#Portraits

* Johannes Vermeer, Lady Writing a Letter with her Maid (c. 1670–71), National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin, Ireland. Artist Stories

5 Things You Should Know About Johannes Vermeer

Johannes Vermeer was a Dutch painter who lived and worked during the Dutch Golden Age. Along with Rembrandt and Frans Hals, he is considered one of...

Anastasia Manioudaki 23 July 2023

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp by Rembrandt van Rijn

Rembrandt painted this group portrait of seven surgeons and the physician Nicolaes Tulp in 1632. He was only 26 years old at that point. Nicolaes...

Zuzanna Stańska 15 July 2023

Painting

The History of Amedeo Modigliani’s Portraits

Amedeo Modigliani painted so many portraits of women – especially nude ones – that people began to see him as a reckless playboy, an image that...

Pola Otterstein 11 July 2023

Artist Stories

Pablo Picasso and Women in His Life

Pablo Picasso, perhaps the most influential and recognizable painter of the 20th century, is well known for his tumultuous (or even abusive)...

Pola Otterstein 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

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

Pop art

Andy Warhol’s Ladies and Gentlemen

A club The Gilded Grape, situated in the no man’s land of Eighth Avenue and West 45th Street in New York City, was a hub of drag queens and Black...

Magda Michalska 28 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

Nicaise de Keyser, William II (1792-1849), King of the Netherlands, when Prince of Orange, 1846, Royal Collection, UK. History

Willem II: The Queer King of the Netherlands

Willem II ruled the Netherlands from 1840 to 1849. In modern terms he would be considered a bisexual man, as he had relationships with both women and...

Jimena Escoto 14 June 2023

Ancient Rome

The Portrait of Rome’s Decline: Bust of Decius

The turmoil of Rome’s decline in the 3rd century enclosed the 21-month reign of Decius. His tenure as emperor was not exceptionally short for the...

Guest Profile 11 June 2023

Baroque

5 Best Works by Diego Velázquez

Diego Velázquez is the most important figure of the Spanish Baroque period and one of Europe’s most significant old masters. He was born in...

Anna Ingram 6 June 2023

Art History 101

Everything You Must Know About Las Meninas

This is one of Velázquez’s largest paintings in which he worked very hard to create a complex and credible composition that would convey a...

Zuzanna Stańska, Nicole Ganbold 6 June 2023