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This attractive group portrait, one of the most interesting of the 17th-century Dutch school on account of its bourgeois spirit with aristocratic leanings, is an extraordinary skilful depiction of the artist´s close family. Jordaens portrays himself with his wife Catharina van Noort and their first child Elizabeth, born on 26 June 1617, whose age allows us to date the work approximately. Cat
This opulent still-life scene typical of the Baroque Flemish school includes a human figure and two animals, as was common in the period, in accordance with the tastes of the clients, whose wealth and prosperity was also reflected in this genre of paintings. Snyders´ clientele were members of the nobility and haute bourgeoisie who were interested in his paintings as testimonies to wealth as well a
Born in El Escorial in 1609, don Fernando was the son of Philip III and Margarita de Austria, and thus Philip IV´s brother. As a result, he held very high posts. In 1619, he was appointed cardinal and between 1634 and his death in 1641, he was governor of Flanders, where he succeeded his aunt, the Archduchess Isabel Clara Eugenia. Generally dated around 1632-1634, in the years immediately followin
This work belongs to the so-called peasant interiors, one of the new genres of painting that emerged and developed in Flanders and Holland in the early seventeenth century. In Houbraken and in early inventories they are described as een boertje, (a little peasant), or as toeback rookerchen, (tobacco smokers). The consolidation and appreciation of this genre was fostered by the satirical and morali
Like many other works by Andrea di Lione, Jacob’s journey, c.1635-65, was previously attributed to Genoese painter Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione (Il Grechetto). It is one of the most successful landscapes with figures by Lione, who first studied with battle painter Aniello Falcone (1607-1656) and later developed a more bucolic manner under the influence of Castiglione, whom he lived alongside in
This is one of a number of images of Saint Rosalia that Van Dyck painted in Sicily, where he lived from 1624 to 1625. It depicts the hermit saint in her cave on Mount Pellegrino near Palermo. Rosalia’s cult gained popularity during the outbreak of the plague that devastated the city in the 1620s.
Francesco Albani was a much favoured pupil of Annibale Carracci. His success was partially due to mythological paintings such as The toilet of Venus (P1) and The judgement of Paris (P2), whose refined and lyrical view of nature helped disseminate the classical ideals of the Carracci`s landscapes.Albani`s The judgement of Paris, c.1650-60, shows the shepherd prince admiring the beauty of three godd
Venus, the Roman goddess of Love and Beauty, is accidentally wounded by one of her son Cupid´s arrows, which triggers her passion for Adonis. This love story ends with the tragic death of the hero. The scene is based on book X of Ovid´s Metamorphoses, one of the most important sources of mythology for artists of that time. The composition and pictorial technique in this work are a fine
This cartoon for a tapestry to be placed over a door or window shows a street vendor, a subject based on the popular and very widely distributed etchings by the Bolognese artist Annibale Carracci (1560-1609). This work of extraordinary refinement is notable especially for the boy`s noble pose, a masterly rendition by the artist of the attempts by enlightened reformers to revitalise and dignify man
The capitulation of the Rhenish city of Jülich was one of the most outstanding events at the beginning of the Thirty Years War (1618-1648). Occupied by Maurice of Nassau’s French troops since 1610, Jülich surrendered to an army led by the Marquis of Los Balbases, General Ambrosio de Spínola, who would later triumph at Breda. This event took place after the truce established in 160
This set of paintings on the five senses (Sight, Hearing, Smell, Taste, Touch) was one of the most successful collaborations of Peter Paul Rubens and Jan Brueghel “the Elder”. Rubens placed his figures in the magnificent courtly scenes created by Brueghel as settings for these allegories of the senses, resulting in a series of enormous quality and esthetic appeal. The subject was widely employed i
A surgeon extracts a stone from a patient´s head. The scene takes place in an urban setting, probably a market. An aged helper holds the patient´s head, along with a youth, who prepares the unguents. Meanwhile, another patient grimaces grotesquely while waiting his turn. Hemessen criticizes the defrauding of patients by depicting the doctor with a sarcastic expression that reveals him as an impost
This painting depicts the façade of Saint Peter’s as it was designed by the architect Carlo Maderno and before the re-modelling undertaken by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, who had the clock tower on the right demolished and added the colonnade that exists today. The ceremony taking place in the foreground remains unidentified. The buildings in this canvas were painted by Codazzi, while Falcone was
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
Born in Antwerp in 1609, Omazur was a friend and admirer of Murillo’s. He established himself as a merchant in Seville where he wrote poetry and collected painting. The austerity of the image links it to the Spanish and Flemish traditions, while the presence of the skull transforms it into a “Vanitas”, inviting us to reflect on the transience of worldly glory. Adquirido en
The great charm of this still life has evidently long been apparent to lovers of painting, since it is first recorded in the collection of Gaspar de Haro, later VII Marqués del Carpio (1651), who was one of the most distinguished aristocratic picture collectors of his day. Its size is clearly a factor; the intimate scale is particularly alluring. Indeed, the appeal to collectors of small st
Shown standing with damascene half-armor and white-and-gold bloomers, Cosimo II, Grand Duke of Tuscany was born to Ferdinand I and Christine of Lorraine in 1590. He succeeded his father as duke in 1609 and died on February 18, 1621. This painting was first listed at the Alcázar in 1636.
This painting entered the Prado as an original by Philips de Koninck (1619-1688), though in the 1873 catalogue it is attributed to Salomon Koninck (1609-1656). Adecade later, in the 1885 edition, Bredius ascribes it to Pieter Fransz. de Grebber (1595/1605-1652/53), an attribution that is accepted by the Prado, albeit with reservations, as of the 1933 catalogue, where the previous title, Portraits
