Personal Art Analysis Project

Explainary

A personal art analysis project connecting classic artworks, artists, and movements through story, context, and close looking.

Art analysis that makes masterpieces click

Start with a classic artwork and follow the thread: composition, intention, context, and legacy. Each page blends a clear entry point with a deeper, immersive read, plus links to the artist and movement so you can keep exploring.

Wander through classic artworks, artist biographies, and art movement guides—one thread leads naturally to the next.

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Built to grow beyond art

Featured analyses

Thirty-two classics across painting, photography, print, manuscript, and design
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Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci

Mona Lisa

Leonardo da Vinci

c. 1503-1519 Renaissance

A small portrait that uses soft edges and a dreamlike world to make presence feel alive.

Portraiture Humanism Renaissance
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The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh

The Starry Night

Vincent van Gogh

1889 Post-Impressionism

A landscape remade into a map of emotion, where the sky carries the story.

Night Sky Emotion Post-Impressionism
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The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli

The Birth of Venus

Sandro Botticelli

c. 1485-1486 Early Renaissance

A lyrical myth scene that turns ideal beauty into a graceful rhythm.

Myth Ideal Beauty Renaissance
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Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer

Girl with a Pearl Earring

Johannes Vermeer

c. 1665 Dutch Golden Age

A small canvas that makes a fleeting glance unforgettable.

Tronie Light Dutch Golden Age
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The Night Watch by Rembrandt van Rijn

The Night Watch

Rembrandt van Rijn

1642 Baroque

A dynamic civic portrait that feels like theater.

Baroque Civic Portrait Chiaroscuro
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The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai

The Great Wave off Kanagawa

Katsushika Hokusai

c. 1830-1832 Ukiyo-e

A graphic icon of nature’s power and balance.

Ukiyo-e Nature Edo Japan
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The Scream by Edvard Munch

The Scream

Edvard Munch

1893 Expressionism

An existential cry turned into a universal symbol.

Expressionism Anxiety Modernity
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The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo

The Creation of Adam

Michelangelo

1508-1512 High Renaissance

A monumental fresco that makes creation feel intimate.

Fresco Theology High Renaissance
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Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci

Vitruvian Man

Leonardo da Vinci

c. 1490 Renaissance

A notebook drawing that turns the body into geometry and idea.

Drawing Humanism Geometry
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Melencolia I by Albrecht Dürer

Melencolia I

Albrecht Dürer

1514 Northern Renaissance

An engraving that turns creative doubt into a powerful visual puzzle.

Engraving Symbolism Renaissance
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Knight, Death and the Devil by Albrecht Dürer

Knight, Death and the Devil

Albrecht Dürer

1513 Northern Renaissance

A moral allegory engraved with stunning precision and resolve.

Engraving Allegory Renaissance
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The Rhinoceros by Albrecht Dürer

The Rhinoceros

Albrecht Dürer

1515 Northern Renaissance

A famous woodcut that shows how images shape knowledge.

Woodcut Curiosity Renaissance
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Fine Wind, Clear Morning (Red Fuji) by Katsushika Hokusai

Fine Wind, Clear Morning (Red Fuji)

Katsushika Hokusai

c. 1830-1832 Ukiyo-e

A serene print that turns a volcano into a portrait.

Ukiyo-e Landscape Japan
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Sudden Shower over Shin-Ōhashi Bridge and Atake by Utagawa Hiroshige

Sudden Shower over Shin-Ōhashi Bridge and Atake

Utagawa Hiroshige

1857 Ukiyo-e

A woodblock print that makes rain visible and poetic.

Ukiyo-e Weather City Life
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The Hundred Guilder Print by Rembrandt van Rijn

The Hundred Guilder Print

Rembrandt van Rijn

c. 1647-1649 Dutch Golden Age

A masterprint that turns biblical narrative into lived humanity.

Etching Faith Dutch Golden Age
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Strawberry Thief by William Morris

Strawberry Thief

William Morris

1883 Arts and Crafts

A textile design that treats everyday life as art.

