Interesting facts about works of art. "Night Watch" or "Day Watch"? The innocent history of "Gothic"
Even those masterpieces of painting that seem familiar to us have their secrets.
Recently, a strange thing was done in art history and unusual discovery- American student deciphered musical notation, depicted on the buttocks of a sinner from a painting by Bosch. The resulting tune has become one of the Internet sensations of recent times.
We believe that in almost every significant work art is a mystery, a “double bottom” or secret history, which I want to reveal. Today we will share a few of them.
Music on the buttocks
Hieronymus Bosch, "The Garden" earthly pleasures", 1500-1510.
Fragment of the right side of the triptych.
Disputes about meanings and hidden meanings most famous work Dutch artist have not subsided since its appearance. The right wing of the triptych called “Musical Hell” depicts sinners who are tortured in the underworld with the help of musical instruments. One of them has music notes stamped on his buttocks. Oklahoma Christian University student Amelia Hamrick, who studied the painting, translated the 16th-century notation into modern style and recorded “the 500-year-old ass song from hell.”
Nude Mona Lisa
The famous “La Gioconda” exists in two versions: the nude version is called “Monna Vanna”, it was written by little-known artist Salai, who was a student and model of the great Leonardo da Vinci. Many art historians are sure that it was he who was the model for Leonardo’s paintings “John the Baptist” and “Bacchus”. There are also versions that dressed up as women's dress Salai served as the image of the Mona Lisa herself.
Old Fisherman
In 1902, the Hungarian artist Tivadar Kostka Csontvary painted the painting “The Old Fisherman”. It would seem that there is nothing unusual in the picture, but Tivadar put into it a subtext that was never revealed during the artist’s lifetime.
Few people thought of placing a mirror in the middle of the picture. In each person there can be both God (the Old Man's right shoulder is duplicated) and the Devil (the Old Man's left shoulder is duplicated).
Doubles at the Last Supper
Leonardo da Vinci, " last supper", 1495-1498.
When Leonardo da Vinci wrote The Last Supper, he gave special meaning two figures: Christ and Judas. He spent a very long time looking for models for them. Finally, he managed to find a model for the image of Christ among the young singers. Leonardo was unable to find a model for Judas for three years. But one day he came across a drunkard on the street who was lying in a gutter. He was a young man who had been aged by heavy drinking. Leonardo invited him to a tavern, where he immediately began to paint Judas from him. When the drunkard came to his senses, he told the artist that he had already posed for him once. It was several years ago, when he sang in the church choir, Leonardo painted Christ from him.
The innocent history of "Gothic"
Grant Wood, " American Gothic", 1930.
Grant Wood's work is considered one of the strangest and most depressing in history. American painting. The picture with the gloomy father and daughter is filled with details that indicate the severity, puritanism and retrograde nature of the people depicted. In fact, the artist did not intend to depict any horrors: during a trip to Iowa, he noticed a small house in gothic style and decided to portray those people who, in his opinion, would be ideal as inhabitants. Grant's sister and his dentist are immortalized as the characters Iowans were so offended by.
"Night Watch" or "Day Watch"?
Rembrandt, " The night Watch", 1642.
One of the most famous paintings Rembrandt’s “Performance of the Rifle Company of Captain Frans Banning Cock and Lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburg” hung in different rooms for about two hundred years and was discovered by art historians only in the 19th century. Since the figures seemed to be protruding dark background, it was called “Night Watch”, and under this name it entered the treasury of world art. And only during the restoration carried out in 1947, it was discovered that in the hall the painting had managed to become covered with a layer of soot, which distorted its color. After clearing original painting It was finally revealed that the scene presented by Rembrandt actually takes place during the day. The position of the shadow from Captain Kok's left hand shows that the duration of action is no more than 14 hours.
Overturned boat
Henri Matisse, "The Boat", 1937.
At the New York Museum contemporary art in 1961, Henri Matisse's painting "The Boat" was exhibited. Only after 47 days did someone notice that the painting was hanging upside down. The canvas depicts 10 purple lines and two blue sails on a white background. The artist painted two sails for a reason; the second sail is a reflection of the first on the surface of the water. In order not to make a mistake in how the picture should hang, you need to pay attention to the details. The larger sail should be the top of the painting, and the peak of the painting's sail should be toward the top right corner.
