Lyon - Musée des Beaux-Arts

In Lyon, France, the Musée des Beaux-Arts has an excellent collection.

https://www.mba-lyon.fr/fr

Here are a few highlights.

2025 copyright expirations

 https://x.com/hunleyeric/status/1874666035359678542

On January 1st, some of history's most valuable art just became free. Hemingway. Disney. Hitchcock. Even Popeye. $100M+ worth of creativity is now yours to use. Here's everything you can legally steal in 2025: 🧵

Want to make: • A Popeye horror film? • A Tintin remix? • Your own version of "Singin' in the Rain"? As of today, you legally can. The copyright just expired on some of the 20th century's biggest masterpieces.

Here's what just entered the public domain: BOOKS: • "A Farewell to Arms" - Hemingway • "The Sound and the Fury" - Faulkner • "A Room of One's Own" - Woolf Every word is now yours to adapt, remix, or reimagine.

FILMS: • The first Marx Brothers movie • Hitchcock's "Blackmail" • Disney's first Silly Symphony • The first "Best Picture" with sound These pioneering films are now free to sample, remake, or reinvent.

MUSIC: • "Singin' in the Rain" • "Ain't Misbehavin'" • "Stardust" • Gershwin's "American in Paris" Every note, every lyric - free to use in your next project.

ART: • Magritte's "The Treachery of Images" • Dalí's surrealist masterpieces • Kandinsky's "Upward" • Hopper's "Chop Suey" Some of the most influential paintings ever created, now free for public use.

The best part? You can combine ANY of these: • Popeye singing in the rain • Tintin meets Hemingway • Marx Brothers in a Dalí painting The only limit is your imagination.

This isn't just about free content. It's about cultural freedom. These works shaped the 20th century. Now they belong to everyone. What will you create with them? Follow @hunleyeric for more creative & cultural insights that help you build better.

Gauguin in the world

Houston exhibition:

https://www.mfah.org/exhibitions/gauguin-in-the-world 

https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/fine-art/gauguin-in-the-world-review-houston-hosts-an-artists-quest-d01b20d7?st=VWDamS&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

Detailed paintings

 https://x.com/theepicmap/status/1871635268966682735

Thread of most crazy detailed paintings 🧵 

1. Those eyes say everything. Briton Rivière's *Fidelity* (1840–1920) captures a moment of unwavering loyalty, as the dog's gaze speaks volumes about devotion and trust.

2. The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci (1495-1498) - known for its composition and the moment captured, recent analyses have suggested hidden symbols, like musical notes formed by the bread rolls and hands of the apostles, adding another layer of complexity to this masterpiece.

3. Dubbed "the most beautiful lips in art history," Caravaggio's *Judith Beheading Holofernes* (c. 1598–1602) vividly portrays the dramatic biblical tale. The painting captures Judith's striking beauty and determination as she delivers the fatal blow.

4. The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch (1490-1510) - This triptych is filled with symbolic and detailed imagery, exploring themes of creation, sin, and the consequences of human behavior. Bosch's work often contains hidden details and allegories.

5. Everyone at this table is silently judging you—yes, even the cat. Carl Bloch's *In a Roman Osteria* (1866) masterfully captures the lively atmosphere of a Roman tavern, where every gaze tells a story.

6. The Sistine Chapel Ceiling by Michelangelo - While the grandeur of the ceiling is known, the detailed figures and the hidden elements like the depiction of God in human form, with a cloak that some interpret as resembling the human brain, add layers of interpretation.

7. Vincent van Gogh's use of blues conveys a profound emotional depth in his paintings. From the swirling skies of *Starry Night* to the serene yet melancholic tones of *The Bedroom*, his blues evoke both tranquility and turmoil, reflecting his inner world.

8. One of the most remarkable details in art history is found in Van Eyck's *Arnolfini Portrait*. Despite being only 5.5 centimeters wide, the mirror captures a reflection of the entire room, revealing the couple from behind along with two additional figures.

