Little-known facts about the dark side of the brilliant artist Caravaggio
He was one of the great masters of baroque, and his difficult life in many respects determined his creation, which today is admired throughout the world. And Caravaggio himself believed…

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Musical hoax: Who actually wrote "Adagio" Albinoni
Adagio Albinoni is a truly enchanting piece of music. The melody as if touches the hidden strings of the human soul, is remembered for a long time and then, it…

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10 skillful fakes that museums took for originals
Artistic fakes are a very real threat that museums constantly have to contend with. Fake artifacts appear in many museums from time to time, which can be displayed for several…

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Secrets of the Four Seasons

This year marks almost 430 years since the death of Giuseppe Arcimboldo, an Italian artist known for his original portraits of fruits, vegetables, flowers and fish. Giuseppe so skillfully portrayed these objects on canvas, that their entire combination forms a recognizable similarity of portrait subjects. The art of Arcimboldo, as the most radical and extravagant representative of the mannerism style, is also noteworthy in that he pushed the theme of the parallel between humanity and the natural world beyond new boundaries.

The genre of portraiture has been one of the dominant for many centuries. However, in the 16th century, Giuseppe Archimboldo provided his own vision of this genre, combining it with a still life and surprising his contemporaries with his extraordinary compositional solutions. Continue reading

Why does music influence our emotions so much

In an article from the series “Ask, Answer,” designed to quench reader’s curiosity, BBC Future journalist explores the impact of music on people’s emotional state.

“Why does music have a direct effect on our emotions? What is the evolutionary meaning of this phenomenon?”, Asks Philip Lörish, who sent us his question by e-mail.

Each person experienced the emotional power of music, which sometimes literally takes us for the soul.

We can get into a state of euphoria from driving music in some rock club, and while listening to a romantic ballad, we can experience the deep longing of unrequited love … Continue reading

What is the secret of the appeal of romances: The history of the genre from Spanish to cruel

Touching songs performed by Larisa Ogudalova, a dowager, are just one of the signs of the romance, if we take into account its entire history. But once upon a time it began with other songs – both in terms of theme and method of performance. True, the main secret of the romance, which makes it so attractive for centuries, remains, perhaps, unchanged.

His predecessor has a rather distant relation to the usual idea of ​​romance – and the point is not only that the evolution of this vocal and musical genre has been going on for many centuries. In an attempt to clarify the history of the romance, musicologists turned to Spain in the XIV – XV centuries, when songs in the local dialect began to be heard both at the royal court and at festivities – in contrast to church psalms performed in Latin. It is believed that the kingdom of Aragon became the birthplace of the romance, from where these songs spread through Spain through the efforts of the troubadours. Continue reading

GENRES IN THE VISUAL ARTS
Works of fine art, mainly painting, are divided into genres. Depending on the subject image in the seventeenth century, the genres were divided into "high" (grand genre) and "low" genre…

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Creativity for the Mentally Ill: A Book That Changed History
Sometimes you can hear such a statement that in order to create a masterpiece, you must be either a genius or a madman. Tarragon - the hero of the play…

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Ciphers, signs and self-portraits: How artists of the past signed their paintings
Not every masterpiece of painting contains the signature of the artist. There were reasons for this, both at the dawn of the Renaissance and in the modern era; they are…

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