Contest #568: Pointe Gobbo, Bobbio, Italy

In 1472, the Trebbia river flooded, partially destroying a bridge at the northern Italian town of Bobbio.

Art Historian Carla Glori is convinced that minute details included by Leonardo da Vinci in the background of the Mona Lisa are a reference to that event, and therefore the mysterious background, including a bridge that resembles Pointe Gobbo, is Bobbio.

Mona Lisa, by Leonardo da Vinci, from C2RMF retouched.jpg
The bridge is right above her left shoulder

The Devil's Bridge, Bobbio, Italy.jpg
The bridge as it looks today – by AnnieGreenSprings

Now, of course, there are many, many other theories of the location of the painting, including that it was all in The Master’s head, but I liked this one because it made for a good contest!!

Those who found it before the hint included:

  • Walter_V_R
  • Garfield
  • Martin de Bock
  • Phil Ower
  • hhgygy
  • Abcdefg Hijkl

And after the hint:

  • Lance Finney
  • Yakubi Dergahi
  • Ashwini Agrawal
  • Paul Voestermans
  • Sarah G.
  • Hilde Lambeir

Contest #568 Hint

This one is a bit speculative, but some guy claims he found evidence that the master memorialized the destruction of a bridge in this really, really famous painting. Other folks disagree and put it somewhere else, but this spot is the one suggested by the first guy.

Contest #567: Ekeberg, Oslo, Norway

The Scream.jpg
By Edvard Munch – WebMuseum at ibiblio

This week’s contest takes us to Norway to visit the location that inspired Edvard Munch to create his most iconic work.

Known popularly and collectively as “The Scream”, Munch actually titled his work “Der Schrei der Natur”, German for “The Scream of Nature”. He produced 4 versions of the image, 2 in paint and 2 in pastel, between 1893 and 1910. He also did about 45 monochrome lithographs in 1895. You can see all of them in the gallery in the Wikipedia entry

That page full is of theories and conjectures on Munch’s inspiration and process but it also includes 2 very similar quotes from the painter — this one from is from his contemporary diary:

I was walking along the road with two friends – the sun was setting – suddenly the sky turned blood red – I paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned on the fence – there was blood and tongues of fire above the blue-black fjord and the city – my friends walked on, and I stood there trembling with anxiety – and I sensed an infinite scream passing through nature

Those stood there trembling with anxiety:

  • Walter_V_R
  • Garfield
  • Phil Ower
  • Wista
  • Abcdefg Hijkl
  • hhgygy

And those who walked on and found this place after the hint:

  • Paul Voestermans
  • Gillian B
  • Martin de Bock
  • David Kozina
  • LawnBoy
  • Rob de Wolff
  • gscrp
  • Hilde Lambeir
  • Jason Hattermann

Contest #566: Monastère Saint-Paul de Mausoleum in Saint Rémy de Provence, France

As most people know, Vincent Van Gogh was a tortured individual. By the winter of 1888, had developed what he thought was a mutually beneficial professional relationship with fellow painter Paul Gauguin. Gauguin thought himself a superior artist and was also under the impression that the Van Gogh brothers were trying to exploit the wealthier man. A series of arguments and perceived slights by Gauguin to Vincent had caused Van Gogh to be more and more unstable mentally, which exploded in madness in December of 1888.

On that cold winter night in a hotel in Arles, Vincent Van Gogh used a razor to cut off his left ear. He packaged the severed ear and delivered it to his favorite prostitute (this is often mistakenly thought of that he cut off the ear for unrequited love for the prostitute). He was treated by local physician Félix Rey and to show his gratitude, Van Gogh painted Dr. Rey and gave the painting to the subject. Dr. Rey didn’t particularly care for it, and he used it to fix a hole in his chicken coop before giving the canvas away. In 2016 that painting is lovingly maintained at a Moscow museum and is valued somewhere in the neighborhood of $50,000,000.

Portrait of Doctor Félix Rey — That’s one expensive hunk of building materials

But I digress.

Vincent was encouraged by his brother Theo and others to seek help for his mental issues. He acquiesced and entered the St. Paul-de-Mausole asylum in May, 1889. From his cell in the in the hospital, he looked out his window and created this masterpiece:

Starry Night

If you are as Van Gogh obsessed as I am, I heartily recommend two interesting takes on the end of his life. The first is the wonderful novel “Sacre Bleu: A Comedy d’Art” by Christopher Moore. Moore is a completely irreverent author who sets off with a pair of investigators that includes Henri Toulouse-Lautrec as they try to find the truth behind his supposed “suicide”.

The second is a magnificent film from last year titled “Loving Vincent”. This film was entirely hand painted in the mode of Van Gogh. The imagery is stunning.

Those who found this site before the hint were:

  • hhgygy
  • Walter_V_R
  • Paul Voestermans
  • Garfield
  • Martin de Bock
  • Phil Ower
  • Jesus Rodriguez
  • Abcdefg Hijkl

And after the hint:

  • Ben S
  • Hilde Lambeir
  • Rob de Wolff
  • Yakubi Dergahi
  • David Kozina
  • Sarah G.
  • BC11