📙 Part 2: Describe a painting

This episode's vocabulary

The easy way out (idiom) - what is easiest in a difficult situation.

Portrait (noun) - a painting, photograph, drawing, etc. of a person or, less commonly, of a group of people.

To reprint (verb) - to print a book again, or to be printed again.

Ubiquitous (adj.) - seeming to be everywhere.

Widespread (adj.) - existing or happening in many places and/or among many people.

Slippery (adj.) - if something is slippery, it is wet or smooth so that it slides easily or causes something to slide.

To evoke (verb) - to make someone remember something or feel an emotion.

Depiction (noun) - the way that something is represented or shown.

Metaphysical (adj.) - relating to the part of philosophy that is about understanding existence and knowledge.

Questions and Answers

R: I think I'll take the easy way out and just talk about the Mona Lisa. It's a pretty well-known painting. I think it's a portrait, actually. You may have seen it yourself since it's so famous. As for when I first saw it, it's hard to say since it's so ubiquitous, probably when I was very, very young, like primary school age. However, it's been around for hundreds of years and reprinted in almost every way you could care to think of. Which is, well, why it's so widespread now. It's a painting of a young woman, or I think she is young anyway, sitting with a very slight smile on her face, you can only see her upper body. And in the background, there is a view of the outdoors. I can't describe that very well, actually, because the main focus is clearly the person. She's taking up centre stage. Since it was painted by Leonardo da Vinci who was himself Italian, I think, it would make sense that she's also Italian. I'm sure it's an oil painting. So the colours are quite dark compared to modern art. It must have been quite difficult to do now I think about it, because oil is quite a slippery substance. So I don't know how that works. When it comes to my personal feelings about the painting, it evokes a sense of mystery about what the woman is smiling about, and who she even is, to be honest. I have no idea anyway. Because of that, I find myself quite drawn to it. And it would be great to see it one day. Though, well, I mean, the actual portrait, I've seen the painting in various depictions and on movies, or in movies and things like that. Though, I doubt it will clear anything up in terms of the mystery she presents. I actually think that's part of the art, this sort of metaphysical sensation that no matter how close you get, you can never really understand it. It's really amazing how someone has managed to create that impression just through that one image alone. If I hadn't seen this painting, I still think I'd have had the same reaction if I saw it now. But, of course, I'll never know for sure.

M: And what about your friends? Do they enjoy this painting?

R: It's such a common thing. I don't think people even discuss it. It's kind of like a background thing.

Discussion

M: What a story, dear listener, the Mona Lisa.

R: Something that anybody could talk about.

M: Yeah, and actually Rory told us about the Mona Lisa, but he hasn't seen it in the Louvre. How do you pronounce it?

R: I call it the Louvre. But I think the pronunciation because it's French doesn't actually matter.

M: So Rory hasn't seen the Mona Lisa in the Louvre. Okay? He hasn't seen this painting live. Right? But Rory, you saw this painting like where?

R: Where indeed? Like, you see it in movies quite often. And on documentaries. But that's about it, really. I think I can't think of anything specific. But you know what I mean? The Mona Lisa is everywhere.

M: Yeah. So dear listener, even if you haven't seen this painting, like this real painting, you can talk about it. Okay? And Rory started off with I'll take the easy way out and just talk about the Mona Lisa. So it's the Mona Lisa.

R: And it's the easy way out.

M: The easy way out. Yeah. Because everybody knows about this painting - Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci. It's an oil painting. Okay? Or you can also call it Gioconda. La Gioconda. Oh, how do you pronounce it?

R: You can?

M: How would you say it?

R: I don't know. I don't know what you're talking about.

M: Ah, no?

R: No.

M: It's the second name of the Mona Lisa. Rory, Rory.

R: Oh, I don't know much about it. I mean, I don't think many people do, so this is an educational experience for me as much as it is for you.

M: Uhm.

R: I love that response. Like uhm, yes, it is, isn't it?

