Portrait of a Woman of the Hofer Family, approx 1470, Swabian artist
According to the National Gallery UK: The woman’s large white headdress, its calligraphic shape made up of stiff, angular folds, is striking against the dark background. Shading around the folds reinforces the sense of their depth, and the artist seems to want us to think that a fly, deceived by his illusion, has attempted to land on the headdress. The fly is, of course, also part of the deception and perhaps intended to reinforce the artist’s mastery.
As flies could spread disease and were sometimes seen as a symbol of sinfulness, its presence might be intended to ward against evil and illness. National Gallery UK
Take a class with SAL – anywhere! Ever wonder what the name for the cleft between your nose and mouth is called? Did you know there’s a name for where your mouth turns from lip color to skin color? Here are some slang and scientific names for a few of the bits on your phiz. …
What can one detail tell us about a scene? If you’re Lynne Ramsay: absolutely everything. In this episode from “Every Frame a Painting” Tony Zhou considers the poetic possibilities of cinema. He presents ideas for film that you can also be applied to paintings. (7 minutes)
[image_with_animation image_url=”10149″ alignment=”center” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] For today’s challenge you’ll need some paper and a pen (felt tipped pens work great for this) so that you can draw a Continuous Line, a line that goes on and on without stopping, requiring you to concentrate a little harder on whatever it is that you’re drawing because …
After the election I experienced a reality shift. It was something I found neither productive nor pleasant, but it happened. I’m not sure if it affected my pictures, or if it would have affected them if I was painting them, but I wasn’t. What it did effect was how I viewed the the school. While a …
The Hofer Woman and the Fly
According to the National Gallery UK: The woman’s large white headdress, its calligraphic shape made up of stiff, angular folds, is striking against the dark background. Shading around the folds reinforces the sense of their depth, and the artist seems to want us to think that a fly, deceived by his illusion, has attempted to land on the headdress. The fly is, of course, also part of the deception and perhaps intended to reinforce the artist’s mastery.
As flies could spread disease and were sometimes seen as a symbol of sinfulness, its presence might be intended to ward against evil and illness. National Gallery UK
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