Hals, Frans (c.1582-1666) René Descartes 1647–1648 Oil on oak wood, 19 x 14 cm Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen The small painting has been dealt a hard time. Someone has scratched zigzag lines with a pointed object all over the painting. But…
Léger, Fernand (1881-1955) Femme au vase (Woman with vase) 1924 Oil on canvas, 92 x 65 cm Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen A woman with a red vase in her arms is depicted strictly frontally and with a linear precision that…
Pinturicchio (c.1454-1513) Crocifissione tra i santi Cristoforo e Girolamo (Christ on the Cross between Sts. Christopher and Jerome) Ante 1473 or c.1475–1478 Oil on panel, 59 x 40 cm Galleria Borghese, Roma This panel has been in the Borghese Collection only since…
Corot, Jean-Baptiste-Camille (1796-1875) Jeune femme pensive (Pensive Young Woman) 1855–1860 Oil on panel mounted to plywood, 31.8 × 23.7 cm Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia While landscapes had become a more lucrative endeavor, Corot continued to paint figures in the studio, mostly out…
Puvis de Chavannes, Pierre (1824-1898) La Poésie dramatique (Dramatic Poetry, Aeschylus) c.1896 Oil on canvas, 124.1 x 63.2 cm Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia This painting is a scaled-down version of an enormous canvas—over 14 × 7 feet—that Puvis de Chavannes painted as…
Robbia, Luca della (1400-1482) Madonna col Bambino (Madonna and Child) 3rd quarter of the 15th century Terracotta and glazed clay, 53 × 38 cm Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna Emotional depictions of the Madonna for domestic worship were very popular in Florence in…
Reynolds, Joshua (1723-1792) Portrait Study of a Young Lady c.1760–1765 Oil on canvas, 76.5 × 63 cm Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Poussin, Nicolas (1594-1665) La Destruction du temple de Jérusalem (The destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem) 1635 Oil on canvas, 147 × 198 cm Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna The material is taken from Flavius Josephus’ Jewish War. Titus, the son of the…
Lotto, Lorenzo (1480-1557) Madonna col Bambino tra i santi Caterina e Tommaso (Madonna and Child with Saints Catherine and Thomas) 1527–1533 Oil on canvas, 117 x 152 cm Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna The motif of a gathering of saints around the Madonna,…
Jordaens, Jacob (1593-1678) The Meeting of Odysseus and Nausicaa c.1630–1640 Oil on canvas, 117.5 x 194 cm Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam Jordaens was one of the most renowned and versatile Antwerp painters. Here he illustrates an episode from Homer’s Odyssey. Odysseus, naked and…