Deception in self-portrait
Vincent van Gogh, Self-Portrait with a Pipe, 1889.
There are legends that Van Gogh allegedly cut off his own ear. Now the most reliable version is that van Gogh damaged his ear in a small brawl involving another artist, Paul Gauguin. The self-portrait is interesting because it reflects reality in a distorted form: the artist is depicted with his right ear bandaged because he used a mirror when working. In fact, it was the left ear that was affected.
Two "Breakfasts on the Grass"
Edouard Manet, Luncheon on the Grass, 1863.
Claude Monet, Luncheon on the Grass, 1865.
The artists Edouard Manet and Claude Monet are sometimes confused - after all, they were both French, lived at the same time and worked in the style of impressionism. Monet even borrowed the title of one of Manet’s most famous paintings, “Luncheon on the Grass,” and wrote his own “Luncheon on the Grass.”
Alien bears
Ivan Shishkin, “Morning in Pine forest", 1889.
The famous painting belongs not only to Shishkin. Many artists who were friends with each other often resorted to “the help of a friend,” and Ivan Ivanovich, who painted landscapes all his life, was afraid that his touching bears would not turn out the way he wanted. Therefore, Shishkin turned to his friend, the animal artist Konstantin Savitsky.
Savitsky drew perhaps the best bears in history Russian painting, and Tretyakov ordered his name to be washed off the canvas, since everything in the painting “from the concept to the execution, everything speaks about the manner of painting, about creative method, characteristic of Shishkin."
Art is part of human spiritual culture, a form artistic activity society, a figurative expression of reality. Let's look at the most interesting facts about art.
Not everyone knows that art dates back to the times primitive people, and many of those who are aware of this hardly think that Caveman mastered polychrome painting.
Spanish archaeologist Marcelino Sanz de Sautola discovered the ancient Altamira cave in 1879, which contained polychrome painting. Nobody believed Sautola, and he was accused of forging the creations of primitive people. Later in 1940, an even more ancient cave with similar paintings was discovered - Lascaux in France, it was dated back to 17-15 thousand years BC. Then all charges against Sautole were dropped, but posthumously.
Raphael " Sistine Madonna»
The true picture of the painting “The Sistine Madonna” created by Raphael can only be seen by looking closely at it. The artist's art deceives the observer. The background in the form of clouds hides the faces of angels, and on the right hand of St. Sixtus is depicted with six fingers. This may be due to the fact that his name means “six” in Latin.
And Malevich was not the first artist who painted “Black Square”. Long before him, Allie Alphonse, a man known for his eccentric antics, exhibited his creation “Battle of the Negroes in a Cave” at the Vinnyen Gallery late at night", which was a completely black canvas.
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Picasso "Dora Maar with a cat"
Famous artist Pablo Picasso had an explosive temperament. His love for women was cruel, many of his lovers committed suicide or ended up in a psychiatric hospital. One of these was Dora Maar, who suffered a difficult break with Picasso and subsequently ended up in a hospital. Picasso painted her portrait in 1941, when their relationship was broken. The portrait “Dora Maar with a cat” was sold in New York in 2006 for $95.2 million.
When painting “The Last Supper,” Leonardo da Vinci paid special attention to the images of Christ and Judas. He is very for a long time spent in search of models, as a result, for the image of Christ, Leonardo da Vinci found a person among the young choristers in the church, and only three years later he was able to find a person to paint the image of Judas. He was a drunkard whom Leonardo found in a ditch and invited to the tavern to paint a picture. This man later admitted that he had already posed for the artist once, several years ago, when he sang in a church choir. It turned out that the image of Christ and Judas, by coincidence, was painted from the same person.
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Interesting facts: sculpture and architecture
- Initially, an unknown sculptor worked unsuccessfully on the famous statue of David, which was created by Michelangelo, but he was unable to complete the job and abandoned it.
- Rarely has anyone wondered about the position of the legs on an equestrian sculpture. It turns out that if a horse stands on its hind legs, then its rider died in battle, if one hoof is raised, then the rider died from battle wounds, and if the horse stands on four legs, then the rider died a natural death.
