Dürer, Albrecht (1471-1528) Self-Portrait or Portrait of the Artist Holding a Thistle 1493 Parchment glued on canvas, 56.5 x 44.5 cm Musée du Louvre, Paris Dürer‘s first painted self-portrait, possibly an engagement portrait – the thistle or panicaut (eryngium), which Dürer…
Murillo, Bartolomé Esteban (1617-1682) La Anunciación (Annunciation) c.1650 Oil on canvas, 183 x 225 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid The Archangel Gabriel has descended from the heavens and kneels before Mary to announce the birth of Christ. The Angel holds some white…
Whistler, James Abbott McNeill (1834-1903) George W. Vanderbilt 1897–1903 Oil on canvas, 208.6 x 91.1 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington A close friend of Whistler, George Washington Vanderbilt II commissioned this full-length portrait in 1897 to hang in Biltmore House,…
Whistler, James Abbott McNeill (1834-1903) Gold and Brown: Self-Portrait c.1896–1898 Oil on canvas, 62.5 x 46.8 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington Known for his biting wit, extravagant style, and personal eccentricities, the publicity-conscious Whistler used self-portraiture as a means to…
Whistler, James Abbott McNeill (1834-1903) Mother of Pearl and Silver: The Andalusian c.1888 (?)-1900 Oil on canvas, 191.5 x 89.8 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington Ethel Philip, Whistler‘s sister-in-law and a favorite subject of the artist, whose likeness appears in…
Whistler, James Abbott McNeill (1834-1903) Wapping 1860–1864 Oil on canvas, 72 x 101.8 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington We look slightly down at a woman with pale skin and two men with ruddy complexions sitting at a table near a…
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) Autoritratto (Self-Portrait) c.1562 Oil on canvas, 86 x 65 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid Titian painted his first self-portrait before leaving for Rome in 1545. However, it was after his Roman stay that he showed the most interest in disseminating…