Carracci, Annibale (1560-1609) Venere, Adone e Cupido (Venus, Adonis and Cupid) c.1590 Oil on canvas, 212 x 268 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid Venus, the Roman goddess of Love and Beauty, is accidentally wounded by one of her son Cupid’s arrows,…
Holbein, Hans the Younger (c.1497-1543) Jane Seymour c.1536–1537 Oil on oak, 65.5 × 47 cm Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna Holbein became court painter to Henry VIII of England in 1536. Among the first of his paintings in the service of the King was…
Rubens, Peter Paul (1577-1640) Hélène Fourment (“The Furry”) c.1636–1638 Oil on oak, 178.7 × 86.2 × 2.5 cm Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna The posture of Rubens‘ second wife Helena Fourment (1614-1674, married in 1630) is reminiscent of the type of the ancient…
Cranach, Lucas the Elder (1472-1553) Judith with the head of Holofernes c.1530 Oil on lime, 87.7 × 58.1 × 2.4 cm Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna Through courage and cunning, the Old Testament heroine had succeeded in penetrating Holofernes’ tent camp, which had…
Rubens, Peter Paul (1577-1640) Hélène Fourment putting on a glove c.1632 Oil on oak, 96.6 x 69 cm Alte Pinakothek, Munich When compared with the elaborate and imposing full-length portrait of Helene Fourment in the collection (inv. no. 340), the present…
Delacroix, Eugène (1798-1863) La mort de Sardanapale (The Death of Sardanapalus) 1844 Oil on canvas, 73.7 × 92.6 cm Philadelphia Art Museum, Philadelphia The subject of this painting was inspired by Lord Byron‘s dramatic poem of 1821 about the life of an…