Canova, Antonio (1757-1822) Orfeo (Orpheus) 1777 Marble, h. 140 cm Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg Canova produced his first commissioned works – a pair of statues showing Orpheus and Eurydice – at the age of just 16 or 17, for his patron,…
Canova, Antonio (1757-1822) Paolina Borghese Bonaparte come Venere Vincitrice (Paolina Borghese Bonaparte as Venus Victrix) 1804–1808 Carrara marble, 160 x 92 cm Galleria Borghese, Roma Portrayed by Antonio Canova in the guise Venus victorious in the Judgement of Paris, Pauline Borghese…
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) Pietà c.1503–1505 Oil on poplar panel, 23.6 x 28.8 cm Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston This panel was originally part of the base (predella) of the Colonna Altarpiece (Pala Colonna). Not satisfied with a single Raphael painting, Isabella Stewart Gardner…
Tiziano (c.1488-1576) Ecce Homo 1547 Oil on slate, 69 x 56 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid Although we do not know when Titian first treated this subject, it was probably in 1535, when he painted a Christ for Federico Gonzaga following a…
Renoir, Pierre-Auguste (1841-1919) Diane chasseresse (Diana) 1867 Oil on canvas, 199.5 x 129.5 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington Renoir had his girlfriend Lise Tréhot pose as the ancient Roman goddess Diana. He chose a mythological subject and painted it at grand…
Munch, Edvard (1863-1944) Self-Portrait in Hell (Selvportrett i helvete) 1903 Oil on canvas, 82 × 66 cm Munch Museum, Oslo In this period Munch embarks on a creative quest to reinvent himself as an artist. His images from the 1890s, suddenly seem outdated. As…