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…
Robbia, Luca della (1400-1482) Madonna col Bambino (Madonna and Child) 3rd quarter of the 15th century Terracotta and glazed clay, 53 × 38 cm Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna Emotional depictions of the Madonna for domestic worship were very popular in Florence in…
Veronese, Paolo (1528-1588) Ritratto di Daniele Barbaro (Portrait of Daniele Barbaro) 1556–1562 Oil on canvas, 121 x 105.5 cm Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam Daniele Barbaro was a leading scholar of Aristotelian physics. He is shown in the ecclesiastical garments of a patriarch. Next…
Angelico, Fra (c.1395-1455) Madonna dell’Umiltà (The Virgin of Humility) c.1440 Tempera on panel, 74 x 52 cm Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam As a Dominican monk, Fra Angelico was not subject to the strict rules of the Florentine painters’ guild. He was thus free…
Hals, Frans (c.1582-1666) Portrait of a Couple (Probably Isaac Abrahamsz Massa and Beatrix van der Laen) c.1622 Oil on canvas, 140 x 166.5 cm Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam This happy, smiling pair sits comfortably close to each other. Posing a couple together in…