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Period: 1350 to
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a fervent period of European cultural, artistic, political and economic “rebirth” following the Middle Ages. Generally described as taking place from the 14th century to the 17th century, the Renaissance promoted the rediscovery of classical philosophy, literature and art. -
1450
Fra Angelico, The Last Judgment
Fra Angelico, (born c. 1400, Vicchio, republic of Florence [Italy]—died February 18, 1455, Rome), Italian painter, one of the greatest 15th-century painters, whose works within the framework of the early Renaissance style embody a serene religious attitude and reflect a strong Classical influence. A great number of works executed during his career are altarpieces and frescoes created for the church and the priory of San Marco in Florence while he was in residence there. -
1490
Heyronimous Bosch, The Temptation of Saint Anthony
Hiëronymus Bosch, brilliant and original northern European painter whose work reveals an unusual iconography of a complex and individual style. He was recognized as a highly imaginative “creator of devils” and a powerful inventor of seeming nonsense full of satirical and moralizing meaning. Bosch was a pessimistic moralist who had neither illusions about the rationality of human nature nor confidence in the kindness of a world that had been corrupted by human presence in it. -
1515
Heyronimous Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights
The Garden of Earthly Delights is the modern title given to a triptych oil painting on oak panel painted by the master Hieronymus Bosch, between 1490 and 1515. It has been housed in the Museo del Prado in Madrid. As little is known of Bosch's life or intentions, interpretations of his artistic intent behind the work range from an admonition of worldly fleshy indulgence, to a dire warning on the perils of life's temptations, to an evocation of ultimate sexual joy. -
1576
Titian, The Flaying of Marsyas
The painting shows the killing by flaying or skinning alive of Marsyas, a satyr who rashly challenged the god Apollo to a musical contest. It is one of several canvases with mythological subjects from Ovid, mostly the poesie series for King Philip II of Spain, of which this painting seems not to have been part. The painting has been in Moravia since 1673, and was rather forgotten about, being off the beaten track as far as Venetian painting is concerned. -
Caravaggio, Medusa
Two versions of Medusa were created by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, one in 1596 and the other in ca. 1597. Both depict the moment from Greek mythology in which the Gorgon Medusa is killed by the demigod Perseus, but the Medusas are also self-portraits. Due to its bizarre and intricate design, the painting is said to display Caravaggio's unique fascination with violence and realism. The Medusa was commissioned by the Italian diplomat Francesco Maria del Monte. -
Caravaggio, Judith Beheading Holofernes
Judith Beheading Holofernes is a painting of the biblical episode by Caravaggio, painted in c. 1598–1599 or 1602, in which the widow Judith stayed with the Assyrian general Holofernes in his tent after a banquet then decapitated him after he passed out drunk. The painting was rediscovered in 1950 and is part of the collection of the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica in Rome. -
Period: to
Baroque
The term Baroque, derived from the Portuguese 'barocco' meaning 'irregular pearl or stone', refers to a cultural and art movement that characterized Europe from the early seventeenth to mid-eighteenth century. Baroque emphasizes dramatic, exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted, detail. -
Caravaggio, Mary Magdalen in Ecstasy
According to a legend popular in Caravaggio's time, after Christ's death his faithful female disciple Mary of Magdala moved to southern France, where she lived as a hermit in a cave at Sainte-Baume near Aix-en-Provence. There she was transported seven times a day by angels into the presence of God, "where she heard, with her bodily ears, the delightful harmonies of the celestial choirs." -
Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith Slaying Holofernes
“The Lord has struck him down by the hand of a woman”. So says Judith in the bible when she describes her heroic act that freed the people of Israel from the siege.. Judith went to the encampment of the fierce Holofernes, dressed in her best clothes to forge an alliance. Struck by her beauty, the Assyrian general invited her to a banquet in his tent. Holofernes fell asleep on his bed, allowing Judith to seize her chance to draw her scimitar and strike the deadly blow. -
Period: to
Rococo
Rococo is a flamboyant yet light-hearted form of art often characterized by whites and pastel colors, gilding, and curvaceous lines. The Rococo style typically depicts scenes of youth, love, and nature, and elicits motion and drama. -
Period: to
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism in the arts is an aesthetic attitude based on the art of Greece and Rome in antiquity, which invokes harmony, clarity, restraint, universality, and idealism -
Henry Fuseli, The Nightmare
The Nightmare is a 1781 oil painting by Swiss artist Henry Fuseli. It shows a woman in deep sleep with her arms thrown below her, and with a demonic and ape-like incubus crouched on her chest. The painting's dreamlike and haunting erotic evocation of infatuation and obsession was a huge popular success. -
Period: to
Romanticism
Romanticism is a literary movement spanning roughly 1790–1850. The movement was characterized by a celebration of nature and the common man, a focus on individual experience, an idealization of women, and an embrace of isolation and melancholy. -
Jacques-Louis David, The Death of Marat
