Puvis de Chavannes, Pierre (1824-1898) L’été (Summer) before 1873 Oil on canvas, 43.2 × 62.2 cm National Gallery, London The theme of Puvis de Chavannes’s painting is an old one. Images of summer and harvesting can be found in medieval illuminated manuscripts,…
Poussin, Nicolas (1594-1665) Le Triomphe de Silène (The Triumph of Silenus) c.1636 Oil on canvas, 142.9 × 120.5 cm National Gallery, London This playful scene celebrates Silenus, companion to Bacchus, the Roman god of wine and drunkenness. Silenus, a naked old…
Murillo, Bartolomé Esteban (1617-1682) Autorretrato (Self Portrait) c.1670 Oil on canvas, 122 × 107 cm National Gallery, London Murillo probably painted this self portrait in about 1670, when he was in his early fifties – his hairline is receding and his…
Morisot, Berthe (1841-1895) Jour d’été (Summer’s Day) c.1879 Oil on canvas, 45.7 × 75.2 cm National Gallery, London This painting was almost certainly exhibited with the title The Lake in the Bois de Boulogne at the Fifth Impressionist exhibition in April…
Millet, Jean-François (1814-1875) Femme et enfant dans un paysage (Woman and Child in a Landscape) 1846–1847 Oil on canvas, 45.7 × 38.1 cm National Gallery, London A woman sits on a rocky ledge, her head gracefully turned toward a young naked…
Redon, Odilon (1840-1916) Ophélie parmi les fleurs (Ophelia among the Flowers) c.1905–1908 Pastel on paper, 64 × 91 cm National Gallery, London Odilon Redon (1840–1916) frequently made reference to both classic and contemporary literature in his work, and the subject of…
Michelangelo (1475-1564) Deposizione di Cristo nel sepolcro (The Entombment, or Christ being carried to his Tomb) c.1500–1501 Oil on wood, 161.7 × 149.9 cm National Gallery, London This is one of perhaps only three surviving panel paintings by the great Florentine…
Ingres, Jean Auguste Dominique (1780-1867) Oedipe et le Sphinx (Oedipus and the Sphinx) c.1826 Oil on canvas, 17.5 × 13.7 cm National Gallery, London Oedipus, a figure from Greek mythology, stands nude and in profile before the Sphinx, who guards the…
Hals, Frans (c.1582-1666) Young Man holding a Skull (Vanitas) 1626–1628 Oil on canvas, 92.2 × 80.8 cm National Gallery, London A life-size figure stands before us, holding a skull in one hand and gesticulating with the other. Shown close up, the…