Corot, Jean-Baptiste-Camille (1796-1875) Agostina 1866 Oil on canvas, 132.4 x 97.6 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington This model was likely an immigrant from the rural region near Rome. Corot dressed her in traditional costume and placed her in an Italian…
Goya, Francisco de (1746-1828) La familia de Carlos IV (The Family of Carlos IV) 1800 Oil on canvas, 280 x 336 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid This portrait of the family of King Carlos IV (1748-1819) was painted in Aranjuez and Madrid…
Fontana, Lavinia (1552-1614) Ritratto di Ginevra Aldrovandi Hercolani (Portrait of Ginevra Aldrovandi Hercolani) c.1595 Oil on canvas, 114.62 x 94.62 cm Walters Art Museum, Baltimore Ginevra Aldrovandi’s husband, the Bolognese senator Ercole Hercolani, died in 1593. Her elaborate mourning costume-with costly…
Lavinia Fontana (1552-1614) Ritratto di nobildonna (Portrait of a Noblewoman) c.1580 Oil on canvas, 114.3 x 88.9 cm National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington Marriage Portrait of a Bolognese Noblewoman (Livia de’ Medici Bandini?) illustrates Lavinia Fontana’s ability to…
Fontana, Lavinia (1552-1614) Minerva in atto di abbigliarsi (Minerva Dressing) 1613 Oil on canvas, 258 x 190 cm Galleria Borghese, Roma The work, which dates back to 1613, was painted in Rome, evoked here through the dome of St. Peter’s visible…
Arcimboldo, Giuseppe (1526-1593) L’Acqua (Water) 1566 Oil on alder wood, 66.5 x 50.5 cm Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna Inscription on the back side: AQUA Two paintings from the “Four Elements” series can be found in the KHM. They can be interpreted in…
Van Eyck, Jan (c.1390-1441) The Annunciation c.1434–1436 Oil on canvas transferred from panel, 90.2 x 34.1 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington A play and a painting appear to have merged in Jan van Eyck’s dramatic Annunciation, which is rich with…
Vermeer, Jan (1632-1675) Woman with a Pearl Necklace (Vrouw met parelsnoer) 1663–1665 Oil on canvas, 56.1 x 47.4 cm Gemäldegalerie, Berlin SIGNATURE / INSCRIPTION: Inscription on the table top: IVMeer (IVM in ligature) A young woman stands at a table and…
Vermeer, Jan (1632-1675) Young Woman seated at a Virginal (Zittende virginaalspeelster) c.1672–1675 Oil on canvas, 25.5 x 20.1 cm Private collection, New York This entrancing picture, the only one of Vermeer’s mature works remaining in private hands, captures the quiet joy of…
Vermeer, Jan (1632-1675) The Love Letter (De liefdesbrief) c.1669–1670 Oil on canvas, 44 x 38.5 cm Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam Vermeer chose an unusual vantage point for this painting. From a dim space in the foreground, a glimpse is afforded of another room…