Alma-Tadema, Lawrence (1836-1912) The Death of the Pharaoh’s Firstborn Son 1872 Oil on canvas, 77 × 124 cm Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam In this scene from the biblical book of Exodus, Moses and Aaron (upper right) visit the pharaoh, who is mourning his…
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…
Bellini, Giovanni (c.1430-1516) Giovane donna nuda allo specchio (Young woman at her toilette) 1515 Oil on poplar panel, 62.9 x 78.3 cm Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna Inscription: “Joannes bellinus faciebat M.D.X.V.” As an elderly man, Bellini turned to the depiction of a…
Andrea del Sarto (1486-1530) L’Arcangelo Raffaele con Tobia, San Leonardo e il donatore (The Archangel Raphael with Tobias, St. Leonard and the Donor, Leonardo di Lorenzo Morelli) 1512 Oil on panel, 178 x 153 cm Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna Raphael accompanied young…
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)
Bacon, Francis (1909-1992) Self-Portrait 1975 Oil and Letrase on canvas, 35.5 × 30.5 cm Private collection “Self-Portrait, 1975, was the sole painting in this small format on which Bacon applied dry transfer lettering – the scrambled letters fixed to his neck…
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…
Bacon, Francis (1909-1992) Triptych August 1972 1972 Oil paint and sand on 3 canvases, each: 198.1 × 147.3 cm Tate Britain, London © Estate of Francis Bacon This work is generally considered one in a series of Black Triptychs which followed the suicide…
Bacon, Francis (1909-1992) Reclining Woman 1961 Oil on canvas, 198.8 × 141.6 cm Tate Britain, London © Estate of Francis Bacon In spite of the title, the figure in this painting appears to have been originally intended as a man. The male genitalia…