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) Concerto (Concert) c.1510 Oil on canvas, 86.5 x 123.5 cm Galleria Palatina, Palazzo Pitti, Firenze
Tiziano (c.1488-1576) Flora c.1517 Oil on canvas, 79.7 x 63.5 cm Galleria degli Uffizi, Firenze A young woman emerges from the brown background of the painting, holding out a bouquet of spring flowers, consisting of violets, rosebuds and jasmine. She is dressed…
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…
Tiziano (c.1488-1576) Venere di Urbino (Venus of Urbino) 1538 Oil on canvas, 119 x 165 cm Galleria degli Uffizi, Firenze This is one of Titian’s most famous works and it depicts the emblematic figure of a young bride about to be dressed…
Caravaggio (1571-1610) Ragazzo che monda un frutto (Boy peeling a fruit) c.1592–1593 Oil on canvas, 63 x 53 cm Royal Collection, Hampton Court Palace, London Caravaggio was probably the most influential painter of the early seventeenth century. This may be his…
Courbet, Gustave (1819-1877) L’Atelier du peintre (The Painter’s Studio) 1854–1855 Oil on canvas, 361 x 598 cm Musée d’Orsay, Paris The enormous Studio is without doubt Courbet‘s most mysterious composition. However, he provides several clues to its interpretation: “It’s the whole world…
Ingres, Jean Auguste Dominique (1780-1867) Autoportrait à l’âge de 24 ans (Self-portrait at age 24) 1804 Oil on canvas, 77 x 63 cm Musée Condé, Chantilly An early work, painted in 1804, was exhibited in its initial state at the Salon…