Jan van Eyck, Arnolfini Double Portrait, 1434, oil on panel, 32.4” x 23.6”, National Gallery, London, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
This is one of those works of art that represents an era, yet it is totally unique. Double portraits were quite rare in the fifteenth century, and so art historians have had a difficult time interpreting this one by Jan … Continue reading
© 2011 Sally Whitman Coleman, PhD. All rights reserved.
Albrecht Dürer fancied himself a great painter before anything else; however, it was his printmaking that became his major contribution to the history of art. What he was able to accomplish using only black and white is astonishing, … Continue reading
Exterior, Hieronymus Bosch, Garden of Earthly Delights, c. 1480-1515, oil on panel, center 7’2½” x 6’4½”, wings, each7’2½” x 3’2”, Museo del Prado, Madrid. Image via Wikimedia Commons.
Like many titles given to works of art, The Garden of Earthly Delights does not describe the subject of this painting at all. Artists normally did not give titles to their creations. Other people suggested titles, sometimes centuries later, and … Continue reading
Leonardo da Vinci, Mona Lisa, c. 1503-1519, oil on poplar wood, 30” x 21, Musée du Louvre, Paris. Image via Wikimedia Commons.
This is arguably the most famous portrait in Western art; nevertheless, it remains shrouded in mystery, which may be the reason the image is so alluring. Of course, it also is appealing because it is a magnificent and beautiful object. … Continue reading