Michelangelo (1475-1564) Madonna della Scala (Madonna of the Stairs) c.1490 Marble bas-relief, 56.7 x 40.1 cm Casa Buonarroti, Firenze The Madonna della scala, or Madonna of the Stairs, of which no mention was made during Michelangelo’s lifetime, was cited for the…
Holbein, Hans the Younger (c.1497-1543) Noli me Tangere 1526–1528 Oil on oak panel, 76.7 x 95.8 cm Royal Collection, Hampton Court Palace, London When the diarist John Evelyn saw this painting in Charles II’s Private Lodgings at Whitehall in 1680 he recorded…
Cézanne, Paul (1839-1906) Pommes et oranges (Apples and Oranges) c.1899 Oil on canvas, 74 x 93 cm Musée d’Orsay, Paris Though Cézanne painted still life compositions from the start of his career, it was only in later years that this genre…
Tiziano (c.1488-1576) Ecce Homo 1543 Oil on canvas, 242 x 361 cm Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna Signature: Referenced bottom center of the note: TITIANVS EQVES CES F. 1543 The scene was rarely depicted in Italy, but is probably explained by the Flemish origin…
Tiziano (c.1488-1576) Ecce Homo 1547 Oil on slate, 69 x 56 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid Although we do not know when Titian first treated this subject, it was probably in 1535, when he painted a Christ for Federico Gonzaga following a…
Zurbarán, Francisco de (1598-1664) Casa de Nazareth (Christ and the Virgin in the House at Nazareth) c.1640 Oil on canvas, 165 x 218.2 cm Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland Stories of Christ’s childhood and adolescence became increasingly popular during the Counter-Reformation…
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…
Zurbarán, Francisco de (1598-1664) Nacimiento de la Virgen (The Birth of the Virgin) c.1627 Oil on canvas, 141 x 108.6 cm Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena Just as striking as Zurbarán’s color scheme are his rich, descriptive treatment of the drapery, and…
Zurbarán, Francisco de (1598-1664) Cristo crucificado, con un pintor (The Crucified Christ with a Painter) c.1650 Oil on canvas, 105 x 84 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid A painter devoutly contemplates the almost-sculptural figure of Christ on the Cross, which stands…
Degas, Edgar (1834-1917) Une Mendiante romaine (A Roman Beggar Woman) 1857 Oil on canvas, 100.3 x 75.2 cm Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham