Good for watercolour and pastels alone? Paper and cardboard have also been used extensively for oil sketches, and more.
Le Brun
Developed in the mid 1600s, pastels are often considered to be the ‘purest’ form of painting, in which pure pigment is applied to the ground.
Shepherds and shepherdesses painted in stories, from classical myth, through the Bible and Christ’s nativity, to epic poetry, including Milton’s Paradise Lost.
In 1660, he co-founded the Gobelins factory which became the leading maker of tapestries. He also set what became ‘Louis XIV Style’ in furniture.
His talent was spotted early, and he was taken to Rome to study under Poussin in his workshop. He returned to Paris and became the king’s ‘greatest French artist of all time’.
Plans to celebrate anniversaries of major painters, series on narrative paintings, and more, for the coming year.
A Roman who stuck to his principles and fought corruption, bribery, and the seizing of power by Caesar. What could be more appropriate when you live in troubled times?
Alexander presses on into India, but stops short of crossing the River Ganges into South-East Asia. Fine paintings by Le Brun, Gustave Moreau, Valenciennes, and others.
Biography to the death of Darius the King of Persia, with superb paintings by Degas, Elisabetta Sirani, Altdorfer, Jan Brueghel the Elder, and more.
Much happened during his time as Rome’s great statesman: Lucretia was raped and her suicide inspired revolution. Then came the transition to a republic. Paintings by Botticelli, Rembrandt, Rubens and van Dyck, and more.
