Raffaello (1483-1520) La Trasfigurazione (The Transfiguration) 1516–1520 Tempera grassa on wood, 410 x 279 cm Pinacoteca Vaticana, Vaticano Cardinal Giulio de’ Medici (the future pope Clement VII) commissioned two paintings for the cathedral of S. Giusto of Narbonne, the city of which…
Parmigianino (1503-1540) Ritratto di uomo (Portrait of a Man) c.1528 Oil on panel, 58 x 46 cm Galleria Borghese, Roma This panel is first documented in connection with the Borghese Collection in 1693, when it was inventoried as a work by Parmigianino.…
Fontana, Lavinia (1552-1614) Visita della regina di Saba al re Salomone (The Visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon) 1599 Oil on canvas, 256 x 325 cm National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin In 1872, just eight years after first opening…
Bellini, Giovanni (c.1430-1516) Presentazione di Gesù al Tempio (Presentation of Jesus in the Temple) c.1470 Oil on wood, 82 x 106 cm Fondazione Querini Stampalia, Venezia Image: © Fondazione Querini Stampalia Onlus, Venezia The Presentation at the Temple is one of…
Tiziano (c.1488-1576) Adorazione dei Magi (Adoration of the Magi) c.1557–1560 Oil on canvas, 223 × 120 cm Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milano Painted around 1559–60, the painting has much in common with Titian’s mature works. The rendering of the sky is interesting, for the…
Tiziano (c.1488-1576) Uomo in armatura (Man in Armour) c.1530 Oil on canvas, 65 x 58 cm Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milano In his Musaeum Federico Borromeo writes that “Titian would have wanted to paint his father like this, armour-clad, to celebrate in a playful…
Courbet, Gustave (1819-1877) La Rencontre ou Bonjour Monsieur Courbet (The Meeting or Hello M. Courbet) 1854 Oil on canvas, 132.40 x 151 cm Musée Fabre, Montpellier Montpellier, painted by the artist for Alfred Bruyas (1821-1877), 1854; gift from Alfred Bruyas to the…
Monet, Claude (1840-1926) Portrait de Bazille (Portrait of Bazille) 1864 Oil on wood, 40.50 x 31.50 cm Musée Fabre, Montpellier Recent research has returned this beautiful painting to Monet, and dated it to 1864 when, staying in Honfleur, Monet and Bazille worked…
Tintoretto, Jacopo (1518-1594) Autoritratto (Self-Portrait) c.1546–1548 Oil on canvas, 45.1 × 38.1 cm Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia This dramatically intimate self-portrait announced the arrival of a new talent on the Venetian art scene; Tintoretto painted it when he was just beginning…
Rembrandt (1606-1669) Sketch of The Knight with the Falcon, known as the “Crusader” 1659–1661 Oil on canvas, 68.5 x 55.5 cm Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen Surrounded by darkness, a face brightens up to meet the viewer. The eyes hold us tight.…