- 225 tons of copper were used for the famous statue of Gustov Eiffel - the Statue of Liberty. And weight famous statue in Rio de Janeiro - the statue of Christ the Redeemer, made of reinforced concrete and soapstone, reaches 635 tons.
- Eiffel Tower was created as a temporary exhibit dedicated to the 100th anniversary french revolution. Eiffel did not expect the tower to stand for more than 20 years.
- An exact copy of the Indian Taj Mahal mausoleum was built in Bangladesh by millionaire film producer Asanullah Moni, which caused great discontent among Indian people.
- The famous Leaning Tower of Pisa, whose construction lasted from 1173 to 1360, began to lean even during construction due to a small foundation and erosion groundwater. Its weight is about 14453 tons. The ringing of the bell tower of the Leaning Tower of Pisa is one of the most beautiful in the world. According to the original design, the tower was supposed to be 98 meters high, but it was possible to build it only 56 meters high.
- Joseph Niepce created the world's first photograph in 1826. 35 years later, English physicist James Maxwell managed to take the first color photograph.
- Photographer Oscar Gustaf Reilander used his cat to control the lighting in the studio. At that time there was no such invention as an exposure meter, so the photographer watched the cat’s pupils; if they were too narrow, he set a short shutter speed, and if the pupils dilated, he increased the shutter speed.
- Famous French singer Edith Piaf often gave concerts on the territory of military camps during the occupation. After the concerts, she took photographs with prisoners of war, whose faces were then cut out from the photographs and pasted into false passports, which Edith handed over to the prisoners during a return visit. So many prisoners managed to escape using fake documents.
Interesting facts about contemporary art
Sue Webster and Tim Noble
British artists Sue Webster and Tim Noble created an entire exhibition of sculptures made from garbage. If you just look at the sculpture, you can only see a pile of garbage, but when the sculpture is illuminated in a certain way, different projections are created that personify various images.
Rashad Alakbarov
Azerbaijani artist Rashad Alakbarov uses shadows from various items. He arranges objects in a certain way, directs the necessary lighting onto them, thus creating a shadow, from which a picture is subsequently created.
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three dimensional painting
Another unusual method The creation of paintings was invented by the artist Ioan Ward, who makes his drawings on wooden canvases using molten glass.
Relatively recently, the concept of three-dimensional painting appeared. When creating a three-dimensional painting, each layer is filled with resin, and each layer of resin is applied separate part paintings. Thus, a natural image is obtained, which is sometimes difficult to distinguish from a photograph of a living creature.
If you are really interested in painting. Then I could suggest visiting the website http://artofrussia.ru/price.html, where ART Studio offers unique services: painting walls and ceilings, paintings and portraits to order and much more. All prices are reasonable and painting your home is priceless.
"The Persistence of Memory"
Only Salvador Dali could have come up with this painting. Spanish painter depicted a hanging clock that seemed to have lost all its hardness and was smoothly flowing from a branch, a chest of drawers and the face of a sleeping man. The idea of creating a painting came to Dali quite by accident. He noticed how Camembert melted in the sun and transferred this state of the cheese to the objects in the painting.
Many critics have tried to understand the meaning that Dali included in his work. Someone saw in it Albert Einstein's theory of relativity, believing that this is how the artist transferred the law of physics about space and time into painting. The author himself said that the theory of Heraclitus, which argued about the connection between time and the flow of thoughts, is better suited for his masterpiece.
"The Last Supper"
From the brush of Leonardo da Vinci many magnificent creations of the Renaissance appeared. Yet " Last Vespers" stands out among them. This is not just a picture of one of Italian artists. She keeps within herself deep meaning and the history of the formation of the Christian religion.
All attention in the picture is focused on two heroes: Christ and Judas. A young man from church choir. Only the image of the vile Judas still did not come to the artist. Yet three years later, Leonardo da Vinci found the ideal sitter. It was some drunkard who was lying in the gutter. Immersed in cheap booze and constant visits to the tavern, in a sober state he remembered that once upon a time he had posed for an artist. It turns out that on the canvas Jesus and Judas had the face of the same person. Only, if at first it was a young and clean choirboy from the church, then the second was a dirty and lost drunkard.
