Tiziano (c.1488-1576) Carlo V nella battaglia di Mühlberg (Charles V at the Battle of Mühlberg) 1548 Oil on canvas, 335 cm x 283 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid This portrait commemorates Charles V’s victory over the Schmalkaldic League at Mühlberg on…
Tiziano (c.1488-1576) Ritratto di Alfonso D’Avalos, Marchese del Vasto (Portrait of Alfonso d’Avalos, Marquis of Vasto) 1533 Oil on canvas, 110 x 80 cm Getty Center, Los Angeles He was a handsome gentleman, well built and tall… who was always exquisitely…
Tiziano (c.1488-1576) Allocuzione di Alfonso d’Avalos (Alfonso d’Avalos Addressing his Troops) 1540–1541 Oil on canvas, 223 cm x 165 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid Alfonso d’Avalos, first Marchese del Vasto, was born in Ischia on 25 May 1502 to a noble…
Botticelli, Sandro (c.1445-1510) Storia di Lucrezia (The Story of Lucretia) c.1500 Tempera and oil on panel, 83.8 x 176.8 cm Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston According to legend, Lucretia’s brutal rape and tragic suicide precipitated the foundation of the Roman Republic. Botticelli…
Botticelli, Sandro (c.1445-1510) Venere e Marte (Venus and Mars) c.1485 Tempera and oil on poplar, 69.2 x 173.4 cm National Gallery, London Venus, the goddess of love, looks over at her lover Mars. She is alert and dignified, while he – the…
Botticelli, Sandro (c.1445-1510) Primavera (Allegory of Spring) c.1480 Tempera on panel, 207 x 319 cm Galleria degli Uffizi, Firenze This painting, usually known as the Primavera [or ‘Spring’] shows nine figures from classic mythology advancing over a flowery lawn in a grove…
Canova, Antonio (1757-1822) Perseo con la testa della Medusa (Perseus with the Head of Medusa) 1804–1806 Marble, 242.6 x 191.8 x 102.9 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York When Countess Valeria Tarnowska first met the sculptor Antonio Canova, on December…
Canova, Antonio (1757-1822) Venere e Marte (Venus and Mars) 1815–1819 Marble, 208 x 137 x 65.5 cm Royal Collection, Buckingham Palace, London A full length marble statue of Mars and Venus, standing. Venus stands partially draped gazing upwards at Mars, who…
Raffaello (1483-1520) Il sogno del cavaliere (Vision of a Knight) c.1504 Oil on poplar, 17.1 x 17.3 cm National Gallery, London This painting was inspired by a passage in the Punica, an epic poem by Silius Italicus (AD 25–101) recounting the…
Raffaello (1483-1520) Resurrezione di Cristo (Resurrection of Christ) 1499–1502 Oil on wood panel, 56.5 x 47 cm Museu de Arte, São Paulo Ever since he began his training in the workshop of Pietro Perugino (1446–1524), Raphael Sanzio circulated in the court…