Lesson 4 Explore the World of Art
Rediscovering Art Through Science
You might have heard the ____, “There is more than meets the eye.”
It means that there is more to something than there appears to be at ____.
This can apply to ____ as well.
We appreciate art by looking at ____ colors, shapes, shadows, as well as the overall beauty presented by the artist.
Sometimes, however, there is something more to the images in ____ of our eyes.
Science, which seems far removed from art, can be the key to seeing beyond what the naked eye can ____.
Today, I would like to open your eyes and minds ____ the following paintings.
Art Is Never Finished
Look at the ____ of a woman on the next page.
____ catches your eye?
What draws most ____ attention initially is not the woman but the beautiful white animal in the woman’s arms.
In 2014, this painting by ____ da Vinci was analyzed by an engineer.
He used special equipment to look beneath the surface of the painting and discovered that it had different ____, like those of an onion.
____ careful examination of the layers, it was revealed that the original painting was just a normal portrait of a woman by herself.
Then in a second version, a small gray ermine ____.
Finally in a ____ version—the one we know today—the ermine became bigger and its color changed to white.
Why did Da Vinci add the ermine to this ____?
No one knows for sure. He might ____ done it to honor his patron.
Maybe he just wanted to make the painting look more ____.
Whatever the reason, this shows us that even a great master like Leonardo da Vinci, who said, “Art is never finished,” made revisions to his paintings over and ____ again.
A Hidden Painting Revealed
This next piece is by the great Vincent ____ Gogh.
It appears to be just an ordinary painting of a woman wearing a white ____.
But thanks to technology, another person was ____ on the other side of the canvas.
Who do ____ think that person was?
It was Vincent van Gogh himself that was ____ at the back of the painting.
In ____, the National Galleries of Scotland took an X-ray of this painting while preparing for an exhibition.
During this process, a hidden ____ of Van Gogh was discovered.
____ may be aware that Van Gogh’s fame came after his death.
In fact, he sold only ____ painting in his lifetime.
Being a poor artist, he often ____ his canvases to save money, turning them around and painting on the opposite side.
You might also notice that Van Gogh’s left ear looks perfectly ____ in this painting.
Since he cut off part of his ear when he was 35, we can infer that this is one of his ____ works.
It is ____ that other hidden paintings of Van Gogh will be revealed to the world with the help of technology.
The Masterpiece as a Whole
Rembrandt’s The Night Watch, a huge painting that measures 3.795 meters by 4.535 meters, has had a troubled ____.
It was damaged with a knife twice and sprayed with acid by people who wanted to ____ it.
Each time, experts miraculously ____ the painting to its original state.
But did you know that this painting was much larger over three centuries ____?
In 1715, this monumental painting was trimmed on all ____ sides to fit on a wall in Amsterdam’s town hall.
Since then, 60cm from the left side, 22cm from the top, 12cm from the bottom, and 7cm from the right ____ have been missing.
However, art lovers can now see The ____ Watch as Rembrandt originally intended.
It was artificial intelligence (AI) that the museum used to ____ the missing pieces.
Instead of ____ human artists, an AI program was trained to learn Rembrandt’s painting style.
Once the AI program learned to paint like Rembrandt, it was shown a copy of the original painting ____ it was trimmed.
Then it reconstructed the missing pieces, which were ____ around the painting.
For the first time in over three centuries, The ____ Watch is complete again.
____ to science, this great masterpiece has been brought back to life for all to see.