M: La Gioconda. Yeah, La Gioconda is a second name for this painting. So Leonardo da Vinci. You know who Leonardo da Vinci was, right?

R: Yes, I know who that is.

M: Yes. So, dear listener, the thing is that here, when you choose a painting to talk about, you should know things about this painting. So you should google it. You should read Wikipedia, you should read... I'm reading the Britannica Online. Okay? Or you can just talk about the Mona Lisa. We're gonna give you vocabulary.

R: Lots of facts about the Mona Lisa.

M: Yes. And you just talk about the Mona Lisa. It's okay if you haven't seen it in the Louvre. In the Louvre. Louvre. Louvre. In the Louvre. Okay? But if you choose to talk about some other painting, make sure you know stuff. And so this topic, unfortunately, you have to do some homework.

R: Even if you don't, surely this is like a time to use modal verbs for speculation and logical deduction. It might have been, it may be, it could be, it could have been, it must have been.

M Yeah, it must have been a portrait of a woman. No, like it is a portrait of a woman.

R: It seems to be a portrait of a woman.

M: So it's a pretty well-known painting.

R: It is.

M: Well known? Everybody, well, most people know. It's a portrait. So we can have a landscape if it's a painting with nature. But it's a portrait. It's so ubiquitous.

R: It's everywhere. The internet is ubiquitous because it's everywhere.

M: What else can be ubiquitous?

R: I don't know. Our podcast, if you're into IELTS, we seem to be everywhere.

M: This ubiquitous spread of English. So it's like everywhere. Or, for example, the most ubiquitous device is a smart smartphone. So when I was very young, like in primary school, I saw this painting. Yeah? It's been around for hundreds of years. So it has been around for a long time. Because it was painted sometime between 1503 and 1519. Oh gosh, when Leonardo da Vinci was in Florence.

R: Oh, whoa, that's a lot longer than I thought it was.

M: Yeah. And now, it hangs in the Louvre. In the Louvre Museum in Paris. Or it's in the Louvre.

R: Why is it there? Why is it not in Italy?

M: A very good question.

R: Let's find out. Yeah, it's one of the top questions. Oh, it was sold to King Francis. The King of France for 4000 gold coins.

M: Oh, wow.

R: And so it's actually the property of the French government. Oh, my God, except it was stolen in 1911. And it was taken back to Italy. That's amazing.

M: Oh, wow.

R: Although, this does raise interesting questions about what art is and who it belongs to. Does it belong to the people of the country or the person who created it? Perhaps we will discuss this in part three.

M: So this painting has been reprinted in almost every way. So reprinted? You can see it on posters, on cards, on magnets, T-shirts. Like everywhere. And then you talk about the painting itself using specific language, dear listener. Okay? It's a painting of a young woman. Well, young woman.

R: Well, she looks young.

M: Okay. Or the painting presents a woman in a half-body portrait. Okay? And we have some landscape in the background, dear listener.

R: Here's a fun question, ask people what's in the background of the Mona Lisa, and they will struggle to tell you.

M: Oh, yeah.

R: I would too, I don't know.

M: Yeah, we have some landscape and you can actually see some... A path, some, I think like water, and even a bridge and some mountains.

R: But if you look at the landscape that's depicted, it's a lot simpler than the actual detail of the portrait of Mona Lisa.

M: Yeah.

R: Of the lady, I should say. I don't know her name.

M: Mountains are depicted in the painting. Dear listener, you see? Like we're using specific language. So a young woman who is sitting with a slight smile on her face, yeah? So we can see her upper body. It's according to Britannica that I'm reading. So the main focus is clearly the person. So the sitter. So we call the person in a portrait a sitter. So maybe a real woman was there, sitting there and Leonardo was painting his masterpiece.

R: Are they not called the subject?

M: Or a subject. Yeah. Well, in Britannica they say the sitter. The sitter's mysterious smile is a source of fascination.

R: It is. Why is she smiling? What does she know?

M: Yeah. And who, who, who is, who is she, right? Is she a real person? Well, was she a real person?

