Renoir, Pierre-Auguste (1841-1919) La Yole (The Skiff) 1875 Oil on canvas, 71 × 92 cm National Gallery, London We are probably looking at the river Seine near Chatou (some ten miles west of central Paris), although the exact site has not been…
Renoir, Pierre-Auguste (1841-1919) La Première Sortie (At the Theatre) 1876–1877 Oil on canvas, 65 × 49.5 cm National Gallery, London We seem to be sitting in a box at the theatre, which we share with two young women. But we can’t be…
Raffaello (1483-1520) Madonna Garvagh / Madonna Aldobrandini (Garvagh Madonna or Aldobrandini) c.1510–1511 Oil on wood, 38.9 × 32.9 cm National Gallery, London This is one of several small and medium-sized Madonnas made by Raphael in the years immediately following his arrival in…
Monet, Claude (1840-1926) La plage de Trouville (The Beach at Trouville) 1870 Oil on canvas, 38 × 46.5 cm National Gallery, London Monet’s earlier paintings of the Normandy coast had emphasised it as a working seascape, peopled with fishermen who had to…
Gainsborough, Thomas (1727-1788) Mrs Siddons 1785 Oil on canvas, 126 × 99.5 cm National Gallery, London Mrs Siddons (1755–1831) was the greatest tragic actress of her time, remaining at the top of her profession for 30 years. Gainsborough painted her in the…
Picasso, Pablo (1881-1973) La Maternité (Motherhood) 1901 Oil on fibre board, 100.1 × 72.9 cm National Gallery, London On loan from a private collection. A mother cradles a naked child, its long limbs folded into her embrace as if still in…
Michelangelo (1475-1564) Madonna di Manchester (Manchester Madonna: The Virgin and Child with Saint John and Angels) c.1494 Tempera on wood, 104.5 × 77 cm National Gallery, London This picture – known as ‘The Manchester Madonna’ since 1857, when it was exhibited in the…
Lorenzo di Credi (c.1459-1537) Madonna col Bambino (The Virgin and Child) c.1480–1485 Oil on wood, 71.1 × 49.5 cm National Gallery, London The Virgin Mary is seated directly in front of us. Together with swathes of drapery, she covers almost the…
Gentileschi, Artemisia (1593-c.1653) Autoritratto come Santa Caterina d’Alessandria (Self Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria) c.1615–1617 Oil on canvas, 71.4 × 69 cm National Gallery, London Artemisia Gentileschi, the most celebrated female artist of the seventeenth century, appears in the guise…
Corot, Jean-Baptiste-Camille (1796-1875) Avignon vue de Villeneuve-lès-Avignon (Avignon from the West) 1836 Oil on canvas, 34 × 73.2 cm National Gallery, London Corot visited the medieval city of Avignon in the south of France several times. This panoramic view of the city…