Be ready to talk about your favourite painting or artist.
Painting
Leonardo da Vinci (1452—1519) was one of the greatest painters of all times. He was also a great inventor. He invented the wheelbarrow, the military tank, and roller bearings. He made plans for dozens of weapons and machines. He even experimented with airplane and submarine modes. Besides, Leonardo was great as a scientist and engineer. He was also a poet, a musician, and a sculptor.
Leonardo was born in the village of Vinci in Italy. When his father found out that the boy was interested in painting, he sent him to an excellent painter and teacher. One day Leonardo painted a beautiful angel in one of his teacher's pictures. “You are a greater painter than I”, said the teacher, “I will paint no more”.
In a few years Leonardo's father decided not to pay the teacher any more. He thought that his son was spending too much time studying rocks and plants, watching birds to find out how their bodies work, and building models of machines. But Leonardo stayed on as his teacher's helper. He stayed till he was 25. Then he set out to paint for himself, first in Florence, then in Milan and Venice, and at the end of his life in France.
Leonardo had ideas that other painters liked to copy. “Let them”, he said, “I will originate. They can copy”.
Thus a great painter left behind only a few paintings. He had many ideas for pictures and made many wonderful pen and ink sketches. But he had so many other interests that he found it hard to sit and paint for hours at a time.
Some of his paintings have been lost because he liked to experiment. He used colours mixed with wax to paint a wonderful mural of a cavalry battle, but the wax melted and the picture was ruined.
The Last Supper is on the wall of a chapel in Milan. This picture was famous long before it was finished.
There is such beauty in Leonardo's paintings that they are as hard to describe as beautiful music. The faces of his people are full of expression. He used light and shade in a new way to make people look very lifelike.
One of Leonardo's paintings is called the Mona Lisa. It is the picture of a woman with a faint smile, whose facial expression is often described as enigmatic. The painting was ordered by the woman's husband. But Leonardo liked it so much that he kept it for himself. He took it to France with him when he went to spend the last years of his life as a court painter to the king of France. Now it is one of the greatest treasures of the Louvre in Paris and is considered the most famous painting in the world.
| a wheelbarrow — тачка | look lifelike — бути схожим як у житті |
| a roller bearing — роликовий підшипник | light and shade – світло й тіні |
| a rock — скеля | a faint smile — ледь помітна усмішка |
| set out — починати | enigmatic – загадковий, таємничий |
| wax — віск mural — фреска | a court painter to the king — придворний художник короля |
| Last Supper — Тайна Вечеря | treasure — скарб |
Questions:
1 Do you ever paint or draw? 2 Do you have any paintings at home? Do you know who painted them? 3 What famous artists do you know? 4 Would you like someone to paint your portrait? Why / Why not? 5 What paintings do you like more – with flowers and nature, with buildings, or people? Why?
Be ready to talk about your favourite painting or artist.
Grammar: Порівняння вживання Present Simple та Present Continuous
Present Simple
1) Вказує на регулярні, повторювані дії:
І go to college every day. – Я ходжу до коледжу кожного дня.
2) Вказує на постійні дії:
My parents live in London. – Мої батьки живуть (постійно) в Лондоні.
3) Прислівники always (завжди), sometimes (іноді), never (ніколи), usually (зазвичай), often (часто)тадеякііншіє часто вживаними в Present Simple. Вони вказують, як часто відбувається та чи інша дія:
Richard never visits his parents at Christmas. – Річард ніколи не відвідує своїх батьків на Різдво.
Present Continuous
1) Вказує на дію, що відбувається в момент мовлення:
Where are you going? – І’m going to the market. – Куди ти йдеш? – Я йду на ринок.
2) Вказує на тимчасовість дії:
І am staying with my friends until I can find a flat. – Я живу (тимчасово) у друзів, поки не знайду квартиру.
3) Прислівник alwaysможе вживається з дієсловом у Present Continuous,якщо мовець хоче зазначити своє негативне ставлення до дії, що відбувається, або вона його дратує.
She’s always losing her keys and it drives me mad! – Вона постійно губить ключі, і це зводить мене з розуму!