Rembrandt (1606-1669) Bathsheba at Her Bath 1654 Oil on canvas, 142 x 142 cm Musée du Louvre, Paris Subject taken from the Bible (II Book of Samuel, the importance of the letter delivered to Bathsheba, the strong point of an…
Tiziano (c.1488-1576) Ritratto di Isabella del Portogallo (Portrait of Isabella of Portugal) 1548 Oil on canvas, 117 cm x 98 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid The portraits that Titian painted of Isabella (1503-1539), daughter of King Manuel of Portugal and wife…
Botticelli, Sandro (c.1445-1510) Ritratto di Simonetta Vespucci (Portrait of Simonetta Vespucci) c.1480–1485 Mixed technique on poplar, 81.3 x 50 cm Städel Museum, Frankfurt Idealised Portrait of a Lady (Portrait of Simonetta Vespucci as Nymph) The fantastical accoutrements in this larger-than-life-size half-length painting…
Botticelli, Sandro (c.1445-1510) Ritratto di giovane donna (Portrait of a Young Woman) c.1475–1480 Oil on poplar, 55.4 x 43 cm Gemäldegalerie, Berlin In the past, this portrait was considered to be that of Simonetta Vespucci, venerated by Giuliano de’ Medici, who died…
Botticelli, Sandro (c.1445-1510) Venere e Marte (Venus and Mars) c.1485 Tempera and oil on poplar, 69.2 x 173.4 cm National Gallery, London Venus, the goddess of love, looks over at her lover Mars. She is alert and dignified, while he – the…
Botticelli, Sandro (c.1445-1510) Primavera (Allegory of Spring) c.1480 Tempera on panel, 207 x 319 cm Galleria degli Uffizi, Firenze This painting, usually known as the Primavera [or ‘Spring’] shows nine figures from classic mythology advancing over a flowery lawn in a grove…
Degas, Edgar (1834-1917) Chez la modiste (At the Milliner’s) 1881 Pastel on paper, 69.2 x 69.2 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Two customers in nearly identical dresses—perhaps a mother and daughter or two sisters—are seen from behind in a…
Raffaello (1483-1520) Madonna Niccolini-Cowper (The Niccolini-Cowper Madonna) 1508 Oil on panel, 80.7 x 57.5 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington Inscription: center right on border of Madonna’s bodice: MDVIII.R.V.PIN (1508 Raphael of Urbino painted it) A woman holds and looks toward…
Vermeer, Jan (1632-1675) The Lacemaker (De kantwerkster) 1669–1670 Oil on canvas transferred to panel, 24 x 21 cm Musée du Louvre, Paris The motif of the lacemaker at work is traditionally a sign of domestic virtue, tinged with religious moralism (the…
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) Madonna Benois 1478–1480 Oil on canvas transferred from panel, 49.5 x 33 cm Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg One of the greatest geniuses of the Renaissance era, Leonardo da Vinci combined the talents of artist and scientist, inventor…