9. The Betrothal of the Virgin by Raphael (1504) - Raphael included a detailed architectural background that, upon close examination, reveals a temple with a hidden perspective trick that aligns with the main figures, enhancing the narrative depth of the scene.

10. Only Rembrandt could capture hands with such remarkable precision. This close-up, from *Young Scholar and his Tutor* (1629–30), showcases his mastery in portraying intricate details and lifelike textures.

11. A tiny Caravaggio self-portrait has been uncovered through advanced technology. Using multispectral reflectography, researchers discovered a small image of the artist, with dark hair and a paintbrush, reflected in the wine jug of his painting Bacchus

12. In The Fallen Angel (1847) by Alexandre Cabanel, Lucifer is portrayed immediately after his fall from Heaven, with a solitary tear slipping down his cheek. This powerful image captures his intense anger and unwavering defiance, symbolizing his internal struggle and rebellion

13. This painting by Sergi Cadenas portrays the process of human aging as you walk by it. Known for his meticulous detail, Cadenas uses kinetic optics, applying vertical strips of paint paste to the canvas and painting a different image on each side after it dries.

14. This is a “bubble wrap painting” by Darian Rodriguez Mederos

15. Ivan the Terrible's expression captures the profound guilt and sorrow he felt after tragically taking his son's life in a fit of rage. The moment, frozen in time, reveals the devastating consequences of his uncontrollable emotions and the immense regret that followed.

16. Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez (1656) - This painting is famous for its complex composition and the play with perspective, where Velázquez includes himself in the painting, creating an interaction between the viewer, the subjects, and the artist.

17. Fast forward to the 20th century, and Luciano Ventrone, an Italian artist born in 1942, is often hailed as the "Caravaggio of the 20th century." His hyper-realistic painting of a pomegranate showcases an extraordinary level of detail, capturing every texture and nuance.

18. The Milkmaid by Vermeer is a masterclass in realism, capturing both the intricate details and a vivid sense of the woman's physical presence, as well as the table she stands beside.

19. In Michelangelo's masterpiece, the fingers are not touching to symbolize human hesitation. God's fully extended finger represents eternal presence, while Adam’s hesitant finger highlights the importance of free will and the human choice to connect with the divine.

20. The Mona Lisa, painted by Leonardo da Vinci, is one of the most famous and enigmatic portraits in art history. Known for her elusive smile and the mysterious aura surrounding her, the painting masterfully blends realism and subtle expression.

21. Self-Portrait with Two Circles by Albrecht Dürer (1526) - Dürer included himself drawing within two perfect circles, a reference to the legend of Giotto's perfect circle, showcasing his skill and linking himself to the greats of art history.

22. At first glance, Hans Holbein's 1533 portrait seems like a conventional painting. However, when viewed from a specific angle, a seemingly random grey spot at the bottom transforms into a skull, offering a striking memento mori and a reminder of mortality.

23. The Magpie by Claude Monet (1868-1869) - While Monet is known for his impressionist style, this painting stands out for the subtle detail of the magpie perched on a gate in the snow. The bird's reflection in the snow is a masterful use of light and shadow.

24. The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli (1484-1486) - this painting is celebrated for its beauty and the detailed depiction of Venus emerging from the sea. It's a masterpiece of the Renaissance, reflecting themes of divine beauty and creation.

25. The Geographer by Johannes Vermeer - This painting features a globe, a compass, and a detailed map on the wall, but what's less noticed is the subtle light reflection on the geographer's face, which Vermeer used to show the source of light in the room, enhancing realism.

what does the devil look like?

 https://x.com/culturaltutor/status/1759007400776941707

The Cultural Tutor

@culturaltutor

Feb 18 • 20 tweets • 8 min read •  Read on X

 Scrolly

What does Satan look like?

Strange, disturbing, and unintentionally funny: this is a brief history of the Devil in art...

The Garden of Earthly Delights, painted by Hieronymus Bosch at the beginning of the 16th century, is probably the most famous portrayal of Hell in art.

