Bellotto, Bernardo (1721–1780) La fortezza di Königstein (The Fortress of Königstein) 1756–1758 Oil on canvas, 133 x 235.7 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington In the distance, a fortress sits on a rocky plateau below a sky filled with lightly…
Giorgione (c.1477-1510) Adorazione dei pastori Allendale (The Adoration of the Shepherds) 1505–1510 Oil on panel, 90.8 x 110.5 cm cm National Gallery of Art, Washington Four people with pale skin are gathered to our right in a landscape, their heads…
Rembrandt (1606-1669) The Adoration of the Shepherds 1646 Oil on canvas, 97 x 71.3 cm Alte Pinakothek, Munich The so-called ‘Passion Cycle’ was painted for the stadtholder of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, Prince Frederik Hendrik of Orange. The…
Flinck, Govert (1615-1660) Rembrandt as Shepherd with Staff and Flute c.1636 Oil on canvas, 75.1 x 64.4 cm Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam Depictions of shepherds and shepherdesses were popular in the 17th century. They show an idyllic world, one full of simple pleasures. Busy…
Tiziano (c.1488-1576) & Workshop Venere e il suonatore di liuto (Venus and the Lute Player) c.1565–1570 Oil on canvas, 165.1 x 209.6 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Venus, the goddess of love, interrupts her music making to be crowned…
Botticelli, Sandro (c.1445-1510) Natività mistica (Mystic Nativity) 1500 Oil on canvas, 108.6 x 74.9 cm National Gallery, London The infant Christ reaches up towards the Virgin Mary, oblivious of his visitors – the Three Kings on the left and the shepherds on…
Goya, Francisco de (1746-1828) El columpio (The Swing) 1779 Oil on canvas, 260 x 165 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid This cartoon, the pair to The Washerwomen (P-786), depicts three women and four elegantly dressed children with their dog on a…
Bruegel the Elder, Pieter (c.1525-1569) The Return of the Herd (Autumn, October-November) 1565 Oil on oak, 117 × 159.7 × 3 cm Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna Bruegel introduced to the art of painting the autumn motif of the returning herd, a subject…
Caravaggio (1571-1610) Adorazione dei Pastori (Adoration of the Shepherds) 1609 Oil on canvas, 314 x 211 cm Museo Regionale, Messina
Caravaggio (1571-1610) Estasi di San Francesco (Francis of Assisi in Ecstasy) c.1595–1596 Oil on canvas, 94 x 129.5 cm Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford Curatorial Narrative: Caravaggio revolutionized the painting of his era through a theatrical use of light, dramatic narrative, and the naturalistic…