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…
Velázquez, Diego (1599-1660) Venus del Espejo (Venus at her Mirror, The Rokeby Venus) 1647–1651 Oil on canvas, 122.5 x 177 cm National Gallery, London This is the only surviving female nude painted by Velázquez. The subject was rare in seventeenth-century Spain,…
Goya, Francisco de (1746-1828) Doña Isabel de Porcel before 1805 Oil on canvas, 82 x 54.6 cm National Gallery, London A woman sits or stands, the top half of her body swung to our left, as she turns towards someone or something outside…
Pissarro, Camille (1830-1903) Le Boulevard Montmartre, effet de nuit (The Boulevard Montmartre at Night) 1897 Oil on canvas, 53.3 x 64.8 cm National Gallery, London This painting is one of 14 views of the Boulevard Montmartre in Paris that Camille Pissarro painted…
Van Eyck, Jan (c.1390-1441) Portrait of a Man (Léal Souvenir) 1432 Oil on oak, 33.3 x 18.9 cm National Gallery, London This small portrait is puzzling in many ways. We don‘t know who this man was or why he is holding…
Van Eyck, Jan (c.1390-1441) Portrait of a Man (Self Portrait?) 1433 Oil on oak, 26 x 19 cm National Gallery, London This man, his face impassive and his gaze intense, is almost certainly Jan van Eyck himself. No other portraits of…
Van Eyck, Jan (c.1390-1441) Portrait of Giovanni (?) Arnolfini and his Wife 1434 Oil on oak, 82.2 x 60 cm National Gallery, London This must be one of the most famous paintings in the world, and one of the most intriguing.…
Rousseau, Henri (1844-1910) Surpris! (Surprised!) 1891 Oil on canvas, 129.8 x 161.9 cm National Gallery, London A tiger crouches low in thick jungle foliage, its back arched and teeth bared. It is not entirely clear what is happening, however. Is the tiger…
Rousseau, Henri (1844-1910) Portrait de Joseph Brummer (Portrait of Joseph Brummer) 1909 Oil on canvas, 115.9 × 88.3 cm National Gallery, London Staring straight at us while nonchalantly holding a cigarette is the Hungarian-born art dealer Joseph Brummer (1883‒1947). The portrait was…
Vermeer, Jan (1632-1675) A Young Woman Standing at a Virginal (Staande Virginaalspeelster) c.1670–1672 Oil on canvas, 51.7 x 45.2 cm National Gallery, London A young woman standing at a keyboard holds our eye with a direct gaze. Suffused in the light…