Here is Dutch artist Judith Leyster at her easel, taking a break from painting to engage with us. In what might be considered an early selfie, she leans her forearm on the chair and suspends her paintbrush in midair, as if she’ll turn back to the canvas in a moment.
Weller, Dennis P. Like Father, Like Son? Portraits by Frans Hals and Jan Hals.
The Protestant Dutch had a reputation for strict rules that defined social conduct. Only on rare occasions, such as a betrothal when a suitor was expected to show passion for his future wife, would a demonstration of emotion be considered proper.
Washington, 1949 (reprinted 1953 and 1958): 90, repro. 1960 Baird, Thomas P.
Bernardo (Archivio di Stato, Florence, Compagnie Religiose Soppresse in Arezzo, B.
Prince de La Tour d’Auvergne-Lauraguais, Elisabeth Marguerite, Princesse de Paul P.
Edwin Landseer was only 18 when he painted this powerful work showing a rescue in the Great Saint Bernard Pass in the Alps. Two dogs have found an unconscious man partially buried by snow.
National Gallery, London: Agnew Picture Stock Book, 1874-1879, reference NGA27/1/1/5, p.
The basic fascination with capturing and studying images of ourselves and of others—for what they say about us, as individuals and as a people—is what makes portraiture so compelling.
By 1802, she was married to a US representative from New York, John P.
In this tempestuous scene, El Greco depicted an angry Christ driving the moneychangers from the Temple. An uncommon theme, it became increasingly popular in the latter half of the sixteenth century, promoted by the Council of Trent as a symbol of the Catholic church’s attempt to purify itself after the Protestant Reformation.
Leipzig, 1907-1950: 33(1939):5. 1908 CossÃo, Manuel B. El Greco.
Venus, as if filled with foreboding about Adonis’s fate, desperately clings to her lover, while he pulls himself free of her embrace, impatient for the hunt and with his hounds straining at the leash. The goddess’s gesture is echoed by that of Cupid, who anxiously watches the lovers’ leave-taking while clutching a dove—a creature sacred to Venus.
Foreword by Perry B. Cott and notes by Otto Stelzer.
Washington, 1968: 89, repro. 1972 Fredericksen, Burton B., and Federico Zeri.
Ante-Bellum Plantation House, Vicksburg, Mississippi, 1936, gelatin silver print, Robert B.
