Lesson 4 Explore the World of Art
Rediscovering Art Through Science
You might have heard the expression, “There is more than meets the eye.”
It means that there is more to something than there appears to be at first.
This can apply to art as well.
We appreciate art by looking at its colors, shapes, shadows, as well as the overall beauty presented by the artist.
Sometimes, however, there is something more to the images in front of our eyes.
Science, which seems far removed from art, can be the key to seeing beyond what the naked eye can see.
Today, I would like to open your eyes and minds through the following paintings.
Art Is Never Finished
Look at the portrait of a woman on the next page.
What catches your eye?
What draws most people’s attention initially is not the woman but the beautiful white animal in the woman’s arms.
In 2014, this painting by Leonardo da Vinci was analyzed by an engineer.
He used special equipment to look beneath the surface of the painting and discovered that it had different layers, like those of an onion.
After careful examination of the layers, it was revealed that the original painting was just a normal portrait of a woman by herself.
Then in a second version, a small gray ermine appeared.
Finally in a third version—the one we know today—the ermine became bigger and its color changed to white.
Why did Da Vinci add the ermine to this painting?
No one knows for sure.
He might have done it to honor his patron.
Maybe he just wanted to make the painting look more special.
Whatever the reason, this shows us that even a great master like Leonardo da Vinci, who said, “Art is never finished,” made revisions to his paintings over and over again.
A Hidden Painting Revealed
This next piece is by the great Vincent van Gogh.
It appears to be just an ordinary painting of a woman wearing a white cap.
But thanks to technology, another person was discovered on the other side of the canvas.
Who do you think that person was?
It was Vincent van Gogh himself that was hidden at the back of the painting.
In 2022, the National Galleries of Scotland took an X-ray of this painting while preparing for an exhibition.
During this process, a hidden self-portrait of Van Gogh was discovered.
You may be aware that Van Gogh’s fame came after his death.
In fact, he sold only one painting in his lifetime.
Being a poor artist, he often reused his canvases to save money, turning them around and painting on the opposite side.
You might also notice that Van Gogh’s left ear looks perfectly fine in this painting.
Since he cut off part of his ear when he was 35, we can infer that this is one of his early works.
It is possible that other hidden paintings of Van Gogh will be revealed to the world with the help of technology.
The Masterpiece as a Whole
Rembrandt’s The Night Watch, a huge painting that measures 3.795 meters by 4.535 meters, has had a troubled history.
It was damaged with a knife twice and sprayed with acid by people who wanted to destroy it.
Each time, experts miraculously restored the painting to its original state.
But did you know that this painting was much larger over three centuries ago?
In 1715, this monumental painting was trimmed on all four sides to fit on a wall in Amsterdam’s town hall.
Since then, 60cm from the left side, 22cm from the top, 12cm from the bottom, and 7cm from the right side have been missing.
However, art lovers can now see The Night Watch as Rembrandt originally intended.
It was artificial intelligence (AI) that the museum used to recreate the missing pieces.
Instead of hiring human artists, an AI program was trained to learn Rembrandt’s painting style.
Once the AI program learned to paint like Rembrandt, it was shown a copy of the original painting before it was trimmed.
Then it reconstructed the missing pieces, which were hung around the painting.
For the first time in over three centuries, The Night Watch is complete again.
Thanks to science, this great masterpiece has been brought back to life for all to see.
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