ALLAN RAMSAY (1713-1784) David Hume (1766) Oil on canvas (76 x 63.5 cm) Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh David Hume (1711-1776), eminent Scottish philosopher and historian, one of the greatest figures of the Enlightenment, son of Joseph Home of Ninewells and Catherine Falconer, attended the University of Edinburgh at the unusual age of twelve, at a time …
A Scottish Lady
ALLAN RAMSAY (1713-1784) Anna Bruce of Arnot (1767-68) Oil on canvas (74 x 62 cm) National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh Allan Ramsay was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, the son of Allan Ramsay Sr, poet and the author of The Gentle Shepherd. He started his artistic education at the Academy of St. Luke in Edinburgh; at …
Portrait of Gaspard Schoppius
PETER PAUL RUBENS (1577-1640) Portrait of Gaspard Schoppius (c. 1604-05) Oil on canvas (116 x 88 cm) Palazzo Pitti, Florence To enlarge the picture, right-click on it, then "Open in a new tab" This portrait has only recently received acceptance as an early work by Rubens, and this attribution, together with the painting's resemblance to an …
The Death of Seneca
PETER PAUL RUBENS (1577-1640) The Death of Seneca (c. 1516) Oil on canvas (181 x 120 cm) Museo del Prado, Madrid To enlarge the picture, right-click on it, then "Open in a new tab" This painting is a simplified version of a striking picture now in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, a work in which …
Portrait of a Knight of Malta
CARAVAGGIO (1571-1610) Portrait of a Knight of Malta (c. 1608) Oil on canvas (118 x 95 cm) Palazzo Pitti, Florence To enlarge the picture, right-click on it, then "Open in a new tab" The Portrait of a Knight of Malta is one of the works that the Italian scholar Mina Gregori has convincingly identified as …
Portrait of a Young Knight
LUDOVICO CARDI (known as IL CIGOLI) 1559-1613 Portrait of a Young Knight (1594) Oil on canvas (78 x 62 cm) Palazzo Pitti, Florence The Florentine artist Ludovico Cardi, better known as Il Cigoli was a pupil of the late Mannerist painter Alessandro Allori (1535-1607) and of the architect Bernardo Buontalenti (1536-1608). He was born in …
Rubens’ Self-Portrait
PETER PAUL RUBENS (1577-1640) Self-Portrait (1622) Oil on canvas (80 x 60 cm) Australian National Gallery, Canberra To enlarge the picture, right-click on it, then "Open in a new tab" This self-portrait was painted by Rubens in 1622 as a present for his friend, the lawyer and collector Nicolas Claude Fabri de Peiresec (1580-1637). Rubens did …
The Resurrection
TINTORETTO (1518-1594) The Resurrection (c. 1565-70) Oil on canvas (201 x 139 cm) Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane To enlarge the picture, right-click on it, then "Open in a new tab" Few painters have treated the resurrection of Christ more dramatically than Jacopo Robusti better known as Tintoretto. In the most famous painting of the subject, …
Thomas Howard, 2nd Earl of Arundel
PETER PAUL RUBENS (1577-1640) Thomas Howard, 2nd Earl of Arundel (c. 1629) Oil on canvas (67 x 54 cm) National Gallery, London To enlarge the picture, right-click on it, then "Open in a new tab" Within the different genres covered by the Old Masters, portraiture is my favourite. In the hands of its finest practitioners …
St. Lawrence Church, Rotterdam
ANTHONIE DE LORME (c.1610-1673) Interior of the St. Laurenskerk, Rotterdam (1660-65) Oil on canvas (87 x 74 cm) National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin To enlarge the picture, right-click on it, the "Open in a new tab" The following text belongs to the entry written by Brian P. Kennedy, Assistant Director, National Gallery of Ireland, for the …
Old Masters 