This painting is among the few known works from Berruguete’s formative years in Florence and Rome, the latter depicted in the background. The bridle bit, the hand on the breast and the laurel wreath allude to the subjugation of the instincts by reason and temperament.
When Parmigianino left his native city of Parma to move to Rome in 1524 he took this painting with him and presented it to Pope Clement VII. This is the artist´s first mature work and one that already reveals the grace that Vasari considered the greatest aesthetic quality of any painting: a gift of nature impossible to learn, combining beauty, delicacy and sweetness.
Titian represented the Gospel account of the burial of Christ (Matthew 27: 57-61; Mark 15: 44-47; Luke 23: 50-54; John 19: 38-42) on several occasions. There is a notable difference between his first version (Paris, Louvre) of around 1526 which is clearly indebted to Raphael´s painting of that subject (Rome, Galleria Borghese), and his other versions painted between 1559 and 1572. The main differe
The position of the figures, looking at each other, is common for diptych paintings. However, we do not know if these were originally painted as pendants to each other. In 1597, this panel and Virgin Mary (P1562) were described in the Escorial as two “doors” of the same object. They may have been acquired as separate paintings and then hinged together as a diptych in the Royal Collection. Some sch
Christ´s dead body is taken off the Cross by Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus and Saint John the Evangelist. Among the people at his feet are the Virgin Mary, the mother of Joseph —also called Mary— as well as Salomé and Mary Magdalene, who raises her arms as a sign of her suffering. The good and bad thieves are crucified on trees. This scene follows the New Testament story of the Jesus´ desc
On 16 April 1529 Federico II Gonzaga, First Duke of Mantua (1500-1540), apologised to his uncle Alfonso d’Este for retaining Titian: perché ha conienzo un retratto mio qual molto desidero sii finito (because he has started a portrait of me which I greatly desire to be finished). In 1530 a second portrait of Federico in armour is also recorded. Typologically and conceptually, the present por
A bird seller is tricked by a young man who shows him some coins with the right hand while robbing a rooster with the left. While the nationality of this artist is unknown, he seems to have learned his craft in Italy as his work shows a preference for the naturalistic approach of Caravaggio (1571-1610), and for some concepts of the Venetian school. His curious nickname comes from a certain similar
As in the case of Leonardo with his depiction of this story from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, the German artist Georg Pencz was inspired by classical sculpture (in this case the Sleeping Ariadne) to depict the seduction of the Aetolian princess by Zeus, transformed into a swan. In contrast to the Renaissance visual tradition, the swan does not wrap itself around Leda but rather flirts with her, allowing
Titian represented the Gospel account of the burial of Christ (Matthew 27: 57-61; Mark 15: 44-47; Luke 23: 50-54; John 19: 38-42) on several occasions. There is a notable difference between his first version (Paris, Louvre) of around 1526 which is clearly indebted to Raphael´s painting of that subject (Rome, Galleria Borghese), and his other versions painted between 1559 and 1572. The main differe
Considered a copy of a portrait by El Greco, the more detailed technique deployed here lacks the loose boldness of his brushstroke but the composition and some of the elements within it remain close to his approach. El Greco would have known the sitter (1529-1600), a celebrated jurist and a member of the Councils of Castile and of Finance.
On August 29, 1626, King Philip IV’s painter, Vicente Carducho (ca. 1576-1638), signed a contract for the creation of a cycle of paintings to celebrate the founding of the Carthusian Order by Saint Bruno and its leading members. This colossal undertaking sought to visually narrate numerous episodes from the Carthusians’ history and tradition. It was the most complete commission ever dedicated to t
Michel Hochmann identified the painting in the Capodimonte as the ‘Quadretto corniciato di pero tinto con un ritratto di un giovane, in pietra di Genova, di mano del medesimo [Daniele]’ refered to in the 1600 inventory of the possessions of the antiquarian Fulvio Orsini (1529–1600). The artist referred to is Daniele Ricciarelli, known as Daniele da Volterra, and the attribution of the work seems s
El Abrazo ante la puerta dorada y Nacimiento de la Virgen y la Visitación y Purificación (P001333) ocupan los compartimentos de dos calles laterales de un retablo no conservado. Fueron atribuidas al pintor vicense Joan Gascó por Sánchez Cantón en 1950. Joan Gascó, pintor oriundo de Navarra estableció a partir de 1503 un taller familiar de artistas en la ciudad de Vich: este taller, activo más de t
Quentin Massys was one of the leading Flemish painters of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century and developed his professional career in Antwerp. The origin of this painting is unknown. It has belonged to the Royal Collection since the time of Philip II in the sixteenth century. The position of the figures, looking at each other, is common for diptych paintings. However, we do not know if
On August 29, 1626, King Philip IV’s painter, Vicente Carducho (ca. 1576-1638), signed a contract for the creation of a cycle of paintings to celebrate the founding of the Carthusian Order by Saint Bruno and its leading members. This colossal undertaking sought to visually narrate numerous episodes from the Carthusians’ history and tradition. It was the most complete commission ever dedicated to t
Formerly attributed to Bartolomeo Passerotti (1529-1592), presumably on account of the broad cross-hatching in pen, a technique that is characteristic of drawings by this artist. On the other hand, the figure-type employed in the man´s head seem distinctly Florentine, and the handling perhaps more suggestive of the pen drawings of the Florentine Sigismondo Coccapani (1583-1643).
Traditionally given to Polidoro da Caravaggio (c. 1499-ca. 1543). The figure´s pose and the handling of the media suggest the work of an artist from the circle of Taddeo Zuccaro (1529-1566). Especially suggestive of the latter´s influence are the heavily applied passages of white heightening and the rounded folds of drapery at the figure´s waist. The writer suggests that this drawing could be by
On the verso are extensive notes about the Flemish sculptor Pietro Francavilla (1548-1615). Francavilla received his early training in Paris and Innsbruck. Archduke Ferdinand of Austria provided him with a letter of introduction to Giambologna, and he transferred to Florence in c. 1570, becoming the latter´s partner. He remained in Florence for much of his career, travelling at times to other cent