Large print labels 5 1 2 3 6 4 Entry Shop 7 Introduction foyer wall
‘To walk through the National Gallery is to journey through the history of picture-making in Western Europe, from the thirteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth, and this exhibition aims to give a flavour of that experience.’
Dr Gabriele Finaldi Director, National Gallery, London
The National Gallery, London is one of the world’s best- known national galleries of art. It was founded in 1824 when the British government bought 38 paintings from the estate of the banker John Julius Angerstein and made his Pall Mall town house the venue for the public exhibition of paintings. Now located in Trafalgar Square in the centre of London, the National Gallery holds just over 2300 paintings. It is one of the few major European art galleries whose collection was built through gifts and purchases, rather than based on a former royal collection. Its carefully curated collection has been a model for art galleries worldwide, including the National Gallery of Australia when it was established over a century later. Botticelli to Van Gogh: Masterpieces from the National Gallery, London is the first time in its near 200-year history that the National Gallery, London has toured an exhibition of works 33. Drawing on the strengths of their collection, this exhibition offers a rare opportunity to see 61 paintings by some of Europe’s most revered artists, including Botticelli, Titian, Rembrandt, Vermeer, El Greco, Velázquez, Goya, Turner, Constable, Van Dyck, Gainsborough, Renoir, Cézanne, Gauguin and Van Gogh. Spanning 450 years, it provides an overview of Western European art history through seven defining periods: Italian Renaissance painting; Dutch painting of the Golden Age; Van Dyck and British portraiture; The Grand Tour; The discovery of Spain; Landscape and the picturesque; and France and the rise of modern art.
#BotticelliVanGogh
Organised by The National Gallery, London, Art Exhibitions Australia and the National Gallery of Australia. Introduction to Room 1 ITALIAN RENAISSANCE PAINTING
For most of the past 500 years, no art has been more consistently valued within European cultures than that created during the Renaissance. Characterised as the ‘rebirth’ of the arts and humanities, and spanning over 200 years, the Renaissance emerged from the 1340s in Florence, before spreading across Italy and beyond. Inspired by classical antiquity, Renaissance artists became famous during their lifetimes and were praised for their ability to create images of the world that were both highly crafted and convincingly true to life. The most prestigious subjects for painting were drawn from classical literature, history and the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. The job of the artist was to make these stories come to life. This was achieved through the pictorial invention of one-point perspective and the study of anatomy, colour, light and movement. For artists during the Renaissance this meant learning to draw architectural subjects, nature and the human body—both at rest and in motion. Room 1 ITALIAN RENAISSANCE PAINTING Wall labels for Room 1, clockwise
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Paolo Uccello Italy c 1397–1475
Saint George and the dragon c 1470 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Bought with a special grant and contributions from the Phillott and Temple-West Funds, 1959 NG 6294
Saint George slaying the dragon was one of the most popular Christian stories of the Middle Ages. In this interpretation from the early Renaissance Uccello has compressed two parts of the story into one small picture showing Saint George plunging his spear into the dragon’s head, while the princess serenely holds a leash around its neck.
Uccello was fascinated with new ideas about perspective and the illusion of receding space within pictures. This painting demonstrates how instrumental artists of the early Renaissance were in developing new ways of representing stories in artful but increasingly realistic terms.
Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo Italy c 1480–c 1548
Mary Magdalene c 1535–40 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Bought 1878 NG 1031
In a scene taken from the New Testament, Savoldo depicts Mary Magdalene seated before the empty tomb of Christ early on the Sunday morning following his crucifixion. In the biblical scene—here transposed to the artist’s native Venice—Christ approached Mary as she cried outside his tomb.
Savoldo was best known for his paintings of Mary Magdalene and for his atmospheric night-time scenes; in the background, dawn is seen breaking over the Venetian lagoon. The pictorial effects of dawn light on Mary’s shimmering satin shawl exemplify what sixteenth-century collectors most admired in his work. For kids
Can you see light reflecting on the folds of the silver scarf?
The scarf is enveloping Mary Magdalene, who is mourning the death of her friend Jesus. Notice the first light of the morning in the background and the contrasting dark tones across the painting.
