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 [+]
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 mi [+]
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 hi [+]
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 d [+]
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 abil [+]
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, [+]
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 [+]
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 cherub [+]
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). [+]
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 [+]
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-loc [+]
The Infanta, Felipe II´s daughter, is portrayed at the age of thirteen. She stands with a distant and elegant gesture, in three-quarters, which was in keeping with a type of portraiture widely used am [+]
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 ( [+]
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 th [+]
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 [+]
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 [+]
Gabriele Finaldi was the first to point out that the seated pope seems to be Pius V (Ghislieri), the Dominican, pro-Spanish pontiff who reigned from 1566 to 1572. As Cardinal Ghislieri, he held the of [+]
This is a preparatory study, with only some differences, for Calvaert´s painting of the Holy Family with St. Catherine and the Infant St. John the Baptist in the Gemäldegalerie, Oldenburg, [+]