"Dream"
Pablo Picasso's "The Dream" once sold for an incredible $139 million. In 2006, Steve Wynn, an art collector, decided to part with one of the paintings. During the presentation, the man gesticulated so vigorously that he touched the work with his elbow. The painting was seriously damaged. What happened had such an effect on the collector strong impression that he found a hidden message from above in this and decided to keep the painting for himself.
"Boat"
A painting by Henri Matisse made a splash at an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. And even greater interest and even a scandal around the work could be caused by the negligence of museum workers. They put the painting upside down. Only after almost two months, one of the visitors, well versed in painting, was able to notice a gross mistake. Really, none of the 115 thousand people who visited the exhibition and left flattering comments saw this. However, the news quickly spread and made the front pages of the city's newspapers.
"Feast of the Gods on Olympus"
The most mysterious creation of the Dutch painter Peter Rubens was found in the Czech Republic in the 1960s. Exact date The creation of the painting was unknown until scientists discovered a certain arrangement of planets on the canvas. The god Jupiter was Duke Gonzaga of Mantua. The Sun, Cupid, Venus and Poseidon were the positions of Jupiter, Venus and the Sun. Venus is approaching the constellation Pisces. This arrangement of the planets was typical during the winter solstice of 1602.
"Sistine Madonna"
Take a closer look at Raphael's work. Created for the altar of a church, it contained many mysteries that scientists still constantly question. Sixtus II has six fingers on his hand, which is very symbolic, because the pope’s name translates as “sixth.” This is just what it seems. If you look closely, this is not the sixth finger, but just an extension of the palm. The shadows just created that impression. It turns out that another mystery has been solved.
"Morning in a pine forest"
Many people paid attention to the wrapper that has been known since childhood and is so delicious. chocolates. Little bear cubs are playing in the forest. Only these cute animals were not painted by Ivan Shishkin. The Russian artist was a magnificent landscape painter, capable of conveying every twig and blade of grass, but he could not draw people and animals. Then he turned to the artist Konstantin Savitsky for help, who helped Shishkin complete the drawing of the bear cubs. The painting itself originally belonged to two authors. Still, few people know about this. After all, after purchasing the painting, Pavel Tretyakov erased Savitsky’s surname, leaving only Shishkin.
About famous artists can be found great amount information - how they lived, how they created their immortal works. Many people usually do not think about the characteristics of the artist’s character and lifestyle. But some facts from the biography or the history of the creation of this or that picture are sometimes very entertaining and even provocative.
Pablo Picasso
Good artists copy, great artists steal.
When Pablo Picasso was born, the midwife considered him stillborn. The child was saved by his uncle, who was smoking cigars and, seeing the baby lying on the table, blew smoke in his face, after which Pablo began to roar. Thus, we can say that smoking saved Picasso's life.
Apparently Pablo was born an artist - his first word was PIZ, short for LAPIZ (“pencil” in Spanish).
IN early years During his life in Paris, Picasso was so poor that he was sometimes forced to burn with his paintings instead of firewood.
Picasso wore long clothes and also had long hair, which was unheard of at that time
Picasso's full name consists of 23 words: Pablo Diego Jose Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno Maria de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santisima Trinidad Martir Patricio Clito Ruiz and-Picasso.
Vincent van Gogh
Don't be afraid to make mistakes. Many people believe that they will become good if they do nothing bad.
Abundance yellow color And yellow spots The different shades in his paintings are believed to be caused by the heavy use of drugs for epilepsy, which developed from excessive consumption of absinthe. " Starlight Night", "Sunflowers".
During his hectic life, Van Gogh visited more than one psychiatric hospital with diagnoses ranging from schizophrenia to manic-depressive psychosis. His most famous painting"Starry Night" was written in 1889 in a hospital in the town of San Remy.
Committed suicide. He shot himself in the stomach while hiding in a farm yard behind a pile of manure. He was 37 years old.
Throughout his life, Van Gogh suffered from low self-esteem. He sold only one of his works during his lifetime - Red Vineyard at Arles. And fame came to him only after his death. If only Van Gogh knew how popular his work would become.
Van Gogh did not cut off his entire ear, but only a piece of his earlobe, which hardly hurt. However, there is still a widespread legend that the artist amputated his entire ear. This legend was even reflected in the behavior of a patient who operates on himself or insists on a certain operation - it was called Van Gogh syndrome.