The Death of Marat is a 1793 painting by Jacques-Louis David depicting the artist's friend and murdered French revolutionary leader, Jean-Paul Marat.It was painted when David was the leading French Neoclassical painter, a Montagnard, and a member of the revolutionary Committee of General Security. Created in the months after Marat's death, the painting shows Marat lying dead in his bath after his murder by Charlotte Corday on 13 July 1793. -
Goya, Witches' Sabbath
Witches' Sabbath shows Baphomet, surrounded by a coven of young and aged witches in a moonlit barren landscape. The goat possesses large horns and is crowned by a wreath of oak leaves. On the right, an old crone can be seen holding an extremely starved looking, but apparently still living, infant in her hands, while a younger witch to her right does the same with a healthier looking child, implying they will follow the same fate. -
Caspar David Friedrich, The Abbey in the Oakwood
The Abbey in the Oakwood is an oil painting by Caspar David Friedrich. It was painted between 1809 and 1810 in Dresden and was first shown together with the painting The Monk by the Sea in the Prussian Academy of Arts exhibition of 1810. On Friedrich's request The Abbey in the Oakwood was hung beneath The Monk by the Sea. This painting is one of over two dozen of Friedrich's works that include cemeteries or graves. -
William Blake, The Ghost of a Flea
While drawing the spirit it told the artist that all fleas were inhabited by the souls of men who were 'by nature bloodthirsty to excess'. In the painting it holds a cup for blood-drinking and stares eagerly towards it. Blake's amalgamation of man and beast suggests a human character marred by animalistic traits. -
William Blake, The Great Red Dragon
The Great Red Dragon paintings are a series of watercolour paintings by the English poet and painter William Blake, painted between 1805 and 1810. It was during this period that Blake was commissioned to create over one hundred paintings intended to illustrate books of the Bible. These paintings depict "The Great Red Dragon" in various scenes from the Book of Revelation. A -
Francisco Goya, Saturn Devouring His Son
Saturn Devouring His Son is a painting by Spanish artist Francisco Goya. It is traditionally interpreted as a depiction of the Greek myth of the Titan Cronus (known as Saturn in Roman mythology) eating one of his offspring. Fearing a prophecy foretold by Gaea that predicted he would be overthrown by one of his children, Saturn ate each one upon their birth. -
Two Old Men Eating Soup
Two Old Ones Eating Soup or Two Witches is one of the fourteen Black Paintings created by Francisco Goya between 1819 and 1823. By this time, Goya was in his mid-70s and deeply disillusioned. He painted the works on the interior walls of the house known as the Quinta del Sordo ("House of the Deaf Man"). They were not intended for public display. Two Old Men Eating Soup likely occupied a position above the main door to the house, between La Leocadia and Two Old Men. -
Katsushika Hokusai, The Phantom Of Kohada Koheiji
Kohada Koheiji is an actor, believed to have lived in Edo later Edo Period. It's believed that his wife had an affair, conspired and killed him with her boyfriend, Koheiji became a ghost and haunted them, killed the wife, her lover went crazy and killed himself. This story later was written as a novel by Santō Kyōden in 1807. -
Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Takiyasha The Witch And The Skeleton Specter
Takiyasha the Witch and the Skeleton Spectre is an ukiyo-e woodblock triptych by Japanese artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798–1861). Kuniyoshi was known for his depictions of historical and mythical scenes, and combined both in portraying the tenth-century princess Takiyasha summoning a skeleton spectre to frighten Ōya no Mitsukuni. In the image, the princess recites a spell written on a handscroll, summoning a giant skeleton. -
Period: to
Realism
Realism, in the arts, the accurate, detailed, unembellished depiction of nature or of contemporary life. Realism rejects imaginative idealization in favour of a close observation of outward appearances. As such, realism in its broad sense has comprised many artistic currents in different civilizations. -
Jan Matejko, Stańczyk
It is one of Matejko's most famous works and the one that launched him to fame. It has been described by the Warsaw National Museum as one of the most recognizable paintings in its collection, and is a flagship painting for the "Collection of Polish paintings prior to 1914". Its primary component is the contrast between the solemn jester and the lively ball going on in the background. The painting presents Stańczyk with a sense of isolation and hopelessness. -
Gustave Moreau, Diomedes Devoured By His Horses
In a fit of madness, the Olympian demi-god Hercules killed his wife and his six sons. His imposed penance involved twelve “labors” that taxed even his divine bravery and strength. As his eighth labor, Hercules was commanded to steal a ferocious herd of mares belonging to the Thracian King, who had raised them on a diet of human flesh. French painter Gustave Moreau portrays the culminating scene in the narrative, when Hercules lets the raging horses loose on their own master. -
Ilya Repin, Ivan The Terrible And His Son Ivan
Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan on 16 November 1581 is a painting by Russian realist artist Ilya Repin. It depicts the grief-stricken Russian tsar Ivan the Terrible cradling his dying son, the Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich, shortly after the elder Ivan had dealt a fatal blow to his son's head in a fit of anger. The painting portrays the anguish and remorse on the face of the elder Ivan and the gentleness of the dying Tsarevich, forgiving his father with his tears. -
Vincent Van Gogh, Skull Of A Skeleton With Burning Cigarette
This skeleton with a lit cigarette in its mouth is a juvenile joke. Van Gogh painted it in early 1886, while studying at the art academy in Antwerp. The painting shows that he had a good command of anatomy. Drawing skeletons was a standard exercise at the academy, but painting them was not part of the curriculum. He must have made this painting at some other time, between or after his lessons. -
