He was sometimes known as Il divino – the divine one – for his expert mastery of space and proportion. And this year, in the 500th anniversary of his death, you can get up close and personal with...

This week’s painting, An allegory with Venus and Cupid by Agnolo Bronzino from the National Gallery in London, is one of the more mysterious masterworks of Mannerism. It also beautifully presents many of Mannerism traits: elongated bodies, elegant...

Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino – better known as Raphael – is known for the harmony and clarity of form within his visually brilliant paintings. He was sometimes known as Il divino – the divine one – for his expert...

Jan van Eyck was a Flemish painter active in Bruges who was born in 1390 and died in 1441. He was one of the innovators of what became known as Early Netherlandish painting, and one of the most...

Sofonisba, Portraits of the soul is a book by Chiara Montani about the life and work of the Italian artist Sofonisba Anguissola. Sofonisba was an artist during the Renaissance in Italy and Spain. She was the first woman...

A whistle-stop tour of each of the seven Poesies, which the Renaissance master delivered Philip II of Spain in the 1550s and early 1560s, finally reaches it’s conclusion with Titian’s The Death of Actaeon. Revised style and an...

In a series of articles we are meeting each of the seven Poesies, which Titian delivered Phillip II of Spain in the 1550s and early 1560s. So far we have encountered the stories of Danaë, Venus and Adonis, Perseus...