These four portraits of women, two double ones and two single ones (P02073, P02074 and P02076) presented standing and down to kneelevel, use the same architectural setting. The series is given visual unity by the use of a central niche and two more, barely visible ones at the sides, separated by masonry pillars and decorated with small lions’ heads in the centre.This use of shared elements is prob
This portrait of García de’Medici (1547–1562), third son of Cosimo de’Medici and Leonor de Toledo, is an excellent example of the scant interest in the depiction of children prior to the Enlightenment period. Bronzino offers a faithful rendering of a child’s small, undefined features, but presents him with the same distant, impassive pose used for adult portraits of the Florentine court amb
The panel’s small size, making it particularly suitable for private devotion, reflects the growth of the cult of the Virgin. A typical feature of Tuscan art of this date is the use of inscriptions such as the one held here by the Christ Child: “VENITE AD ME OMNES” (Come to me all of you). Such inscriptions allowed the literate viewer to read the message of the image as well as see it, offering a d
This altarpiece consists of nine large panels plus the eighteen that make up the predella. The main scene is The Virgin with the Christ Child surrounded by Angel Musicians, which is completed with five scenes from the lives of Christ and the Virgin in the right and central areas, and three scenes from the life of Saint Francis, in the left area. All of them are framed with gothic ogee tracery. Sty
Of the people with whom Velázquez must have had contact on a daily basis at the palace, many would have been high functionaries or skilled servants of the court. His own social aspirations included becoming a member of that professional group, which he eventually joined, and he made portraits of some of them, including two now at the Museo del Prado: Diego del Corral (P01195) and his wife,
This emblematic picture is undoubtedly the best-known work on a social theme produced by Sorolla in his youth. It is also an especially good example of how fully the artist became involved in a genre which, at the time, was of particular relevance in Madrid’s official artistic circles, where Sorolla was determined to receive his first public recognition. The depth of its meaning is probably indica
The presence of portraits of children in the painting collections of the Spanish Austrians can be found all throughout the sixteenth century. In the 1570s this sub-genre became more highly developed at the hands of Alonso Sánchez Coello, who painted the daughters of Philip III on several occasions, creating images which, while they reflected the girls’ growth, observed all the formal stereo
The sitter is a young man with a robust face, a thick, clipped beard and curly hair typical of the Trajanic period. He wears a lunula: an amulet in the form of a crescent moon that protected him against spells cast on his weapons and against the evil eye. One of a series of the Twelve Emperors given by Pius V to Philip II in 1568, it is likely that at that time this portrait was considered to depi