A Picture

One day Mr. Bent received a picture from his friend who was a painter and had painted the picture as a birthday present for Mr. Bent. Mr.Bent was very pleased with it as the painter told him that it was the most wonderful picture he had ever painted. However, when Mr. Bent wanted to hang it up he could not decide which was the top and which was the bottom.

So Mr. Bent thought of a plan. After he had hung picture in the dining- room he wrote a letter to the painter in which he said he looked forward to seeing him in his house for dinner. The painter promised to come and see him. The next day the painter came to join Mr. Bent for dinner. There was a large choice of dishes and wines, and the painter enjoyed the dinner very much. They started with gin and tonic when the painter was eating soup, he looked at the picture with surprise. Before he began drinking coffee, he walked up to the picture. The painter looked at the picture for some time and understood that the picture was hanging upside down.

“Why, my, friend,” he said, “my picture is upside down.”

“Is it?” said Mr. Bent. “But why did it take you so long to find it out? You have painted it.”

Exercise 6. Look through the text again and find sentences with the predicates in Present Perfect, Past Perfect, Past Continuous. Explain their usage.

Exercise 7. Answer the following questions:

1. Who painted a picture to Mr. Brent?

2. What was Mr. Brent’s friend?

3. What did Mr. Brent’s friend think about his picture?

4. What was the problem with the picture?

5. What was Mr. Brent’s plan?

6. What did they start their dinner with?

7. Did it take the painter long to realize that his picture had been hung upside done?

8. Can you answer the question Mr. Brent asked his friend: “Why did it take you so long to find it out?”

Exercise 8. Look through the names of trends of art and say to which of them the picture belonged. Prove your opinion.

The trends of art: surrealism, impressionism, realism, fauvism, pop- art, avangardism, abstractionism, and cubism.

Exercise 9. Listen to the text and answer some questions given after the text.

Pay attention to these words:

Towns: Caprese, Florence, Rome.

Names: Michelangelo Buonarroti, Jesus, Virgin Mary, David, Pope Julius II, Sistine Chapel, the Pieta.

Words: to create - творити

cross- хрест

to produce- створювати

marble- мармур

ceiling- стеля

to consider- вважати

to complete- закінчувати

scaffold- підмостки

a solid piece- один кусок

Text

Michelangelo Buonarroti was one of the most famous artists in history. He was a painter, a sculptor, an architect, and a poet. He created some of the world’s most beautiful and most famous paintings and statues.

Michelangelo was born in 1475, in the Italian town of Caprese, near Florence. His family didn’t want him to become an artist. But at the age of twelve, he began to study art with a well - known artist. He learned to draw by coping paintings by other artist. He soon became interested in sculpture, too. At age 21, he went to Rome, and began to create the works of art that made him famous.

Michelangelo’s first great work was the Pieta. This statue was finished around 1500. It shows Jesus in the arms of the Virgin Mary after his death on the cross.

Michelangelo then went to Florence, where he produced his famous statue of David. It is 18 feet high and carved from a solid piece of marble. The statue is so lifelike that it seems ready to spring into action.

In 1505 Michelangelo returned to Rome to work for Pope Julius II.

In 1508, he began painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. He spent more than two years lying on his back on a scaffold, painting the figures and Biblical scenes on half of the ceiling. After a long rest, he completed the second half in about a year. People consider the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel to be one of the world’s greatest and most amazing works of art.

Just as young Michelangelo studied the works of other artists , art students today study the works of Michelangelo.

Questions:

1. In what country did Michelangelo live?

2. How did he learn to draw?

3. What does the Pieta show?

4. Is David a picture or a statue?

5. What did Michelangelo paint on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel?

Exercise 10. Read the text put some questions to it and ask your friends to answer them:

Text