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Cecelia, patron saint of music, sits before a harpsichord that rests on a pedestal conceived as a sculpture, reading a score held by two child angels. She is wrapped in ocher robes that partially hide her blue tunic. Behind her, two young singers read another score while, in the upper left corner, the fifth figure, a child, raises an ample curtain whose mass is balanced by a column. The background
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
Esta pequeña tabla es la más tardía de las pinturas del artista conservadas dentro de la colección. Fue pintada para Jean Pointel y al menos entre 1714 y 1722 se documenta en posesión de Jacques Meyer, negociante y armador de Róterdam. En 1746 se menciona por primera vez, junto con otras obras del pintor, en la Colección Real española, en el palacio de La Granja de San Ildefonso (Segovia). La comp
In a lush, wooded landscape on the banks of a quiet river, a nude woman, sitting on a richly colored red cloak, gestures to two male figures posed beside her. Supporting a glazed jug in her lap, she points to the standing nude boy, who pours wine from a golden ewer into the mouth of a kneeling satyr. Wearing a grapevine belt and a crown, the satyr, a half-man, half-goat creature associated with un
Until very recently there was total confusion as to the origin of this painting and the circumstances surrounding its entry into the Royal Collection. Its original owner was formerly thought to have been Cassiano dal Pozzo, an erudite Italian contemporary of Nicolas Poussin whose collection did, indeed, include a work with similar characteristics. Since 2005, however, the generally accepted hypoth
The significance of this landscape remains obscure. It depicts two figures in the foreground, one pointing to a winding path flanked by funerary monuments and leading to a group of temples or a necropolis. The painting was in the collection of the painter Carlo Maratta.
Nicolas Poussin has a curious relation to the Buen Retiro Palace. Úbea considers him the determinant artist among all those who took part in its decorative project. That could explain why he was the only one to participate in the two most important sets of works commissioned in Italy: the landscapes, and the history of ancient Rome. At the very least, he painted the present work for the fir
This is a traditional scene from the iconography of Bacchus, the Roman god of wine. It depicts his meeting with Ariadne on the island of Naxos. The god rides a chariot pulled by lions, and helps his future wife, who was abandoned by Theseus, to climb aboard (Ovid, Metamorphoses, VIII). They are accompanied by Bacchus´s habitual retinue of bacchants, satyrs and menads, ledy by Silenus on a donkey.
A valley, crossed by a river on whose banks are several buildings, is framed by trees and mountains on the horizon. In the foreground are three seated figures and two more accompanied by horses. This may be a representation of the trip to Athens by the cynical philosopher, Diogenes of Sinope (fourth century B.C.), who was a classical example of honesty and rebellion against civilization´s ar
Parnassus, the mythological mountain of Apollo and the Muses is the scene for a celebration of the Arts, especially Poetry. Apollo offers the nectar of the gods to a poet, probably Homer, who is crowned with a laurel wreath by Calliope, the muse of epic poetry. The putti in the foreground offer the poets the water of inspiration that flows from the spring of Castalia, personified by the nude woman