What might this tell you about the mood in the painting? Domenico Ghirlandaio Italy 1449–1494
The Virgin and Child c 1480–90 tempera on poplar
The National Gallery, London Mond Bequest, 1924 NG 3937
Made for private worship at home, this picture provided not only a focus for Christian prayer but a fictive window into an ideal landscape beyond. How Ghirlandaio has rendered both figures with fleshy but well-defined features in his picture is characteristic of Florentine painting and drawing in this period. The stiff folds of the Virgin’s red dress and the solidity of Christ’s body are designed to reinforce the three-dimensionality of the holy figures. This style was part of a tradition that intended to give the subjects a real and enduring presence. Giovanni Battista Moroni Italy 1520/4–1579
Portrait of a gentleman with his helmet on a column shaft c 1555–56 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Bought 1890 NG 1316
This full-length portrait, the most ambitious and expensive variety of Renaissance portraiture, depicts an unknown man dressed partially in armour standing beside a broken column. While the column may indicate the man’s fortitude, suggesting not only strength but the endurance of ancient values or family lineage, architectural ruins often featured in Moroni’s portraits of this period.
Moroni spent his life working in and around the prosperous cities of Lombard in northern Italy. This portrait dates from his time in Brescia, where his paintings were revered for their naturalism, limited colour palette and his ability to convey the dignity and prestige of his high-status sitters. Sandro Botticelli Italy c 1445–1510
Four scenes from the early life of Saint Zenobius c 1500 tempera on wood
The National Gallery, London Mond Bequest, 1924 NG 3918
Botticelli is seen as the quintessential Florentine artist and one of the most celebrated of all early Renaissance painters. This picture is the first in a group of four panels that tell the story of the life of Zenobius, patron saint of Florence. The style belongs to a category of painting known as spalliere, because they were displayed at the height of an average person’s spalle, or shoulder.
Read like a cartoon strip from left to right, this painting shows off Botticelli’s mastery of one-point perspective to present Zenobius moving through the colonnaded streets of Florence as he rejects marriage, is baptised, witnesses his mother’s baptism and is ordained as Bishop of Florence. Carlo Crivelli Italy 1430/5–c 1494
The Annunciation, with Saint Emidius 1486 egg and oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Presented by Lord Taunton, 1864 NG 739
Crivelli’s best-known painting, this altarpiece was created for a convent of Observant Franciscan nuns in the Italian town of Ascoli Piceno, where the artist lived from 1478. This format allowed him to show off his mastery of perspective and trademark skill at foreshortening, in a picture that combined classical architecture and ornamental detail with events from Ascoli’s history and the biblical story of Mary’s Annunciation.
Crivelli loved playing games with his viewers by suggesting that his paintings were both flat and three- dimensional; the shadow cast by the fruit and vegetable sitting on the bottom shelf is a wonderful case in point. For kids
Can you spot an angel in the picture?
There are many different characters appearing across the painting. Look closely and notice the different activities the people are involved in.
Imagine that you could step into the painting.
Which character would you like to be? Titian active Italy c 1506–1576
Noli me tangere c 1514 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Bequeathed by Samuel Rogers, 1856 NG270
The scene depicted in this picture is from the Resurrection in which Christ appears to Mary Magdalene in the Garden of Gethsemane (John 20:14–18). When Mary reaches out to him, Christ instructs ‘Noli me tangere’ [Do not touch me], as it is time for his followers to let go of his earthly presence and await the Holy Ghost.
In Titian’s interpretation the focus is on the interplay between the two figures in the landscape. The contrapposto, or twisting pose, of Christ shows off Titian’s ability to animate the human figure, while the vibrant hues are characteristic of the Venetian school of painting and his mastery of light and colour. Jacopo Tintoretto Italy c 1518–1594
The origin of the Milky Way c 1575 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Purchased 1890 NG 1313
Tintoretto, the son of a dyer or tintore, epitomised the exuberance of the Venetian school of painting. Before 1857 this picture was known as The nursing of Hercules. It depicts the story of how the god Jupiter attempted to obtain immortality for his son Hercules, who was born to a mortal woman. This scene shows Jupiter holding Hercules to the breast of his sleeping wife, the goddess Juno, so he can drink her milk. Juno wakes and knocks the suckling infant from her breast, causing the milk to spurt upwards and form the Milky Way.
What we see now is only part of this extraordinary painting; about a third of the original canvas was cut from the bottom some time before 1727. Introduction to Room 2 DUTCH PAINTING OF THE GOLDEN AGE
Landscape, still life and domestic scenes are among the new painting genres that were pioneered by artists working in the Dutch Republic in the seventeenth century. Previously these subjects had only appeared as secondary or subordinate elements in religious and history paintings or portraits. Rarely, if ever, were they elevated and independently explored in the way they were by seventeenth-century Dutch artists.
