Velázquez, Diego (1599-1660) Venus del Espejo (Venus at her Mirror, The Rokeby Venus) 1647–1651 Oil on canvas, 122.5 x 177 cm National Gallery, London This is the only surviving female nude painted by Velázquez. The subject was rare in seventeenth-century Spain,…
Velázquez, Diego (1599-1660) La fragua de Vulcano (The Forge of Vulcan) 1630 Oil on canvas, 223 x 290 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid A figure suddenly appears on the left in a forge where various blacksmiths are working, dressed in…
Velázquez, Diego (1599-1660) Los borrachos, o El triunfo de Baco (The Drunkards, or The Triumph of Bacchus) 1628–1629 Oil on canvas, 165 x 225 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid Documentation of payment received by Velázquez in July 1629 for an…
Tiziano (c.1488-1576) Amor sacro e amor profano (Sacred and Profane Love) 1515–1516 Oil on canvas, 118 x 278 cm Galleria Borghese, Roma This work was probably sold to Scipione Borghese in 1608 by Cardinal Paolo Emilio Sfondrati. A veritable interpretative enigma, critics…
Goya, Francisco de (1746-1828) La maja vestida (The Clothed Maja) 1800–1807 Oil on canvas, 94.7 x 188 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid An unidentified lady wearing delicate transparent clothing and a yellow jacket with black decorations lies on a green velvet divan…
Goya, Francisco de (1746-1828) María Teresa de Borbón y Vallabriga 1783 Oil on canvas, 134.5 x 117.5 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington A young girl with pale skin, rosy cheeks, and blond hair stands facing us in front of a…
Fontana, Lavinia (1552-1614) Autoritratto alla spinetta (Self-portrait at the spinet) 1577 Oil on canvas, 27 x 23.8 cm Accademia di San Luca, Roma Inscription: LAVINIA VIRGO PROSPERI FONTANAE FILIA EX SPECULO IMMAGINEM ORIS SUI EXPRESSIT ANNO MDLXXVII (Lavinia, virgin, daughter of…
Fontana, Lavinia (1552-1614) Minerva in atto di abbigliarsi (Minerva Dressing) 1613 Oil on canvas, 258 x 190 cm Galleria Borghese, Roma The work, which dates back to 1613, was painted in Rome, evoked here through the dome of St. Peter’s visible…
Dalí, Salvador (1904-1989) Corpus Hypercubus (Crucifixion) 1954 Oil on canvas, 194.3 x 123.8 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Dalí utilized his theory of “nuclear mysticism,” a fusion of Catholicism, mathematics, and science, to create this unusual interpretation of Christ’s…
Van Eyck, Jan (c.1390-1441) Madonna in the Church c.1437–1440 Oil on oak panel, 31.1 x 13.9 cm Gemäldegalerie, Berlin The Madonna in the Church is one of the most beautiful and precious works of art created by Jan van Eyck. Copies…