Bacon, Francis (1909-1992) Study for Crouching Nude 1952 Oil and sand on canvas, 198.1 × 137.2 cm Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit Few painters have defined the post–World War II era with its existential loathing better than Francis Bacon, the brilliant son…
Pinturicchio (c.1454-1513) Crocifissione tra i santi Cristoforo e Girolamo (Christ on the Cross between Sts. Christopher and Jerome) Ante 1473 or c.1475–1478 Oil on panel, 59 x 40 cm Galleria Borghese, Roma This panel has been in the Borghese Collection only since…
Cassatt, Mary (1844-1926) Woman with a Pearl Necklace in a Loge 1879 Oil on canvas, 81.3 × 59.7 cm Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia Cassatt created a series of theater scenes in the late 1870s, displaying an interest in city nightlife…
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…