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All parts of this extraordinarily meticulous work are related to each other from a formal and iconographic standpoint. The Virgin appears in the foreground, where she occupies a considerable portion of the pictorial surface. This insures her powerful presence, and the painter emphasizes it with a very elaborate frame that fills the image with meaning. There are two clearly differentiated parts, th
We can identify Saint Francis by his habit, his rope belt and the wound on his right hand. He raises his gaze towards heaven and holds a skull in his left hand. A crucifix rests on a book in front of him in this scene that presents him deep in prayer as a direct result of his meditations.Painted in Madrid in 1659 during the final years of Zurbarán’s life, Saint Francis at Prayer is a paradi
A landscape with waterfalls appears at one side of the composition. At the other, various buildings oppose their rational and geometrical mass to Nature’s freer expression. The canvas’s human presence consists of various tiny figures in different parts of the composition. The suggestion of the Tivoli cascades and their wild surroundings are the main argument of this painting, which is characterist
The Virgin’s facial type, the confident drawing and the forceful rendering of the spatial planes originally led this work to be attributed to Claudio Coello. But in 1986 more precise knowledge of the artistic personality of Mateo Cerezo led Rogelio Buendía and Ismael Gutiérrez Pastor to name him as its author. This attribution has been maintained and it rests on a comparison to signe
The Virgin holds Christ´s dead body on her lap and turns an imploring look towards the heavens. Saint John, in red, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus meditate on the event of which they are the protagonists. Towards the bottom, Mary Magdalene removes the Thorns form Christ´s head and Mary Salome kisses his hand. This is a work from Jordaens´ mature period, with the long, watery brushstrokes that c
A noble Roman widow and mother of five children, Saint Paula decided to retreat to the desert and abandon her worldly ways in favour of a life of prayer and penitence. In 285 AD she abandoned Rome with her son, Eustace, and moved to Antioch, where she joined Saint Jerome to share a hermit’s life. Claude Lorrain’s painting depicts her departure, offering an imaginary recreation of the port of Ostia
A broad landscape is the setting for Moses’s rescue from the Nile River by the Egyptian Pharaoh’s daughter and her retinue. In the foreground, a shepherd sleeps, indifferent to the events taking place behind him. The lush landscape, flowing river with a bridge, and the city in the background to the right are artistic license, and the original vegetation is evoked by only one element: the palm tree
These two canvases (The Adoration of the Magi, P1129 and The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, P1130) were part of a small altar piece in the convent of Los Angéles in Madrid, a work that also included The Annunciation (P1128). The present canvases are typical of the mature style of this artist, who made masterly use of a range of warm colours applied with an extremely free brushstroke i
The plaza occupies the center of the image, surrounded by the fortifications and the camp. Amprosio Spínola appears in a carriage alongside a group of riders and footmen in the right foreground. On the left, a cartouche details the different positions in Italian, with indicative letters and numerals. We have detailed knowledge of this crucial moment in the War of Flanders, thanks to Hermann
Considerado como pintado hacia 1688, de tratarse del autorretrato de este artista, nacido en 1650, demostraría contar en realidad unos veinticinco años aproximadamente, por lo cual convendría adelantar la fecha de su datación y estimar que se habría pintado antes de su estancia en Italia (1680-1684), comprobándose que ya se hallaba suficientemente capacitado como para pintar obras de cierta calida
The main scene occupies the foreground, though it is no longer set in the plane closest to the viewer as in the previous period, but slightly further back. As a result, the figures are smaller in size. The horizon line is also lower, affording the sky greater prominence. Furthermore, although the composition is still partly enclosed in the background by a diagonal, it extends into the distance on
Born in Flanders, Livio Mehus moved to Milan at a young age and is thus often considered an artist of the Italian school. He is recorded in Rome at the age of fourteen and later in Florence, Lucca and around Genoa. He also worked successively in Piamonte and Lombardy. There is ample documentation of his activity as a painter of frescoes and oils, an expert on northern Italian painting and a restor
This is the largest of the paintings that Lemaire, a French artist working in Rome, produced for the decoration of the Buen Retiro Palace in Madrid. The architectural ruins and sculptural fragments are real but their arrangement in the scene is imaginary. The identity of the hermit remains unclear.
These two canvases (The Adoration of the Magi, P1129 and The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, P1130) were part of a small altar piece in the convent of Los Angéles in Madrid, a work that also included The Annunciation (P1128). The present canvases are typical of the mature style of this artist, who made masterly use of a range of warm colours applied with an extremely free brushstroke i
Of the artists who painted war scenes in the 17th century, none was as interested as David Teniers II in capturing images from behind the lines. With his customary tactile rigor, he depicts a plethora of military objects lying in the foreground with no apparent order and a handful of figures hanging cuirasses or helping their colleagues to remove their footgear. At the same time, he draws on one o
This work depicts the feast of Epiphany, as can be seen by the crown on the central figure, whose paintings show an Adoration of the Magi. According to Flemish folk tradition, in this feast, the king of the celebration is chosen by chance, being the one who finds a bean in his cake. Other Flemish artists, such as Jordaens, depicted this celebration in the same way, reflecting its most festive mome
On a table partially covered by a green tablecloth, the painter has placed a white cloth, delicate gold-worked jars and glasses that reflect the light, a dish with ham, bread and a large basket of peaches and several types of grapes. There is also a half-peeled lemon, typical of Nordic still-lifes. In the background, there is a large red curtain and a gallery with columns. Charged with symbolic an
