CRIVELLI’S OUR LADY OF THE SWALLOW
May 9th 2020
Someone mentioned in an email that that this week he had seen his first swallow of spring out at Gosford. Perhaps the swallow in this altarpiece, which is perched above the Madonna and Child and gives the work its name,
Carlo Crivelli’s Virgin and Child with Sts Francis and Sebastian
May 2nd 2020
The painting from the National Gallery Collection in London was made as an altarpiece for a family chapel in the Franciscan Church at Fabriano in the Italian Marche region in 1491. In the centre are the Virgin and Child.
CARAVAGGIO’S DOUBTING THOMAS
April 25th 2020
“Doubting Thomas”, c.1601/02, Caravaggio, Bildergalerie, Schloss Sanssouci, Potsdam, Germany. It is known that this work was painted as a private commission while Caravaggio was in Rome. It must surely have created a stir among those who saw it,
CIMA DA CONEGLIANO’S INCREDULITY OF ST THOMAS WITH BISHOP MAGNUS
April 18th 2020
“The Incredulity of Saint Thomas and the Bishop Saint Magnus”, Cima da Conegliano, 1504-1505, Gallerie dell’ Accademia, Venice. When Cima da Conegliano received this commission from a guild of tradesmen, he was at the height of his career. In
Piero della Francesca’s Resurrection of Christ
April 11th 2020
In his essay “The Best Picture” of 1925 (which you can easily find online) , Aldous Huxley wrote this of Piero’s “Resurrection of Christ”: “It stands there before us in entire and actual splendour, the greatest picture in the world.”
THE LEGEND OF THE THE TRUE CROSS PART III
April 4th 2020
“The Exaltation of the True Cross” and and “The Discovery and Proof the True Cross”. These two frescos can be seen below.
THE LEGEND OF THE TRUE CROSS IN AREZZO PART II
March 28th 2020
“The Queen of Sheba in Adoration of the Wood of the Cross and the Meeting of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba” from “The Legend of the True Cross”, Piero della Francesca, Church of San Francesco, Arezzo, Italy. This
THE LEGEND OF THE TRUE CROSS IN AREZZO PART I
March 21st 2020
“The Death of Adam” from “The Legend of the True Cross”, Piero della Francesca, Church of San Francesco, Arezzo, Italy. Baccio di Magio, a wealthy merchant from Arezzo died in 1417 and left money for the decoration of the chapel
CARAVAGGIO’S NARCISSUS
March 14th 2020
“Narcissus”, Caravaggio, Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica di Palazzo Barberini. Although lit from above by the same numinous light found in other works of Caravaggio, here the fair Narcissus looks away from it and gazes downwards at his reflection in the
STANLEY SPENCER’S CHRIST IN THE WILDERNESS – THE HEN
February 28th 2020
“Christ in the Wilderness -The Hen”, Stanley Spencer c. 1954, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth. Stanley Spencer spent the winter of 1938/39 living alone in a room in 188 Adelaide Road near Swiss Cottage in London. There he began
