Lairesse, Gérard de (1641-1711) Cleopatra’s Banquet c.1675–1680 Oil on canvas, 74 x 95.5 cm Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam Cleopatra made a bet with Mark Antony on who could give the most lavish banquet. She won by dissolving a priceless pearl in vinegar and…
Rembrandt (1606-1669) Herman Doomer 1640 Oil on wood, 75.2 x 55.2 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Herman Doomer was a successful cabinetmaker who worked with the imported ebony fashionable in seventeenth-century Amsterdam. The exceptional care Rembrandt took with this…
Rembrandt (1606-1669) Aristotle and Bust of Homer 1653 Oil on canvas, 143.5 x 136.5 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Among The Met’s most celebrated works of art, this painting conveys Rembrandt’s meditation on the meaning of fame. The richly…
Derain, André (1880-1954) Henri Matisse 1905 Oil on canvas, 46 x 34.9 cm Tate Britain, London A portrait of the painter Henri Matisse (1869-1954), executed at Collioure in the summer of 1905 at the same period as the portrait of Derain…
Boudin, Eugène (1824-1898) Sur la plage à Trouville (On the Beach at Trouville) 1863 Oil on wood, 26.7 × 48.3 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Boudin, a native of Honfleur, began painting scenes of fashionable beach resorts along…
Zurbarán, Francisco de (1598-1664) Visión de san Pedro Nolasco (Vision of St. Peter Nolasco) 1629 Oil on canvas, 179 x 223 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid Founder of the order of la Merced Calzada, the saint is depicted kneeling, leaning on…
Zurbarán, Francisco de (1598-1664) El Salvador bendiciendo (The Saviour in Blessing) 1638 Oil on canvas, 100 x 72 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid This is the only example known to have been painted by Zurbarán of the medieval iconography of…
Zurbarán, Francisco de (1598-1664) Defensa de Cádiz contra los ingleses (Defence of Cadiz against the English) 1634–1635 Oil on canvas, 302 x 323 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid The event depicted is Cadiz’s defense from the attack of an English…
Zurbarán, Francisco de (1598-1664) Aparición de san Pedro a san Pedro Nolasco (Apparition of St. Peter to St. Peter Nolasco) 1629 Oil on canvas, 179 x 223 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid Saint Peter Nolasco, founded the order of Our…
Guercino (1591-1666) L’estasi di San Francesco (The Ecstasy of St. Francis) c.1620–1621 Oil on canvas, 162 x 127 cm Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden