Children often see these images, and we suggest learning more about the popular sources of "memes." The masterpieces are arranged in chronological order, and we report one curious fact on each picture.

1. Create Sophisticated Works of Art
05 world's art masterpieces that every child should know
We introduce the first issue of our "art guide" for
children: if you want your child to be savvy in the cultural
field — we think it best to start small. Children often see
these images, and we suggest learning more about the
popular sources of "memes." The masterpieces are
arranged in chronological order, and we report one
curious fact on each picture.
1. Jan van Eyck, The Arnolfini Portrait (1434)

2. This is one of the most mysterious paintings in world
painting. It is believed that the painting depicts the
Italian merchant Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini and his

3. wife in their residence in the city of Bruges. And this is
where the mystery begins. Why are the feet of the
spouses bare (their shoes are present on the canvas)?
Why is a candle burning in a chandelier above the man,
but there is no candle above the woman? Is it really so
that the artist makes it clear that by the time the painting
has been completed, Arnolfini’s wife passed away, and
this painting was commissioned in memory of her? And
pay attention to the mirror. There, we can see not only
the reflection of the spouses. What kind of figures are
these? Are they the wedding witnesses? It seems that
one of them is the painter himself, judging by the
elegant inscription on the canvas between the mirror
and the chandelier:" Johannes van eyck fuit hic "or" Jan
van Eyck was here." These are not all the secrets of the
famous canvas, and art critics are unlikely to come to a
consensus on this work in the nearest future.
2. Sandro Botticelli, Birth of Venus (1482-1486)

4. Born of sea foam, the ancient goddess of love Venus
arrives on the island of Crete. Botticelli based his
painting on a myth, and over time, his work became
much mythologized. So, in some historical documents, it
appears that on February 7, 1497, the Dominican monk
Girolamo Savonarola made an effort to light a huge fire
in Florence in order to destroy "trinkets" that did not help
strengthen the Christian faith. Allegedly, Sandro
Botticelli was one of the participants of the ceremony
(the contemporaries called the followers of the monk’s
ideas "crybabies"), and presumably he personally threw
several of his canvases on mythological subjects into
the fire. But the flame of the bonfire spared "The Birth of
Venus."
3. Raphael Sanzio, The Sistine Madonna (1513)

5. On this canvas, Raphael depicted the appearance of the
Virgin Mary with the baby Christ in her arms to St.
Sixtus. The painting was commissioned to the artist by

6. Pope Julius II. The painter painted into the canvas many
details that are important for his own worldview. Raphael
was a gnostic: the supporters of this religious movement
believed that they possessed special knowledge about
God and the world order. In particular, they greatly
appreciated the number six. Researchers note the
significance of this number for the picture. Its
composition consists of six figures, and the right hand of
St. Sixtus seems to have six fingers (though, if you look
closely, the "sixth finger" is, rather, the inner side of the
palm).
4. Pieter Bruegel the Elder, The Hunters in the Snow
(1565)
This surely magnificent painting has a financial story
behind it. The then businessman Jongelinck, who

7. revered Bruegel’s art, commissioned Bruegel to create a
series of six seasonal paintings depicting the seasons
("Hunters in the Snow" was one of them). Bruegel had
not completed the work when Jongelinck faced financial
difficulties. To borrow money from the city treasury, the
businessman put into pawn the unfinished paintings of
the master — more precisely, the document confirming
the rights to those pictures. As a result, immediately
after the completion, Brueghel’s works ended up in the
treasury vault. The artist did not see them anymore.
5. Rembrandt van Rijn, The Night Watch (1642)
The full name of The Night Watch is The Shooting
Company of Frans Banning Cocq and Willem van

8. Ruytenburch. This is one of the most much-suffering
artworks in the history of art. Firstly, the soot layer
changed the initial color of the Night Watch: the scene
takes place during the day, so the work got its "dark"
name due to a misunderstanding. Secondly, the canvas
was cut horizontally and vertically. Thirdly, it suffered
from inept restorations, and in 1990, a mentally ill visitor
to the Rijksmuseum splashed acid on the painting. At
the same time, Night Watch remains a masterpiece and
even the object of pilgrimage.