Cranach, Lucas the Elder (1472-1553) Portrait of a Woman 1525–1527 Oil on wood, 35.9 × 25.1 cm National Gallery, London Cranach only painted a handful of portraits showing women of the Saxon court during his time as court painter to the…
Zurbarán, Francisco de (1598-1664) Santa Casilda (Saint Casilda) c.1630–1635 Oil on canvas, 171 x 107 cm Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid Images of saints depicted alone, holding their attributes and looking out of the picture space were among the most popular compositions within…
Tiziano (c.1488-1576) La Bella (Portrait of a Lady) 1536–1538 Oil on canvas, 89 × 75.5 cm Galleria Palatina, Palazzo Pitti, Firenze The female portrait, known by its complimentary epithet “La Bella”, is one of the most famous paintings of the later years of…
Delacroix, Eugène (1798-1863) Mort de Sardanapale (Death of Sardanapalus) 1827 Oil on canvas, 392 cm × 496 cm Musée du Louvre, Paris “The rebels besieged him in his palace… Lying on a superb bed, at the top of an immense pyre,…
Gentileschi, Orazio (1563-1639) Il ritrovamento di Mosè (The Finding of Moses) early 1630s Oil on canvas, 257 × 301 cm National Gallery, London In this vast canvas Orazio Gentileschi depicts the Old Testament story of the Finding of Moses (Exodus 2:2-10).…
Verrocchio, Andrea del (1435-1488) Madonna col Bambino e due angeli (The Virgin and Child with Two Angels) c.1467–1469 Tempera on wood, 69.2 × 49.8 cm National Gallery, London The focus of this picture is the loving gaze which passes between the…
Cranach, Lucas the Elder (1472-1553) The Nymph of the Spring after 1537 Oil on panel, 48.4 x 72.8 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington The nymph reclines beside a spring, perhaps a reference to a legendary ancient Roman fountain with which a…