Description 1

This particular work of art, created in 1614, is very interesting. The rage of Christ as he is forcing these people away, these sinners, perhaps. You can almost see on the faces of some of them the sin and the shame of Christ forcing them out here. Trading within a Temple is obviously a sin in the law of God and Christ has come here to drive out the sinners from his temple - people who are trading in a house of God. And then ... so they are at this... the time of the painting. They are... they are feeling his force, his wrath as they are being removed from his house, if you like.

There are some very rich and strong colours, almost to suggest that these people have money. There are bright yellows, and bright oranges and greens. May be used to suggest a wealth of these particular people.

Christ himself has been painted in ... very graceful way for a man who is contra­dictory. He is graceful and yet filled with rage at the same time. A very interesting de­piction of Jesus Christ here.

My opinion is that the painting has been created to be thought-provoking, to move the viewer at a particular time into questioning their selves as particular sinners whether they are the sinners and whether Christ is driving them from the temple, perhaps. And this is, perhaps, the meaning behind the painting.

Description 2

I particularly like this painting. It is a very, very slow pace painting, if you like!
Not still, but slow moving. Very cheerful, almost. There's the scene of people walking
around the street. High class people, obviously, in fine dresses, and fine clothes,
swooning with their umbrellas and kind of, you know, smiling, but very interesting for
a rainy day that everyone should have these umbrellas but still be very happy and
very cheerful about their daily life.

The painting has an interesting array of colours. Very autumn colours – browns and dark greens, oranges - a very kind of fitting for the type of day with the umbrellas and the rain, OK? The gentle brush strokes that Renoir has used here are very impressionistic, really very stylized of the time and very contemporary for the time with his fellow artists and fellow colleagues and artists of the world at that time. But it may be difficult to see in a copy, the original used no black. And there was only-darker shades of particular colours. And this really creates an overall brighter center of the picture, it really brightens up. For a viewer there is no real blackness here, there's... there is only light, perhaps, and dark colours.

There is often a great difference between an original painting and a copy. It's much better to view a painting in its original form at a gallery. Colours are often faded, parts of the picture can often not be viewed, but it's always better to go and see an original.

Description 3

There are two small children here sat behind, perhaps, an old pirate, who's pointing out to sea. Two very innocent, small, but very finely dressed, very well presented children. Just opposed to that scruffy and, perhaps, a ragged pirate or fisherman. The boys are sat alongside a very ragged wall, running alongside the coast, which is set against a very cloudy and very gloomy sky with seagulls flying across. The sailor is sat here on this rotted wood, perhaps, with a rusty anchor to the right of him. The artist brings the fisherman's figure nearer to the viewer, it looks strong and radiates strength. He is lit in a very interesting way; almost as if by treasure, by gold. It's an interesting lighting effect used here. At the same time brighter and richer colours add to the furryspirit of the fisherman's narration. The artist with the precision of a photographer de- picted such small objects as stones, seashells, a model ship, an anchor. At the bottom left-hand of the picture here is may be a toy boat; it looks as if, perhaps, used by one of the children while they are listening to the stories of this sailor. Through the inter­est on one of the boys' faces it is clear that the painter is may be trying to get across; the influence that this ragged sailor had on the small boy, considering what he went on to be in later life.

Description 4

My first impressions of the painting date back to my schooldays. It used to hang in our classroom and from my seat I could always have a glimpse of it. Later on I saw it in the gallery, but it still gripped my imagination. The canvas represents a scene from the childhood of Sir Walter Raleigh, the famous traveller, writer and explorer who brought to England many of the products we are so accustomed to nowadays: tobacco plant, potatoes. Anyway, what you see in the picture, doesn't give you any indication of the greatness of the figures portrayed. The painter showed the young Raleigh in the company of his friend at the seashore listenining intensely to the sto­ries of a fisherman. Both boys are neatly dressed in the style of the age. The compo­sition of the picture can be divided diagonally, making the lower right part bigger in proportion. The artist brings the fisherman's figure nearer to the viewer, it looks strong and radiates strength. At the same time brighter and richer colours add to the fury spirit of the fisherman's narration. The main focus of the upper part of the pic­ture is on the figure of the young Raleigh, his eyes, his grip of the hands, which tes­tify to the boy's indulgence into the focus of the fisherman's story. Some minor de­tails of the picture are interesting to be observed. The artist with the presicion of a photographer depicted such small objects as stones, seashells, a model ship, an an­chor. The sea in the background looks serene, as if giving an indication that the young explorer still has time for the conquering of its vastness. The painting has al­ways appealed to me by its mood. It creates a feeling of greatness of expectations, and its inspirational character reminded me of Britain's hard-worn role as the mis­tress of the world's oceans.

Desription 5

"Shrovetide" by Kustodiyev

This painting is a landscape. I like this work because a Russian national holiday is portrayed. The people are happy and merry. The old Moscow, the Kremlin, and a lot of different Orthodox cathedrals with are painted.

There is a street where people are sledging. The artist has created a good holiday mood for people to see and be proud of old Moscow.

The colour of the landscape is bright and sunny.

In the foreground one can see a horse harnessed in a sledge, trees pow­dered with snow and a lot of tracks of other sledges on the snow. In the bac­kground there are birds, beautiful churches, a lot of trees and the sky that is playing with different kinds of fairy-tale colours.

This painting arouses some merry holiday feelings.

Y. Erusolimsky, a 10 year old student.