The reading and the lecture are both about Rembrant’s painting. The author of the reading doubts whether some paintings attributed to Rembrandt were actually painted by him. The lecturer contradicts the claims made by the author. He feels that all paintings are authentic.
To begin with, the author argues that there is something inconsistent about the way the woman in the portrait is dressed. She is wearing a white linen cap of a kind that only servants would wear-yet the coat she is wearing has a luxurious fur collar that no servant could afford. This specific argument is challenged by the lecturer. He says that the fur collar was not originally part of the painting and was added many years later.
Secondly, the writer mentions that Rembrandt was a master of painting light and shadow, but in this painting these elements do not fit together. The face appears to be illuminated by light reflected onto it from below. But below the face is the dark fur collar, which would absorb light rather than reflect it. The lecturer, however, rebuts this by saying that once the fur collar has been erased, the original painting was revealed and all the light and shadow elements were accurate, as it should be.
Finally, the author posits that the examination of the back of the painting reveals that it was painted on a panel made of several pieces of wood glued together. Although Rembrandt often painted on wood panels, no painting known to be by Rembrandt uses a panel glued together in this way from several pieces of wood. In contrast, the lecturer informs us that when the collar was added, wood panels were added as well to make the painting more grand. He also adds that the original wood panel was from the same tree as the rest of Rembrant’s paintings.
- Do you agree or disagree with the following statement Life today is easier and more comfortable than it was when your grandparents were children Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer 52
- Playing computer games is a waste of time Children should not be allowed to play them 80
- TPO 17 Integrated Writing Task 75
- At the end of the Triassic period 200 million years ago, there was a mass-extinction event that caused the extinction of more than half of all living species. It was this extinction event that allowed dinosaurs to become the dominant species for the next 70
- Do you agree or disagree with the following statement People are never satisfied with what they have they always want something more or something different Use specific reasons to support your answer 87