Tag: pearl

Danae (1636)

Rembrandt (1606-1669) Danae 1636 Oil on canvas, 185 x 202.5 cm Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg Love undoubtedly also inspired Rembrandt to produce Danaë. The subject was taken from the ancient myth about a princess of Argos, whose father, the king, was…

Woman with a Pink (early 1660s)

Rembrandt (1606-1669) Woman with a Pink early 1660s Oil on canvas, 92.1 x 74.6 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Her forehead crisscrossed with jewels, the sitter of this portrait displays a pink, or carnation, a symbol of love and…

Portrait of a Young Woman with a Fan (1633)

Rembrandt (1606-1669) Portrait of a Young Woman with a Fan 1633 Oil on canvas, 125.7 x 101 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York This animated portrait has a pendant showing the sitter’s husband rising from a chair (Taft Museum, Cincinnati).…

Selene and Endymion (c.1680)

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…

Cleopatra’s Banquet (c.1675-1680)

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…

Bellona (1633)

Rembrandt (1606-1669) Bellona 1633 Oil on canvas, 127 x 97.5 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Typical of Rembrandt’s domestication of ancient myth, this depiction of the Roman goddess of war may have reflected the Dutch readiness for conflict during…

Judith at the banquet of Holofernes (1634)

Rembrandt (1606-1669) Judith at the banquet of Holofernes 1634 Oil on canvas, 143 x 154.7 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid In the past various authors have expressed their scepticism about the attribution of the painting to Rembrandt. However, the Rembrandt Research…

Flora (c.1654)

Rembrandt (1606-1669) Flora c.1654 Oil on canvas, 100 x 91.8 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Unlike many of his ambitious contemporaries, Rembrandt never traveled to Italy. Nonetheless, Italian art had a profound effect on him; in this depiction of…

Strawberry Tea Set (1912)

Hassam, Childe (1859-1935) Strawberry Tea Set 1912 Oil on canvas, 93.19 x 96.36 cm Los Angeles County Museum of Art, LA Around 1910 Hassam began depicting single female figures set in comfortable domestic interiors. The critic Royal Cortissoz referred to these paintings…