These new subjects flourished in urban centres such as Leiden, Haarlem and Amsterdam, largely thanks to the emergence of a middle class. Wealthy merchant families were keen to have themselves, their surrounds and their newly found social status portrayed. Artists began to specialise in subjects that appealed to their patrons’ tastes and the domestic scale of their town houses. Demand was such that artists started to work for the open market, producing pictures without knowing beforehand who was going to buy them. This was a fundamentally new approach, which continues to inform how art is made and consumed to this day. Room 2 DUTCH PAINTING OF THE GOLDEN AGE Wall labels for Room 2, clockwise
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Frans Hals Belgium 1582/3– The Netherlands 1666 Portrait of a woman with a fan c 1640 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Salting Bequest, 1910 NG 2529
The identity of the woman shown here is unknown, but her elegant dress and jewellery indicate that, like many of the artist’s patrons, she was a wealthy citizen of Haarlem. Hals has paid great attention to the sitter’s expensive clothes, especially the detail of the wide lace-trimmed cuffs and her flat three-tiered collar. These innovations were the height of fashion and only began to be worn about 1640, when this portrait was probably made. This portrait is painted life-size in three-quarter-length. The woman’s right hand and fan are cropped and she seemingly crowds the frame, which contributes to the extraordinary immediacy of the portrait. Rembrandt van Rijn The Netherlands 1606–1669
Self portrait at the age of 34 1640 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Bought 1861 NG 672
This is one of the most famous of Rembrandt’s many self portraits. More than simply a record of the artist’s appearance at 34, it is a painting concerned with his view of history, public image and self-esteem. In this picture Rembrandt has dressed in the clothes of a wealthy sixteenth-century gentleman. The pose he has taken is based on historic self portraits painted by Renaissance artists Albrecht Dürer, Titian and Raphael.
By portraying himself in this way Rembrandt is both paying homage to and aligning himself with some of art history’s most famous artists, implying that he is their rightful heir and equal. This assertion would have been understood by Rembrandt’s sophisticated and wealthy clientele. Johannes Vermeer The Netherlands 1632–1675
A young woman seated at a virginal c 1670–72 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Salting Bequest, 1910 NG 2568
This is one of only 34 paintings by Vermeer that are known to exist. Largely unknown before the ninteenth century, Vermeer became famous for his small exacting paintings of mostly middle-class interiors and his masterly evocation of natural light. This painting, however, is unusual in that it is an evening scene.
A curtain has been pulled aside to reveal a young woman seated at a virginal (keyboard instrument). The painting on the wall behind the woman’s head has been identified as The procuress 1622 by Dirck van Baburen; it depicts a prostitute playing a lute for a client, while a brothel-keeper demands money. A version of this painting was owned by Vermeer’s mother-in-law, in whose house in Delft he lived and worked. Willem Claesz Heda The Netherlands 1594–1680
Still life with a lobster c 1650–59 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Presented by Frederick John Nettlefold, 1947 NG 5787
The objects in this still life would immediately have suggested wealth and extravagance to a seventeenth-century viewer. They are expensive, brought back from around the world by Dutch merchants —olives and lemons from the Mediterranean, peppercorns from the East Indies and the blue-and-white porcelain dish from China. The lobster, placed with such prominence, suggests the connection with the sea as the source of the country’s wealth.
These items and the tumbled fabric have been carefully chosen to demonstrate Heda’s skills in painting textures. Embroidered on the tablecloth is a cipher that seems to refer to a merchants’ guild, perhaps implying that the painting was commissioned by such a guild. For kids
Have you ever made a huge mess while eating your dinner?
Supermarkets did not exist when this painting was made in the 1600s. Collecting food from expeditions around the world and hosting a big banquet was a sign of wealth.
If you could travel anywhere in the world, what food might you collect to bring back and share with your friends? Philips Wouwerman The Netherlands 1619–1668
A stag hunt c 1665 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Wynn Ellis Bequest, 1876 NG 975
One of Holland’s most prolific painters, Wouwerman left a large body of mostly small landscapes depicting battles or hunts, almost always incorporating horses. This picture, which is relatively grand in scale for the artist, shows a group of fashionably dressed aristocrats in pursuit of a stag that has been surrounded by hounds poised to attack. It is this type of popular subject matter that, combined with Wouwerman’s decorative touch and ability to capture the atmospheric qualities of a landscape, made him one of the most successful painters of the seventeenth century. Willem van de Velde the Younger The Netherlands 1633– England 1707
A Dutch yacht surrounded by many small vessels, saluting as two barges pull alongside 1661 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Wynn Ellis Bequest, 1876 NG 978
Van de Velde was admired for the accuracy and fine detail with which he painted marine scenes popular in the seafaring nation. Here he has positioned the viewer low, so that the painting is dominated by the vast expanse of blue sky, sunlit clouds and an intricate pattern of masts, sails and flags. Careful attention has been paid to the surface of the water, which has a glassy reflective quality.
