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Luis de Carvajal was a Toledan painter who trained in Rome and subsequently at El Escorial, a flourishing centre for Spanish painting in the first half of the seventeenth century. The manner in which the penitent Magdalen’s figure is bathed in light emphasises her sensual body. The visual potency of the Italian Renaissance formulas on which this work is based ensured their survival during the Baro
With the owners or house servants away, the animals sneak into the larder, giving free rein to their instincts. This leads to a fight. Scenes of animal fights in domestic settings were customary in mid-seventeenth-century Flemish painting. They were also frequent in the literature of proverbs, where they were interpreted as moral allusions to the abandonment of responsibilities and their consequen
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 Arslan points out, this is the best known version of the Partenza per Canaan (Venice, Palazzo Ducale; 150 x 205 cm) which Jacopo Bassano painted for the Venetian patrician Jacopo Contarini, whose descendant, Bertucci Contarini, donated at the beginning of the 18th century to the Palazzo del Governo in Venice, where it is mentioned as hanging in 1733. The original, dated to approximately 1579, i
This panel was the first painting produced by the artist when he started working for Philip II at the monastery of El Escorial. He had just returned from Italy, and already displayed a remarkable ability to blend the various elements that together shaped his Escorial style: the landscape has Netherlandish echoes, whilst the figures are handled in a Mannerist style reminiscent of Raphael and Michel
This canvas and its companion, Taste, Hearing and Touch (P1404), represent the five senses embodied by female figures in palatial interiors. The sense of smell is conveyed by a woman holding flowers, while Sight contemplates herself in a mirror held by a cherub. They are located in a hall filled with paintings and sculptures, a sort of cabinet of paintings that could reflect an idealized represent
The Descent from the Cross was painted for the Chapel of Our Lady Outside the Walls at Leuven, which was founded in the fourteenth century by the Great Crossbowmen`s Guild, sold in 1798 and demolished soon afterwards. The two small crossbows that hang from the tracery in the corners of the panel indicate that it was commissioned by that guild. The earliest datable copy, the Edelheere Triptych of 1
The Heavenly Father, with an Eastern Miter on his head, holds the body of Christ in his lap. The dove of the Holy Ghost appears over his head, while six young angels surround the scene. Several cherubs´ heads appear at Jesus´ feet and under God the Father´s robes. Based on an engraving by Albrecht Dürer, this was one of El Greco´s first commissioned pieces in Toledo. The artist harmonizes the
This image of Saint Benedict of Nursia (c.480-547) was painted for the high altar in the Church of Santo Domingo el Antiguo, one of the oldest convents in Toledo founded by the Benedictine order in the seventh century. In the sixteenth century, a new church was built with funding from a wealthy patron, Doña María de Silva, who died in 1575. Diego de Castilla, the deacon of the Cathed
There are several replicas and copies of The Disrobing, a remarkable canvas painted by El Greco between 1577–79. Harold Wethey ordered a total of 15 works on this theme, plus a group of four half-length copies. El Greco directly participated in five of these compositions, and the remaining ten were included among the workshop’s productions or as later copies. The Disrobing in the Museo del Prado i
This painting was first recorded in 1746 in the Spanish royal collection, together with Still life with Flowers, Gilt Goblet, Almonds, Dried Fruits, Sweets, Biscuits, Wine and a Pewter Flagon (P1620). The two paintings remained in the royal collection until they entered the Prado. The suggestion made in the past that this and three other paintings in the Prado (P1619, P1620 y P1621) formed a serie
As depicted here, the encounter between Mary Magdalene and the resurrected Christ follows a composition by Dürer. Characteristic of this painter, born in Madrid and trained in Rome, are the human types, the Caravaggesque influence on the colouring and light, and the landscape deriving from Bolognese classicism. The frame is of the Tuscan and Emilian type of the first half of the seventeenth c
Portrayed in more than half-length, Catalina Micaela (1567-1597) wears an entirely black dress with lace collar and cuffs, inner sleeves of golden white and white ribbons. A double string of pearls, a necklace, worked golden buttons and a belt are her rich jewelry. As in other court portraits, she rests her hand on an armchair in allusion to her high birth, while the other holds a feminine object,
Helen’s move from Sparta to Troy is described very differently in the two oldest narratives. In the Iliad, Homer describes Helen’s reticence to abandon Menelaeus, suggesting she was kidnapped by Paris. However, in his Ephemeris Belli Troiani (fourth century BC), Dictys Cretensis describes her departure as the willing flight of a woman in love. Both versions are represented in sixteenthcentury Ital
According to Plutarch, Philopoemen, a strategist and general of the Aequian League that fought against Sparta, visited the city of Megara. Because of his unassuming, humble appearance, the lady of the house confused him with a servant and put him to work. The present scene depicts the moment when the husband realizes the general´s true identity, under whose modest appearance is hidden the grandeur
This portrait commemorates Charles V’s victory over the Schmalkaldic League at Mühlberg on 24 April 1547. The Emperor is equipped in the manner of the light cavalry with a half pike and wheel-lock pistol. His suit of armour was made around 1545 by Desiderius Helmschmid and has an image of the Virgin and Child on the breastplate, as was customary with Charles’ armour from 1531. Panofsky pointe
The Infanta, Felipe II´s daughter, is portrayed with a distant and elegant gesture, in three-quarters, which was in keeping with a type of portraiture widely used among court painters at that time. She wears a white and gold dress with lace collar and cuffs, a feather headdress and a great profusion of jewelry, precious stones and pearls. She holds a handkerchief in her left hand, as was customary
This painting was listed in the Museum catalogues as an anonymous work from the Dutch school until 1920, although from 1885 onwards it was noted that Bredius ascribes it to Aert Anthonisz. van Antum (ca. 1579/80-1620). The attribution was adopted from the 1936 catalogue onwards. However, Vroom`s signature is perceptible beneath the repainted flag bearing the Burgundy cross which covers the origina
