Calendar

Art à la Carte is a series of informative programs focusing on the arts. It is offered free of charge on Wednesdays at 12:15p. Participants are encouraged to bring lunch or pick up something from The Palette Café. Coffee, tea, and cookies are provided. All programs are held in the FIA’s Isabel Hall unless otherwise noted.

This series of 10 half-hour programs shows how a painted image echos the spirit of its time and relates to a particular historic event. It reveals the poetic, sociological and political potential of the picture by penetrating inside the painting and examine the underlining details, thanks to work of computer graphics which livens up characters, objects and sets. Each film tells a fascinating story of a creator and the painting process.

The Wedding at Cana by Paolo Veronese

27 min

In The Wedding at Cana, Paulo Veronese transposes the biblical tale of Christ's first miracle to the scene of a sumptuous Venetian banquet. This documentary explores the historical context of 16th century Venice, a wealthy and politically stable city in which artists such as Veronese, Titian, and Jacobo Tintoretto were granted freedom from religious censorship. It looks at Palladio’s architectural influences, presents a theory that The Wedding at Cana”may represent the crowning ceremony of a Doge’s wife, and examines how Veronese combines the sacred and profane in his works. Finally, it looks at the painter’s use of perspective, colors, and composition.

Marie-Antoinette de Lorraine-Habsbourg, Queen of France and Her Children by Louise Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun

26 min

As the French Revolution approached, Louise Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun painted the queen’s portrait in an attempt to win back public opinion. This documentary examines the historical and social context in which Marie-Antoinette de Lorraine-Habsbourg, Queen of France and Her Children was painted. It analyzes the work’s composition and symbolism in terms of motherhood and political legitimacy, and attempts to counter the queen’s reputation for debauchery. It also includes a discussion of Le Brun’s background, Italian and Flemish influences, and her unique position as court portraitist in a male dominated field. Finally, we learn how the work was received by the Paris Salon and by the French people.