Guercino (1591-1666) Suicidio di Cleopatra (Suicide of Cleopatra) c.1621 Oil on canvas, 116.8 x 93.3 cm Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena Guercino gained the attention of influential patrons with his vigorous naturalism, flickering light effects, and grace of expression. He was…
Guercino (1591-1666) San Pietro liberato da un angelo (Saint Peter freed by an Angel) c.1622 Oil on canvas, 105 x 136 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid A youthful looking angel with curly hair imperiously points out the path of freedom…
Guercino (1591-1666) Susanna e i vecchioni (Susanna and the Elders) 1617 Oil on canvas, 176 x 208 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid Historian Denis Mahon has masterfully shown that this painting and two other famous works by Guercino –Lot and…
Zurbarán, Francisco de (1598-1664) San Francisco rezando (Saint Francis in Prayer) c.1638–1639 Oil on canvas, 117.5 x 90.2 cm Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena St. Francis of Assisi, a mystic and poet, was also the founder of the Franciscans, an important mendicant…
Murillo, Bartolomé Esteban (1617-1682) La Anunciación (Annunciation) c.1650 Oil on canvas, 183 x 225 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid The Archangel Gabriel has descended from the heavens and kneels before Mary to announce the birth of Christ. The Angel holds some white…
Murillo, Bartolomé Esteban (1617-1682) Sagrada Familia del pajarito (Holy Family with a Bird) c.1650 Oil on canvas, 144 x 188 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid A domestic scene filled with tenderness showing the Virgin Mary winding a skein of thread and…
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) San Giovanni Battista (St John the Baptist) c.1508–1519 Oil on walnut panel, 72.9 x 56.3 cm Musée du Louvre, Paris This painting was probably designed around 1508 and kept by Leonardo da Vinci until his death, to slowly…
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) La dama con l’ermellino, Cecilia Gallerani (Lady with an Ermine) c.1490 Oil and tempera on wood 53.4 x 39.3 cm Muzeum Czartoryskich, Kraków See also: • Gallerani, Cecilia (1473-1536)
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) Vergine delle rocce (The Virgin of the Rocks) c.1483–1486 Oil on wood transferred to canvas 199.5 x 122 cm Musée du Louvre, Paris This painting is mentioned for the first time in 1625 at the Château de Fontainebleau.…
Caravaggio (1571-1610) Martirio di Sant’Orsola (Martyrdom of Saint Ursula) 1610 Oil on canvas, 143 x 180 cm Galleria di Palazzo Zevallos Stigliano, Napoli According to legend, Saint Ursula traveled with eleven thousand virgins to Cologne, where the chief of the Huns besieging…