Monet Art To Help Science

Claude Monet painted his famous pictures of a foggy London skyline by direct observation rather than from memory, a scientific analysis of his art has found. Monet dated the paintings to the time they were finished or sold, at which point he had already returned from London to his home at Giverny in Normandy, northern France. This has led to speculation that he may have painted the art from his impressions of London rather than from direct observation. Scientists have analysed the position of the sun in Monet's works of art and used calculations of solar geometry to assess the time and place where the paintings were made. For the first time they have been able to determine to within a few feet the position where Monet was standing when he depicted a watery sun filtering through a foggy haze hanging over the Houses of Parliament. Although it is known that Monet painted the Palace of Westminster from a room and terrace within St Thomas' Hospital, his precise location within the hospital was not known until now. The scientists now hope to use the colours in the paintings to analyse the type of pollution that caused the fogs over London. For the full story - click the title Irish Art