Odilon Redon, The Smiling Spider
Odilon Redon’s The Smiling Spider is a Symbolist charcoal drawing created in 1881, now housed in the Musée du Louvre in Paris. The piece is part of the artist’s noirs series, which consists of monochromatic compositions that explore the expressive power of black. Redon was known for his visionary works that centered around dreams, fantasy, and imagination. Redon depicts a spider with ten legs instead of eight and a mischievous smile. -
Edvard Munch,The Scream
The agonized face in the painting has become one of the most iconic images of art, seen as symbolizing the anxiety of the human condition. Munch's work, including The Scream, had a formative influence on the Expressionist movement. -
Edvard Munch, The Dead Mother And Child
Edvard Munch's painting, The Dead Mother, was created between 1899-1900 and depicts a young girl standing beside her deceased mother. This artwork is significant in marking a turning point between the symbolist and expressionist movements. -
Egon Schiele, The Self Seers (Death And Man)
Schiele approached self-portraits as a meditative act where he analysed himself and his work prophetically. In a monastic smock of hermetic appearance he is seen in profile stepping forward holding up his elongated and rigid hands, signalling to the viewer the tools of his craft. -
Period: to
WW I
World War I (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918) was a global conflict fought between two coalitions: the Allies and the Central Powers. Fighting took place throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Pacific, and parts of Asia. One of the deadliest wars in history, it resulted in an estimated 9 million soldiers dead and 23 million wounded, plus another 5 million civilian deaths from various causes. Millions more died as a result of genocide. -
Period: to
Surrealism
Surrealism originated in the late 1910s and early '20s as a literary movement that experimented with a new mode of expression called automatic writing, or automatism, which sought to release the unbridled imagination of the subconscious. -
Frida Kahlo, Girl With Death Mask
In 1938 Frida painted two similar paintings with the same subject. This painting depicted a little girl, which is believed to be Frida herself at the age of four, was wearing a skull mask. This kind of mask is a tradition at the annual Mexican festival "Day of the Dead" where death is celebrated instead of mourned. The little is holding a yellow blossom in her hands which resembles the tagete bloom that Mexicans put on graves at the "Day of the Dead" festival. -
Period: to
WW II
World War II (WWII or WW2) or the Second World War was a global conflict that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries, including all the great powers, fought as part of two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. Many participating countries invested all available economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities into this total war, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. -
Salvador Dali, The Face of War
The Face of War (The Visage of War; in Spanish La Cara de la Guerra) (1940) is a painting by the Spanish surrealist Salvador Dalí. It was painted during a brief period when the artist lived in California. The trauma and the view of war had often served as inspiration for Dalí's work. He sometimes believed his artistic vision to be premonitions of war. This work was painted between the end of the Spanish Civil War [1936] and the beginning of the Second World War. -
Ivan Albright, The Picture Of Dorian Gray
Chicago artist Ivan Albright executed this grisly work for the 1945 movie adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s 1891 novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. In Wilde’s tale, a portrait of the young and attractive Gray decays as the protagonist leads an increasingly wayward life, recording the extent of his moral corruption in paint. Having established a reputation for capturing the macabre. Such a horrific image that both attracts and repulses its viewers. -
Francis Bacon, Study After Velázquez's Portrait Of Pope Innocent
Study after Velázquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X is a 1953 painting by the artist Francis Bacon. The work shows a distorted version of the Portrait of Innocent X painted by Spanish artist Diego Velázquez in 1650. -
Francis Bacon, Figure with Meat
Figure with Meat is a 1954 painting by the Irish-born artist Francis Bacon. The figure is based on the Pope Innocent X portrait by Diego Velázquez; however, in the Bacon painting the Pope is shown as a gruesome figure and placed between two bisected halves of a cow. The carcass hanging in the background is likely derived from Rembrandt's Slaughtered Ox, 1655. The painting is in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. -
Period: to
Contemporary art
Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic combination of materials, methods, concepts, and subjects that continue the challenging of boundaries that was already well underway in the 20th century. -
Zdislaw Beksinski, 1975 – Untitled
Zdzisław Beksiński (1929 – 2005) was a Polish painter, photographer, and sculptor; specializing in the field of dystopian surrealism. Beksiński made his paintings and drawings in what he called either a Baroque or a Gothic manner. His creations were made mainly in two periods. The first period of work is considered to contain expressionistic color, with a strong style of "utopian realism". The second period contained more abstract style, with the main features of formalism. -
Zdislaw Beksinski, 1984. Untitled
In the late 1960s, Beksiński entered what he himself called his "fantastic period," which lasted into the mid-1980s. This is his best-known period, during which he created disturbing images, showing a gloomy, surrealistic environment with detailed scenes of death, decay, landscapes filled with skeletons, deformed figures, and deserts. These detailed works were painted with his trademark precision.