Blake, William (1757-1827) God Judging Adam 1795 Relief etching, ink and watercolour on paper, 43.2 x 53.5 cm Tate Britain, London This is a hand-finished relief etching, printed on paper from a copper plate. The broken texture visible along the light grey…
Poussin, Nicolas (1594-1665) Bacchanale (Bacchanal) 1625–1626 Oil on canvas, 122 x 169 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid This is a traditional scene from the iconography of Bacchus, the Roman god of wine. It depicts his meeting with Ariadne on the island…
Tiziano (c.1488-1576) Bacco e Arianna (Bacchus and Ariadne) 1520–1523 Oil on canvas, 176.5 x 191 cm National Gallery, London Titian’s Bacchus and Ariadne is one of the finest and most famous paintings in the National Gallery. The Cretan princess Ariadne has…
Redon, Odilon (1840-1916) Le Char d’Apollon (Apollo’s Chariot) c.1910 Pastel and tempera on canvas, 91.5 x 77 cm Musée d’Orsay, Paris
Rubens, Peter Paul (1577-1640) The Abduction of Proserpina c.1614–1615 Oil on canvas, 38 x 67 cm Petit Palais, Paris
Gérôme, Jean-Léon (1824-1904) Course de chariots (Chariot Race) 1876 Oil on cradled panel, 86.3 × 156 cm Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago Jean-Léon Gérôme claimed that he based this almost cinematic depiction of a chariot race at the Circus Maximus stadium in…
Signorelli, Luca (c.1445-1523) Trionfo della Castità e Amore sconfitto (Triumph of Chastity: Love Disarmed and Bound) c.1509 Fresco, detached and mounted on canvas, 125.7 x 133.4 cm National Gallery, London This picture, painted in fresco (directly onto wet plaster), was part…
Pontormo (1494-1557) Giuseppe con Giacobbe in Egitto (Joseph with Jacob in Egypt) probably 1518 Oil on wood, 96.5 x 109.5 cm National Gallery, London This is one of the panels that were made to decorate the bedchamber of the banker Pierfrancesco Borgherini…
Pontormo (1494-1557) I fratelli di Giuseppe chiedono aiuto (Joseph’s Brothers beg for Help) c.1515 Oil on wood, 36.3 x 142.5 cm National Gallery, London This picture was commissioned to celebrate the marriage of the banker Pierfrancesco Borgherini to Margherita Accaiuoli in…
Giordano, Luca (1634-1705) La barca di Caronte e il ratto di Proserpina (Mythological Scene with the Rape of Proserpine) early 1680s Oil on canvas, 121.6 x 193 cm National Gallery, London This modello, or detailed oil study, is one of a group of…