when Monet painted this work?
Find out about “forensic astronomy” and how it relates to art in this article about some very interesting new research at Texas State University.
Professor M. Och
ARTH 114 and ARTH 115: Introduction to Western Art, University of Mary Washington
really interesting, i would not have thought to try to find this out about the time of the painting. it would be amazing to be able to see the exact place, at the exact time and compare the two. i wonder what other paintings can be judged in this way to see the exact time and place it was painted.
Dang! I’m no artist and I’m certainly no scientist, but it’s truly amazing how they used astronomy to narrow the painting down to so specific a time. It just goes to show that art is a never-ending phenomena. Even now it’s relevant and can be incorporated into modern society.
I tend to watch too many movies but what is something interesting about this piece is that it reminds me of a saying I have heard in some of the more nautical oriented ones. “Red sky at night sailors delight, red sky in the morning sailors take warning.” Which means a storm, rough seas, or both will come as a result of the red sky in the morning and the red sky at night meant that the journey would likely be more peaceful. While the time is too vague to decipher the evening from the morning maybe the red/pink sky is intended to instill fear while at the same time bring about comfort, bringing both good and bad together to create something beautiful.
I think it is absolutely incredible that scientist were able to find the exact time Monet found his inspiration for such a magnificent piece. This is a reminder that art is ever present and an area that can undergo constant discussion in all fields of study. This highlights the importance of art and interpretation in society.
At 4:53pm on February 5, 1883, Monet painted another masterpiece. Delving through history we continue to find more surprises to information that had once been locked. To art historians learning more about artists pasts and their paintings is an amazing feat. I hope that we can continue to unravel history to learn more about art than we ever have discovered before; and with the innovation of technology I feel that we are in for some new surprises.
I think that this is an amazing way to judge a painting. Art is truly an amazing field of study and always presents us with new mysteries to uncover. This is also a great example that proves the importance of technology and how it can aid us in discovering new findings in art, as well as many other areas.
When art and science meet up amazing things happen. This is such a cool discovery to make about Monet’s art. It’s also very clever that they went through his letters to find out where and when he would’ve been in Étreat. His paintings are always beautiful, but what are the chances that in this particular one he would’ve painted the sunset as well. I hope one day someone decides to date the other landscape paintings from the 17th and 18th centuries as well, because this is such a cool idea.
It is rather remarkable to think that using physics and astronomy we are able to find greater context into a artistic masterpiece. Aside from using science to view minute details of a brushstroke, we are provided a very precise perspective of what the artist was doing, when they were doing it and where it was taking place.
I think it is amazing how science has improved so much that researchers are able to determine the exact year, day and that the painting was made. By using forensic astronomy and determining when the sun sets to help determine when the painting was painted is pretty cool and i wonder if researchers can do that with other paintings.
I find it quite interesting they are scientifically able to date a piece of art. As an artist, this is truly amazing me in terms of how much our technological advances has evolved. I cannot imagine what we will be able to do with art in ten years from now.
On one hand, this is really impressive deductive work. On the other hand, however, I can’t help but think that there are better things that these people could have been doing with their time. There’s so much art restoration to be done…did it really matter what time Monet painted this work of art? I mean, it’s their choice what to do with their time, I suppose…but still.
I find it absolutely amazing how they dated this piece of art. I’m a physics major, but I never knew that physics could be applied to dating a picture. It makes me love my major even more. Its awesome how they used the sunset to figure out the time and day it was painted. Its cool how it takes a small detail and some physics to pinpoint the creation of an artwork.
It is incredible that scientist have been able to pinpoint the exact minute that Monet painted “The Cliff, Etretat, Sunset”! They have taken into account the weather, tides, position of the sun, and the height of the cliff and eisel Monet was using. With a very small error, they have calculated the exact minute plus or minus one. Scientist also considered the fact that Monet studied the tides so he probably took this into account when painting. It is a remarkable piece, and it shows how art history combines multiple disciplines such as science and math with art.
It’s interesting to think about all of the things we can learn or discover using science these days. Pinpointing the exact time Monet painted ‘The Cliff, Etretat, Sunset’ is something I would not think possible. It’s interesting that the researchers had to use so many different resources to pinpoint the exact time; resources such as the actual measurements of the rock formations and letters written by Monet at the time. A lot goes into scientific research and it takes a lot of effort, but the conclusions in the end make everything worth it. Discovering the exact time of the scene depicted by Monet goes to show that even after more than 100 years, there is still more to learn about a piece of art; modern day science is just another way to analyze it.
It’s amazing how we can use science and space to find out exactly when something took place in the past just from a painting. After taking two years of physics, it amazes me that science has developed a way to pinpoint an exact time in which a painting was made. There were so many different sources that they used but in all it tells us so much about the past and maybe it will help us develop more ways in the future to learn about our past thus leading us to more discoveries.