Matisse, Henri (1869-1954) Luxe, calme et volupté (Luxury, Calm and Pleasure) 1904 Oil on canvas, 98.5 x 118.5 x 2.2 cm Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris © Succession H. Matisse, Paris Luxe, calme et volupté testifies to the work Henri Matisse…
Matisse, Henri (1869-1954) La Danse (Dance) 1909–1910 Oil on canvas, 260 x 391 cm Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg © Succession H. Matisse The pair of panels known as “The Dance and Music” (also in the Hermitage) are amongst Matisse‘s most important –…
Renoir, Pierre-Auguste (1841-1919) Diane chasseresse (Diana) 1867 Oil on canvas, 199.5 x 129.5 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington Renoir wrote that he had produced this painting as a study of a nude, the sort of exercise that was a mainstay of…
Dürer, Albrecht (1471-1528) Christ as the Man of Sorrows c.1492–1493 Oil on panel, 19 x 30 cm Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe Bearing the marks of martyrdom and holding the instruments used to scourge him in his hands, a pensive, exhausted man crouches…
Velázquez, Diego (1599-1660) Los borrachos, o El triunfo de Baco (The Drunkards, or The Triumph of Bacchus) 1628–1629 Oil on canvas, 165 x 225 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid Documentation of payment received by Velázquez in July 1629 for an…
Tiziano (c.1488-1576) Le tre età dell’uomo (The Three Ages of Man) 1512–1514 Oil on canvas, 90 x 150.7 cm Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh This early work depicts the three stages of life: infancy, adulthood and old age. Cupid clambers over the sleeping…
Tiziano (c.1488-1576) Amor sacro e amor profano (Sacred and Profane Love) 1515–1516 Oil on canvas, 118 x 278 cm Galleria Borghese, Roma This work was probably sold to Scipione Borghese in 1608 by Cardinal Paolo Emilio Sfondrati. A veritable interpretative enigma, critics…
Tiziano (c.1488-1576) Venere di Urbino (Venus of Urbino) 1538 Oil on canvas, 119 x 165 cm Galleria degli Uffizi, Firenze This is one of Titian’s most famous works and it depicts the emblematic figure of a young bride about to be dressed…
Goya, Francisco de (1746-1828) La maja desnuda (The Naked Maja) 1795–1800 Oil on canvas, 97.3 x 190.6 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid An image of Venus in the nude, lying on a green velvet divan with pillows and a spread. Legend…
Manet, Édouard (1832-1883) Olympia 1863 Oil on canvas, 130.5 x 191 cm Musée d’Orsay, Paris With Olympia, Manet reworked the traditional theme of the female nude, using a strong, uncompromising technique. Both the subject matter and its depiction explain the scandal…