Textile Pattern Arts and Crafts
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Book of Kells – Chi Rho Page by Unknown (Insular monks)

Book of Kells – Chi Rho Page

Unknown (Insular monks)

c. 800 Insular art

A luminous manuscript page where faith and design fuse.

Manuscript Illumination Medieval
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Lindisfarne Gospels – Carpet Page by Unknown (Insular monks)

Lindisfarne Gospels – Carpet Page

Unknown (Insular monks)

c. 700 Insular art

A carpet page that turns geometry into devotion.

Manuscript Pattern Medieval
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Gutenberg Bible – Printed Page by Johann Gutenberg's workshop

Gutenberg Bible – Printed Page

Johann Gutenberg's workshop

c. 1455 Early printing

A printed Bible page that marks the shift from manuscript to mass print.

Print Typography History
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The Bayeux Tapestry (Scene Detail) by Unknown (11th-century workshop)

The Bayeux Tapestry (Scene Detail)

Unknown (11th-century workshop)

c. 1070s Romanesque

An embroidered epic that tells conquest as story.

Textile Narrative Medieval
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The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci

The Last Supper

Leonardo da Vinci

1495-1498 High Renaissance

A monumental dining scene that turns a shared meal into a moment of suspense and inner drama.

Narrative Perspective Apostles
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The School of Athens by Raphael

The School of Athens

Raphael

1509-1511 High Renaissance

A grand gathering of philosophers that stages knowledge as a living conversation.

Humanism Architecture Philosophy
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The Calling of Saint Matthew by Caravaggio

The Calling of Saint Matthew

Caravaggio

1599-1600 Baroque

A beam of light and a pointed finger turn an ordinary tavern into a moment of destiny.

Chiaroscuro Conversion Drama
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Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez

Las Meninas

Diego Velázquez

1656 Baroque

A painting about seeing itself, where painter, subject, and viewer trade places.

Illusion Court Life Perspective
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The Milkmaid by Johannes Vermeer

The Milkmaid

Johannes Vermeer

c. 1657-1658 Dutch Golden Age

A quiet kitchen scene that turns domestic work into a study of light and care.

Domestic Light Stillness
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The Third of May 1808 by Francisco Goya

The Third of May 1808

Francisco Goya

1814 Romanticism

A night execution painted as a raw, human scream against oppression.

Revolt Tragedy History
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Impression, Sunrise by Claude Monet

Impression, Sunrise

Claude Monet

1872 Impressionism

A harbor at dawn painted as a fleeting sensation of light and atmosphere.

Light Harbor Impressionism
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Sunflowers by Vincent van Gogh

Sunflowers

Vincent van Gogh

1888 Post-Impressionism

A bouquet painted as a study in warmth, time, and the beauty of impermanence.

Still Life Color Emotion
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Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix

Liberty Leading the People

Eugène Delacroix

1830 Romanticism

A revolutionary allegory where a living symbol leads the crowd into the smoke.

Revolution Allegory France
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The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch

The Garden of Earthly Delights

Hieronymus Bosch

c. 1490-1510 Northern Renaissance

A triptych that moves from Eden to excess to ruin, painted as a dense moral dream.

Triptych Symbolism Allegory
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Migrant Mother by Dorothea Lange

Migrant Mother

Dorothea Lange

1936 Photography

A documentary photograph that gives a face to hardship and resilience.

Documentary Great Depression Portrait
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The Steerage by Alfred Stieglitz

The Steerage

Alfred Stieglitz

1907 Photography

A modernist photograph that turns a ship’s lower deck into a study of geometry and class.

Modernism Geometry Social History
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Curated lenses

Start with a mood, not a timeline

Light and Atmosphere

How artists turn illumination into emotion, from Vermeer to Van Gogh.

Power and Public Life

Works that define civic identity, myth, and cultural memory.

Pattern and Devotion

Manuscripts, textiles, and prints that make ornament feel sacred.