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This large double portrait on horseback is unusual in Dutch art, because equestrian likenesses were initially reserved for sitting monarchs. Traditional portrait convention would have placed the woman to the left and slightly behind the man, yet this elegant lady on her magnificent steed occupies center stage.
Washington, 2001: no. 40, 172-175, 207, repro. 2004 Hand, John Oliver.
The strength and vitality of the people who helped establish the new Dutch Republic are nowhere better captured than in the work of Frans Hals, who was the preeminent portrait painter in Haarlem, the most important artistic center of Holland in the early part of the seventeenth century. This unidentified sitter—one of Hals’ most impressive portraits—was sixty years old when the painting was made, according to the artist’s inscription.
Raleigh, 2002: 110-111, repro. 2004 Hand, John Oliver.
Washington, D.C., 1990: 124-127, repro. 123. 2004 Hand, John Oliver.
The Dutch and Flemish took extraordinary delight in depictions of the natural world as an expression of God’s everlasting blessing. The flower paintings of Jan Davidsz de Heem celebrate the beauty of flora while at the same time exemplifying the concept of Ars longa, vita brevis (art is long, life is short) embodied in the Dutch still-life paintings of the seventeenth century.
National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2002: 84, fig. 6. 2004 Hand, John Oliver.
Giovanni della Casa, who is in all likelihood the subject of this portrait, belonged to a wealthy Tuscan family and rose to prominence in the service of the church. As poet, humanist, and political theorist, he circulated at the highest levels of Italian intellectual life.
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, 2003: 339. 2004 Hand, John Oliver.
This is no “family� in the usual sense. A harlequin, a jester, a young man in a leotard, a boy in a blue costume, a girl in a tutu with a basket, and a woman in a flowered hat are arranged in this rose-hued landscape.
Chicago, 1998: 2:581. 2004 Hand, John Oliver.
Atlanta, 2003: 12, fig. 4. 2004 Hand, John Oliver.
In 1876, Renoir began to paint anecdotal depictions of women and children, subjects in which he excelled. A Girl with a Watering Can , typical of these works, displays a mature impressionist style attuned to the specific requirements of figure painting.
Chicago, 2001: 10-11, color repro. 2004 Hand, John Oliver.
Throughout his career Tiepolo painted small pictures of mythological themes, which proved extremely popular. The subjects of these works came from the best–known episodes from ancient literature, but his conception of the stories was varied and original.
Milan, 2002: no. 247/2, repro. 2004 Hand, John Oliver.
Although called a nativity, this painting lacks the manger, ox, and ass traditionally found in scenes of Christ’s birth. It would be better interpreted as a mystical adoration of saints.
102, 223 n. 185, 224 n. 194, 228 n. 229, 234 n. 276, pl. 45. 2004 Hand, John Oliver
