Even though Boucher’s “Pastoral Scene” isn’t as famous as some of his other works, we should recognize the exquisite choice of colours...

France, 1750s In 18th-century French art the depictions of Cupid were very typical of the Rococo style. Falconet produced his Cupid for...

France, circa 1718 When Watteau was elected a member of the French Academy of Arts, a term was specially invented to describe the kind of...

Watteau is famous as the painter of fetes champetres: languid, erotically charged pastorals in which finely dressed men and women...

Charles Le Brun's dictatorship at the field of arts lasted till the death of Colbert in 1683. The latter's successor, Louvois, had for...

Germany, circa 1530s The symbolism of this painting is associated with the Christian doctrine of falling from grace and the Salvation of...

Germany, 1602 The painting by the German artist Hans von Aachen “The Allegory of Peace, Art and Abundance” is a vivid example of the...

Historians weren’t even sure if it was Gijsbrecht who painted this brilliant piece of art. They called the unknown painter ‘Master of the...

What a shame that so little is know about Flemmish painter Gilles Claes d’Hondecoeter and his “Mountainous Landscape with Figures”....

Not only the technique Vinckboons used to create a tunnel vision throughout the dense trees into the light yellow skies in the...

Netherlands, (1532!) With the growing self-awareness of the burghers, the middle class, and their new sense of unity and common purposes...

Even though Pieter Breughel’s “Winter Landscape with Ice Skaters and Bird Trap” is very similar to Hendrick Avercamp’s “Winter Landscape...

The Grand Church of the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg, sometimes referred to as the Winter Palace's cathedral, was consecrated in...

Netherlands, 15th century Saint Luke Drawing the Virgin is a large oil and tempera on oak panel painting, usually dated between 1435 and...

Netherlands, second half of the 16th century Peter Brueghel the Younger based this painting on a work by his father, the great...

St Sebastian is one of several paintings of Saint Sebastian by Perugino. It shows him three-quarter length and is signed "P[I]E[T]RUS...

Italy, mid-1490s This painting would seem to have been produced in Milan, where the artist moved in 1482. It was one of a number of works...

Judith is a painting by the Italian painter Giorgione, executed around 1504. It is one of the few authentic works by Giorgione owned by...

The Penitent Magdalene is a 1565 oil painting by Titian of saint Mary Magdalene, now in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg. Unlike...