Lairesse, Gérard de (1641-1711) Odysseus and Calypso c.1680 Oil on canvas, 125 x 94 cm Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam The Greek poet Homer recounts how the heroic warrior Odysseus found refuge on the island of the nymph Calypso. The Trojan War is over:…
Lairesse, Gérard de (1641-1711) Selene and Endymion c.1680 Oil on canvas, 177 x 118.5 cm Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam The chaste goddess of the moon, Selene (or Diana), is in love with the shepherd Endymion. Only at night when he is asleep does…
Lairesse, Gérard de (1641-1711) Cleopatra’s Banquet c.1675–1680 Oil on canvas, 74 x 95.5 cm Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam Cleopatra made a bet with Mark Antony on who could give the most lavish banquet. She won by dissolving a priceless pearl in vinegar and…
Lairesse, Gérard de (1641-1711) Venus Giving Arms to Aeneas (Venus schenkt wapens aan Aeneas) 1668 Oil on canvas, 161.8 x 165.8 cm Museum Mayer van den Bergh, Antwerp In the 17th century, classicism broke through, also in golden Holland. Artists…
Cagnacci, Guido (1601-1663) La conversione della Maddalena (The Conversion of Mary Magdalene) c.1661–1662 Oil on canvas, 229.2 x 265.4 cm Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena In the seventeenth century, Guido Cagnacci was celebrated for his deeply sensual paintings of female saints and…
Cagnacci, Guido (1601-1663) Morte di Cleopatra (The Death of Cleopatra) after 1659 Oil on canvas, 153 x 169 cm Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna Inscribed at the bottom right of the armrest support: GVIDO CAGNAZZI The last queen of Egypt, Cleopatra, let herself…
Guercino (1591-1666) Giuseppe e la moglie di Putifar (Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife) 1649 Oil on canvas, 123.2 x 158 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington A nude woman with pale pink skin reclines under cream-white sheets in a bed as…