT DEPICTS VAN GOGHS VIEW FROM AN ASYLUM.

THE STARRY NIGHTMAY BE ABOUT MORTALITY.
The dark spires in the foreground are cypress trees, plants most
often associated with cemeteries and death. This connection
gives a special significance to thisvan Gogh quote, "Looking at
the stars always makes me dream. Why, I ask myself, shouldn't
the shining dots of the sky be as accessible as the black dots on
the map of France? Just as we take the train to get to Tarascon or
Rouen, we take death to reach a star."

VAN GOGH SOLD ONLY ONE OR TWO PAINTINGS IN

HIS LIFEAND NEITHER WASTHESTARRY NIGHT.
THE LIGHTS OFTHE STARRY NIGHTSEEM TO FLICKER
BECAUSE OF HOW THE HUMAN BRAIN WORKS.
The video explains how van Gogh's painting is an accurate
depiction of turbulence, "one of the most supremely difficult
concepts nature has ever brought before mankind. (video)

TYPE: OIL ON CANVAS

Mona Lisa

Leonardo da Vinci
The most famous painting of all time, the
Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo da Vinci
during the Renaissance in Florence.
He began painting the Mona Lisa in 1503 or
1504 and finished it shortly before he died in
1519.
The painting is named for Lisa del Giocondo,
a member of a wealthy family of Florence.
In 1911, the Mona Lisa was stolen by Louvre
employee Vincenzo Peruggia, an Italian
patriot who believed the Mona Lisa should be
returned to Italy. After having kept the
painting in his apartment for two years,
Peruggia was finally caught when he
attempted to sell it to the directors of the
Uffizi Gallery in Florence.

 "MONA LISA" IS NOT HER NAME.

The paintings subject is Lisa Gherardini, whose wealthyand
presumably adoringhusband Francesco Del Giocondo
commissioned the work. This explains the less prevalent title for
this painting,La Gioconda.The nameMona Lisa(orMonna Lisa,
as the Italians prefer) roughly translates to "My Lady Lisa.

SHE'S SMALLER THAN YOU MIGHT THINK.

Mona Lisa's influence in culture is massive, but the oil-on-wood
panel painting measures just 30 by 21 inches and weighs 18
pounds.

HER EYEBROWS ARE A MATTER OF DEBATE.

Some claim the subjects lack of eyebrows is representative of
high-class fashion of the time. Others insist her AWOL eyebrows
are proof thatMona Lisais an unfinished masterpiece. But in
2007ultra detailed digital scansof the painting revealed da Vinci
had painted on eyebrows and bolder eyelashes. Both had simply
faded over timeor had fallen victim to years of restoration work.

 THE PAINTING SITS IN THE WORLD'S PRETTIEST

PRISON.
Mona Lisagets her own room at the Louvre, one that is climate
controlled to keep her in the ideal environment. Additionally,
the work is encased in bulletproof glass to prevent threat and
injury.

PABLO PICASSO WAS A SUSPECT IN THE CAPER.

Because he'd been caught buying stolen Louvre pieces
before, Picasso was brought in for questioning. But the
true thief would not be caught until 1913.
TYPE: OIL ON POPLAR

References
http://www.touropia.com/most-famous-paintings/
http://mentalfloss.com/