Puvis de Chavannes, Pierre (1824-1898) La Poésie dramatique (Dramatic Poetry, Aeschylus) c.1896 Oil on canvas, 124.1 x 63.2 cm Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia This painting is a scaled-down version of an enormous canvas—over 14 × 7 feet—that Puvis de Chavannes painted as…
Poussin, Nicolas (1594-1665) La Destruction du temple de Jérusalem (The destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem) 1635 Oil on canvas, 147 × 198 cm Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna The material is taken from Flavius Josephus’ Jewish War. Titus, the son of the…
Jordaens, Jacob (1593-1678) The Meeting of Odysseus and Nausicaa c.1630–1640 Oil on canvas, 117.5 x 194 cm Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam Jordaens was one of the most renowned and versatile Antwerp painters. Here he illustrates an episode from Homer’s Odyssey. Odysseus, naked and…
Carracci, Annibale (1560-1609) Pietà c.1603 Oil on copper, 41.3 x 60.7 cm Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna Overwhelmed by her helplessness and pain, Mary holds her dead son in her lap. Pale colours and the pathos of marbles by Michelangelo and from antiquity…
Bacon, Francis (1909-1992) Oedipe et le Sphinx d’après Ingres (Oedipus and the Sphinx after Ingres) 1984 Lithograph printed in colours on Arches paper, 117 × 86 cm Private collection Compare: Ingres, Jean Auguste Dominique (1780-1867) Oedipe explique l’énigme du sphinx 1808 Musée…
Rodin, Auguste (1840-1917) Roméo et Juliette (Romeo and Juliet) 1905 Marble, 71 cm Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg See also: • Shakespeare, William (1564-1616): Romeo and Juliet (1595)
Ribera, Jusepe de (1591-1652) San Sebastiano curato da Sant’Irene (St Sebastian Cured by St Irene) 1628 Oil on canvas, 156.5 x 188 cm Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg Jusepe de Ribera lived the greater part of his life in Naples, which at…
Rodin, Auguste (1840-1917) Le Christ et la Madeleine (Christ and Magdalene) c.1905 Marble, 102 x 77 x 70 cm Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid ©Carmen Thyssen Collection Christ and the Magdalen is the only known work by Rodin on a religious subject. Various…
Braque, Georges (1882-1963) Grand Nu (Large Nude) 1907–1908 Oil on canvas, 140 × 100 cm Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris [Winter 1907 – June 1908] By virtue of its subject, its dimensions and its audacity, this work constitutes an essential milestone in…
De Morgan, Evelyn (1855-1919) Queen Eleanor and the Fair Rosamund Probably 1901–1902 Oil on canvas, 75.6 x 66.7 cm De Morgan Collection Rosamund was the mistress of Henry II, who built a house for her at Woodstock in Oxfordshire. Legends say…