Poussin, Nicolas (1594-1665) Le Triomphe de Silène (The Triumph of Silenus) c.1636 Oil on canvas, 142.9 × 120.5 cm National Gallery, London This playful scene celebrates Silenus, companion to Bacchus, the Roman god of wine and drunkenness. Silenus, a naked old…
Michelangelo (1475-1564) Deposizione di Cristo nel sepolcro (The Entombment, or Christ being carried to his Tomb) c.1500–1501 Oil on wood, 161.7 × 149.9 cm National Gallery, London This is one of perhaps only three surviving panel paintings by the great Florentine…
Ingres, Jean Auguste Dominique (1780-1867) Oedipe et le Sphinx (Oedipus and the Sphinx) c.1826 Oil on canvas, 17.5 × 13.7 cm National Gallery, London Oedipus, a figure from Greek mythology, stands nude and in profile before the Sphinx, who guards the…
Hals, Frans (c.1582-1666) Young Man holding a Skull (Vanitas) 1626–1628 Oil on canvas, 92.2 × 80.8 cm National Gallery, London A life-size figure stands before us, holding a skull in one hand and gesticulating with the other. Shown close up, the…
Giotto (c.1267-1337) & Workshop Pentecoste (Pentecost) c.1310–1318 Egg tempera on poplar, 45.5 × 44 cm National Gallery, London The simplicity of the storytelling, the inclusion of lively details – like the old man who turns his head to better hear the…
Ghirlandaio, Domenico (1448-1494) Madonna col Bambino (The Virgin and Child) c.1480–1490 Tempera on poplar, 88.9 × 57.8 cm National Gallery, London The Christ Child looks up at the Virgin Mary, raising the index finger of his right hand as though he…
Gentile da Fabriano (c.1370-1427) Madonna Quaratesi (Madonna and Child with Angels) 1425 Tempera on wood, 139.9 × 83 cm National Gallery, London On loan from His Majesty The King This panel formed the centre of an altarpiece commissioned by a member…
Fragonard, Jean-Honoré (1732-1806) Psyché montrant à ses soeurs les présents de l’amour (Psyche showing her Sisters her Gifts from Cupid) 1753 Oil on canvas, 168.3 × 192.4 cm National Gallery, London This painting illustrates an episode from the classical story of Cupid…
El Greco (1541-1614) Cristo expulsando a los mercaderes del templo (Christ driving the Traders from the Temple) c.1600 Oil on canvas, 106.3 × 129.7 cm National Gallery, London El Greco has used theatrical gestures and intense colours to express the chaos and…
El Greco (1541-1614) Adoración del Nombre de Jesús (The Adoration of the Name of Jesus) late 1570s Oil and egg tempera on pine, 55.1 × 33.8 cm National Gallery, London This picture is closely related to a larger work of the…