European Art

The Duchess of Alba and "la Beata" painted by Francisco Goya, 1795 Artist Stories

The Story Of Duchess of Alba – Francisco de Goya’s Muse

Few women in 18th-century Spain captured the imagination of contemporaries as thoroughly as Doña María de Pilar Teresa Cayetana de Silva Álvarez...

Zuzanna Stańska 1 July 2023

Love Story

Women in Rossetti’s Life and Art: Muses and Lovers

Anyone who knows of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood will remember their style by the representation of a very particular type of woman – the ones...

Bolor Jargalsaikhan 1 July 2023

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 30 June 2023

Hans Eworth, Elizabeth I and the Three Goddesses, 1569 History

The Myth of the Judgement of Paris in Art

According to Greek mythology, the Judgement of Paris is a story which leads up to the start of the Trojan War. As the myth goes, three goddesses are...

Anna Ingram 29 June 2023

Rosa Bonheur, Plowing in the Nivernais Artist Stories

The Radical and Rebellious Rosa Bonheur

Rosa Bonheur's vivid animal portraits made her one of France's richest 19th century artist. Her unconventional personal life is fascinating!

Candy Bedworth 29 June 2023

Hans Holbein the Younger, Portrait of Henry VIII of England, ca. 1537, Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain.  History

Royal Portraits: The Art of Image

Shakespeare once wrote, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” For monarchs...

Abreeza Thomas 29 June 2023

Fashion

Get Inspired: Jewelry in Rossetti’s Paintings

Each piece of jewelry in Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s paintings worn by his models wasn’t invented but copied from actual accessories from the...

Bolor Jargalsaikhan 29 June 2023

Music

Farinelli – The Best Castrato In Portraits

What does “castrato” mean? Castrati were male singers who had been castrated before puberty to retain the so-called voce bianca, that is...

Magda Michalska 26 June 2023

Architecture

Masterpiece Story: Casa Batlló by Antoni Gaudí

Passeig de Gràcia, 43, Barcelona. There’s an unavoidable house at this address: the Casa Batllò, a symbol of the Catalan capital. It is one of...

Tommy Thiange 25 June 2023

Art State of Mind

One with Nature: Nude Paintings in Natural Settings

Depictions of the nude figurative form is a time-honored artistic tradition dating back to antiquity. Depending on the period in question, the...

Maya M. Tola 22 June 2023

Artist Stories

Claude Cahun. A Surrealist Queer Prophet

Claude Cahun famously said “Masculine? Feminine? It depends on the situation. Neuter is the only gender that always suits me.” Photographer,...

Candy Bedworth 22 June 2023

Cristiano Banti, Portrait of Alaide. European Art

Rediscovering the Macchiaioli: Italy’s Revolutionary Impressionists

You’ve heard of the larger-than-life Impressionists who captivated Europe and the world at large with their dazzling light and color. But what...

Natalia Iacobelli 20 June 2023