Leonardo Da-Vinci

Leonardo Da-Vinci was born on the 15th of April in a town called Vinci. He was gifted with his talent from a very early age. He did paintings for local churches, starting when he was 18. He painted an angel so well, that he made his teacher, Verrocchio, crumble in disbelief.

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One of his greatest paintings was “The Last Supper”. It shows Jesus Christ sitting at a table with his twelve disciples, on the night before he was betrayed. On the huge 880cm by 466cm canvas, the painting shows off great use of perspective, contrast and moods. I like the contrast between the disciples and the room itself, which focuses your eyes on Jesus and his followers. The room behind the table is pale and brown, but has windows in the back which act as a light source. The disciples themselves all wear different coloured robes and hold varied facial expressions which add both colour and variety to an otherwise dull painting. The expressions themselves are worth looking at. Some of the followers look very surprised and stare at Jesus in disbelief, while others are conversing with each other in the corners. The painting was created so well that no visible brush strokes can be seen. Overall, I think that Da Vinci wanted us to see the way Jesus’ followers reacted after Jesus told them that one of them will turn him in. I like the painting for the reasons stated above.

Calum Colvin

Unlike Da Vinci, Calum Colvin is a modern Scottish artist. He was born in Glasgow in 1961 and makes art using a technique called “Constructed Photography”. To create his work he first gains a set of everyday objects and carefully arranges them on a set. He then uses a digital projector to project an image on the set. While the digital image is projected, he paints all over the set, using the projected image as a guide. The end piece only looks right from one angle, as it is painted on 3-dimensional objects.  Colvin takes a photo of the set from that precise angle and is then able to produce prints of the final piece on canvas to display at art exhibitions.

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“The Death of Venus” was one of  Colvin’s many compositions. It was based on a painting called “The Birth of Venus” by Sandro Botticelli, which shows how Venus, the goddess of beauty was born. Colvin’s version, however, is the exact opposite – as hinted by the title. In the backgrounds, Colvin had painted Venus’s face, similarly to the face painted on Botticelli’s original. There is nothing special on what is painted, except for the insert on the top-left corner, where a “modern venus” is represented by a naked figure. The most interesting part of this piece is what is laying around the set. In the centre, there is a marble table, which consists of a flat surface mounted on top of a statue. There is a fish tank with a goldfish that is sitting on top of the table, conveniently overlapping Venus’s right eye. Right next to the tank is an action figure of a Scottish man with a huge axe raised above his head. He looks as though he is about to strike the fish tank, breaking the thin glass. If he were to hit the tank, he would kill the fish inside and the water from the tank would spill down the marble statue of a boy onto the ground. This would effectively make “Venus” look as though she is crying, spilling tears over the children.

This particular piece shows how complex and corrupted our modern world is today, in contrast to Botticelli’s perfect setting on “The Birth of Venus”.

William Holman Hunt

William Holman Hunt was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. The Pre-Raphaelites wanted to change painting style used, and make sure that the paintings are clear, life-like and detailed with hidden brush strokes and true colours. Hunt was born in 1827 in London.

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One of Hunt’s best paintings was “The Hireling Shepherd”. Painted with oil paint, it shows a life-like scene, with amazing vibrant colours. The set of the painting is on a field, next to a small forest. The sun has set in the time of the painting, having trees cast shadows on the characters. Two people take up most of the canvas. One os a shepherd, sitting down with his hands on the grass, next to a young woman. He is in his twenties, dressed in cheap clothes. He is wearing trousers, a sweater and a ripped up coat. His face is tanned, red and he has short curly hair. The woman sitting next to him comes from a posh family. She wears a white blouse with floral patterns sewn into it. She also has a bright red skirt. Her bare feet are suspended above a small pond. In the background, there are lots of sheep. Since the shepherd is not paying attention to them, they seem to be everywhere. The grass in the painting was painted one strand at a time, which shows a lot of detail and work put into this piece. I like this painting, because it displays just how detailed the Pre-Raphaelite paintings were.
   
Out of all of paintings, I like “The Last Supper” the most because of the amazing facial expressions on the disciples which were very interesting to look at, however I like all three paintings because they all demonstrate top notch “artsmanship”.