Cézanne, Paul (1839-1906) Une moderne Olympia (A modern Olympia) 1873–1874 Oil on canvas, 46.2 x 55.5 cm Musée d’Orsay, Paris Cézanne‘s early works, executed in dark colors, were strongly inspired by those of the Old Masters and by the compositions of Delacroix,…
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…
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…
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…
Carracci, Annibale (1560-1609) Pietà c.1603 Oil on copper, 41.3 x 60.7 cm Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna Overwhelmed by her helplessness and pain, Mary holds her dead son in her lap. Pale colours and the pathos of marbles by Michelangelo and from antiquity…
Rodin, Auguste (1840-1917) Roméo et Juliette (Romeo and Juliet) 1905 Marble, 71 cm Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg See also: • Shakespeare, William (1564-1616): Romeo and Juliet (1595)
Ribera, Jusepe de (1591-1652) San Sebastiano curato da Sant’Irene (St Sebastian Cured by St Irene) 1628 Oil on canvas, 156.5 x 188 cm Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg Jusepe de Ribera lived the greater part of his life in Naples, which at…
Rodin, Auguste (1840-1917) Le Christ et la Madeleine (Christ and Magdalene) c.1905 Marble, 102 x 77 x 70 cm Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid ©Carmen Thyssen Collection Christ and the Magdalen is the only known work by Rodin on a religious subject. Various…
Blake, William (1757-1827) God Judging Adam 1795 Relief etching, ink and watercolour on paper, 43.2 x 53.5 cm Tate Britain, London This is a hand-finished relief etching, printed on paper from a copper plate. The broken texture visible along the light grey…