Baroque

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Threatened Swan by Jan Asselijn

Swans are normally characterized as graceful birds. They are magnificent and majestic. However, Jan Asselijn displays another side of these elegant...

James W Singer 25 February 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Vase with Flowers by Rachel Ruysch

Let’s discuss one of the greatest still-life artists: Rachel Ruysch. Still-life paintings do not draw the crowds at museums. They are often...

James W Singer 28 January 2024

Baroque

King Drinks: Jacob Jordaens and the Feast of the Bean King

Jacob Jordaens (1593 – 1678), a wonderful artist of the Baroque era, was keen on painting the scenes from peasants’ life. He first painted the...

Elizaveta Ermakova 6 January 2024

Adam Elsheimer, Flight into Egypt, 1609, oil on copper, Alte Pinakothek, Munich, Germany. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Flight into Egypt by Adam Elsheimer

Flight into Egypt is a masterpiece found in the collection of the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, Germany. Human dramas are depicted with vivid...

James W Singer 24 December 2023

Self-portrait of a Caucasian woman at her easel, leaning back in her chair looking at the viewer. On her easel is a painting of man happily playing the violin. The artist is wearing a purple dress with white collar ruff and cap. Dutch Golden Age Women Artists. Women Artists

Judith Leyster: The Leading Star of the Dutch Golden Age

Judith Leyster was a highly regarded genre painter in 17th-century Holland. Her career was cut short by her marriage, and after her death, her...

Catriona Miller 15 December 2023

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Perseus Rescuing Andromeda by Cavaliere d’Arpino

The roar of the sea monster blends with the screams of the scared princess! The chained beauty awaits her bloody death as the ugly beast lurches...

James W Singer 19 November 2023

Baroque

Nine Reasons to Smile with Frans Hals’ Portraits

Frans Hals (c. 1582–1666) was one of the Dutch Golden Age painters. Born in Antwerp, he spent his entire adult life in Haarlem. Hals is most famous...

Joanna Kaszubowska 30 October 2023

Review

Rubens and Women at Dulwich Picture Gallery: Flesh and Spirit

Peter Paul Rubens is so famous for painting voluptuous nudes that his name has become an adjective to describe them. A new exhibition at Dulwich...

Catriona Miller 2 October 2023

Caravaggio David with the Head of Goliath, c. 1610, Galleria Borghese, Rome, Italy. Artist Stories

How Did Caravaggio Die? The Answer Is Not Easy

Caravaggio was a great artist, no doubt about it, but he was also rowdy. An early published notice on him, dating from 1604 and describing his...

Zuzanna Stańska 28 September 2023

Baroque

David and Goliath Painting Re-Attributed to Artemisia Gentileschi

Baroque master Artemisia Gentileschi’s long-hidden signature has been discovered in a 17th-century David and Goliath painting. The work was...

Alexandra Kiely 8 September 2023

Art Travels

Wishes & Streams: Trevi Fountain in Rome

During long, warm summer days it is hard not to dream about much-needed holidays. With that said I was reminded of my visit to Rome some time ago...

Nadine Waldmann 27 August 2023

Maria de Knuijt Baroque

Meet Maria de Knuijt: Was Vermeer’s Main Patron a Woman?

We all know Girl with a Pearl Earring, but have you ever wondered to whom the piece originally belonged? In light of the recent, largest Vermeer...

Nicole Ganbold 23 July 2023