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This painting is both beautiful in appearance and enigmatic on account of its problems of attribution, its authorship having fluctuated between several artists, all belonging to the aesthetic environment of Michelangelo Merisi, Caravaggio. Indeed, although it is now definitely ascribed to Serodine, some critics still believe it to be the work of the latter. Its history can be traced back to 1647,
According to the Book of Genesis (Gen. 1: 4, 3-12), Adam´s sons each made offerings to the Lord, who was pleased with Abel´s but not with Cain´s. Jealous of his brother, Cain slew Abel, suffering the ire of God and banishment. As tradition has it, Abel was beat to death with the jawbone of an ass. Michiel Coxcie chose to depict the moment immediately following the crime. Abel lies on his back with
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
The view is from the riverbank opposite the city, where several groups of people are spread out, enlivening the composition. In the background one can see Saragossa´s main buildings and Felipe IV entering the city. The work was commissioned by Prince Baltasar Carlos, who indicated the exact viewpoint from which it was to be painted, and the artist used it as an opportunity to recreate a magnificen
Depictions of painting galleries became popular in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 17th century. The exhibition of paintings and other artistic or natural objects was originally a way of manifesting the high social standing of an eminently bourgeois class with a strong desire to ennoble itself. In many cases, the paintings did not rigorously reflect the client’s collection, but served inst
This scene belongs to the type of Italianate landscape which Asselijn cultivated in Holland based on drawings and sketches made from the life during his stay in Rome. Blankert (1965) dates the work to 1648. However, Steland-Stief (1971) believes it to have been painted around 1647, the first year Asselijn is documented in Amsterdam after returning from Italy, on account of the stylistic similarity
This painting has recently been identified as a work by Pietro Novelli, known as Il Monrealese on account of his having been born in Monreale, Sicily. It was considered until 1933 to be the work of Neapolitan painter Andrea Vaccaro, and after that time its authorship was demoted to Anonymous Neapolitan by the Museo del Prado. The painting passed largely unnoticed on account of its being on long-te
Salviati belonged to a generation of Florentine painters characterised by the sophistication of their visual language and by a deliberate formal and conceptual complexity. Having trained with Andrea del Sarto, he moved to Rome in 1531. He subsequently worked in Bologna and Venice, settling in Florence in 1543 where he painted this panel for his friend Pasquino Bertini. Its elegance and the stylisa
The structure of the composition is based on parallel planes, although their arrangement lacks spatial depth. The horizon line is high. The main action unfolds in the foreground. The figures are large and their proximity enables the viewer to appreciate in detail the precise expression of emotions in the men and beasts that seem to be entangled in a frenzied disorder - which is, however, only appa
An inquiring and original artist, as well as an extraordinary draughtsman, Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione travelled throughout much of Italy (besides his native Genoa, he worked in Rome, Mantua, Venice, and possibly Parma, Florence, Bologna and Modena) absorbing and appropriating a great variety of tendencies and languages, from the vigorous naturalism of painters living in Genoa, such as Sinibald
A young man holds a musical instrument that has been identified as a long-necked lute or guitarrón. His black clothing and the dark background leave his flesh tones and the white touches of his collar and cuffs as the only highlights, thus drawing the eye to his face and hands. This was a customary formula in Baroque portraits.The sitter’s expert grasp of his instrument indicates his famili
This canvas was part of the decoration of the chapel dedicated to that saint at the Franciscan convent of Santa María de Jesús (known as San Diego de Alcalá) in Alcalá de Henares. Part of its considerable interest is that it may be considered a fine example of the artist’s Madrid period, around 1650-52, when he made some of his finest works. Stylistically, it is probabl
This painting shows the finale of a brutal encounter between two female fighters. The woman on the right has attained the upper hand over her opponent, who has fallen injured to the ground, and is about to administer the coûp de grace. In the background, to the left, is a man in Roman military dress resting on a staff, and behind the wall of the arena stand soldiers and male civilians watchi
Hijo de Guillermo de Orange y de Luisa de Coligny, a la muerte de Mauricio de Nassau continúa la lucha por la independencia de Holanda. Militar de fuerte personalidad y sólido carácter; Van Dyck lo simboliza en la pared y la pilastra de piedra que finge a espaldas del retrato. El casamiento de sus hijos con príncipes de Inglaterra y de Alemania consolida su prestigio en Europa. Fue elegido stadtho
This portrait was listed as an original by Schalcken in the collection of the Duke of Arcos, an attribution that is maintained by Tormo and Valdivieso (1973). Behermann (1988) ascribes it to Karel de Moor (1655-1738), a follower of Schalcken. However, in the opinion of Rudy Ekkart, the delicate modelling of the face, the loose, precise brushstrokes in the rendering of the hair, the plumes of the h
This canvas depicts an equestrian event that took place at the Palace of Aranjuez in 1770. It was attended by Charles III and Princess María Luisa, his daughter-in-law, who are to be seen in the second box adjoining the palace façade, and by a crowd of subtly individualised figures. On horseback at the forefront of the pairs of riders are Prince Carlos and the Infantes Gabriel and Lu
A group of local people dance to the sound of bagpipes and a hurdy-gurdy in honour of a bride, who presides at the table in the background, surrounded by what seem to be older relatives or guests. The distant background, in which a tall-spired church can be made out, is populated by a group of distinguished personages, one of whom could be Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria, governor of the Spani
