Netzfund: Fresko aus Pompeji...

#roman #römisch #wandmalerei #fresko #fresco #pompeji

The Thursday before Easter, we remember the Last Supper. Today I offer you a detail from one of the most famous artworks in the world: by Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519), Christ from the Last Supper, 1495-1498, tempera on gesso, pitch and mastic, Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan, Italy. #davinci #fresco #lastsupper #arthistory

From the blog “Italian Art for Travelers,” © 2023 Gerriann Brower: “Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper is one of his most admired and recognizable art works. It is iconic, has been reproduced endlessly, parodied, and woven into conspiracy theories. Sometimes we’ve seen an artwork so many times we no longer see the qualities of the masterpiece. We may not be familiar with its place in history, or know why the art challenged the status quo.

Leonardo’s painting is full of symbolic meaning, but perhaps not what you think. There are no secret messages about mysterious societies and hidden clues like Dan Brown wrote about in The Da Vinci Code (2003). This fictional story is so persuasive I have had people ask me if The Da Vinci Code is true. Without a doubt, it is a very entertaining book. However, Jesus did not impregnant Mary Magdalene, and she is not disguised as an apostle. The Roman Catholic church has not been hiding their offspring, nor is St. John disguised as a woman. The apostle St. Peter did not contrive to hide the evidence of their relationship and child. Leonardo did not belong to secret societies such as the Priory of Sion or Knights Templar. He was much too busy writing in his notebooks and studying nature.”

Detail eines römischen Freskos, einen Feigenbaum mit Schlange darstellend, aus der „Casa del Frutteto“ - von Motiv und Gestaltung her könnte es fast ein Bild aus der italienischen Renaissance-Zeit sein...

#roman #römisch #fresko #fresco #wandmalerei #romanitas #romanempire #römischesreich #pompeji #garten

Monday, March 30, 2026

https://activitypub.writeworks.uk/2026/03/monday-march-30-2026/

“The pieces I chose were based on one thing only — a gasp of delight. Isn’t that the only way to curate a life?”*…

The Louvre has the Mona Lisa. In his nifty newsetter Ironic Sans, David Friedman reviews the “most treasured” holding of other museums…

Did you know that there is only one painting by Leonardo da Vinci on view in America? It’s a portrait of a teenage girl named Ginevra de’ Benci, a Florentine aristocrat, possibly commissioned for her wedding. And it’s one of only four portraits Leonardo painted of women. The most famous one, of course, is the Mona Lisa.The portrait of Ginevra is on display at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, which acquired the painting in 1967. There’s an interesting story of how the painting was brought from Liechtenstein Castle to Washington in carry-on luggage.

[I haven’t told you this yet, but for the past year I’ve been working full-time as Senior Video Producer at the National Gallery of Art. I love it. Working in a museum surrounded by some of the world’s best art and telling stories about how art makes a difference in people’s lives, every day is a good day. Another time, I’ll share some of the work we’re doing. But for now, I just need to make clear that this newsletter is in no way formally connected to the museum or my work there.]

Here is Ginevra, painted by Leonardo around 30 years before Mona Lisa:

I once heard someone refer to Ginevra as “America’s Mona Lisa.” Obviously that’s in part because they’re both by the same artist. But sometimes people refer to something as their Mona Lisa to mean it’s their prize possession, or an incredible work, or the draw that people come to see.

And that got me wondering: What do other museums and institutions refer to as their Mona Lisa?

So I did some digging and I’ve gathered 17 works of art and other surprising things where someone from the institution has gone on record calling it their Mona Lisa…

From Duccio and Matisse to Sow and Warhol: “It’s Their Mona Lisa,” from @ironicsans.com.

* Maira Kalman, My Favorite Things

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As we hit the highlights, we might spare a thought for a man whose works were often the “Mona Lisas” of the halls they graced: Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (AKA, Giambattista or Gianbattista Tiepolo): he died on this date in 1770. A painter and printmaker from the Republic of Venice, his luminous, poetic frescoes, while extending the tradition of Baroque ceiling decoration, epitomized the lightness and elegance of the Rococo period. Indeed, he was described by National Gallery head Michael Levey as “the greatest decorative painter of eighteenth-century Europe, as well as its most able craftsman.” He is considered– with Giambattista Pittoni, Canaletto, Giovan Battista Piazzetta, Giuseppe Maria Crespi, and Francesco Guardi— one of the traditional Old Masters of that period.