Art Forms

Pontormo Detail from The Visitation Mannerism

Pontormo: The Neglected Mannerist Painter

Pontormo was a Renaissance painter, admired by both Michelangelo and Raphael. His first apprenticeship was in Leonardo da Vinci's workshop. His work is treasured by The National Gallery and The Uffizi. His luminous work is truly magnificent, so why is he so neglected?

Guest Profile 7 November 2022

Baroque

Francisco de Zurbarán: The Spanish Caravaggio

Francisco de Zurbarán was one of the major Spanish painters of the 17th century. He is especially known for his religious subjects and for the...

Vithória Konzen Dill 7 November 2022

Baroque

Dark Shadows of Seville in Murillo’s Paintings

Apart from fulfilling commissions for churches and noblemen’s mansions, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo painted genre scenes depicting poor children in...

Soledad Castillo Jara 7 November 2022

Animals

The Medieval Bestiary – Cute, Quirky, and Weird Animals

Of all the medieval manuscripts, bestiaries are definitely the most fun. A medieval bestiary is a book about animals. It’s full of unusual...

Alexandra Kiely 6 November 2022

Women Artists

The Mirror and the Palette: 500 Years of Women’s Self Portraits

This is a review of the book The Mirror and the Palette. Rebellion, Revolution, and Resilience: Five Hundred Years of Women’s Self Portraits by...

Candy Bedworth 5 November 2022

Review

Book Review: Dressing Up, The Women Who Influenced French Fashion by Elizabeth L. Block

Dressing Up, The Women Who Influenced French Fashion is a 2021 book written by art historian Elizabeth L. Block. She is the Senior Editor in the...

Errika Gerakiti 5 November 2022

Review

Muse: Uncovering the Hidden Figures in Art History – Review

Muse – Uncovering the Hidden Figures Behind Art History’s Masterpieces by Ruth Millington is a fascinating book that aims, and one could even...

Aniela Rybak 5 November 2022

Artist Stories

An Orientalist from the Orient: Theodoros Rallis

Not every Orientalist painter journeyed to the Orient or the Levant to observe and interact with the socio-cultural fabric they intended to portray...

Erol Degirmenci 3 November 2022

Alexandre Cabanel, Cleopatra, 1887, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp, Belgium. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Cleopatra by Alexandre Cabanel

Queen Cleopatra is a popular subject today – as she was in the late 19th century. Alexandre Cabanel’s Cleopatra explores a single moment of her...

James W Singer 3 November 2022

Art History 101

Orientalism – Quick Explanation

19th-century Europeans were fascinated by the Near East and North Africa. Everything began roughly around the time of the Napoleonic invasion of...

Magda Michalska 3 November 2022

Bizarre

Art Only Exists Because Death Exists. Skulls in Art

Dia De Los Muertos is celebrated every year across Mexico. A far cry from the Western commercial horror-fest of Halloween, it is a glorious...

Candy Bedworth 2 November 2022

Painting

11 Famous Funeral Paintings of Western Art

Funeral practices are deeply ingrained in all cultures. Varied traditions around the globe reflect widespread beliefs and values. On this day when we...

Zuzanna Stańska 1 November 2022