Art History tends to be perceived as a tough and boring subject. That’s what I thought, until I took a class and discovered that woah!, it was actually really cool and the most interesting class I’d taken all year. Here are some examples of artworks that showed me how fun this subject can actually be.
1. Arrival of Marie de’ Medici at Marseilles, by Rubens
This artwork is part of a collection of paintings that Marie de’ Medici commissioned Rubens, to tell her life story. As you can see, it was necessary to include several mythological characters to make this scene actually interesting. Conclusion: Her life was probably terribly boring and she needed this to feel better about herself. Be glad that you don’t need a made-up painting about your life to feel accomplished.
2. The Swing, by Fragonard
The Rococo was a time period in which the Aristocracy commissioned paintings about whatever the heck they wanted. This guy, for instance, wanted a portrait of his mistress on a swing while he looked up her skirt. Because why not. “Wait, add her husband in the back too, haha, ah I’m so bad…”
3. Arnolfini Wedding Portrait, by Jan Van Eyck
“Wow, this painting is very good, what’s wrong with it? Wait, is she pregnant?? That must have been a huge scandal!” Actually, she’s not pregnant. It is believed the amount of fabric used for women’s dresses made them look like that. But did men know that was not actually the shape of their bodies? Let’s see…
4. Ghent Altarpiece, by Jan Van Eyck
Take a look at Eve in the top right corner. A man without access to live models might have thought that was what the female body actually looked like. But again, this is just speculation by art historians so don’t start feeling sorry for poor Van Eyck just yet.
5. Quince, Cabbage, Melon and Cucumber, by Juan Sánchez Cotán
What do you see here? Just fruits and vegetables? No. A Still Life is so much more than that. Fruits and vegetables: They are rotting, meaning that with the passage of time we all grow old and die; Black background: No one knows what the afterlife is like. So yeah, sorry if you thought Still Lifes were simple.
6. Portrait of Pope Innocent X, by Diego Velázquez
“Woah, that Pope looks pretty mean, he probably wasn’t very pleased about being depicted in that way”. Wrong, he loved it. He even hung it up in his office for everyone to see how intimidating he was.
