The Roman saint Cecilia was martyred for her faith. As the patron saint of music she is normally depicted playing an instrument, crowned with flowers and accompanied by the angel who defended her purity. The pronounced contrasts of light in this scene reveal the influence of Caravaggio that was evident in Grammatica’s work from 1605 onwards.
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
This decoration of the front of a chest depicts the seven Liberal Arts, accompanied by an equal number of figures that represent the most relevant personages in each discipline. All are being crowned with laurel wreaths by small angels. Astronomy presides over the composition, carrying the heavenly sphere, with Ptolomy (first and second centuries A.D.) sitting at his feet and reading one of the th
This is the earliest surviving work signed and dated by Carreño, and its style is still closely linked to masters from the first half of the century. Palomino, who knew and had contact with Carreño mentions this painting as being, by his hand, but more at the beginning, probably as a reference to what his contemporaries clearly recognized: that the composition was rather archaic. Esp
This painting is made in three planes. At the top, Christ on the throne between the Virgin and Saint John the Evangelist with the Lamb at his feet, from which a spring flows. In the middle plane are a heavenly choir with its musicians. On the left side of the bottom plane are kings, noblemen, popes and theologians, while the right side shows various confused, fleeing Jews, one of whom is blindfold
A nearly symmetrical composition in which the Virgin Mary sits on a throne between two kneeling female figures. A canopy over her head is flanked by two heavy green curtains with gold binding, pulled back on both sides. Facing the viewer with downturned gaze, the virgin wears a pink tunic and navy blue robes and holds the infant Jesus in her arms. The child holds a floral wreath to crown the marty
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
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 contrast to the paintings created for the Camerino d´Alabastro and the poesie made for Philip II, the canvases on the subject of Venus do not form a homogenous group as they were not painted for one client, nor were they designed to be shown together. In fact, the five paintings on this subject are variations on one idea. Located in a villa on the Venetian terra ferma, they depict Venus reclini
The Triumph of Saint Hermenegild (d. 585) and of the Catholic Church over Arianism. The saint rises up to heaven surrounded by angels carrying the symbols of his origin and martyrdom: the crown and scepter of a Visigothic king, on the left; and the chains and ax of his martyrdom, on the right. On the lower part of the painting are King Leovigildo, dressed in armor, and an Arian Bishop with the cha
The scene of the Adoration of the Magi, which begins with the depiction of the eldest Magus presenting his offering to the Christ Child (P125), is completed with this second one in which the other two Kings wait to present chalices containing the frankincense and myrhh, symbols of the Child’s divinity and his role as mankind’s redeemer. This composition, together with the one that completes the ep
Titian painted five images of Venus and music, but those five variations on a single theme were not made for the same client, nor intended to be exhibited together. Set in a villa, they show Venus reclining before a large window. At her feet, an organist (in the versions at the Museo del Prado and the Staatliche Museen in Berlin) or a lutenist (at the Metropolitan Museum of New York and the Fitzwi
This composition, together with the one that completes the episode, showing the other two Magi (P126), was painted to cover the doors of an organ, probably the one in the church of Santo Tomás in Ávila. The oldest Magus kneels before the Virgin and Child while presenting a casket of gold, an offering that symbolises Christ’s royalty. The composition and architecture reveal Berruguete
El santo aparece rodeado por ángeles músicos con diferentes instrumentos musicales representados con gran detalle, entre ellos un violón, un arpa diatónica, una guitarra y parte de un órgano realejo o portativo. Este tipo de órganos pequeños, portátiles, eran llamados realejos en España y fueron de uso común en los conjuntos instrumentales del Renacimiento y Barroco, en especial para el acompañami
La composición perfectamente encuadrada. En el centro, Santa Cecilia, sentada y tocando un órgano, un angelito, ante ella, le muestra la partitura. Dibujo romano del primer tercio del siglo XVIII, que enlaza con los artistas del rococó (Texto extractado de Mena Marqués, M.: Catálogo de dibujos. VII. Dibujos italianos del siglo XVIII y del siglo XIX, Museo del Prado, 1990, p. 180).
Dibujo en el que se representa a ka Santa sentada de medio perfil hacia la derecha, tocando un órgano; ante ella una mujer con tocas, arrodillada. Atribuido de antiguo a Elisabetta Sirani, el dibujo no presenta el conocido estilo de la artista, aunque es posiblemente obra de escuela boloñesa de la segunda mitad del siglo XVII (Texto extractado de Mena Marqués, M.: Catálogo de dibujos. VI. Dibujos