Botticelli, Sandro (c.1445-1510) Ritratto di giovane uomo (Portrait of a Young Man) c.1482–1485 Tempera on panel, 43.5 x 46.2 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington This vertical portrait shows the head, shoulders, and chest of a young man with smooth, pale skin…
Botticelli, Sandro (c.1445-1510) Vir dolorum (Christ Crowned with Thorns Blessing) c.1500 Tempera on panel, 47.6 x 32.3 cm Accademia Carrara, Bergamo Arrived at the Carrara Academy by bequest of Giovanni Morelli, like the other two paintings by Sandro Botticelli exhibited on…
Botticelli, Sandro (c.1445-1510) Madonna del Libro (Madonna of the Book) 1480–1481 Tempera on panel, 58 x 39.6 cm Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milano This painting depicts the Virgin and Child reading a book that is only partially visible. The layout and decoration of…
Botticelli, Sandro (c.1445-1510) Compianto sul Cristo morto (Lamentation over the Dead Christ) c.1495–1500 Tempera on wood, 106 x 71 cm Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milano The painting, one of the most dramatic realizations of Sandro Botticelli‘s late activity, depicts the moment in which…
Antonello da Messina (c.1430-1479) Vergine Annunciata (Virgin Annunciate) c.1473–1474 Oil and tempera on panel, 42.5 x 32.8 cm Alte Pinakothek, Munich This panel painting, created for private devotional use, shows the Virgin Mary after being brought the message of the Annunciation.…
Antonello da Messina (c.1430-1479) Madonna Salting (The Virgin and Child) c.1460–1469 Oil on wood, 43.2 x 34.3 cm National Gallery, London The Virgin Mary glances down at her baby son, Christ, who clutches a pomegranate in his tiny fist. The fruit,…
Raffaello (1483-1520) La Fornarina (Portrait of a Young Woman) c.1520 Oil on panel, 87 x 63 cm Palazzo Barberini, Roma The subject of this portrait, according to tradition, was Raphael’s inspirational muse and mistress: Margherita Luti, the daughter of a baker in…
Raffaello (1483-1520) Ritratto di papa Giulio II (Portrait of Pope Julius II) 1511 Oil on poplar, 108.7 x 81 cm National Gallery, London This portrait of Pope Julius II (1443–1513) is usually dated to the one-and-a-half-year period during which he wore…
Zurbarán, Francisco de (1598-1664) Cristo crucificado, con un pintor (The Crucified Christ with a Painter) c.1650 Oil on canvas, 105 x 84 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid A painter devoutly contemplates the almost-sculptural figure of Christ on the Cross, which stands…
Dürer, Albrecht (1471-1528) Portrait of Albrecht Dürer the Elder (Bildnis des Albrecht Dürer des Älteren) 1497 Oil on lime, 51 x 40.3 cm National Gallery, London The inscription at the top of this picture tells us the sitter is Dürer’s father, Albrecht…