#Portraits

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Self-Portrait at 28 by Albrecht Dürer

Albrecht Dürer loved self-portraits. In the first half of his life, he made a series of them. The earliest is from 1484, when the artist was a...

Zuzanna Stańska 14 September 2023

Woman with Stylus, 55-79 CE Ancient Rome

Woman with Stylus: What a Portrait Can Tell Us About Women in Ancient Rome

Woman with Stylus is an ancient Roman fresco unearthed in Pompeii nearly two millennia after the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 CE. Various details...

Natalia Iacobelli 11 September 2023

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Madame de Pompadour by François Boucher

François Boucher (1703–1770) was the most celebrated French painter of the 18th century. His painting Madame de Pompadour captures the beautiful...

James W Singer 9 September 2023

Rococo

Madame de Pompadour: The Queen of Arts in Portraits

Elvis Presley’s famous hairstyle was named after her, a French champagne glass is believed to have been modeled after her breast and, according to...

Magda Michalska 9 September 2023

Arpita Shah Modern Muse Photography

Modern Muse: Arpita Shah’s Feminist Take on Mughal Portraiture

Staging an intervention in art history, and specifically in Indian miniature portraiture, Arpita Shah replaces male Mughal emperors with inspiring...

Guest Profile 3 September 2023

Mannerism

The Fantasy World of Giuseppe Arcimboldo’s Portraits

Giuseppe Arcimboldo was the king of Mannerism. If you see a portrait made of plants, vegetables, books, animals and generally speaking, stuff – you...

Zuzanna Stańska 28 August 2023

Animals

The Lady with the Dog: Meaning of Dogs in Women’s Portraits

The Lady with the Dog is a title that I borrowed from Chekhov’s short story. While Chekhov’s story revolves around an affair, in the realm of...

Joanna Kaszubowska 26 August 2023

Women Artists

Thérèse Schwartze: The Painter of the Amsterdam’s Elite

Thérèse Schwartze (1851–1918) grew up in an artistic family in Amsterdam. Her father Johann Georg Schwartze was a painter and he introduced his...

Europeana 21 August 2023

Baroque

15 Things You Didn’t Know About the Night Watch by Rembrandt

The Night Watch painted by Rembrandt van Rijn is a monumental canvas displayed today in the “Gallery of Honour” of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam,...

Zuzanna Stańska, Nicole Ganbold 21 August 2023

Fashion

Most Beautiful Dresses: Portrait of Eleanor of Toledo by Agnolo Bronzino

The best-known image of Eleanor of Toledo is also one of the most beautiful dresses in art history. Don’t be too distracted by the beauty of the...

Vithória Konzen Dill 17 August 2023

Women Artists

Alice Neel: The Story of Defying Convention

Today, Alice Neel is considered one of the greatest portrait painters of the 20th century. As she usually painted her friends, family, neighbors, and...

Gokce Dyson 13 August 2023

WTF Art History

10 Times When Egon Schiele Mastered Hip Hop Hand Gestures

Art is a serious thing. But sometimes some associations once they pop up in your head just can’t disappear. I didn’t find any scientific evidence...

Zuzanna Stańska 12 August 2023