JEAN-FRANCOIS DE TROY (1679-1752) Bacchus and Ariadne (1725) Oil on canvas (163 x 130 cm) Musée Fabre, Montpellier To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and "Open in a new tab" Jean-Francois de Troy, the most important and gifted member of a family of painters from Toulouse, was taught by his father, Francois de Troy …
Saint Sebastian
FRANCOIS-XAVIER FABRE (1766-1837) The Dying Saint Sebastian (1789) Oil on canvas (196 x 147 cm) Musée Fabre, Montpellier To enlarge the image, right-click on it and then "Open in a new tab" Born in Montpellier on 1 April 1766, Fabre was one of the first students to benefit from the education provided by Montpellier's Societe …
A Masterpiece
NICOLAS DE LARGILLIERE (1656-1746) Self-Portrait (c. 1726) Oil on canvas (80 x 64 cm) Musée Fabre, Montpellier To enlarge the picture; right-click on it, then "Open in a new tab" Largillière, a Parisian educated in Antwerp showed at an early age great aptitudes for painting and was apprenticed to Antoine Goubau (1616-1698). He became a …
Alphonse Leroy
JACQUES-LOUIS DAVID (1748-1825) Portrait of Alphonse Leroy (c. 1783) Oil on canvas (73 x 95 cm) Musée Fabre, Montpellier To enlarge the picture, right-click on it, the "Open in a new tab" A student of Joseph-Marie Vien, David was awarded the Prix de Rome in 1774 and went there with Vien from 1775 to 1780. …
An Old Roman Soldier
FRANCOIS ANDRE VINCENT (1746-1816) Belisarius (1776) Oil on canvas (98 x 130 cm) Musee Fabre, Montpellier Vincent initially trained with his father, Francois Elie, a miniaturist from Geneva that had settled in Paris. He was then taught by Joseph-Marie Vien. At the age of 22, he won the Prix de Rome and spent the years …
A Scholar and a Gentleman
ALLAN RAMSAY (1713-1784) Robert Wood (1755) Oil on canvas (98 x 74 cm) National Gallery, London Robert Wood (1716-1771), was a classical scholar, archaeologist and politician; educated at the University of Glasgow. After early travels in France, Italy and the Middle East. he joined John Bouverie and James Dawkins on their expedition to Asia Minor and Greece, …
Portrait of a Philosopher
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 …
Old Masters 