The parable of Lazarus (Luke 16: 19-31) has been interpreted in many ways: an apology of charitable works; a comparison between salvation and perdition, and between gentiles (Lazarus) and Jews (Epulon [+]
In 1724, Antonio Palomino, who had been Juan Carreño de Miranda’s disciple, included his teacher’s biography in his Parnaso español pintoresco y laureado. Their close relationship makes [+]
In this painting, Ceres, goddess of agriculture and fertility, is surrounded by fruits and flowers, pictured as the personification of Abundance holding the horn of plenty in her hands. The history of [+]
This type of allegorical representations of abundance or fecundity was very popular among cabinet paintings from this period. Artists such as Rubens, Jan Brueghel the Elder, Hendrick de Clerck and Hen [+]
Adriaen van Utrecht was a leading still-life painter in Antwerp, producing paintings characterised by their large size and opulent content, works that are also striking for their compositions and pict [+]
If we compare this painting with the Animals Entering the Ark (P22), we find that the iconographic elements which identify the subject have been shifted to a middle plane -Noah thanking God for bringi [+]
The dinner guests occupying the center of the composition symbolize the senses. Music and the singing children are hearing, and the young woman petting a mink is touch. The young woman preparing to ea [+]
The opulence of Boel’s still lifes, their rich textures and colours and the occasional use of a satirical tone make him one of the most original still-life painters of the period. The boy’s enigmatic [+]
This painting is Jacopo´s first depiction of the passage from Genesis 6:20 and the only one in which the theme is treated separately rather than as part of a series depicting the story of Noah. Jacopo [+]
Here Fyt returns to the subject of a concert of birds, a subject made fashionable by his master Frans Snyders. While the latter’s scenes of this type had a symbolic and moralising significance, in the [+]
It is surprising that such a significant passage was seldom represented pictorially, whereas there are many examples of the moment immediately after the expulsion from Paradise. Neither was it a frequ [+]
This work portrays the well-known New Testament parable (Luke, 15: 11-32) illustrating the repentance of the sinner and the virtues of forgiveness. The pretext for the setting is the banquet given by [+]
As Ovid tells in his Metamorphosis (book VIII, 260-444), the goddess Diana sent a giant wild boar to ravage the kingdom of Calydon. The king´s son, Meleager, and his beloved Atalanta organize a hunt w [+]
This scene is inspired by a passage from the Metamorphoses by the Roman poet Ovid. Orpheus, the mythological Greek musician and poet, sung and played the lyre so sublimely that all the animals, even t [+]
According to Plutarch, Philopoemen, a strategist and general of the Aequian League that fought against Sparta, visited the city of Megara. Because of his unassuming, humble appearance, the lady of the [+]
The goddess Juno is shown standing, wearing a coronet and holding a golden sceptre in her left hand. The peacock to her left is the attribute that habitually identifies her. Juno (Hera for the Greeks) [+]
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), a [+]
En esta obra el pintor pone en escena una multitud de aves cantoras. Éstas se posan en las ramas de un árbol que, en acusada diagonal, separa la llanura del bosque; recurso típico de las composiciones [+]