Rubens, Peter Paul (1577-1640) Venus and Adonis probably mid-1630s Oil on canvas, 197.5 x 242.9 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Rubens took the subject of this painting from the Roman poet Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Accidently pricked by one of Cupid’s…
Bellini, Giovanni (c.1430-1516) & Workshop Madonna col Bambino tra due sante (The Virgin and Child between two Saints) c.1490 Oil on panel, 77 x 104 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid The Virgin holds the Christ Child in her arms, flanked by…
Cranach, Lucas the Elder (1472-1553) The Nymph at the Fountain c.1530–1534 Oil on panel, 75 x 120 cm Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid Together with Albrecht Dürer, Lucas Cranach was among the most important 16th-century German painters. His oeuvre includes religious compositions as…
Severini, Gino (1883-1966) Le coup de foudre (Love at first sight) 1928 Oil on canvas, 160 x 66 cm Pinacoteca di Brera, Milano
Tintoretto, Jacopo (1518-1594) Il Ritrovamento di Mosè (The Finding of Moses) 1560s? Oil on canvas, 77.5 x 134 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York The biblical story of the Finding of Moses was popular in Venice. Tintoretto gives it…
Allori, Alessandro (1535-1607) Venere e Cupido (Venus and Cupid) c.1575–1580 Oil on wood, 143 x 226.50 cm Musée Fabre, Montpellier The Mannerist painter Allori designed a complex representation of Venus which owes much to the powerful figures of Michelangelo. The…
Bronzino (1503-1572) Allegoria del trionfo di Venere (An Allegory with Venus and Cupid) c.1545 Oil on wood, 146.1 x 116.2 cm National Gallery, London This is one of Bronzino’s most complex and enigmatic paintings. It contains a tangle of moral…
Giorgione (c.1477-1510) Ragazzo con la freccia (Boy with an Arrow) c.1505 Oil on poplar, 48 × 41.8 × 2.6 cm Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna This bust of an idealized young man with a rich mane of curls and an arrow in…
Lairesse, Gérard de (1641-1711) Achilles Discovered among the Daughters of Lycomedes 1680 Oil on canvas, 138 x 190 cm Mauritshuis, The Hague This painting by De Lairesse is a typical example of the style that came into fashion in Holland…
Lairesse, Gérard de (1641-1711) Venus Giving Arms to Aeneas (Venus schenkt wapens aan Aeneas) 1668 Oil on canvas, 161.8 x 165.8 cm Museum Mayer van den Bergh, Antwerp In the 17th century, classicism broke through, also in golden Holland. Artists…