Leonardo da Vinci
He who lives in fear dies from fear.
Leonardo was the first to explain why the sky is blue. In the book “On Painting” he wrote: “The blueness of the sky occurs due to the thickness of illuminated air particles, which is located between the Earth and the blackness above.”
Leonardo was ambidextrous - he was equally good with his right and left hands. They even say that he could write at the same time different texts different hands. However, he wrote most of his works with his left hand from right to left.
He played the lyre masterfully. When Leonardo's case was heard in the Milan court, he appeared there precisely as a musician, and not as an artist or inventor.
Leonardo was the first painter to dismember corpses in order to understand the location and structure of muscles.
Leonardo da Vinci was a strict vegetarian and never drank cow's milk, as he considered it theft.
Salvador Dali
If I didn't have enemies, I wouldn't be what I am. But, thank God, there were enough enemies.
Arriving in New York in 1934, he carried a 2-meter-long loaf of bread in his hands as an accessory, and while visiting an exhibition of surrealist creativity in London, he dressed in a diver’s suit.
Canvas “Persistence of Memory” (“ Soft watch") Dali wrote under the impression of Einstein's theory of relativity. The idea took shape in Salvador's head while he was looking at a piece of Camembert cheese one hot August day.
Salvador Dali often went to bed with a key in his hand. Sitting on a chair, he fell asleep with a heavy key clutched between his fingers. Gradually the grip weakened, the key fell and hit a plate lying on the floor. Thoughts that arose during naps could be new ideas or solutions to complex problems.
During his lifetime, the great artist bequeathed to be buried in such a way that people could walk on the grave, so his body was walled up in a wall at the Dali Museum in Figueres. Flash photography is not permitted in this room.
Salvador Dali's nickname was “Avida Dollars,” which translated means “passionate for dollars.”
The Chupa Chups logo was drawn by Salvador Dali. In a slightly modified form, it has survived to this day.
Almost every one of Dali's works contains either a portrait or a silhouette of him.
Henri Matisse
Flowers bloom everywhere for everyone who wants to see them.
In 1961, Henri Matisse's painting "The Boat" (Le Bateau), exhibited at New York's Museum of Modern Art, hung upside down for forty-seven days. The painting was hung in the gallery on October 17, and only on December 3 did anyone notice the mistake.
Henri Matisse suffered from depression and insomnia, sometimes crying in his sleep and waking up screaming. One day, without any reason, he suddenly had a fear of going blind. And he even learned to play the violin to earn a living street musician when he loses his sight.
For many years Matisse lived in poverty. He was about forty when he was finally able to support his family on his own.
Henri Matisse never painted rocks, clear crystal houses, cultivated fields.
During the last 10 years of his life, he was diagnosed with duodenal cancer and had to remain in a wheelchair.
Edvard Munch
In my art I have tried to explain life and its meaning to myself, I have also tried to help others explain their lives.
Munch was only five years old when his mother died of tuberculosis, and then he lost older sister. Since then, the theme of death has arisen more than once in his work and life path From the very first steps, the artist declared itself as a life drama.
His painting “The Scream” is the most expensive piece art sold at open auction.
He was obsessed with work and said this himself: “Writing for me is a disease and intoxication. An illness that I don’t want to get rid of, and an intoxication that I want to remain in.”
Paul Gauguin
Art is an abstraction, extract it from nature, fantasize based on it, and think more about the process of creation rather than the result.
The artist was born in Paris, but spent his childhood in Peru. Hence his love for exotic and tropical countries.
Gauguin easily changed techniques and materials. He was also interested in wood carving. Often experiencing financial difficulties, he was unable to buy paints. Then he took up the knife and the wood. He decorated the doors of his house in the Marquesas Islands with carved panels.
Paul Gauguin worked as a laborer on the Panama Canal.
The artist painted still lifes mainly without resorting to a model.
In 1889, having thoroughly studied the Bible, he painted four canvases in which he depicted himself in the image of Christ.
Frequent and promiscuous relationships with girls led to Gauguin falling ill with syphilis.
Renoir Pierre Auguste
At the age of forty I discovered that the king of all colors is black.
Around 1880, Renoir first broke his right hand. Instead of being upset and grieving about this, he takes the brush with his left, and after a while no one doubts that he will be able to paint masterpieces with both hands.
