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Due to years of aging & darkened canvas, this painting came to be called XY. However, in reality both X & Y are incorrect. The painting is supposed to be a day time scene & the subjects are a civic guard.
The original name of the painting ‘Militia Company of District II under the Command of Captain Frans Banninck Cocq’ and is one of the most famous Dutch Golden Age paintings.
Identify the painting.

Show Answer
The Night Watch, a 1642 painting by Rembrandt van Rijn
Watch a Nerdwriter Video on why it is so popular.
Or Zoom Infinitely into the painting to see its aging.
nw

[205]

Originally called Der Schrei der Natur, this iconic painting was completed in 1893.
There have been many speculations about the inspiration behind the painting, ranging from: the powerful volcanic eruption at Karkatoa, Stratospheric clouds, to admission of the painter’s sister to a mental asylum.
Can you guess the painting?

Show Answer
The Scream by Edward Munch. The painting has been called an expression of anxiety of the human condition.
While there are a lot of speculations about the inspiration, there is no common consensus.
Read More about the theories.
scream

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Santa Maria delle Grazie (“Holy Mary of Grace”) is a lovely, if initially unassuming, 15th-century terracotta-stone church and convent located in Milan, Italy. While every brick of the church is rightly regarded as an architectural and artistic jewel, there’s something special about the north wall in the dining hall that led to the building’s designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

On the night of August 15, 1943, an Allied aerial strike partly destroyed the site — that north wall was one of the few left standing, having been protected since the start of World War II by sandbags and scaffolding.

Santa Maria delle Grazie Milan bombardamento del 1943

The north wall, protected by scaffolding
The wall in question after the bombing

Why is that wall so important?

Show Answer
The entire north wall of the refectory is home to the original fresco of Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper.