Pieter de Hooch at the National Gallery

I’m a huge fan of Pieter de Hooch’s genre paintings.

In this blog post, I wanted to share 2 outstanding paintings at London’s NG. 

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The Courtyard of a House in Delft by Pieter de Hooch (1658)

I love this painting. I always make a beeline to see it in room 16.

It has an intensity (an assiduousness) that is captivating as well as charming.

It’s in my favourite 10 paintings of the National Gallery.

Pieter de Hooch was a master painter of the Dutch Golden Age. He moved to Amsterdam in 1660 and art history explains a shift from his earlier Delft art - genre paintings focused on the ordinary people in their homes and courtyards.

The little girl is the centre of the painting, and the source of the painting’s warmth and charm. A statement about a well-ordered & healthy home? Perhaps. But interesting that he paints the other lady with her back to us.

De Hooch’s power in the use of light is not only masterful (e.g. soft shadows in the archway for depth) but powerful in its interaction with luminous flowers and foliage. To me, it seems to recreate that afternoon sunny effect in which flowers & plants appear to glow with a beautiful intensity. 

As for the brickworks, my goodness. To me, it seems he treats the brickworks like nature itself. He treats it as a subject worthy of delicacy and meticulousness. I discovered on wikipedia that his father, Hendrick Hendricksz de Hooch, was a bricklayer. So that explains that. De Hooch paints every single brick with mortar between them and expertly weaves them together to stunning open-mouthed effect.

 

The texture of the wood, the brickwork colours, the almost glistening flowers.

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A Woman and her Maid in a Courtyard by Pieter de Hooch (1660)

A bit of mystery here.

There is a sense of unease or tension in the relationship between the woman and her maid.

The maid seems to be cooking some food. Perhaps a stew, a cooking pot in front of her (black) on a little fire of sorts. Next to a waterpump to cook with? Broom to sweep (same broom as the The Courtyard of a House above).

The woman in the courtyard looks like the woman of the house. Seemingly wealthy (finer clothing), she seems to be looking at the maid closely with hands outstretched (as if to say “well?”). It’s a bit of an unease - like she’s keeping an eye on her. It could be a snapshot of daily life. Though, the girl/maid on floor seems to have a frown and eyes are looking downwards. It’s interesting that De Hooch doesn’t show us the woman’s face - perhaps to depersonalise her? Make us aware of her function in the everyday daily life - but no more? Because we empathise with the maid. But, who knows if this is supposed to have moral overtones? 

The bricks - warm reddish coloured walls are beautiful against the yellow-ey floor. A detailed analysis of how light and shadow play across the brickworks. Here they’re slightly uneven and slightly worn. Fascinating golden cloth/tapestry - it could be a visual enhancement (adding a contrasting colour) or simply a visual detail familiar to the original patrons.

Outstanding.

 

The roof and architecture are incredibly detailed,

capturing the texture of wood, and the roughened weathered look.

The Bayeux Tapestry returning to the British Museum

I’m posting about this because the Bayeux Tapestry are returning to the British Museum.

Very exciting.

As Alastair Sooke writes in “The Bayeux Tapestry is coming home – this is a huge moment in our cultural history” (Telegraph)

Some works of art are so famous that they’re seared in the collective imagination, as familiar to us as our parents’ faces. One such piece is that 224ft-long embroidered strip of linen known as the Bayeux Tapestry, which, as almost every British schoolchild could tell you, memorialises the Battle of Hastings, as well as the events leading up to it, and the Norman Conquest of 1066.

For centuries, it has been a cornerstone of European culture – much parodied (including by The Simpsons) and still a source of inspiration for contemporary artists such as David Hockney, whose current retrospective in Paris includes a homage to it set, appropriately, within the grounds of his half-timbered Normandy property. Prior to today’s announcement that, in a reciprocal deal with the French, it will be lent to Britain – in exchange for the British Museum’s Lewis chessmen and Anglo-Saxon treasures from Sutton Hoo – it was still generating headlines as recently as this spring, when a debate broke out among medieval historians regarding the number of penises depicted within it. The jury’s still out on whether there are 93 (88 of them equine) or 94.

Although the wall hanging, which consists of nine conjoined panels, was almost certainly produced in England (probably, according to stylistic evidence, towards the end of the 11th century), it is housed, today, in Normandy’s purpose-built Bayeux Museum. (There’s also a full-size replica in Reading.) The prospect of its imminent display in Britain provides an opportunity to remove the encrustation of familiarity that, in a sense, obscures it.

For, while the tapestry has long been considered an important primary source for English history, and a sort of visual glossary documenting life in early medieval Europe (teeming with depictions of astonishingly diverse objects, including harrows and hunting horns, biers, barrels, wagons and spades), what sometimes gets forgotten is that it’s also a superb example of secular Romanesque art. It was likely commissioned by the Norman nobleman, and King William the Conqueror’s half-brother, Odo, Bishop of Bayeux (in the accounts of whose church, Bayeux Cathedral, it was first mentioned, during the 15th century).

Whoever designed the tapestry was an artist of considerable imaginative power, capable of summoning a remarkably consistent and lively extended narrative. The tumultuous, topsy-turvy battle scenes, in particular – with their chainmail-clad warriors and upended horses, and, of course, Harold, identified (like the work’s other figures) by an inscription, possibly tugging at an arrow that may be protruding from his eye – are unforgettably dynamic.

The action, though, is rarely illegible, in part because the background isn’t embroidered with coloured woollen yarns (technically, the Bayeux Tapestry, a few scenes of which are lost, is an embroidery), so that the graphic immediacy of the design within this broad central section is not diluted; text, mostly in square capitals, helps to clarify and drive the narrative, too. Everything is represented using a palette of only 10 shades of dye derived from plants including madder and woad. At one point, Halley’s Comet makes a cameo.

The middle zone, where the cut-and-thrust of the story (itself, divided into discrete scenes) takes place, is mostly flanked, at top and bottom, by decorative borders or bands. Sometimes, these borders serve a simple ornamental purpose, or represent tales from, say, Aesop’s fables. But they can also interact with, and even foreshadow, aspects of the principal story, in a manner that attests to the sophistication of the tapestry’s maker and its audience.

This, as much as the surprising fact of its survival, imbues it with a miraculous aura. That something so fundamental to our national story is, as it were, coming home – possibly after more than nine centuries! – is a massive moment for this country.

The Winged Victory of Samothrace at the Louvre (c. 200 BC)

The Winged Victory of Samothrace was discovered on the Greek island of Samothrace.

This is a very famous Greek original sculpture that was buried for centuries.

What a dynamic powerful pose. I saw this at the Louvre.

The Greek sculptor captured the goddess of victory landing on the prow of a war ship.

Incredible drapery and feathered wings. 

The Gaza aid crisis

The Gaza aid situation is v. serious. While no famine yet, we may be approaching it quite quickly. The prolonged and uneven distribution of aid is going to give rise to severe malnutrition - esp. among the most vulnerable in the Gazan population.

As Emanuel Fabian writes in the ToI, the problem is distribution. There are almost 1,000 aid trucks sitting at the Gaza-side of Kerem Shalom crossing of the border. They are not getting distributed - either by the GHF or UN.

As a bit of a recap, there are two means of delivering aid to Gaza:

1. Directly to the population in Israeli-secured distribution centers - The IDF simply cannot distribute the aid. That would mean putting soldiers into a v. confrontational situation. They would be surrounded by thousands of Gazans; inevitably leading to clashes and attacks. This is why the GHF was created. In an earlier blog post, I thought this might actually be a solution. But, it’s main problem is not nearly enough distribution points (with only 4 centers). You’d need a safe and secure location close enough to the local population. Then, you need the soldiers, security contractors, equipment and engineering to build & secure the sites. Those distribution centers need to be controlled, managed and defended as Hamas is doing everything to undermine them. They’re being disrupted by gunfire and deaths, and involve long lines. An aid station needs to take in thousands of people per hour, and you can’t search them all. Nevertheless, the GHF have been delivering millions of meals per day (which is why there is no famine).

2. Into Hamas controlled territory - The delivery to areas controlled by Hamas is not what GHF does, but others do it. Previously, if the UN sends their drivers, then part of it gets looted on the way and the remainder goes to Hamas. Hamas uses it for their fighters or selling it to Gazan population at exorbitant prices (thereby gaining recruitment money to get more fighters) or plain recruitment-for-food. Earlier in this war, the UN told Israel that it had to secure the convoys of aid going into Gaza. However, when the IDF did that, Hamas combatants (in civilian clothing) mingled with the civilians coming for the aid; then started shooting at the IDF soldiers. The soldiers shoot back. The narrative became: “Israel is shooting civilians coming for aid.” So then, Israel stopped securing the convoys. The problem now is that the UN and aid organizations don’t want to distribute aid into Gaza without the security of the IDF for fear of Hamas. But, when Israel does secure the aid, they can’t protect it from Hamas because of those civilians. And whose fault is that? You guessed it .... Israel!! Not the fault of Hamas.

The waiting aid convoys are supposed to be taken by various aid groups & UN for delivery; and, as the ToI article makes quite clear, it’s about Hamas:

The official said that the UN has made requests that COGAT cannot agree to concerning the deliveries, such as demanding that Hamas police escort the convoys, or that they be allowed to bring in communication devices that Israel fears could end up in the terror group’s hands.

This is not about starving people. This is a power struggle opposing Israeli measures to stop the aid being used to implicitly strengthen Hamas. Hamas’s remaining power and danger is directly related to its control over the aid delivery. Hamas needs to make getting aid from people other than them dangerous, so they can maintain their monopoly and thus power. As Ben Farmer, Melanie Swan and Iona Cleave writing in “How Gaza’s aid crisis broke Hamas and starved the Strip“ (Telegraph) have explained the new GHF aid program has seriously debilitated Hamas:

It has also caused Hamas’s worst financial crisis in decades, Israeli officials report. The terror group has been unable to pay its fighters or repair its network of tunnels and hideouts beneath the Strip. Cash shortages have also left Hamas reportedly unable to pay salaries for police or ministry employees. Money reserves amassed before, or during the early stages of, the war have run short, while Israeli strikes have devastated the leadership and fractured its grip on the besieged territory. Hamas for years received large sums from Iran, Qatar and others, and was also able to tax cross-border commerce. Israel has long alleged that Hamas also made money by seizing and selling international aid entering Gaza, though this has been denied by the United Nations and aid agencies. That income ended, officials say, when Israel imposed a blockade in March, and then began using the GHF, set up jointly by the US and Israel, to run aid hubs and bypass UN-run distributions.

Perhaps the next stage would be a humanitarian city, like Rafah, in allowing much easier delivery since Hamas is not there.

France’s virtue signaling on Palestinian statehood

French President Macron said yesterday that his nation will recognize an independent state of Palestine in September at the UN. According to President Macron (X):

Consistent with its historic commitment to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East, I have decided that France will recognize the State of Palestine. I will make this solemn announcement before the United Nations General Assembly this coming September. 

The urgent priority today is to end the war in Gaza and to bring relief to the civilian population. Peace is possible. We need an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and massive humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza. We must also ensure the demilitarization of Hamas, secure and rebuild Gaza. And finally, we must build the State of Palestine, guarantee its viability, and ensure that by accepting its demilitarization and fully recognizing Israel, it contributes to the security of all in the region. There is no alternative. 

In light of the commitments made to me by the President of the Palestinian Authority, I have written to him to express my determination to move forward.

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France’s position means absolutely nothing, for five reasons.

◉ Firstly, the acceptance of the French President’s conditions (which I’ve highlighted in blue) were made by the PA leader Mahmoud Abbas. Mahmoud Abbas is an election-cancelling dictator of the Westbank. He doesn’t have the hostages and he doesn’t control that part of Palestine. And yet, he has apparently pledged to release the hostages. People have forgotten the kind of violence committed by Hamas against other Palestinians, especially members of Fatah. Even if Abbas were installed to run the strip, can he really control Hamas & Islamic Jihad and have them release the hostages? What a joke. Hamas probably loathe him as much as Israel - esp. given the barbaric horrors inflicted by Hamas to his political party members when they took control of the strip in 2007. It’s also v. unclear whether Fatah can command sufficient public support in the Westbank itself, let alone in Gaza. To a considerable proportion of his voter base, his increasingly aggressive rhetoric just isn’t extreme enough.

◉ Secondly, how does the French President propose kicking Hamas out of Gaza? Is he going to send troops to install Abbas instead? Hamas will never demilitarise, and they will never - ever - recognise the state of Israel. So how do we get there?

◉ Thirdly, Israel would be completely willing to recognise a Palestinian state under the conditions Macron listed. The problem here isn’t Israel. Macron is trying to effect a two-state solution from on high without addressing what the Palestinians think about these topics? Polling has consistently showed that the Palestinians (even more so in the Westbank) support what Hamas did on Oct-7. Additionally, people polled have overwhelming stood against “disarmament of Hamas in the Gaza Strip in order to stop the war on the Gaza Strip”. How many times have they rejected a two-state solution because they want Israel gone. Nothing will really change until the surrounding Arab nation states acknowledge the right of Israel to exist. This declaration by the French President cannot undo the brainwashing of children to hate Jews, or religious delusions about “armed struggle”. There just isn’t the political will for a two-state resolution - neither at Camp David nor today.

◉ Fourthly, the recognition of a State of Palestine following the events of Oct-7 only reinforce the terrorist factions, and not the people advocating for peace. Sinwar would be smiling in his grave. If you’re a moderate Palestinian, you’re now more likely to support Hamas over the PA. They get you the statehood results you want.

◉ Fifthly, France is not a player in the Middle East. This needs to managed by the the US and neighbouring Arab states. 

Hedda Sterne - 1940s New York abstract expressionism

Hedda Sterne was an accomplished Romanian artist who worked in surrealism and then emigrated to New York. I think she was Jewish and had to escape Nazi persecution. She then subsequently morphed into the abstract expressionism movement of New York, and became a successful female artist in that world.

I saw this painting in the Tate. It’s part of the series on New York which she painted as an emigree when she arrived. I imagine its urban architecture must have been a shock to her.

To me, there is a disorienting/discomforting sense to the morass of lines and planes. The eye naturally wishes to find a “path” to finding some home (or refuge) but there doesn’t seem to be one. Up and down, and across. There are no trees, no humans, and it feels like the "structure" might collapse at any moment.

It’s interesting. 

What do you all think?

Picture within a picture

I walked past this beautiful mirror on the way to the museum of modern art in Rome.

The Epstein “client list” is a conspiracy theory

The whole Epstein “client list” is turning into a conspiracy theory cult. Almost a McCarty-like religious mania. 

Without such a list, the worldview of MAGA would crumble. Therefore, surely, the answer must rely on yet another cover up ... or so the logic goes, and hence, the DoJ and FBI are said to be lying. 

If you consider for a moment; why in the world would the President have ever mentioned them in public if he was in the files. After all, he knows who he gave his money to, or with whom he did business. He simply mentioned the “files” to whip his base into a frenzy.

We already know that they broke-off relations in 2003/4 following some sordid affair by Epstein at one of Trump’s resorts. We already know that they were friends and met at parties and events. It seems everyone (even Steven Pinker) met Jeffery Epstein. He was everywhere, and he was able to get close to so many famous and well-connected people. Trouble is that we already knew all of this information. But the hunt persists for hidden secret “lists”! Our next course is to unseal court transcripts. Maybe it’s under his bed?

What is stunning is how this cult now seems to populate among the higher echelons our government and the media. Are we really going to grab Ms Ghislaine Maxwell to testify publicly in some prison-like conference before the media? It needs to stop.

We all know that the so-called Epstein files would have already been released by the Biden administration for being too juicy a story long ago. Either way, a secret as big as the alleged “Epstein files” or “client list” would be truly impossible to keep to a small number of people. Ergo, it’s classic wishful thinking. Unfortunately, the longer this conspiracy goes on, the greater our collective slide into a post-truth world.

Brendan O’Neill writing in “At last, the Jeffrey Epstein conspiracy theory is falling apart” (Spiked) talks about its threat to democracy and why people indulge it:

The bigger question, though, is why so many people just can’t let go of the Epstein tale. No amount of the sunlight of disinfectant, no amount of hyper-clarified jail footage, can wake them from their Paedo Island stupor. And it’s because this conspiracy theory makes them feel good. It gives their lives meaning. It lets them circumvent the tough task of thinking seriously about power and democracy in the 21st century, and instead just say: ‘Everything is beyond our control.’ Like all conspiracy theorists – from 9/11 truthers to ‘anti-Zionist’ fruitcakes – they find strange comfort in the powerlessness bestowed on them by their own theories. Their frenzied belief in distant cabals absolves them of the far harder democratic duties of thought and discussion and change.

The lunacy is bipartisan now. Witness how well the Epstein tale lends itself to both right and left. For years it was held up by right-wing cranks as proof of the depravity of Clintonites and their Hollywood luvvies; now it is wielded to the end of damning Trumpists and ‘populists’ and what they have to hide. I don’t give a damn about Jeffrey Epstein. I don’t much care for the powerful people he mingled with either, though of course I think all are owed the presumption of innocence. I do care about democracy, though. And right now, there are few threats to democracy as insidious and toxic as the tragically fashionable belief that we are ruled by devils and there is nothing we can do about it.

There aren’t any new or meaningful files. There is no “list”. The wider conspiracy theories (incl. Epstein’s death) just aren’t true.

MAGA may have gone nuts, but the rest of us don’t have to.

Tucker Carlson’s cretinous antisemitism

Tucker Carlson has become an antisemitic crank. 

Whenever he pops up in a story, he exhibits an embarrassing decline in intellect alongside an outlandish propensity for conspiracy theories (invariably with an antisemitic bent).

For example, why describe the podcaster (i.e. non-historian) Darryl Cooper as “the best and most honest popular historian in the United states” giving him platform for his revisionist history that Winston Churchill was the “chief villain of the Second World War”; and, not Hitler. 

Recently on the Epstein debacle and the so-called “client list”, he said in a speech that Epstein was “working on behalf” of Israel:

... Where did all the money come from? And no one has ever gotten to the bottom of that because no one has ever tried. And moreover, it’s extremely obvious to anyone who watches that this guy had direct connections to a foreign government. Now, no one’s allowed to say that that foreign government is Israel because we have been somehow cowed into thinking that that’s naughty. There is nothing wrong with saying that. There is nothing hateful about saying that. There’s nothing anti-Semitic about saying. There’s nothing even anti-Israel about saying that ... You have the former Israeli prime minister living in your house. You have had all this contact with the foreign government. Were you working on behalf of Mossad? Were you running a blackmail operation on behalf of foreign government? ... (Excerpted)

And, of course, all of this from his intellectual safe house of “… just asking questions ...” - the unmistakable refuge of the demagogue.

As we know, eventually, all such conspiracy theories devolve to some Jewish angle. 

The Epstein conspiracy is no different and it seems it won’t be easily killed.

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The reasons why the Mossad-Epstein conspiracy is ridiculous:

• It doesn’t make any sense for Israeli intelligence to connect itself to Epstein. Israeli intelligence is one of the few places on Earth in which idiots aren’t running things. He was investigated in 2005 and convicted in 2008. Why would Mossad be concerned with Mr Epstein’s island? What spy-trade skills did he possess? And who would Mossad be hoping to honey-trap - Mahmoud Abbas? It's ridiculous and would unnecessarily implicates Israel in his (by then) known pedophilia and sex scandals.
• Following the Jonathan Pollard espionage fiasco, Mossad & Israel must be aware of the serious repercussions involved in underhanded activities to US-Israeli relations.
• Former Israeli PM Ehud Barak met with Jeffrey Epstein “dozens of times, flew on private plane about 30 times in 2013-2017, including 2014 private flight in Florida” — and so what? Epstein met Clinton, did that make him a CIA spy? Also met Prince Andrew and the Duchess of York? And what does that prove?

Arched view of the Colosseum’s Arena

I snapped this photo which I love.

Rome’s Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art

This museum’s architecture evokes the classical.

I am going to be uploading the highlights in the coming days. 👍

Post-holiday blues

I had a fabulous holiday in Rome.

But now I’m going through photos and organising my albums and whatnot. And of course people ask me about stuff.

The problem is that I start feeling a bit depressed and sad that the trip is over.

I am thinking about the next trip in September (perhaps Turkey, Hagia Sophia? or Madrid’s Prado? or just about anything else involving sunshine and ice-cream).

But all I want to do is go back to Rome and do it all again.

We also spent a fortune with weeks of travel, art, food and beaches ... so we have to plan for low cost trip somewhere.

So how do you get over the post holiday blues? 😣

The Palazzo Barberini Square Staircase by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (ca. 1630)

Arch of Constantine

I took this photo of the Arch of Constantine from the Colosseum.

Smarthistory has a great breakdown to the Emperor.

The Triumph of Divine Providence ceiling fresco by Pietro da Cortona

This is the mindblowing ceiling masterpiece at the Barberini Palace.

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Detail:

Painted by Pietro da Cortona between 1632 and 1639.

Divine Providence is a personified lady. An allegorical figure.

She sits in the centre enthroned on heavenly clouds.

Golden light radiating out of her.

Vestments flapping in the wind, and just about holding on.

Holding the royal scepter.

Also, obviously, a symbol of Barberini power.

 

Divine Providence surrounded by allegorical figures - Justice, Piety, Truth, and Beauty. 

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My YouTube video upload:

The Barberini Palace - Highlights from the collection

I managed to visit the Palazzo Barberini in Rome. It is an absolute must for art lovers with a special focus on the Renaissance and Baroque.

I couldn’t get tickets to the Caravaggio exhibition which had sold out months in advance. But, still pleased to see Raphael, Titian, Artemisia Gentileschi ... I was pleased to come across Giovanni Lanfranco and Mattia Preti.

It was also a quiet refuge from the hussle-and-bussle of Rome.

I have uploaded a selection on the most interesting paintings/artists.

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The Annunciation by Fra Filippo Lippi

I absolutely love Fra Filippo Lippi.

Probably my favourite of the Italian early Renaissance.

I think he manages wonderfully infuse tenderness and humanism (with a certain wistfulness) whilst also preserves the elegance and dignity of a subject in the devotional art. Here, the Madonna is regal. 

His use of perspective is innovative for its time. It’s as if we’re walking into a humble devotional abode.

The detailed decorative style is striking.

The curly hair, the laurel headpiece, the crinkles in the arm’s garment.

The golds in the robes, the gradations of the peacock-like angel wings,

The ornate/red bedspreads and so on ...

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The Tarquinia Madonna by Fra Filippo Lippi

Use of perspective & space to create an illusion of the Madonna

holding up her baby on her rounded throne. 

Sadness. But sweetness in caressing his mother’s neck, consoling? 

Chubby christ?

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Madonna and Child by Neri Di Bicci

A Florentine devotional painting of the 15th century.

Pomegranate motif. Gold background, halos.

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Nativity with Saints Lawrence and Andrew by Antoniazzo Romano

Never heard of this artist. 

He was the leading figure of Roman art during the latter part of the 15th century.

Detailed depictions overlaid with iconography.

Reminds me a little of Botticelli’s “Mystical Nativity”.

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St Jerome in the Wilderness by Perugino

Perugino was Raphael’s teacher and his art can be seen in the Sistine Chapel.

Saint Jerome was a scholar who translated the bible into latin.

Beautiful painting depicting him as hermit.

Two angels in the background are the divine presence.

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Virgin and Child with St. Paul and St. Francis by Antoniazzo Romano

Same artist as above. Gold background and formal figures.

More naturalistic poses. St Francis also reminds me of Botticelli.

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St Philip Benizi by Perugino

Story to the painting = Saint in moment of contemplation.

Classic perugino with a dignified rendering. Sense of calm, and gentle colours. 

Saint Benizi was a Florentine nobleman who became a servant of the Virgin Mary.

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Italian Baroque style table

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La Fornarina by Raphael

An exquisite & enigmatic painting by Raphael.

The soft warmth to her skin makes it feel intimate. A knowing and confident facial expression. She seems to be looking out of frame (and away from the viewer). Interesting headdress - symbolic or cultural? The sheer veil of modesty (covering her stomach) was a common theme denoting modesty and sensuality. 

Giorgio Vasari talks about a mistress of Raphael’s whom he is reputed to have portrayed. Could this be his lover?

Art historians don’t know who she is. But she is an icon.

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Portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam by Quentin Metsys

Flemish artist who spent most of his career in Antwerp.

I really love Quentin Metsys. One of the greats of the late 15th century.

This is the v. famous portrait of Erasmus - the scholar and philosopher.

He was a major advocate for religious tolerance, which wasn’t common (for his time).

If I’m not mistaken, he was extremely influential so he was regularly being painted.

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Pope Urban VIII (a Barbarini) by Gian Lorenzo Bernini

A striking painting by a sculpturer.

Pope Urban the 8th was a Barberini.

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Bust of Pope Urban VII by Bernini

Exquisite.

As you can see above, remarkable likeness.

Marble chiseled into embroidered linen

with the coat of arm of the St Peter’s.

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Portrait of Pope Leo X with two Cardinals by Giuliano Bugiardini

This is a copy of Raphael’s painting. 

Pope Leo X succeeded Pope Julius II.

The crimson cardinal red is just so vivid and striking. 

Every aspect of the Pope’s garments are intricately painted.

The book and paraphernalia meticulously painted. 

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Portrait of Stefano Colonna by Bronzino

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Allegory of the Immaculate Conception by Giorgio Vasari

This was a captivating mannerist painting.

Looks like a tree; but it’s coiled serpent.

Adam and Eve at the base of the tree,

Virgin Mary with angels triumphing over the Satan.

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The Entombment of Christ by Jacopino Del Conte

Christ’s body being taken post-Crucifixion. 

Clear mannerism with gaunt and rotting flesh.

Interesting artist. First time coming across him.

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David with the head of Goliath by Bernini

 The youthful and powerful self-portrait of Bernini as David, the biblical hero.

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Judith with the head of Holofernes by Jan Matsys

The son of Flemish painter Quinten Matsys.

Judith as a seductress as well as warrior. 

He was an artist in the School of Fontainebleau, with its elongated Mannerism and sensuality. 

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Angel holding the lifeless body of Christ by Jacob de Backer

There is a touching solemnity to the angel’s mournful assistance.

A beautiful mannerist angelspietà with twisting and elongation.

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The Agony in the Garden by Jacobo Bassano

When Christ goes to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray before his arrest.

The Venetian paints an angel consoling and comforting Christ.

The angel illuminates Christ in the night.

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Venus and Adonis by Titian

This painting shows the last desperate embrace between Venus (goddess of love) and her mortal lover (the hunter Adonis) before his tragic death.

A workshop version of the one at the Prado.

There is academic debate about these painting.

I don’t care for the chapeau much.

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Christ and the Adulteress by Tinteretto

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Penitent Magdalene by Charles Mellin

Beautiful painting.

Charles Mellin was a French painter in Rome during the Baroque.

Mary Magdalene in a state of penitence and contemplation.

Also, quite sensual and elegant, one has to say.

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St. Luke Healing the Dropsical Child by Giovanni Lanfranco

In this gallery, I came across a number of Giovanni Lanfranco’s paintings.  I had never come across his works before. 

He was a contemporary of Caravaggio and it’s obvious with the dramatic lighting. An intense atmosphere with a moving depiction of Saint Luke as both doctor and saint to the little boy.

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St Jerome sealing a letter by Guercino

Very intense & stillness to Guercino (aka: “squinter”).

He painted this in the early part of his career (the “vigorous manner”): intense chiaroscuro and profound emotion.

He painted this before his move to Rome to work for Pope Gregory 15th.

Objects on the table (= candlestick and book) are a nod to the Saint’s intellect of translating the bible into latin.

Feet, slightly calloused and dirty — a symbol of his poverty and devotion?

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Saint Luke by Guercino

So very beautiful.

Another copy of this painting can be found in America.

This shows the interesting transition from the earlier strong chiaroscuro influence to a latter more “classical” approach.

I love the folds and intensity colour of St Luke’s robes. The bull (on the shelf) is a subtle clue to his iconography. 

The veins on St Luke’s hands are striking - Guercino adding a touch of vulnerability to Saint Luke.

The depiction is just so lovely. Mother Mary is the image of compassionate & divine love.

Capturing the inspiration of Saint Luke.

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Bust of Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus

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Roman statue copy of Doryphoros of Polykleitos

Such an important & influential piece of art history.

This original Greek sculpture was considered the epitome of classical proportions and ideal male form. It emerged in Ancient Greece as a testament to their fascinating in the human form.

Standing in a relaxed contrapposto pose, it gives the human form a sense of balance.

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The suicide of Cleopatra by Giovanni Lanfranco

Capturing the tragedy of Cleopatra’s suicide.

A regal and defiant pose, a quiet dignity in her death. 

And striking contrast between her pale skin and rich regal attire.

Another successful Baroque artist who lived in the same time as Caravaggio and Guercino. Guercino’s influence in the threaticality (rich colours, intensity of her pose) as she lays back against a chaise lounge.

Very happy to see Giovanni Lanfranco.

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Judith beheads Holofernes by Francesco Furini

Judith’s face is haunting and terrifying. 

Her eyes. Wide and intense. Angry.

She’s a ferocious warrior with determination and focus as she carries out this gruesome task.

The 3rd party is Abra (Judith’s elderly assistant) and her expressions seems occluded. 

Why does Furini paint a clean blade?

And yet significant blood dripping down the white garment.

Is Furini trying to say that Judith does not bear moral responsibility?

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Portrait of the Quarantotti family by Marco Benefial

Never heard of this artist, but this was a wonderful painting.

The cleric in the painting is Giovanni Rattista. He commissioned the portrait. Clearly emphasising his “scared” status and oratory.

His family don’t seem that interested in him.

Everyone is showing off in this portrait.

Rather unusual family portrait, Benefial shows us a peculiar freedom.

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Female Nude from Behind by Pierre Subleyras

Pierre Subleyras was a French artist who lived in Rome. He won the Prix de Rome in his time which was a prestigious award to study in Rome.

Here the artist shows off his skill in capturing a private moment of beauty and vulnerability. 

The nude was a subject of allegory and mythology, but it becomes something different here:

A naked woman is all we can see. Subleyras strips his subject of her clothes, and of any iconographic frills or anecdotal pretexts. We can’t recognize her as a goddess, a nymph, an allegory, nor do we know if it is just a model, a lover or the painter’s wife ... This woman’s identity escapes us. But who said that identity should be conveyed only through the exhibition of ritual effigy, of sumptuous dresses, of the symbols of roles? Intimacy opens a gap for itself overturning, quite literally, the conventions of official portrait painting ... Subleyras anticipates by a century the shock that another Frenchman, Eduard Manet, will cause with his Olympia, creating a much greater stir.

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View of the Rialto Bridge by Canaletto

Got to love Canaletto.

I’ve been on this bridge.

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View of Venice by Canaletto

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The Banquet of the Rich Glutton by Mattia Preti

First time coming across this artist. It seems he was a major Baroque artist.

The rich man indulging his pleasures ... with a beggar in the background.

A social commentary on inequality, perhaps? The glutton's gaze is quite intense. It makes us feel uncomfortable?

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The Resurrection of Lazarus by Mattia Preti

Another powerful Pretti painting of Baroque art.

Man behind Lazarus holding his nose (realism).

Unsettling decaying body makes it arresting.

Someone seems to be wearing glasses too.

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Barberini Palace entrance