Rubens, Peter Paul (1577-1640) Venus Frigida (Cold Venus) 1614 Oil on panel, 143 x 184 x 3.8 cm Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp The title refers to Terence: “sine Cerere et Baccho friget Venus” (“without Ceres and Bacchus, Venus freezes”)…
Tiziano (c.1488-1576) Ludovico Ariosto (or Gerolamo (?) Barbarigo) c.1510 Oil on canvas, 81.2 x 66.3 cm National Gallery, London Titian painted portraits more frequently than any other type of picture and he painted them throughout his long career. This is one of…
Tiziano (c.1488-1576) Venere allo specchio (Venus with a Mirror) c.1555 Oil on canvas, 124.5 x 105.5 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington Titian’s goddess of love and beauty conjures the sense of touch. Observing her flushed cheek, one can almost feel its…
El Greco (1541-1614) San Juan Bautista (Saint John the Baptist) c.1600–1605 Oil on canvas, 103 x 62 cm Museo de Bellas Artes, Valencia
Rosso Fiorentino (1495-1540) Mosè difende le figlie di Jetro (Moses Defends the Daughters of Jethro) 1523–1527 Oil on canvas, 160 x 117 cm Galleria degli Uffizi, Firenze
Ribera, Jusepe de (1591-1652) Issione (Ixion) 1632 Oil on canvas, 220 × 301 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid The father of the race of centaurs, Ixion was punished by madness for murdering his father-in-law. After he was pardoned he attempted to supplant…
Ribera, Jusepe de (1591-1652) San Girolamo penitente (Saint Jerome in penitence) 1634 Oil on canvas, 126 × 78 cm Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid Saint Jerome in penitence is one of the episodes from the life of a saint whom Ribera depicted on a…
Ribera, Jusepe de (1591-1652) Martirio di San Bartolomeo (The Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew) 1634 Oil on canvas, 104 x 113 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington A popular subject in Counter–Reformation Italy and Spain, Ribera‘s profoundly moving work portrays the apostle’s…
Ribera, Jusepe de (1591-1652) Pietà (The Lamentation over the Dead Christ) early 1620s Oil on canvas, 129.5 x 181 cm National Gallery, London Ribera captures the moment when Christ’s lifeless body is laid out after it has been brought down from the…
Veronese, Paolo (1528-1588) Allegorie dell’amore: Il disinganno (Four Allegories of Love: Scorn) c.1575 Oil on canvas, 186.6 x 188.5 cm National Gallery, London This is one of a series of four paintings by Veronese that concern the trials and rewards of…