Memling, Hans (c.1430-1494) Virgin and Child c.1475 Oil on oak, 37.9 x 28 cm National Gallery, London The Virgin Mary, bareheaded and richly dressed, holds the naked Christ Child, who rests on a white cushion on a ledge of purple-grey veined…
Gérôme, Jean-Léon (1824-1904) Phryné devant l’aréopage (Phryné before the Areopagus) 1861 Oil on canvas, 80 x 128 cm Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg Compare: Nadar (1820-1910) Femme nue debout 1860–1861 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Famed for his portraits of writers, artists, and…
Gérôme, Jean-Léon (1824-1904) Femme au balcon (Woman at a Balcony) 1887–1888 Oil on canvas, 50.2 × 41.6 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Seen from below as if from street level and posed seductively in a revealing costume, this woman is…
Van Dyck, Anthony (1599-1641) The Lamentation over the Dead Christ c.1640 Oil on canvas, 115.5 × 207.5 cm Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp Christ’s dead body is laid out across the entrance to a cave, his head resting on Mary’s…
Modigliani, Amedeo (1884-1920) Nu assis (Sitting Nude) 1917 Oil on canvas, 114.5 × 71.5 cm Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp
Giorgione (c.1477-1510) Madonna col Bambino e i santi Caterina e Giovanni Battista (Madonna and Child with Saints Catherine and John the Baptist) c.1496–1500 Oil on panel, 50 x 81 cm Gallerie dell’Accademia, Venezia
Tiziano (c.1488-1576) Madonna col Bambino (Madonna and Child) c.1560–1565 Oil on canvas, 124 x 96 cm Gallerie dell’Accademia, Venezia
Tiziano (c.1488-1576) San Sebastiano (St Sebastian) c.1576 Oil on canvas, 210 x 115.5 cm Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg One of Titian’s most staggering works in terms of its tragic spirit is St Sebastian. What a gulf separates him from the placid personage…
Tiziano (c.1488-1576) Venere allo specchio (Venus with a Mirror) c.1555 Oil on canvas, 124.5 x 105.5 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington Titian’s goddess of love and beauty conjures the sense of touch. Observing her flushed cheek, one can almost feel its…
Ribera, Jusepe de (1591-1652) San Sebastiano curato da Irene (Saint Sebastian Tended by Irene and Her Maid) c.1630–1640 Oil on canvas, 208 x 157 cm Museo de Bellas Artes, Valencia Compare: Ribera, Jusepe de (1591-1652) San Sebastiano curato da Sant’Irene 1628 Hermitage Museum, Saint…