Bouguereau, William-Adolphe (1825-1905) Dante et Virgile (Dante and Virgil) 1850 Oil on canvas, 280.5 x 225.3 cm Musée d’Orsay, Paris Having failed on two occasions to win the Prix de Rome (1848 and 1849), Bouguereau was hungry for revenge. His…
Bouguereau, William-Adolphe (1825-1905) Les Nymphes et le Satyre (Nymphs and Satyr) 1873 Oil on canvas, 260.4 x 182.9 cm Clark Art Institute, Williamstown Three nymphs playfully drag a Satyr into a woodland pond, while a fourth calls to her companions…
Renoir, Pierre-Auguste (1841-1919) Baigneuse assise (Seated Bather) c.1883–1884 Oil on canvas, 119.7 x 93 cm Fogg Museum, Cambridge, MA Following a trip to Italy in 1881–82 to study the masterpieces of ancient Roman and Renaissance painting, Renoir embarked on one…
Tiziano (c.1488-1576) Danae 1560–1565 Oil on canvas, 129.8 x 181.2 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid The first Poesie presented to Prince Philip were Danaë (1553, The Wellington Collection) and Venus and Adonis (1554, Museo del Prado, P422), versions of other…
Botticelli, Sandro (c.1445-1510) San Sebastiano (St. Sebastian) 1474 Tempera on poplar panel, 195 x 75 cm Gemäldegalerie, Berlin The Roman officer Sebastian was supposed to renounce his Christian faith in order to serve as the bodyguard of the Emperor Diocletian. When he…
Antonello da Messina (c.1430-1479) San Sebastiano (St. Sebastian) c.1478 Oil on canvas transferred from wood, 171 x 85.5 cm Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden Antonello da Messina set the martyrdom of St. Sebastian in Venice, as can be seen from the waterways…
Antonello da Messina (c.1430-1479) Crocifissione (Calvary) 1475 Oil on panel, 52.5 x 42.5 cm Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp The dead Christ hangs from the Cross on Golgotha, also known as Mount Calvary. The Virgin Mary is mourning at his…
Canova, Antonio (1757-1822) Paride (Paris) 1816 Marble, 203.7 x 103.7 x 55 cm Neue Pinakothek, Munich Paris, the son of the Trojan king Priam, had been abandoned as a child and found and raised by shepherds. The apple in his right hand…
Canova, Antonio (1757-1822) Dedalo e Icaro (Daedalus and Icarus) 1777–1779 Marble, 182 x 95 cm Museo Correr, Venezia This famous sculpture, his first large one in marble, is the masterpiece of Antonio Canova‘s Venetian youth. It was created for the procurator…