[what's up]

Mona Lisa paved the way for Vermeer who lived over 100 years later.

Leonardo helped break the ground for non-religious art, which allowed painters to be involved in landscapes, portraits of normal people, and a plethora of other subjects.

Mona Lisa may not be beautiful from our modern vantage point, but if considered in its historical context, it is a remarkable painting.

[Clemenza]

I'm a huge Velasquez fan because he took artistic realism further than anyone before him. His work is still unerving to some, such as the woman I met who called Las Meninas the most grotesque and disturbing work of art she had ever seen.

[Conservative4Ever]

I agree it is a remarkable painting, and DaVinci did have a genius for many concepts. He deserves much of the credit. But I still think Vermeer's painting is lovelier. I have an Alexander Cooper painting hanging in my living room I call 'The Blind Flowergirl' 1889. It is beautiful, maybe not by modern standards, but I think she is lovely too.

Red