The central vessel is a Statenjacht [State yacht] flying the Dutch colours. It is surrounded by a cloud of white smoke from a recently fired cannon—a salute to the officials approaching in the barge alongside, which bears the coat of arms of Amsterdam. Gerard ter Borch The Netherlands 1617–1681
An officer dictating a letter c 1655–58 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Bequeathed by Mrs MV James from the Arthur James collection, 1948 NG 5847
This picture belongs to a genre of Dutch painting that depicted military officers and cavalrymen in civil situations. Ter Borch began his career in the 1630s as a painter of rowdy guardroom scenes but developed a more enigmatic style of paintings that sometimes hinged on the writing or receiving of letters.
Contemporary audiences would have noted the inclusion of a playing card showing the ace of hearts laying face up on the floorboards; a detail that is no longer clearly visible due to the fading of paint pigments. This would have been understood as a reference to romance and may suggest that the officer is dictating a love letter rather than a military message. Jan Steen The Netherlands 1626–1679
A peasant family at meal-time (‘Grace before meat’) c 1665 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Salting Bequest, 1910 NG 2558
Steen is best remembered for his many paintings showing households in disarray, so much so that even today the Dutch refer to a disorderly home as a ‘household of Jan Steen’. While some of that is depicted in this work, in which all sorts of things are seen strewn across the floor, the meaning at the heart of the picture is rather less playful.
In this scene a family is shown gathered round a modest table saying grace. There was a long-established visual tradition for the subject of saying grace and Steen depicted it several times. In the seventeenth century learning to express gratefulness for ‘our daily bread’ was considered fundamental to a child’s education in Christian virtues and piety. For kids
What can you see laid out on the table?
In this painting, a family is giving thanks for their food before they eat.
What clues can you find that tell you a little bit about the family?
If you were sharing a meal at the table, what would you ask them? Introduction to Room 3 VAN DYCK AND BRITISH PORTRAITURE
After Flemish painter Anthony van Dyck was appointed Painter to the King of England, Charles I in 1632, he set a new standard for aristocratic portraiture in Britain that lasted until the early decades of the nineteenth century. Trained in the studio of Peter Paul Rubens, Van Dyck completed his studies in Italy before moving to London and introducing his opulent style to England.
When British artists set out to develop a national school of painting in the eighteenth century—the Royal Academy of Arts was established in 1768—many looked to the powerful images Van Dyck had created a century earlier. Incorporating the attributes of class status and wealth—expensive clothing, luxurious interior decor, views of country estates, purebred dogs and thoroughbred horses—artists both flattered and boosted the pretensions of their patrons. Constructing an enduring image of the English aristocratic character, these portraits reflected the confidence and wealth of a nation at the height of its political, cultural and colonial powers. Room 3 VAN DYCK AND BRITISH PORTRAITURE Wall labels for Room 3, clockwise
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Sir Joshua Reynolds Great Britain 1723–1792
Lady Cockburn and her three eldest sons 1773 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Bequeathed by Alfred Beit, 1906 NG 2077
This portrait of Augusta Anne, Lady Cockburn with her sons was commissioned by her husband, Sir James Cockburn. The group portrait is based on traditional images of Charity, one of the three theological virtues, who is often shown as a mother selflessly caring for her children. Here Reynolds combined elements from two famous historic paintings; Anthony van Dyck’s Charity c 1627–28 and Diego Velázquez’s The toilet of Venus 1647–51. Reynolds frequently used a variety of artistic sources when creating his compositions, borrowing ‘a particular thought, an action, attitude or figure’ and transplanting it into his own work. Thomas Gainsborough Great Britain 1727–1788
Mrs Siddons 1785 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Bought 1862 NG 683
Mrs Siddons (born Sarah Kemble) was the leading tragic actress of the late eighteenth century, with a career spanning 30 years. The writer and critic William Hazlitt described her as ‘Tragedy, personified ... To have seen Mrs Siddons was an event in everybody’s life’.
