reading passage
Rembrandt is the most famous of the seventeenth-century Dutch painters. However, there are doubts whether some paintings attributed to Rembrandt were actually painted by him. One such painting is known as attributed to Rembrandt because of its style, and indeed the representation of the woman’s face is very much like that of portraits known to be by Rembrandt. But there are problems with the painting that suggest it could not be a work by Rembrandt. First, there is something inconsistent about the way the woman inthe portrait is dressed. She is wearing a white linen cap of a kind that only servants would wear-yet the coat she is wearing has a luxurious fur collar that no servant could afford. Rembrandt, who was known for his attention to the details of his subjects’ clothing, would not have been guilty of such an inconsistency.
Second, Rembrandt was a master of painting light and shadow, but in this painting these elements do not fit together. The face appears to be illuminated by light reflected onto it from below. But below the face is the dark fur collar, which would absorb light rather than reflect it. So the face should appear partially in shadow-which is not how it appears. Rembrandt would never have made such an error.
Finally, examination of the back of the painting reveals that it was painted on a panel made of several pieces of wood glued together. Although Rembrandt often painted on wood panels, no painting known to be by Rembrandt uses a panel glued together in this way from several pieces of wood. For these reasons the painting was removed from the official catalog of Rembrandt’s paintings in the 1930s
listening passage
Everything you just read about Portrait of an Elderly Woman in a White Bonnet is
true, and yet, after a thorough reexamination of the painting, a panel of experts has
recently concluded that it’s indeed a work by Rembrandt. And here’s why.
First, the fur collar. X-rays and analysis of the pigments in the paint have shown
that the fur collar wasn’t part of the original painting. The fur collar was painted over
the top of the original painting about a hundred years after the painting was made.
Why? Someone probably wanted to increase the value of the painting by making it
look like a formal portrait of an aristocratic lady.
Second, the supposed error with light and shadow. Once the paint of the added
fur collar was removed, the original painting could be seen. In the original painting
the woman is wearing a simple collar of light-colored cloth. The light-colored cloth of
this collar reflects light that illuminates part of the woman’s face. That’s why the face
is not in partial shadow. So in the original painting, light and shadow are very realistic and just what we would expect from Rembrandt.
Finally, the wood panel. It turns out that when the fur collar was added, the wood
panel was also enlarged with extra wood pieces glued to the sides and the top to
make the painting more grand—and more valuable. So the original painting is actually painted on a single piece of wood—as would be expected from a Rembrandt painting. And in fact, researchers have found that the piece of wood in the original form of Portrait of an Elderly Woman in a White Bonnet is from the very same tree as the wood panel used for another painting by Rembrandt, his Self-Portrait with a Hat.
Summarize the points made in the lecture, being sure to explain how they answer the specific problems presented in the reading passage
In this set of materials, the lecture discusses some evidences that the painting of portray of elderly woman face was not painted by Rembrandt and provides three reason of support. However, the professor in the listening sections disagree with these reasons by proofing with a recent examination.
First, the reading claims that the painted woman dressed clothes that not accurate to their social class for example white linen cap and luxurious collar that high social class can afford. The painter was accurate in his paintings. The professor refutes this point by saying Rembrandt supports the attention on details and explain that these element was over painted after 100 years to increase the value of it.
Second, the article posts it that Rembrandt also was well-know of light and shadow on a painting and they do not fit together is refuting by the professor in the listening passage that the original painting are realistic like others works of him.
Third, the reading says that the woman portray was paint in patches glue together. The professor opposes this point by explaining that new investigations suggest those pieces was added to the original portray to increase the value and make larger, also all the entire panel and the added pieces are from the same tree. Therefore recent examination proof the accuracy of the Rembrandt’s painting.
TOEFL listening lectures: How would the professor most probably categorize Shinto?