LEONARDO’S MONA LISA
Perhaps the most emblematic painting in Italian art history, the Mona Lisa was painted between 1503 and 1506 by Leonardo da Vinci, and is now on display at the Louvre Museum in Paris. While there continues to be a cloak of mystery surrounding the identity of the woman in the portrait (various hypotheses have been put forth over the course of the centuries, including one which suggests that the painting is a self portrait of the artist himself as a woman), this has not prevented the piece from attracting enormous attention ever since it was created. It is said that Francesco I purchased the painting directly from Leonardo for the sum of 4,000 ducats, quite a lot of money at the time. Because of its great significance in world art history, modified versions and caricatures have peen reproduced by dadaists and surrealists, like the famous version with the mustache.

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GIOTTO E LA CAPPELLA DEGLI SCROVEGNI
La Cappella degli Scrovegni di Padova, affrescata tra il 1303 e il 1305 da Giotto su incarico di Enrico degli Scrovegni, costituisce uno dei massimi capolavori della storia della pittura e, soprattutto, il metro di paragone per tutte le opere di dubbia attribuzione giottesca, visto che, grazie alla firma autografa ivi presente, non esistono dubbi sulla sua attribuzione. La narrazione ricopre interamente le pareti con le storie della Vergine e di Cristo, mentre nella controfacciata è dipinto il grandioso Giudizio Universale. In questi affreschi, la pittura di Giotto dimostra una piena maturità espressiva, e rivela la ricerca di una pittura capace di rendere l’umanità dei personaggi sacri. Tra i brani più suggestivi ci sono gli ambienti naturali e le architetture, costruite come vere e proprie scatole prospettiche.

GIOTTO AND THE SCROVEGNI CHAPEL
The Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, frescoed between 1303 and 1305 by Giotto on commission by Enrico degli Scrovegni, is considered one of the greatest masterpieces of Western art and is, above all, the basis for comparison for all works of unclear authorship in the Giotto style, as, thanks to the signature present in the piece, there is no doubt regarding its authorship. The fresco completely covers the walls of the chapel with the story of the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ, while the counter-facade represents the Judgment Day. The frescoes reveal the full expressive maturity of Giotto’s painting, as well as his quest for a style capable of representing the humanity of these religious figures. The natural environment and the architecture are among the most suggestive elements, created as true perspective boxes.

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MICHELANGELO’S SISTINE CHAPEL
The Sistine Chapel is one of the Vatican’s most famous artistic treasures, known worldwide as the hall in which conclaves and other official ceremonies are held, but above all known for the fresco by Michelangelo Buonarroti. It was, in fact, between 1508 and 1512 that he decorated the vaulted ceiling: a well-articulated balance of architecture and figures which depicts some of the most salient episodes of the Old Testament (the most famous of which being The Creation of Adam, with the two touching finger tips). Later, between 1536 and 1541, Michelangelo completed The Last Judgment on the far wall of the chapel, a colossal and disturbing piece that attracted fierce criticism for the number of figures and the amount of nudity present, but which today is still considered one of the greatest artistic masterpieces in the world.

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La Porta del Paradiso di Lorenzo Ghiberti
La porta dell’entrata est del Battistero di Firenze, realizzata dall’orefice e scultore Lorenzo Ghiberti, rappresenta una delle opere più famose del Rinascimento. Il tema narrato nelle formelle in bassorilievo è l’Antico Testamento, sviluppato con una fusione formale carica di intensità emotiva e complessità narrativa assolutamente nuova per quei tempi.
Del resto, si narra che nel 1425, quando la corporazione dei mercanti di lana gli commissionò quest’opera grandiosa, non badò a spese. Ghiberti lavorò su questo progetto per ben 27 anni, con “la massima disciplina e la massima dedizione” come scrive nei suoi diari, e la ultimò tre anni prima di morire, confermando il suo talento e suscitando l’ammirazione dei suoi contemporanei: basti infatti ricordare che la porta fu soprannominata “del Paradiso” da Michelangelo Buonarroti.

LORENZO GHIBERTI’S GATES OF PARADISE
The door to the east entrance of Florence’s Baptistery, created by goldsmith and sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti, is one of the most famous pieces of artwork from the Renaissance.
The story of the Old Testament is narrated through the doors’ bronze panels, an amalgamation of figures full of intense emotion and narrative complexity that was completely new to that time period. Furthermore, it is said thatwhen the wool merchants guild commissioned this work, they were not concerned with how much it would cost. For twenty-seven years Ghiberti worked on this project with ‘the utmost discipline and dedication,’ as he wrote in his diaries, and finally finished it three years before his death, confirming his talent and attracting the admiration of his peers. In fact, the doors were nicknamed ‘The Gates of Paradise’ by Michelangelo Buonarroti.

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ANTONIO CANOVA’S THREE GRACES
The marble sculpture entitled ‘The Three Graces’ is without a doubt one of Antonio Canova’s greatest masterpieces, as well as one of the most important works from the Neoclassical movement.
What is most striking in the sculpture is the harmony and sensuality of the three figures – Zeus’s three daughters: Aglaea, Euphrosyne, and Thalia (who represent beauty, charm and joy) – depicted in a circular embrace. The way their arms are intertwined, the sweet and gentle inclination of their heads towards one another, and the scarf draped between them, communicates a sense of unity which characterizes the piece.
Canova’s Three Graces – conceived of as a celebration of perfection and beauty, the highest aesthetic standard of the period – was enormously successful, to the point which, when the piece was inaugurated, Stendhal told Canova that he had created a new kind of beauty.

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