A whirlwind trip through the history of compositional chiaroscuro, from the Renaissance, through Caravaggio and Artemisia Gentileschi, to Rembrandt.
Rembrandt
Great paintings by Rubens, David, Rembrandt, Merson, Sciuti and Tiepolo telling some of the best stories from Plutarch’s ‘Lives’.
Rembrandt’s masterpiece looking deep into Bathsheba’s predicament, but it was von Stuck who first suggested that she may have been a willing participant.
Paintings by Rubens, Rembrandt, Jordaens, Chassériau, von Stuck and Lovis Corinth give slightly different accounts of this story.
He developed innovative guerrilla warfare in the long Punic Wars against Hannibal. Also the mystery of a stolen Rembrandt.
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.
We love surprise twists in the plot of novels and movies. How can painters achieve the effect of surprise in their narrative images? Masaccio, Rembrandt, Poussin, and more.
One of the earliest synthetic pigments, it was widely used throughout Europe, India, and Asia. But like lead white, it is seriously toxic.
Lead-tin yellow features in many paintings of the Old Masters, until about 1750. It was then replaced and forgotten until 1940. Examples in major masterpieces from Rembrandt, da Vinci, Vermeer, and others.
It’s easy to confuse anatomising, an autopsy, and surgery. Here’s a guide to their different readings, with some of the finest example paintings.
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