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Compare and contrast two works of art essay is not everyone’s cup of tea. It involves strong academic and research skills, such as writing, extracting up-to-date information from the relevant sources, and finally, putting them in the document. Moreover, art varies from era to era, which makes it relatable to the existing people. But that doesn’t mean ancient art can no longer be seen or appreciated. On the contrary, it is timeless because it originates from human beings. They use art to express their uniqueness and creativity. Above all, through art, artists demonstrate their skillset using real-life scenarios or pure imagination. For instance, many artists would depict their emotions on a blank canvas.
In contrast, others would employ sculptures to depict those emotions and feelings. Many masterpieces from history still fascinate art lovers. This paper will compare and contrast two works of art ‘Mona Lisa” by Leonardo Da Vinci and Self-portrait of Frida Kahlo.
The two masterpieces are known for the emotional power and beauty that they have portrayed. However, both Frida Kahlo and Leonardo Da Vinci have limited similarities and differences in their viewpoints, painting techniques, and interpretations. The first evident similarity between the two artworks is that both of them present the woman in a half-body portrait, and both of these women are real women. However, the woman in Frida Kahlo’s painting is she, and the woman in Leonardo Da Vinci’s painting is Lisa Gherardini, a Florentine woman.
Considering the visualization, Frida has used the natural landscape, which typically symbolizes fertility, in contrast with a monkey and a cat in the foreground. Her ex-husband Diego Rivera gave her a monkey as a gift while they were married. Thereby, it could symbolize him as he inflicts pain upon her by wrenching the necklace of thorns to make her bleed. On the other hand, the hummingbird pendant represents the Aztec god of war. The black cat represents bad luck, and money is symbolic of evil.
In comparison, the painting of the Mona Lisa has a landscape of someplace in Italy. Plus, the woman bears a strong resemblance to various depictions of the Virgin Mary, a woman who was seen as a perfect example of womanhood at that time. All in all, both painters have used natural elements to describe emotions. However, the latter artwork depicts a strong woman that appears alive to a surreal extent, and she is smiling at the observer, wearing no jewelry. Furthermore, the sense of consonance can be seen in the painting through her smile. The smile represents the painter’s idea of the connection between nature and humanity. And, somehow, it reflects his personality as well. Frida’s self-portrait, in contrast, depicts the pain and agony she went through in their life. But, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that both women in the portraits are portrayed as strong, and both of them reflect the painters’ personalities.
When it comes to the involvement of techniques, the viewpoint in which the Mona Lisa is positioned mostly turned towards the spectators. This is incredible as many Renaissance-era painters did not know how to use dimensions when portraying people. Additionally, the face of the Mona Lisa depicts the painter’s skillful handling of sfumato. Above all, it discloses his comprehension of the articulations beneath her skin. Not to mention, he also managed to outline her hair to perfection.
One of the key similarities between both, the self-portrait with a monkey and the Mona Lisa, is that both works of art were made using oil. The combinations of colors throughout both paintings are very appealing and portray their ability. The painting of Leonardo Da Vinci ranges from chalk, oil on wood, oil on canvas, and fresco. In contrast, Frida Kahlo used oil paint on her canvas. Da Vinci was very open to using unique techniques in his artworks. For instance, the Mona Lisa painting included various shapes such as circles and pyramids to aesthetically appeal to the human eye.
The painting of the Mona Lisa reveals a more natural realistic art style than Kahlo’s self-portrait. The two key features of Da Vinci’s painting that depicts realism are the corner of her eyes and mouth. When someone focuses on the smile, it disappears. When they focus on other parts of the face, they can see the faint smile on her lips. Things like these go unnoticed in real life. But, Leonardo Da Vinci was a genius to create something like that. Contrariwise, the self-portrait of Kahlo reflects more surrealism than Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. Her painting reflects a different vision that depicts her bad experiences of being hurt by her ex-husband. Through this painting, she separated her meta-physical self from herself to observe her different self in different circumstances. She expressed herself as the subject of the artwork. This is what makes her work unique. And, her husband influenced a lot of her paintings. Her paintings give the feelings of loneliness and fear. Even though the portrait of the Mona Lisa reflects realism, it does include some surrealistic elements in the intention of the painter and the imaginary background. He tried to define a perfect smile and a beautiful face. But, the eyebrows on her face are missing. Nobody knows if it was intended or not. He seemed to indicate a deeper meaning to redefine beauty. This is why many people believe this portrait has a surrealistic side to it. Besides, he attempted to take away her sadness by showcasing happy moments and happy vibes in the portrait. Making her smile made the artwork more realistic as a face without expression is considered dead.
Finding an art history comparison essay example paper that fits a student’s academic need is one of the challenging tasks. However, this sample art paper has addressed the subject in detail. All in all, both of the artists used imagination and surrealism to an extent. Both created a masterpiece, the relevance of which can never be reduced. Both used techniques and symbols that were unique in their ways. Using a female figure to convey emotions and feelings with different facial expressions is a treat for art enthusiasts. Plus, the deeper meaning involved in these works of art is simply amazing. The use of surrealistic and realistic elements leaves the viewer in awe. To conclude, with all the similarities and dissimilarities, both paintings are masterpieces created by two extremely talented artists. They have made the most of art techniques and symbolism to stay in history and museums forever.