What's most striking about it is that Bosch does not just portray the Devil as evil — here he is utterly insane.

But Bosch is not unique.

He was part of a broad Lade Medieval tradition whereby Hell and the things in it — including the Devil — were depicted, above all else, as *strange*.

The Harrowing of Hell, by one of Bosch's followers, continues to indulge that same fiery madness.

Or consider Pieter Brueghel the Elder's Fall of the Rebel Angels, painted in the 1560s; it depicts Lucifer and his followers being cast out of Heaven.

Zoom in and look at the details — some of them are almost inexplicably bizarre.

Surreal, darkly funny, and dreamlike terror.

Bartolomé Bermejo, a 15th century Spanish painter who travelled to the Netherlands and there learned the art of oil painting, created one of the most memorable versions of the Devil.

A metallic beetle-monster whose every limb is a different creature, whose very joints are jaws.

In Italy, meanwhile, Fra Angelico — most famous for his pious and pure paintings of saints — conjured this foul beast.

The Renaissance was coming, but the Late Medieval imagination still held sway with its unbounded embrace of sheer and fantastical strangness:

Though, that being said, the Middle Ages also produced some of the most unintentionally funny devils...

But the Devil has not always looked so strange.

As the influence of the Renaissance spread, the imaginative scope of artists also seemed to shrink.

Guido Reni's 1636 version of St Michael triumphing over Satan simply depicts him as an evil-looking man with wings.

Though, done well, this modern trope of the Devil as a winged man can be rather frightening.

Alexandre Cabanel's famous Fallen Angel, from 1847, has an almost disturbingly dark intensity, all because of the expression on his face.

Sometimes you don't need flames or monsters.

Any discussion of Hell must include Dante and his famous Inferno, where Satan is described as a huge three-headed monster submerged in a sea of ice.

But, sometimes, when a thing is too well described it becomes less scary — is not mystery the most frightening thing of all?

Gustave Doré was a 19th century French artist who, among other poems and books, made illustrations for John Milton's Paradise Lost, a 17th century epic poem where Satan is (sort of) the protagonist.

Satan as a character may be more engaging, but it is perhaps less frightening.

But these dramatic and characterised portrayals became more common.

From the genuinely disturbing devils of the Middle Ages we move to something like Pandemonium, by the 19th century English painter John Martin

This scene, epic in scale, is almost cinematic.

John Martin also made Satan Presiding Over His Infernal Council, which again leans into that epic scale and grand narrative.

Satan as a dramatic character is certainly more compelling, but that sense of the visceral horror of evil has perhaps been lost.

Some of the most frightening paintings of the Devil are the least dramatic.

Rather than reigning in a realm of flames or appearing as a fantastical beast, the Devil is more chilling when portrayed as part of the real world.

Albrecht Dürer's devil is skin-crawlingly creepy.

And then there is something like the Witches' Sabbath by Francesco Goya.

Goya's talent for painting faces strained with anguish and torn apart by lunacy only enhances the overwhelming creepiness of this painting.

Along similar lines is Henry Fuseli's The Nightmare, from 1781.

Although it doesn't portray the Devil, strictly speaking, as a vision of evil it is almost oppressively dark.

Sometimes you don't need to be graphic.

In Giotto's painting of Judas betraying Jesus, from the early 1300s, we simply see a dark figure embracing him.

This is somehow more unsettling than any strange monster or colossal beast... a mere shadow.

And perhaps the most striking paintings of the Devil don't even include him.

Like Christ in the Wilderness, painted by Ivan Kramskoy in 1872, where by his very absence the Devil feels more real, more invisibly and universally present, than ever.

Of course, the Devil is not only a Christian concept — other religions have similar ideas of evil creatures, spirits, and demons, and there is a whole world of strange and terrifying art out there.

There is no single way to portray evil — so what is it, specifically, that makes paintings of the Devil frightening to you?

Is it when we see something horrifying and strange, something otherworldly, or a scene of total mundanity?

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