Great Italian Painter #1
After watching the last film I did not think these films would be very intriguing, yet a series of bland films pertaining to art. I was pleasantly surprised that this film not only caught my attention but had me seeking more information. One down side to the film unlike the previous is that the names of paintings or individuals were not provided at the bottom of the screen. But that's why google was invented right?
Leonardo Da Vinci born in the hills Tuscany, Vinci. Born as a bastard to a very prestigious family Da Vinci called himself an uneducated man, allowing the countryside to teach him through drawings.
Da Vinci's first chance at painting a commissioned piece came from his mentor Andrea del Verrocchio on Christ with John the Baptist. Da Vinci painted the kneeling angel in the lower left corner. This angel started his career as a well sought out painter and later innovator.
The film moves you through the mountains of Italy, to Florence, Milan and finally New York. The settings, locations and paintings shown throughout the film are beautiful and captured in great sun light.
As the film moves through Da Vinic's life and the locations he resided you constantly heard Da Vinci referenced as an individual that could not finish a piece. I believe Larry Keith - restorer- described him perfectly, "so many of his works are unfinished, he saw another possibility, another way of doing something."
Being this film was about a great painter, sculptor, innovator and curious person the film showed numerous of pieces by Da Vinci. There are only 15 completed pieces by Da Vinci in the world. The one that stood out the most to me was not the famous Mona Lisa or the Last Supper but the Lady with the Ermine.
1798 - Hangs in Warsaw Poland
This portrait intrigues me for the simple fact that it stands for so much. The woman's body is placed in a way to state she is moving, you can see her skeletal frame through her fingers. She has a very so slightly grin on her face as she holds onto a ermine. To the ignorant eye you would not question why she is holding the creature. After explanation, the ermine stands for purity, a symbol of her lover. The ermine's arm is muscular and grasping her showing sex and power. This small portrait holds so many symbolic messages.
One of the worlds greatest questioners died in 1519 leaving behind a legacy that has allowed us to question as well!
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