Parmigianino (1503-1540) Visione di san Girolamo (Vision of Saint Jerome) 1526–1527 Oil on poplar, 342.9 x 148.6 cm National Gallery, London This altarpiece is the greatest work that Parmigianino painted in Rome. It was commissioned by Maria Bufolina for a burial…
Parmigianino (1503-1540) Ritratto di un dignitario (Portrait of a dignitary) c.1535 Oil on poplar, 117.5 × 97.7 cm Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna The grandiose portrayal of the menacingly close man with his head turned to the side oscillates between violence and passivity, between…
Parmigianino (1503-1540) Autoritratto entro uno specchio convesso (Self-portrait in a Convex Mirror) c.1523–1524 Oil on panel, diameter 24.4 cm Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna After his arrival in Rome, the young artist gave his self-portrait painted on a curved piece of wood to…
Holbein, Hans the Younger (c.1497-1543) Portrait of a young merchant 1541 Oil on oak, 46.5 × 34.8 cm Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna Holbein created a new style of portraiture that is characterized by monumentality paired with extreme painterly precision. The young businessman…
Velázquez, Diego (1599-1660) Infanta Margarita Teresa con vestido azul (Infanta Margarita Teresa in blue dress) 1659 Oil on canvas, 125.5 × 106 × 3 cm Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna One year before his death Velázquez created this portrait of the eight-year old…
Rubens, Peter Paul (1577-1640) Hélène Fourment (“The Furry”) c.1636–1638 Oil on oak, 178.7 × 86.2 × 2.5 cm Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna The posture of Rubens‘ second wife Helena Fourment (1614-1674, married in 1630) is reminiscent of the type of the ancient…
Tiziano (c.1488-1576) Ninfa e pastore (Nymph and shepherd) c.1570–1575 Oil on canvas, 149.6 × 187 cm Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna The theme on which the picture is based has not yet been satisfactorily clarified, but Titian raised it to the mythical level…
Cranach, Lucas the Elder (1472-1553) & Workshop John Frederick the Magnanimous, Elector of Saxony 1533 Oil on panel, 20 x 14 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid This painting was made following the mechanised procedures used by various German workshops in the…
Dürer, Albrecht (1471-1528) Portrait of a Man 1521 Oil on panel, 50 x 36 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid This portrait is one of Dürer’s great creations. It offers a three-quarters view of an unidentified person. Dürer places him in front…
Caillebotte, Gustave (1848-1894) Poulets, gibier à plumes et lièvres (Chickens, Game Birds, and Hares) c.1882 Oil on canvas, 76 x 105 cm Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland Caillebotte balanced the notion of the wild with the orderly in this painting, as…