Allori, Alessandro (1535-1607) Maria de’ Medici c.1555 Oil on poplar, 116 x 90 cm Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna Since the early Renaissance the foremost artists and workshops in Florence had worked for the Medici. In 1570, Cosimo I became Grand-Duke of Tuscany, elevating…
Bronzino (1503-1572) Ritratto di Cosimo I de’ Medici (Portrait of Cosimo I de’ Medici) c.1560 Oil on wood, 84 x 64 cm National Gallery, Prague See also: • Medici, Cosimo I de’ (1519-1574)
Guercino (1591-1666) Papa Gregorio XV (Pope Gregory XV) c.1622–1623 Oil on canvas, 133.7 × 98.4 cm Getty Center, Los Angeles Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, called il Guercino or simply Guercino, meaning “The Squinter”, a nickname referring to a congenital eye condition from which…
Guercino (1591-1666) La morte di Cleopatra (Death of Cleopatra) 1648 Oil on canvas, 173 x 237 cm Palazzo Rosso, Genova This painting, in which Cleopatra is depicted in the act of taking her life, in order not to suffer the shame…
Correggio (c.1489-1534) Danae c.1531 Oil on canvas, 161 x 193 cm Galleria Borghese, Roma Together with Leda, Ganymede Abducted by the Eagle, and Jupiter and Io, this painting forms part of a well-known series of Jupiter’s loves, painted by Correggio for Federico…
Fontana, Lavinia (1552-1614) Visita della regina di Saba al re Salomone (The Visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon) 1599 Oil on canvas, 256 x 325 cm National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin In 1872, just eight years after first opening…
Zurbarán, Francisco de (1598-1664) Santa Águeda (Saint Agatha) c.1635–1640 Oil on canvas, 129 × 61 cm Musée Fabre, Montpellier The prefect Quintianus wants to marry the beautiful and noble Sicilian Agathe; having dedicated her life to Christ, she refuses. So he makes…
Jordaens, Jacob (1593-1678) The Meeting of Odysseus and Nausicaa c.1630–1640 Oil on canvas, 117.5 x 194 cm Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam Jordaens was one of the most renowned and versatile Antwerp painters. Here he illustrates an episode from Homer’s Odyssey. Odysseus, naked and…
Veronese, Paolo (1528-1588) Ritratto di Daniele Barbaro (Portrait of Daniele Barbaro) 1556–1562 Oil on canvas, 121 x 105.5 cm Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam Daniele Barbaro was a leading scholar of Aristotelian physics. He is shown in the ecclesiastical garments of a patriarch. Next…
Veronese, Paolo (1528-1588) Ritratto di dama con cagnolino (Portrait of a Woman with a Dog) c.1560–1570 Oil on canvas, 105 x 79 cm Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid Along with Titian and Tintoretto, Paolo Caliari — known as Veronese — was one of…