R: I think she was a real person.

M: Hm... Okay, maybe. Like it was painted by Leonardo da Vinci. It was painted by. It is a masterpiece. Right? Who was Italian himself? Well, I mean, that's probably not correct. Because I don't think Italy existed until the 19th century.

M: Yep.

R: As a country. I mean, the Italian peninsula has existed for 1000s of years, if not hundreds of 1000s of years.

M: Britannica says like Italian painter, sculptor, architect, engineer. Yeah, so we can say Italian. And it was painted when he was in Florence. Well, Britannica says it, I don't know if it was true or not. Passive voice, please. It was painted, it was created by somebody. It's an oil painting. So the colours are quite dark. Okay? So you should talk about the colours. The colours are dark. An oil painting with some landscape in the background.

R: And we can also talk about our reaction to the painting. It evokes a sense of mystery, it creates the sense of mystery in your head. Well, the painting does that, of course, then you go into the internet and find out all of these other things about it. And it's not so mysterious anymore.

M: And you said kind of I'm sure that it was difficult to do this. It must have been difficult.

R: It must have been difficult.

M: Yeah, it's about the past. And also, you are sure, I'm sure that it was difficult. So it must have been difficult for Leonardo to do this. What did you mean by saying oil is quite slippery?

R: I suppose it's slippy like it's not... When you touch it, it's not solid, your fingers, it slides around, it moves around. And I guess the same would be true if it was used on canvas. But I don't know, I'm not a painter. I'm just guessing.

M: I find myself quite drawn to it. So I'm drawn to it. I'm attracted to it.

R: Which is ironic, because it's a painting.

M: Yeah. And kind of I drew it. To draw a picture. I'm drawn to this painting. And it would be nice to see it one day, to see this painting. This real painting. Maybe if it's not real, maybe it's a fake. I don't know. Have you seen this film with Tom... What's his name?

R: Tom Hanks?

M: Tom Hanks. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

R: The Davinci Code.

M: The Davinci Code. Yeah, I actually read the book. Pretty nice.

R: Oh, did you see the movie?

M: Yeah, yeah, yeah. The movie is also nice.

R: What did you think about it?

M: Oh, it's great. Yeah. The plot is nice, and it's kind of like... What, what, what, what, what? So it's part of the art. So this mystery she represents is part of the art. And it's this metaphysical sensation. Metaphysical sensation. Yeah? So like it's mysterious, and we don't know much about the painting and the sensation that you have.

R: It's the sensation I have. I don't know... I mean, other people might look at it and think, oh, my God, that's very boring. But I think it's cool and mysterious.

M: And the painter, the artist managed to create that impression just through one image. Yeah? So this painting created so much fuss. And this is amazing. And people are still discussing it. Yeah? People are still researching it, I think. Yeah. And actually, if you go to the Louvre to see it. It's behind a thick glass. And because of the light, you can't really see it properly. You know?

R: Really?

M: Oh, yeah. It's just, it's horrible. You can't come closer to the painting. And you see it at a distance, so many people around it, so you don't see it closely. No. And because of this light, you can't really... And reflections. You can't really see the painting well. So it's a bit bother.

R: It's a pain.

M: Yeah, because usually you can come closer to the paintings, and kind of see it close up. Right? But not with Mona Lisa. No, no, no, no, no. So we finish off with what?

R: Oh, the alternative. If I hadn't seen this painting, I think I'd still have had the same reaction. And I would have. It's a cool painting.

M: Topic-specific vocabulary, dear listener. Okay? About paintings. Do your research.

R: Or just copy my answer.

M: Yeah, copy Rory's answer, please.

R: It's so weird because for some topics, it's really personal and you can't think of something that you could use in every situation. Whereas if you're just asked to describe a painting, well, you could just basically take our answer and run with it. That's a bit unfair, isn't it?

M: Yes, it is.

R: However, join us in part three, where we'll talk about things that are slightly more fair. And I have a new strategy as well. Yay! Bye!

M: Bye!

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