Baroque

Mathias Blumenthal was a Norwegian painter working during the 18th century when he painted Nivisarsiaq. The title word ‘Nivisarsiaq’ is Greenlandic for ‘young girl’. The female figure stands facing us confidently and shows the marks of her tribe on her chin and hands. She stands in the midst of her northern landscape and is framed […]

The Cholmondeley Ladies is an English oil painting dated to the early 17th century around 1600-10 and is shrouded in mystery. Analysis of The Cholmondeley Ladies First of all the picture has not been attributed to an artist; secondly, the sitters’ identities have not been certainly established although they have been speculated; and lastly, the

In The Conversion of Saint Paul, a dramatic painting from 1614 by Spanish Baroque artist Juan Bautista Maíno we witness the moment on the road of Damascus when Saul the tax collector becomes Paul the Christian evangelist. Paul lies prone on the ground with his arm raised to the apparition of angels and Christ who

Parnassus is a 1632 painting by French Baroque artist Nicolas Poussin who specialized in the classical style and worked for most of his life in Rome. This work is located in the Museo del Prado in Madrid, Spain. Analysis of Poussin’s Parnassus Parnassus is also known as Apollo and the Muses as it is possible

The House of Cards shows French artist Jean-Siméon Chardin continuing the Dutch tradition of painting genre scenes or scenes of everyday life. This was at a time (1737) where Chardin’s French contemporaries were mostly involved in the classicising history painting tradition. This figure and desk of this painting is almost arranged parallel to the viewer,

Long disputed, The Mill is now widely accepted that this is a 1648 work by Dutch Baroque artist Rembrandt van Rijn. The scene is painted with a typical Baroque consideration for drama as dark clouds sweep in over the windmill. Just as the upper part of the canvas is all movement, so too are Rembrandt’s

Agrippina and Germanicus is a 1614 double portrait painting by Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens. Analysis of Agrippina and Germanicus Agrippina and Germanicus is a double portrait of famed ancient Roman general Germanicus and his wife Agrippina, daughter of Augustus the first emperor, painted by Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens in 1614. After a celebrated

Portrait of Margherita Gonzaga is a Baroque Portrait by Flemish painter Frans Pourbus the Younger. Analysis of Portrait of Margherita Gonzaga Painted in 1603, it depicts Margherita Gonzaga d’Este, Duchess of Ferrara, an Italian noblewoman and daughter of William I, Duke of Mantua. She was married to wife Alfonso II d’Este, Duke of Ferrara and

Peasants Brawling over Cards is a genre painting by Flemish artist Adriaen Brouwer, depicting three men fighting around a makeshift table with playing cards. Three women watch from afar in disgust. Despite the fact Brouwer painted lower class subject-matter such as this, his virtuosity as a painter was acknowledged by the likes of Rembrandt and

Italian Baroque artist Caravaggio painted Sleeping Cupid in Malta towards the end of his life in 1608. This work exhibits the stark lighting typical of this Baroque master painter. Although commissioned, to read this work autobiographically would mean Caravaggio’s renouncement of love and pleasure as this agent of Venus sleeps. Caravaggio’s Sleeping Cupid is in

Saint Jerome Writing by Caravaggio shows the Catholic priest of the Church translating the bible from Greek to Latin. This version of Caravaggio’s Saint Jerome Writing is in the Galleria Borghese in Rome, Italy. Analysis of Saint Jerome Writing The skull rests on the desk as a memento mori or reminder of death and the

Self Portrait as a Lute Player is a 1617 portrait painting by Baroque Italian artist Artemisia Gentileschi. As the title implies, this is a self-portrait depicting the artist expertly playing while granting us an assured look. Gentileschi, who painted this work at the young age of 24, is notably dressed as a Renaissance woman. Appearing

Judith Slaying Holofernes by Artemisia Gentileschi is a dark and violent picture painted between 1640 and 1620 where the artist shows Judith helped by her maid to behead the biblical general Holofernes. It is widely thought that this is a generalized revenge fantasy of a woman victimized by a man. Artemisia Gentileschi’s Judith Slaying Holofernes

Cleopatra is a 1635 historical baroque painting by Italian artist Artemisia Gentileschi. It is located in a private collection in Rome, Italy. There is also a second version of this painting in Milan with a similar subject matter. The painting shows the Egyptian queen’s final act: her suicide by the bite of an asp after

Portrait of a Lady in Blue Holding a Flower is a 1660 painting by Peter Lely, said to be of Barbara Villiers. Lely was an artist of the English Restoration during which luxury and indulgence began to be celebrated again after the Puritan regime. Barbara Villiers was one of the more influential of Charles II’s

Sleeping Venus is a 1630 painting by Italian Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi. It is located in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Analysis of Gentileschi’s Sleeping Venus Some maintain that this Venus, here fanned by her son Cupid while she drifts to sleep, bears the face of the artist herself. If so, this is an

The Bitter Potion by Flemish genre painter Adriaen Brouwer represents a peasant man just after taking a drink and whose face exhibits strong disgust. Painted in 1630, brushstrokes are quickly applied by Brouwer, as befitting the suddenness of the contortion of the face of the man. Adriaen Brouwer’s The Bitter Potion is in the Stadel

Allegory of Fame (L’Allegoria della Fama in Italian) is a painting by Baroque Italian artist Artemisia Gentileschi from sometime between 1630 and 1635. She depicts the personification of Fame in rich robes, crowned in the laurel of reputation and holding a trumpet with which to proclaim, we must imagine, the genius of our painter. Successful

Aurora is a 1621 mythological fresco painting by Italian Baroque artist Guercino. Aurora Analysis: Guercino, also known as Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, painted Aurora on the ceiling of the Villa Aurora, a historical building in Rione Ludovisi in Rome, Italy. It was painted in 1621 for art connoisseur Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi, nephew of Pope Pope Gregory

Retrato de Nina (or Nina’s portrait in English) is a 1640 portrait of an unknown girl by Spanish court painter Diego Velazquez (1599-1660). In this likely unfinished painting, he combines a realistic likeness with an acute ability to bring out the quiet intelligence of the girl. Analysis of Retrato de Nina Retrato de niña or