Stories Behind Five Famous Paintings

In the history of art, some paintings are considered absolute masterpieces for their beauty, for the technical skill of the painter, and for their innovation or the power of the ideas expressed.

However, there are also famous oil paintings, which have an incredible background, curiosities that allow you to observe them from an entirely new and fascinating point of view. The painters decided to draw the human figure in that position to send subliminal messages or to make fun of someone, or they used particular models or the work reflected a tormented period of the artist as in many paintings by Vincent van Gogh.

In this article, we will discover the stories behind five of the world's most famous paintings. The incredible stories that make people understand how art is a world where fun, revenge and improvisation go hand in hand.

 

1. Lady Godiva, Painted by John Maler Collier

One of the masterpieces of 800 erotic/heroic art and portrays Lady Godiva on horseback, completely naked.

To understand this picture it is necessary to know the background and study the figure of Lady Godiva, a woman poised between reality and fantasy, definitely ahead for her times.

Godiva was the wife of Leofrico of Coventry, and thanks to her nobility encouraged the construction of monasteries and promoted the works of charity in her fief.

Godiva became a heroine of the feminist movement and was re-launched by romantic and erotic oil painting, of which she became a sort of representative.

The scene of the painting is the most famous legend of Lady Godiva, who, in protest over the exorbitant taxes imposed on the peasants by her husband Leofrico, who challenged her by telling her that if she rode naked through the city, he would have canceled the tax.

 

The legend has two versions: the first is that Godiva rode among the naked knights, but first ordered that all the villagers would not leave the house and close the windows even if a man named Tom saw her and blinded himself because of her beauty, hence the name "Peeping Tom" that identifies the voyeurs.

The second is that Godiva rode naked among the people, a scene similar to the humiliation of Cersei Lannister in "Game Of Thrones".

In any case, Godiva is a legendary figure, and thanks to the background it is possible to grasp the romantic component of the painting better.

 

2. Vincent's Bedroom in Arles, Painted by Vincent van Gog

"Vincent's Bedroom in Arles" is one of the most famous oil paintings, where the Dutch painter reproduced his modest room where he lived during his stay in Arles.

The painting had a strange use of colors, which Van Gogh used (as he wrote to his brother Theo) to communicate safety and comfort.

However, many scholars have ventured a new interpretation. Van Gogh was taking drugs against epilepsy, and one of the side effects of drugs could be a problem with his eyes, with the predominance of yellow and green tones which can be seen in others paintings of the same period. Is the picture a call for help by Van Gogh?

 

3. Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer, Painted by Gustav Klimt

The masterpiece of Gustav Klimt painted in 1907 and portrayed Adele Bloch-Bauer, wife of the wealthy sugar industrial Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer.

Adele was not just a model for Klimt, but she also became her lover, and all of Vienna's high society knew the relationship between the two lovers.

Ferdinand discovered the relationship and decided to take revenge in a decidedly unusual way, and paid Gustav Klimt to create hundreds of sketches of the painting, in the hope that Klimt would get tired of the woman.

Ferdinand's tactics worked, and the relationship between Klimt and Adele cooled considerably to death.

Ferdinand's niece sold the painting to Roland Lauder for 135 million dollars.

 

4. The Old Blind Guitarist, Painted by Pablo Picasso

One of the figurative paintings of the so-called "Blue Period" by Pablo Picasso, characterized by the predominance of the color Blue, deriving from the pain of the death of his friend Carlos Casagemas, which he showed off using melancholy and cold tones.

A careful analysis of the painting makes it possible to see a silhouette behind the head of the blind guitarist. The figure seems sketchy and then covered by the guitarist's design and color.

Many scholars have wondered why this figure, and perhaps the simplest explanation is that Picasso had severe money issues and he could not use new canvases for paintings and had to recycle unused canvases.

 

5. The Mona Lisa, Painted by Leonardo da Vinci

Perhaps the most famous picture in history, which hides many legends.

Here are the main ones: many historians claim that in reality Mona Lisa never existed and that the woman portrayed in the oil painting is a young lover of Leonardo disguised as a woman (Leonardo was homosexual or bisexual), or even Leonardo himself. Also, the famous enigmatic smile of the picture perhaps has a straightforward explanation: analyzing the expression of the painting, the dentist, and art expert Joseph Borkowski claims that Mona Lisa had lost front teeth and this influenced her facial expression.

 

The stories behind every painting help us understand the art better and feel the emotion of the painter. Besides the secrets of these five famous oil paintings, do you know others? We hope you can find them and let them help you understand more oil paintings better from now on.