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).…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Zurbarán, Francisco de (1598-1664) Santa Isabel de Portugal c.1635 Oil on canvas, 184 x 98 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid Born as princess of Aragon in 1271, the daughter of Peter III “the Great” and grand-daughter of James I “the…
Guercino (1591-1666) Suicidio di Cleopatra (Suicide of Cleopatra) c.1621 Oil on canvas, 116.8 x 93.3 cm Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena Guercino gained the attention of influential patrons with his vigorous naturalism, flickering light effects, and grace of expression. He was…