He managed to paint about 6,000 paintings over 60 years.
Renoir was so in love with painting that he did not stop working even in old age, when he was ill. in different forms arthritis, and painted with a brush tied to his sleeve. One day it close friend Matisse asked: “Auguste, why don’t you give up painting, you’re suffering so much?” Renoir limited himself to answering only: “La douleur passe, la beauté reste” (The pain passes, but beauty remains).
Painting contemporary artists for sale
Art is a unique form of self-expression. Thanks to art, every person can reproduce his vision of the world into reality, as well as reflect in images what is integral part his internal state souls. But in order to create a masterpiece, the artist chooses only best tools, and purchase them at low prices and without leaving home you can go to the Rosa creativity hypermarket (http://rosa.ua/catalog/123606_kisti_iz_volosa_sintetiki/). Let's look at the most interesting facts about this type of self-realization as art. If we go back a little into the historical past, it will become obvious that the caveman already possessed certain knowledge in this area, or rather polychrome painting.
Marcelino Sanz de Suatola, an archaeologist from Spain, was the first to show the world the first manifestations of art. In 1879, he discovered Altamira, a fairly ancient cave in which polychrome paintings were found, but for some reason they not only did not believe him, but also accused him of having forged these creations. And only when in France the archaeologist Lascaux made a similar discovery in 1940, finding an even more ancient cave with the same creations, which was correlated to 17-15 thousand BC, all charges against Marcelino were dropped, but alas - posthumously.
Hardly anyone knows that true image The painting “The Sistine Madonna”, the author of which is the well-known Raphael, can only be noticed if you look deeply enough into the picture. The surface image of this painting is quite deceptive, appearance the faces of angels are hidden, they can be seen on background, at first it just seems like there are clouds there. Worth paying close attention on the right hand of St. Sixta and a keen eye will immediately notice the atypical number of fingers - six, instead of the usual five. This should probably be correlated with his name, which means “six” in Latin.
Did you know that Malevich is far from the first artist to paint “Black Square”? There was once a certain Allie Alphonse, who exhibited his creation “The Battle of Negroes in a Cave in the Dead of Night” at the Vivien Gallery. Of course this picture was a solid black canvas.
The well-known Picasso had a very tough and explosive character, this had a very detrimental effect on his relationships with women. Many people took their own lives or brought themselves to this point nervous breakdown, after which they became clients psychiatric clinics. Dora Maar, whose portrait was painted by the artist in 1941, like most, suffered the separation very painfully, this forced her to seek help from a psychiatrist. The painting “Dora Maar with a Cat” was sold in New York for $95.2 million in 2006.
When Leo da Vinci painted the painting “The Last Supper,” he focused on the ideal embodiment of the images of Judas and Christ. Leo spent a huge amount of time before finding suitable candidates for the role of sitters. A very young singer from the temple became “Christ,” but it took the artist an additional 3 years to find Judas. This honorable role went to an ordinary drunk from the ditch, where Da Vinci found him and invited him to the tavern. Subsequently, it turned out that such a role was not the first time for the drunkard; Leo was stunned when he learned that this man was the same one from whom he had once painted the image of Christ. 
Grant Wood, to write “American Gothic,” invited a 62-year-old dentist to play the role of models and took his sister, dressing her in her mother's apron.
Salvador Dali actually always kept silent about the essence of the paintings he painted, but one day he casually mentioned that the idea (The Persistence of Memory) was taken from pieces of Camembert cheese, which have the specificity of melting when exposed to sunlight. 
As reliable sources say: “Pushkin on the Seashore” by Aivazovsky, the poet’s image was embodied on canvas by Repin himself, while “Autumn Day” and “Lady in Black” were written by Nikolai Chekhov. The same Shishkin with amazing ease transferred blade after blade of grass onto the canvas, but when he embodied “Morning in pine forest“The image of the bears was extremely bad. This case was entrusted to Savitsky. 
Back in 1961, the owner of the Chupa Chups company, Enrique Bernat, asked Salvador Dali to come up with an image that could be embodied on sweet wrappers; this request was certainly granted. To date, this image is still on the wrappers of children's sweets from this company and is recognizable, despite minor changes. 