El Greco (1541-1614) La Anunciación (The Annunciation) c.1576 Oil on canvas, 117 x 98 cm Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid In the course of his life, EI Greco painted numerous versions of the Annunciation, thus allowing his stylistic development to be traced through…
Van Eyck, Jan (c.1390-1441) The Annunciation Diptych c.1433–1435 Oil on panel, left wing: 38.8 x 23.2 cm; right wing: 39 x 24 cm Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid This diptych is an outstanding example of grisaille painting. Here, van Eyck deliberately rejects the…
Tiepolo, Giambattista (1696-1770) L’Immacolata Concezione (The Immaculate Conception) 1767–1769 Oil on canvas, 281 x 155 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid This majestic image was part of a cycle of seven altarpieces commissioned in 1767 for the new royal church of…
Allori, Alessandro (1535-1607) Venere e Cupido (Venus and Cupid) c.1575–1580 Oil on wood, 143 x 226.50 cm Musée Fabre, Montpellier The Mannerist painter Allori designed a complex representation of Venus which owes much to the powerful figures of Michelangelo. The…
Bronzino (1503-1572) Allegoria del trionfo di Venere (An Allegory with Venus and Cupid) c.1545 Oil on wood, 146.1 x 116.2 cm National Gallery, London This is one of Bronzino’s most complex and enigmatic paintings. It contains a tangle of moral…
Rembrandt (1606-1669) The Ascension of Christ 1636 Oil on canvas, 92.7 x 68.3 cm Alte Pinakothek, Munich The so-called ‘Passion Cycle’ was painted for the stadtholder of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, Prince Frederik Hendrik of Orange. The six paintings…
Guercino (1591-1666) San Gregorio e Santi (Saint Gregory the Great with Saints Ignatius Loyola and Francis Xavier) c.1625–1626 Oil on canvas, 296 x 211 cm National Gallery, London This altarpiece commemorates one of the most important events of the papacy…