PERUGINO’S THE VIRGIN ADORING THE CHILD, THE ARCHANGEL RAPHAEL WITH TOBIAS, AND THE ARCHANGEL MICHAEL
September 25th 2021
These three panels formed the lower tier of a polyptych showing the three Archangels, Sts Gabriel, Michael and Raphael. Perugino painted these panels for the Carthusian monastery, known as Certosa or charter house, which is outside Pavia. The Archangel
CARAVAGGIO’S ST MATTHEW AND THE ANGEL
September 18th 2021
In 1602 Caravaggio was commissioned to paint the altarpiece for the Contarelli Chapel in the Church of San Luigi dei Francesi. It was to show St Matthew writing his gospel. Caravaggio had already completed the call of St Matthew
TINTORETTO’S CRUCIFIXION AT SAN CASSIANO
September 11th 2021
Christ is crucified on waste ground, where only weeds and brambles grow. It seems to be on high ground, beyond which stand Roman soldiers. With them we look up towards Christ on the cross. Their spears are like a fence,
Murillo’s Birth of the Virgin
September 4th 2021
Although the Virgin was conceived without sin, her birth would have been as natural as any other. This is what Murillo’s painting conveys. Yes, there are angels in attendance and the child has a halo, but these elements don’t detract
Murillo’s Immaculate Conception or Assumption of the Virgin?
August 14th 2021
If you lived in 17th Century Seville, you might expect this to be an image of the Immaculate Conception rather than the Assumption. And perhaps it is. Murillo painted the Immaculate Conception again and again. The upward gaze of the
Bellini’s St Dominic in Denver
August 7th 2021
“St Dominic”,Giovanni Bellini, c.1501, Denver, private collection This painting by Giovanni Bellini of St Dominic is less well known than others. Saint Dominic is reading from the book he holds open in his hands. He is easily identified by
BELLINI’S TRANSFIGURATION IN NAPLES
July 31st 2021
Christ stands before us dressed in garments which are as bright as the band of white clouds on the horizon behind him. The cloth looks like it has been stiffened. But these are hardly the “dazzling robes” of the gospel
KITCHEN SCENE WITH CHRIST IN THE HOUSE OF MARY AND MARTHA, VELÁZQUEZ
July 24th 2021
The young woman stares out at us from a kitchen. The meal of fish and eggs suggests that this might the season of Lent or a fast day. The older woman lays a finger on her sleeve. The young woman
Caravaggio’s Martha and Mary Magdalene
July 17th 2021
In Western art, Mary Magdalen has been conflated with Mary, the sister of Martha, and with the woman who washed Christ’s feet with her tears. She is often shown as a repentant sinner , sometimes clad in scarlet, sometimes nude,
Dürer’s Four Apostles
July 10th 2021
Although this pair of panels are usually known as “The Four Apostles”, in fact, the four men shown are, on the left, St John the Evangelist with St Peter behind him, and on the right, the Apostle St Paul with
