Boucher, François (1703-1770) La Fontaine de Vénus (Fountain of Venus) 1756 Oil on canvas, 233 x 215 cm Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland Lighthearted, erotic decorative schemes remained popular among the French aristocracy throughout the 1700s. In this painting, part of the…
Boucher, François (1703-1770) Madame de Pompadour 1759 Oil on canvas, 91 x 68 cm Wallace Collection, London Pompadour has been famous for the important position as a patron and in politics that she obtained as Louis XV’s mistress. Because of her great…
Hals, Frans (c.1582-1666) Portrait of a Couple (Probably Isaac Abrahamsz Massa and Beatrix van der Laen) c.1622 Oil on canvas, 140 x 166.5 cm Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam This happy, smiling pair sits comfortably close to each other. Posing a couple together in…
El Greco (1541-1614) Aparición de la Virgen y el Niño a San Jacinto (Apparition of the Virgin and Child to Saint Hyacinth) c.1605–1610 Oil on canvas, 158.4 x 98.7 cm Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia Hyacinth, a Polish Dominican priest born in 1185,…
Van der Weyden, Rogier (c.1399-1464) Madonna and Child c.1451 Oil on oak panel, 18.9 x 12.1 cm Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna Left wing of a diptych. Mary with the Child before Solomon’s Throne; on the architectural frame in grisaille at the top God…
Michelangelo (1475-1564) Disegno per una statua equestre di Enrico II di Francia (Design for an Equestrian Statue of Henry II of France) 1559–1564 Chalk on paper, 13 x 12 cm Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam In 1559 Catherine of Medici commissioned Michelangelo to create…
Van der Weyden, Rogier (c.1399-1464) The Virgin and Child enthroned c.1433 Oil on panel, 15.8 x 11.4 cm Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid Together with Jan van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden was one of the greatest figures of 15th-century art. Among his…
Tiepolo, Giambattista (1696-1770) La morte di Giacinto (The Death of Hyacinthus) c.1752–1753 Oil on canvas, 287 x 232 cm Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid This large canvas dates from the period when Tiepolo was working in Würzburg. It was first attributed to the…
Giordano, Luca (1634-1705) Il giudizio di Salomone (The Judgement of Solomon) c.1665 Oil on canvas, 250.8 x 308 cm Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid ©Carmen Thyssen Collection This large-format canvas is a superb example of Italian Baroque painting. In this strongly narrative scene,…
Géricault, Théodore (1791-1824) Course de chevaux (Horse Race) c.1817 Oil on paper mounted on canvas, 44 x 59 cm Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid Théodore Géricault was from a wealthy Rouen family that moved to Paris in 1796 for professional reasons. Géricault was…