Van Eyck, Jan (c.1390-1441) Portrait of Giovanni (?) Arnolfini and his Wife 1434 Oil on oak, 82.2 x 60 cm National Gallery, London This must be one of the most famous paintings in the world, and one of the most intriguing.…
Bruegel the Elder, Pieter (c.1525-1569) The Dormition of the Virgin c.1564 Oil on panel, 67.7 x 85.3 x 12.6 cm Upton House and Gardens, England This ‘grisaille’, or grey monochrome painting, shows the death of the Virgin, attended by the…
Van Gogh, Vincent (1853-1890) La Chambre de Van Gogh à Arles (Van Gogh’s Bedroom in Arles) 1889 Oil on canvas, 57.3 x 73.5 cm Musée d’Orsay, Paris (F0483-JH1793) Van Gogh produced three, almost identical paintings on the theme of his bedroom. The…
Caravaggio (1571-1610) Giuditta e Oloferne (Judith Beheading Holofernes) c.1599 Oil on canvas, 145 x 195 cm Palazzo Barberini, Roma Three characters and a red cloth in the background: few elements, capable of orchestrating a true theater of opposites. Darkness and light,…
Bazille, Frédéric (1841-1870) L’ambulance improvisée (Improvised Field Hospital, Monet) 1865 Oil on canvas, 48 x 65 cm Musée d’Orsay, Paris This painting of Claude Monet confined to bed with an injured leg, was painted in the summer of 1865. At the beginning…