Gainsborough portrays her in fashionable contemporary dress. Her blue striped robe, known as a ‘wrapping gown’, was an easy garment for a busy actress to slip on and off. The artist painted her during her third London season when she was playing the greatest of all her roles Lady Macbeth. Something of the power and passion of the part can be felt in this portrait. Gerrit van Honthorst The Netherlands 1592–1656
Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia 1642 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Bequeathed by Cornelia, Countess of Craven, 1965 NG 6362
After working in England for Charles I, Van Honthorst returned to The Hague where he became a favourite of the British monarch’s sister Elizabeth Stuart. In 1613 she married Frederick V, who in 1619 was elected King of Bohemia. Their reign was short lived and soon after the couple found themselves living in exile in The Hague.
This portrait was painted 10 years after her husband’s death. Elizabeth is shown in mourning dress, as is suggested by her black gown and confirmed by the black ribbon on her right arm. The inscription on the balustrade was added later, but her contemporaries would have recognised her status based on the scale of the portrait and her sumptuous clothing and jewels. For kids
Can you spot fancy jewels and lace?
What might this tell you about the lady in this picture?
Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia is dressed in a long black gown and wears a black arm band to remind us that she is mourning the death of her husband. Her pet dog jumps onto her dress, creating movement and contrast on the canvas.
Why do you think the dog is jumping on the queen? Anthony van Dyck Belgium 1599–Great Britain 1641
Lady Elizabeth Thimbelby and Dorothy, Viscountess Andover c 1635 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Bought 1977 NG 6437
Van Dyck was largely responsible for introducing the double or ‘friendship’ portrait to Britain. The two women pictured here were the eldest surviving daughters of Thomas, 1st Viscount Savage. Elizabeth, seated on the right, wears a saffron-coloured gown, a colour synonymous with brides in ancient Greece. She is the newlywed receiving roses from Cupid, the god of erotic love.
Van Dyck’s innovative style of portraiture combined an informal composition with overt displays of wealth. The shimmering silk fabric and the lustrous pearls perfectly illustrate the artist’s appeal to aristocratic patrons eager to enshrine their status. Sir Thomas Lawrence Great Britain 1769–1830
Queen Charlotte 1789 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Bought 1927 NG 4257
Queen Charlotte, devoted wife of troubled British King George III, is depicted here at Windsor Castle, with Eton College Chapel seen in the landscape on her right. Due to her preoccupation with her husband’s ongoing mental illness, the Queen sat only once for the young artist. Lawrence struggled with her expression and repainted this section of the portrait several times.
The pearl bracelets, decorated with the King’s portrait and his monogram, feature prominently in the portrait, signalling the Queen’s unwavering loyalty to her husband. Although she refused Lawrence’s request for an additional sitting, she allowed the Assistant Keeper of her Wardrobe to model the jewellery for the artist to depict with accuracy. Sir Thomas Lawrence Great Britain 1769–1830
John Julius Angerstein, aged about 55 c 1790 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Bequeathed by Miss May Rowley, a descendant of the sitter’s daughter, 1965 NG 6370
This is the earliest of four known portraits of John Julius Angerstein by his friend Thomas Lawrence. It is painted on top of an unfinished portrait of a different man, which is now starting to show through the paint.
Russian-born Angerstein was the chairman of Lloyd’s of London and often lent money from his extensive personal fortune to the constantly in-debt artist. Angerstein developed a passion for collecting paintings, and Lawrence likely advised him in his acquisitions.
His collection of 38 paintings became the nucleus of the National Gallery, London’s collection. Pompeo Girolamo Batoni Italy 1708–1787
Portrait of Richard Milles c 1759 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Bought 1980 NG 6459
Milles was a prosperous British landowner who became a Member of Parliament in 1761. Before entering politics he went on the Grand Tour. While in Rome he sat for this portrait by Batoni, the most sought-after portraitist of his day among English tourists.
In the portrait Batoni asserts the sitter’s learned, gentlemanly status by placing him among classical antiquities—the map to which Milles points indicates that this is as much a souvenir of his tour as it is a portrait. For kids
Strike a pose like the man in this painting.
This is a portrait of Richard Milles standing proudly and wearing a red cape lined with fur. Milles was a member of Great Britain’s Parliament. Like many politicians of the time, he commissioned the artist Pompeo Girolamo Batoni to paint his portrait.
What other items are in the painting?
