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Known as a painter of “fêtes galantes”, Watteau combines a depiction of a marriage ceremony with a cheerful country dance. His composition recalls numerous scenes in Flemish painting, as does the natural setting.
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
The Garden of Earthly Delights is Bosch’s most complex and enigmatic creation. For Falkenburg the overall theme of The Garden of Earthly Delights is the fate of humanity, as in The Haywain (P02052), although Bosch visualizes this concept very differently and in a much more explicit manner in the centre panel of that triptych than in The Garden of Earthly Delights. In order to analyse the work’s me
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
Orpheus descends into the Underworld to recover his wife, Eurydice, who died after being bitten by a serpent. Pluto and Proserpina, the god and goddess of the underworld, are so moved by the music of his lyre that they accede to his request. The only condition they impose is that he contains his desire and not look at his beloved until they have both fully departed the underworld. On the basis of
Representación alegórica del triunfo del Amor que lleva a Júpiter con los brazos atados en una suntuosa carroza tirada por cuatro caballos blancos. Entre las figuras que acompañan a la carroza, a la derecha de la composición, aparece Apolo portando una cítara como atributo de identificación del dios, y tras él un músico tocando una flauta de Pan.
En el centro, la Virgen coronada por dos angelitos, rodeada por la corte celestial. Abajo, ángeles músicos en las esquinas. El tema, para el cual se conocen algunos dibujos, fue muy trabajado por Guido en sus primeros años, con una cierta influencia de Aníbal Carracci en las formas torneadas de sus ángeles y en una monumentalidad grandiosa, que no es habitual en sus composiciones. Se conocen tres
In an architectural setting, a winged Victory crowns David with a laurel wreath. The latter holds his sword with one hand and looks directly at Goliath´s decapitated head, which rests on some pieces of armor. Three putti complete the group. One of them plays an instrument while another hands Victory the royal crown destined for David. This image alludes to a passage from the Old Testament (Samuel
Falcone painted the figures in this painting; the Neapolitan specialist Luca Forte probably painted the vase of flowers on the left. It looks like a portrait gallery of real people, one of whom -the bearded man on the right- appears in other paintings by Falcone. The painting comes from the collection of the Duke of Medina de las Torres, viceroy of Naples between 1637 and 1644.
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
The Virgin appears seated in a walled garden, an allusion to the hortus conclusus or enclosed garden, which symbolizes her perpetual virginity. In her arms she holds the Christ Child, who takes an apple from an angel´s hand, a clear allusion to the redemption of the original sin. On the other side, a second angel plays a viola of arc. The composition derives from a model by Rogier van der Weyden a
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
The saint is depicted leaning on a boulder, in a state of mystical ecstasy following his meditation on death. That meditation is symbolized by the skull, cross and book. He is comforted by a musician angel, as is told in the book The Little Flowers of Saint Francis (Part II, second consideration). This work is from the artist´s second period in Antwerp, where he lived from 1627 to 1632 before leav
A much beloved pupil of Antonio Muñoz Degraín, Flora López Castrillo constitutes an exception among the Spanish women painters of her time owing to her professional specialisation in landscapes and marines. This work, which clearly shows the influence of her teacher, is inspired by some lines from the poem La Galatea, which was included in a Renaissance pastoral novel by Gaspa
Small canvas which represents an episode from the parable of the Prodigal Son. The six paintings that depict the parable, now in the National Gallery in Dublin, constituting one of the artist’s few narrative series intended for private use and the only one to have survived intact together to the present day. They are partly based on prints by Jacques Callot (1592-1635). Murillo makes full use of h
In this portrait, Pedro Benítez sits informally on a chair, resting his left arm on its back while gazing frankly and directly at the viewer with whom he establishes an empathetic relationship. He is dressed in the fashion of the reign of Ferdinand VII, with a marvellous cravat emerging from his vest and a book in his right hand. Beside him, standing, is his daughter María de la Cruz
