One of the great technical challenges in painting, glassware has been used by young and aspiring artists to demonstrate their skills. Antonello and Cranach to Liotard’s pastels.
Cranach
With a reputation for being an impulsive and rapid painter, evidence from IR reflectography shows how this painting evolved as it was being made.
How the term spinster came about, the thread of life, the feminisation of Hercules, and Velázquez’ baffling Las Hilanderas.
Great paintings by Botticelli, Bosch, Titian, Tintoretto, the Carraccis, and others, showing multiplex narrative.
The story of Bathsheba and King David involves adultery and murder, and ultimately the triumph of power not virtue. Early paintings up to Artemisia Gentileschi.
A puzzling painting of a lone woman, wrestling with inner turmoil; a trap laid by a dying Centaur; a king with a thing for Hercules, and his promotion to being a saint.
Some paintings which may not show the traditional story from the gospels, but which don’t contradict it.
Salome has become a femme fatale, the author of John the Baptist’s death, and a potent erotic symbol. But that was not the original story.
A summary chronology of the major milestones in the history of oil painting, with copious illustrations from the masters.
A detailed look at the materials and technique in van Eyck’s mature works, and those of Lucas Cranach the Elder.
