London, National Gallery This is a remarkable painting for many reasons. It displays the usual array of Holbein’s prodigious talents but it is also a fascinating historical document. Christina was the daughter of King Christian of Denmark and at sixteen years of age she was already the widowed wife of the Duke of Milan. After … Read more

London, National Gallery Born in Crete, then a Venetian possession, and trained in the Byzantine tradition of his native land, the natural destination for Domenikos Theotokopoulos when he decided to leave was Venice. Once there, it seems that this Cretan painter of icons may well have studied under the great Titian — quite a clash … Read more

London, National Gallery The story of Psyche is first told in The Golden Ass, by the philosopher and poet Apuleius who was born in North Africa in the second century AD. Psyche was a princess renowned for her beauty. As a result of the jealousy of his mother, Venus (Aphrodite), Psyche comes to the notice … Read more

New York, Guggenheim Museum Vuillard never married and lived with his mother until her death at a number of addresses in Paris. In 1908 they moved into an apartment on the fourth floor of 26 rue de Calais in the Batignolles district in the north of Paris where they were to live for over 25 … Read more

Paris, Musée d’Orsay In October 1888 Paul Gauguin travelled to Arles in the south of France to join his friend Vincent van Gogh. Gauguin had been reluctant to leave Brittany but pressure (in the form of a continual stream of letters) from both Vincent, and Vincent’s brother Theo, had eventually broken his resolve and van Gogh welcomed … Read more

Paris, Musée d’Orsay The sight of the stars always makes me dream… Just as we take the train to go to Tarascon or to Rouen, we take death to go to a star. Vincent van Gogh – letter to his brother Theo In February 1888, after 18 months in Paris, van Gogh arrived in Arles. He … Read more

London, Wallace Collection Born in Normandy and having studied in Paris, in 1624, by the age of thirty, Poussin had become resident in Rome. During his early years in Rome, as well as seeking patronage from the Roman ecclesiastical elite, he also mixed with other French expatriate artists, making sketching sorties into the countryside around … Read more

London, National Gallery The three kings are attended by extensive retinues and are bedecked in fine silks, damasks and furs. They wear suitably outlandish and gorgeous headgear — a pointer to the fact that they hail from far flung destinations — incorporating crowns to confirm their status. Their gifts are proffered in intricately wrought monstrances … Read more

New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art The commedia dell’arte was a form of improvised theatre which originated in Italy in the 16th century but was still popular in much of western Europe two centuries later. Each member of the company was given one ‘mask,’ or stock character, to play and would act only that part, the basic … Read more

New York, Frick Collection In November 1825 Corot, following the well trodden path of the young painter, traveled to Italy where he stayed for over two years. This first stay in Rome (he later returned for two more extended visits) provided him with his life’s inspiration and set the classicising tone for his later work. … Read more