Tintoretto, Jacopo (1518-1594) San Giorgio e il drago (Saint George and the Dragon) c.1555 Oil on canvas, 158.3 × 100.5 cm National Gallery, London Saint George plunges his lance into the jaws of the dragon which, according to legend, inhabited the…
Tiepolo, Giambattista (1696-1770) Adrasto assiso ai piedi d’Armida (Adrastus seated at the feet of Armida) c.1740–1746 Oil on canvas, 160.4 × 53.5 cm National Gallery, London Within a walled garden, a man wearing a striking blue costume and ornate necklace catches the…
Scholderer, Otto (1834-1902) Portrait of the Artist’s Wife (Porträt der Frau des Künstlers) probably 1872–1873 Oil on canvas, 31.6 × 40 cm National Gallery, London Scholderer made several portraits of Luise Steurwaldt, whom he married in London on 11 February 1872. Here…
Rubens, Peter Paul (1577-1640) Samson and Delilah c.1609–1610 Oil on wood, 185 × 205 cm National Gallery, London Peter Paul Rubens’s Samson and Delilah portrays a tragedy of love and betrayal. According to the Old Testament, Samson, a Jewish hero blessed…
Puvis de Chavannes, Pierre (1824-1898) L’été (Summer) before 1873 Oil on canvas, 43.2 × 62.2 cm National Gallery, London The theme of Puvis de Chavannes’s painting is an old one. Images of summer and harvesting can be found in medieval illuminated manuscripts,…
Poussin, Nicolas (1594-1665) Le Triomphe de Silène (The Triumph of Silenus) c.1636 Oil on canvas, 142.9 × 120.5 cm National Gallery, London This playful scene celebrates Silenus, companion to Bacchus, the Roman god of wine and drunkenness. Silenus, a naked old…
Morisot, Berthe (1841-1895) Jour d’été (Summer’s Day) c.1879 Oil on canvas, 45.7 × 75.2 cm National Gallery, London This painting was almost certainly exhibited with the title The Lake in the Bois de Boulogne at the Fifth Impressionist exhibition in April…
Millet, Jean-François (1814-1875) Femme et enfant dans un paysage (Woman and Child in a Landscape) 1846–1847 Oil on canvas, 45.7 × 38.1 cm National Gallery, London A woman sits on a rocky ledge, her head gracefully turned toward a young naked…
Fragonard, Jean-Honoré (1732-1806) Psyché montrant à ses soeurs les présents de l’amour (Psyche showing her Sisters her Gifts from Cupid) 1753 Oil on canvas, 168.3 × 192.4 cm National Gallery, London This painting illustrates an episode from the classical story of Cupid…
Delacroix, Eugène (1798-1863) Ovide chez les Scythes (Ovid among the Scythians) 1859 Oil on canvas, 87.6 × 130.2 cm National Gallery, London In AD 8 the Roman poet Ovid, author of The Art Of Love and the epic poem Metamorphoses, was banished…