Giotto (c.1267-1337) & Workshop Pentecoste (Pentecost) c.1310–1318 Egg tempera on poplar, 45.5 × 44 cm National Gallery, London The simplicity of the storytelling, the inclusion of lively details – like the old man who turns his head to better hear the…
El Greco (1541-1614) Cristo expulsando a los mercaderes del templo (Christ driving the Traders from the Temple) c.1600 Oil on canvas, 106.3 × 129.7 cm National Gallery, London El Greco has used theatrical gestures and intense colours to express the chaos and…
Duccio di Buoninsegna (c.1255-c.1319) Trasfigurazione (The Transfiguration) c.1307–1311 Egg tempera on wood, 48.5 × 51.4 cm National Gallery, London This painting was part of the predella (the bottom tier) of the Maestà altarpiece made for the Cathedral of Siena. Christ stands at the…
Duccio di Buoninsegna (c.1255-c.1319) Guarigione del cieco nato (The Healing of the Man born Blind) c.1307–1311 Egg tempera on wood, 45.1 × 46.7 cm National Gallery, London This painting comes from the back of the predella of the large, double-sided altarpiece made…
Botticini, Francesco (1446-1498) La crocifissione (The Crucifixion) c.1471 Tempera on wood, 28.5 × 35 cm National Gallery, London Christ is shown nailed to the Cross at his crucifixion, flanked by the two thieves who were crucified alongside him. His mother, the Virgin…
Botticini, Francesco (1446-1498) L’Assunzione della Vergine (The Assumption of the Virgin) c.1475–1476 Tempera on wood, 228.6 × 377.2 cm National Gallery, London Heaven and earth are united in this vast, dramatic scene. A dome-shaped vault has opened up in the sky to…
Bernini, Gian Lorenzo (1598-1680) Santi Andrea e Tommaso (Saints Andrew and Thomas) before 1627 Oil on canvas, 61.5 × 78.1 cm National Gallery, London Gian Lorenzo Bernini was one of the most successful sculptors and architects of seventeenth-century Rome. This image…
Vasari, Giorgio (1511-1574) San Luca (Saint Luke) 1570–1571 Oil on panel, 177.8 × 99.1 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington The Saint Luke and Saint Mark panels were part of a commission from Pope Pius V in 1569 to decorate the newly…
Vasari, Giorgio (1511-1574) San Marco (Saint Mark) 1570–1571 Oil on panel, 177.8 × 99.1 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington The Saint Luke and Saint Mark panels were part of a commission from Pope Pius V in 1569 to decorate the newly built Torre Pio (Pius Tower) in…
Duccio di Buoninsegna (c.1255-c.1319) La vocazione degli apostoli Pietro e Andrea (The Calling of the Apostles Peter and Andrew) 1308–1311 Tempera on panel, 42.7 × 45.5 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington This painting was part of the predella (the bottom tier)…