Courbet, Gustave (1819-1877) Femme au perroquet (Woman with a Parrot) 1866 Oil on canvas, 129.5 x 195.6 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York When this painting was shown in the Salon of 1866, some critics censured Courbet‘s “lack of…
Rembrandt (1606-1669) Staalmeesters (The Wardens of the Amsterdam Drapers’ Guild, Known as ‘The Syndics’) 1662 Oil on canvas, 191.5 x 279 cm Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam After suffering financial difficulties in the 1650s, Rembrandt moved to a rental house on the Rozengracht.…
Rembrandt (1606-1669) Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem 1630 Oil on panel, 58 x 46 cm Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam The crestfallen Prophet Jeremiah rests his weary, old head on his hand. He laments Jerusalem going up in flames – in the…
Rembrandt (1606-1669) Portrait of a Scholar 1631 Oil on canvas, 104.5 x 92 cm Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg In the first decade of his life in Amsterdam, to which the young Rembrandt moved from Leiden in 1631, he gained initial fame…
Rembrandt (1606-1669) The Toilet of Bathsheba 1643 Oil on wood, 57.2 x 76.2 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Rembrandt shows the biblical figure Bathsheba completely nude, lost in a moment of contemplation and unaware that she is being observed…
Rembrandt (1606-1669) Judith at the banquet of Holofernes 1634 Oil on canvas, 143 x 154.7 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid In the past various authors have expressed their scepticism about the attribution of the painting to Rembrandt. However, the Rembrandt Research…
Velázquez, Diego (1599-1660) Las hilanderas, o La fábula de Aracne (The Spinners or The Fable of Arachne) 1655–1660 Oil on canvas, 220 x 289 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid This painting is the result of two acts carried out in…
Van Eyck, Jan (c.1390-1441) Portrait of Giovanni (?) Arnolfini and his Wife 1434 Oil on oak, 82.2 x 60 cm National Gallery, London This must be one of the most famous paintings in the world, and one of the most intriguing.…