Fine Art: Perception, Seeing and Meaning of Aesthetics

It is true that art is spiritual; it is also true that art is ever present with us. In the words of the late sculptor and art educator, Mr. Sam Majemite: “Look at the whole man-made world, all you see is art.” There cannot be a better truth. In all my years as a practising artist and art writer, I have come to a better understanding of the intrinsic values of (fine) art simply by noticing people’s perception of the world around them. Art embodies all works having to do with human creativity – works wrought by human hands; fine art deals with fineness, and even finesse as a concept; it is about any work requiring specialised skills. But art transcends the physical essence; art is – romancing with the muse.

Leonardo da Vinci

It was the Renaissance man – Leonardo da Vinci who rightly stated that “The eye is the window of the soul”; such amazing thought. It summarises all that art and the artist is about. At this point you would wonder if art is not a branch of philosophy; well, I think it is. Drawing inference from the power of conjecture, and how different people tend to observe differently, seeing and looking become two markedly divergent concepts.

Leonardo da Vinci – the Renaissance man

Have you ever heard of the Renaissance Man; what about the painting called ‘Mona Lisa’; do you know of the one who first thought of the possibility of flying that he even went ahead to execute drawings of flying machines centuries before man ever actualised that dream? These and many more are all attributable to one man, indeed one of the greatest geniuses if not the greatest, that ever walked the surface of this planet earth. I am talking of Leonardo da Vinci. Thus this is my personal perception of the universe man whose body of works has continued to astound everybody around the world. That is Leonardo da Vinci - the legend and enigma; a bundle of unquantifiable creative opulence.

‘Virgin of the Rocks’ - Painting

Thus Leonardo da Vinci was born on April 15, 1452, in Vinci, republic of Florence or present day Italy; he excelled in everything he ever set out his mind to do: He was outstanding as an artist (painter, sculptor, and draughtsman); he was equally outstanding and accomplished as an architect, poet, anatomist, writer, musician, mathematician, inventor, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and engineer. The world’s most famous piece of painting today, and the most expensive at that – Mona Lisa, is the work of this genius, and it is at least five hundred years old now. If you think of the popular painting called ‘The Last Supper’, it is also attributable to this great man of the arts and sciences. 

‘The Last Supper’ - Painting by Leonardo da Vinci

So much of Leonardo da Vinci’s anatomical drawings have given vent to the drawings of anatomy that medical doctors make use of today. He sort of exemplifies the meaning and essence of the entire Renaissance period in that he stood as a figure towering centrally about this epoch. This was the period of European history at the close of the Middle Ages and the rise of the modern world; a cultural rebirth from the 14th through the middle of the 17th centuries. 

Mona Lisa

Can you just imagine a priceless pieceof artwork that is beyond insurance? Mona Lisa unlike most people would think is not actually an imaginary title of a piece of art work. Rather, this painting (1503-7), executed by the greatest artist and creative mind so far modern history has known, arguably, – the Italian Renaissance master, Leonardo da Vinci, and measuring 77cmx53cm, is the portrait of the wife of a local Italian peasant.

Today this painting also arguably, is the most important singular piece of artwork that is available, both in terms of value, as well as popularity, and bearing in mind that it is after all not a very large scale job per se. The Mona Lisa is the most famous painting in the history of art and continues to inspire oil painting reproductions, parody, scientific theory, and more. According to the Guinness Book of world Records, Mona Lisa was assessed for insurance purposes at $100 million in 1962, but insurance was not concluded because the cost of the strictest security precautions was less that of the premium.

'Mona Lisa' by Leonardo da Vinci

Mona Lisa which is housed in the popular (Gallery) Louvre in Paris, France, is a jealously and heavily guarded and secured piece of art. It is protected in a climate controlled environment and encased in bullet proof glass, a room which caused seven million dollars to build at the time. This painting which is considered priceless and cannot be insured has since become a proud property of the French people and government, and has therefore survived more than 500 years today.

Mona Lisa has been an object of great inspiration for many a creative mind all over the world: notable among the many is the sonorous African American voice of decades ago – the great Nath King Cole of blessed memory. As you fall in love with the melodious music extolling the virtues and beauty of Mona Lisa, you equally fall for the unmistakable and arresting beauty of the lady in the picture.