Whether they are portrayed, a source of inspiration or artists themselves, women have always played a leading role in the history of art. On the occasion of Women’s Day , here are the portraits of women and the most beautiful paintings in the history of art. The Birth of Venus
The “Birth of Venus” is a tempera painting on linen by Sandro Botticelli, datable to about 1482-1485 and kept in the Uffizi Galleryin Florence. An iconic work of the Italian Renaissance, it is one of the most famous portraits of women in the world, often taken as a symbol of Florence itself. It represents one of the highest creations of the Florentine painter’s aesthetic, as well as a universal ideal of female beauty. The Birth of Venus has always been considered the perfect idea of ​​female beauty in art. The Gioconda
“La Gioconda”, also known as “Mona Lisa”, is an oil painting by Leonardo da Vinci, datable to about 1503-1514, and preserved in the Louvre Museum in Paris. An emblematic and enigmatic work, it is certainly one of the most famous portraits of women in the world, as well as one of the most famous works of art ever, the subject of endless tributes, but also parodies and mockery. The imperceptible smile of the Mona Lisa, with its aura of mystery, has inspired many pages of criticism, literature, works of the imagination, even psychoanalytic studies. Elusive, ironic and sensual, the Mona Lisa has been loved, idolized, but also mocked or attacked from time to time. A true icon of painting, and seen every day by thousands of people,Marilyn
It was in 1960 that Warhol embarked on his artistic career, which quickly led him to be the leading personality of American Pop Art. In the same year he began his production of images treated with a new technique: screen printing. The artist photographs a subject, develops it in slides; then, he projects the slide onto a white canvas and copies the image first in pencil and then with acrylic colors. There are so many paintings that Warhol painted on Marilyn Monroe because he loved her. Marilyn Monroe died in August 1962. Over the next four months, Warhol made more than twenty screen-print paintings of her, all based on the same advertising photograph from the 1953 film Niagara. Warhol found in Monroe a fusion of two of his constant themes: the death and cult of the celebrity. Repeating the image, evokes its omnipresence in the media. The contrast of bright colors with the black and white canvases symbolize life and death.The lady with an ermine
“The lady with an ermine (Portrait of Cecilia Gallerani)” is an oil painting on panel made between 1488 and 1490 by the painter Leonardo da Vinci. The painting is now kept at the Czartoryski Muzeum in Krakow, after having undergone a restoration to remedy some damage suffered during World War II. An imperceptible smile hovers on Cecilia’s lips: Leonardo preferred to hint at her emotions rather than make them explicit. Cecilia’s long, elegant fingers caressing the animal testify to her delicacy and her aristocratic grace. The stoat, due to its white fur, was considered a symbol of purity. The girl with the Pearl Earring
“The Girl with the Turban” or “Girl with a Pearl Earring” is one of the most famous portraits of a woman by Jan Vermeer. It seems that the Dutch artist painted it between 1665 and 1666, today it is kept at the Mauritshuis in The Hague. It depicts a girl with a three-quarter turn. Particularly striking is the aesthetic expression, absolutely languid and bewitching (according to some also charged with an innocent eroticism), of the young model’s gaze. The evocative legend that surrounds this painting, and which colors with a touch of sentimentality the biography of a great painter of whom very little is known, was recalled for literature in 1986 by the book “The girl with the turban” (translated in nine languages) by the writer Marta Morazzoni and then also in 2003 for the cinema from a film entitled “The girl with a pearl earring”, played by actress Scarlett Johansson and inspired by the 1999 novel of the same name by writer Tracy Chevalier. Today this painting is on temporary display in Bologna, winning the title of the most successful exhibition in Italy.Giuditta I
“Giuditta I” is a painting made in 1901 by the Austrian painter Gustav Klimt and kept in the Osterreichische Galerie Belvedere in Vienna. It is considered as the first work of the golden period, characterized by a language of strong symbolic abstraction and the massive use of gold. The subject, with the face of Adele Bloch-Bauer, exponent of Viennese high society, has always been used as a metaphor for the power of seduction of women, which manages to overcome even the most brutal virile strength. In a symbolist climate, the figure of Judith obviously lends itself to the exaltation of the cruel and seductive femme fatale, who leads her lover to ruin and death. Venus of Urbino
The “Venus of Urbino” is an oil painting on canvas (119 × 165 cm) by Titian, datable to 1538 and preserved in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. The painting, in addition to being a portrait of the future bride, represents an allegory of marriage. The portrait was limited to the facial image only, while the rest of the body was ideally constructed. The wife is represented naked as, in this way, she was enhanced her feminine attractiveness but also her good health to become a future mother of numerous offspring. The Maja desnuda and the Maya vestida
“La maja desnuda” (1800) and “La maja vestida” (1800) are two paintings by Francisco Goya. Both are now kept in the Prado Museum in Madrid. They are works of private commission that at the time had caused a lot of scandal. If we examine the Maja desnuda, we can see how explicit the influences of Giorgione and Titian are. The difference here is that the woman represented is not a goddess, nor an idealized figure, but a simple commoner who acquires aristocratic dignity. The model, which according to some is not the same for both paintings, maintains the same provocative pose for both oils on canvas; the look is mischievous and winking and creates a certain disturbance in the observer due to her disinhibition. Portrait of Dora Maar
“Portrait of Dora Maar” or “Dora Maar sitting” is one of the portraits of a woman made in 1937 by the Spanish painter Pablo Picasso. It is kept in the Musee National Picasso in Paris. In 1936 Picasso, settled near Cannes, met the young photographer Dora Maar and became her lover. The young woman is portrayed seated in a black blouse and a red checked skirt. The angular shapes and elaborate clothing highlight the strong personality of the woman. Portrait of Jeanne Hebuterne
The Portrait of Jeanne Hebuterne is one of the most famous paintings by Amedeo Modigliani. It was painted in 1917, it is currently in Japan and belongs to a private collector. In the picture Jeanne is portrayed, Modigliani’s fiancée who was nineteen at the time. She is fourteen years younger than him when they meet in Paris. Jeanne and a gifted painter, when they meet she is studying at the Colarossi Academy, and a girl with a strong personality, fascinated by Modigliani and his painting. Between them begins a relationship that will last until the painter’s death.

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