The most famous masterpieces of the world portrait

In the book, the reader will get acquainted with the most famous portraits created for five centuries. Portrait art is a picturesque genre that appeared earlier than a still life or landscape. It was formed in the Renaissance and was caused by an interest in a person, his spiritual life. Not all lovers of painting can get acquainted with great canvases in the original; Thanks to this book, the reader will be able to see the faces of the people of the past who are far from us and nevertheless strangely close to us - like, for example, Leonardo Loodan's rack on the portrait of Giovanni Bellini. Great people of old eras were warriors and philanthropists (such as, for example, the Duke-warrior Montefeltro, captured by Pierrot della Francesca, or Juliano Medici Sandro Botticelli), the rulers of the world (like the Russian Empress Catherine II on the canvas of Johann Baptist the elder or pope Paul III III III , depicted by Titian along with his nephews Alessandro and Ottavio Farneze), eminent citizens (Albrecht Dürer “Portrait of Oswald Krell”; El Greco “Portrait of a gentleman with a hand on his chest”), philosophers, scientists and thinkers (Lucas Cranes “Portrait of Johannes Kuspinian”; Jacques Louis David "Portrait of the Lavoisier spouses"). But not only the runs of world fate attracted portraiters. For centuries, the image of an ideal woman has been created, and therefore - ideal beauty, perfection. This topic in the fine art was attracted by Leonardo da Vinci (Portrait of Chechilia Gallerani, Jaconde), Pierrot Di Kozimo (Portrait of Simetta Vespucci), Joshua Reynolds (“Portrait of Nelly O'Brien”), Auguste Renoir (“Portrait of Joan Samari "). Sometimes the woman turned out to be not only beautiful, but also influential, and her image, as in the work of Francois Bush, depicting Madame de Pompadur, remains a sign of the greatness of the past. The contrast to the images of people known to contemporaries and descendants are portraits of ordinary people, no entertaining, except for their inner world (Fran Hals “Payats with Lutny”, “Merry Drunk”; Giovanni Moroni's “tailor”; Van Gogh “Musma”). A children's portrait was also formed (Gerard Terborkh, “Portrait of Moses Van Terborch”). The closest and most affordable model for the painter is himself. That is why a self -portrait is so common in art. In the works of Tintoretto, Rubens (“Self -portrait with Isabella Brant”), Rembrandt who conveyed to us the precious appearance of the artists, we see a reflection of their mental life. The book will be useful to both a wide reader’s audience and those who professionally study the history of painting.