Where might Milles have collected all these objects? Joseph Wright ‘of Derby’ Great Britain 1734–1797
Mr and Mrs Thomas Coltman c 1770–72 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Bought with contributions from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and The Pilgrim Trust, 1984 NG 6496
This portrait shows Thomas Coltman and Mary Barlow about a year after their marriage in October 1769. The informality of the portrait reflects the friendship that existed between the artist and the sitters. The couple both look relaxed and natural, about to set out on a morning ride.
Unusually for this type of double portrait, the woman is positioned above her husband. Wright’s intricate painterly technique is reflected in his rendering of Coltman’s close-fitting breeches that reveal the outline of a coin in his pocket, perhaps a joke between the friends. George Stubbs Great Britain 1724–1806
The Milbanke and Melbourne families c 1769 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Bought 1975 NG 6429
This painting was likely commissioned to commemorate the alliance of the Milbanke and Melbourne families. Elizabeth Milbanke, shown seated in a carriage, married Peniston Lamb, 1st Lord Melbourne, shown astride the horse on the right, in April 1769. Elizabeth’s father, Sir Ralph Milbanke, stands beside her and the middle figure is her brother, John.
Stubbs uses the branches of the large oak tree to link the two families and Sir Ralph’s gaze towards Lord Melbourne further unifies the group. Placing Elizabeth in the carriage allowed Stubbs, a renowned animal painter, to include her grey pony, which contrasts with her husband’s impressive Arabian horse. Introduction to Room 4 THE GRAND TOUR
During the eighteenth century the Grand Tour was an essential rite of passage for wealthy young men, who spent anywhere from several months to several years travelling throughout Continental Europe. The Grand Tour provided a cultural and aesthetic education through first-hand experience of the artistic achievements and classical architectural ruins of Europe. Italy, which had the dual distinction of being the seat of both antiquity and the Renaissance, formed the focus of almost all Grand Tours.
For many tourists there was the desire to not merely enjoy looking at works of art but also to take them home. Among the most popular souvenirs were painted vedute, or views, of Venice and Rome. Canaletto’s views of Venice were seen as an essential reminder of any Grand Tour. In Rome, Giovanni Paolo Panini enjoyed great success as a painter who appealed to the taste for images that evoked the classical past. The Grand Tour had a profound effect on British culture, firmly cementing Italy in the European imagination as the birthplace of art and culture. Its legacy was felt throughout the nineteenth century as the modern discipline of art history began to emerge and institutions like the National Gallery, London were founded. Room 4 THE GRAND TOUR Wall labels for Room 4, clockwise
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Canaletto Italy 1697–1768
Eton College c 1754 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Wynn Ellis Bequest, 1876 NG 942
Having worked extensively for British tourists in Venice, in 1746 Canaletto travelled to England where he lived and worked for nine years. He painted 48 English views, including this one of Eton College—the most famous public independent school in England—pictured from the banks of the River Thames. Most of Canaletto’s English views overlook the Thames in the heart of London, in the same way that his most famous Italian scenes depict the Grand Canal in Venice. But here he has captured the river’s meandering journey through the countryside. Giovanni Paolo Panini Italy 1691–1765
Roman ruins with figures c 1730 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Bequeathed by Lt-Col JH Ollney, 1837 NG 138
Just as Canaletto became synonymous with scenes of Venice, so Panini became Rome’s most celebrated vedutista, or view painter. Panini’s paintings fall broadly into two categories: real and imagined landscapes. His realistic views record the architecture and cultural life of Rome.
His imaginary views, of which this picture is one of his earliest, were by contrast scenes that combined fictionalised figures with ruins designed to evoke the grandeur of the city’s classical past. These imaginative scenes, or capriccio, were highly prized as souvenirs by tourists. Claude-Joseph Vernet France 1714–1789
A sporting contest on the Tiber 1750 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Presented by Lady Simpkinson, 1853 NG 236
Vernet spent almost 20 years living and working in Rome, where he became the leading French academic painter of Italian views. In this picture, a festival scene is viewed from the banks of the River Tiber and looking towards the Castel Sant’Angelo—a defensive fortress dating from the second century CE. Although we do not know the exact occasion being marked here, river jousts were common on the Tiber and provided Vernet an opportunity to depict Rome as a place of drama and spectacle. Francesco Guardi Italy 1712–1793
Venice: Piazza San Marco c 1760 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Bequeathed by Richard Simmons, 1846 NG 210
This is among Guardi’s earliest views of Venice’s most famous square, the Piazza San Marco. It looks towards the Basilica—the spiritual heart of Venice. The Italo-Byzantine architecture of the campanile [clock tower] and the Doge’s Palace are reminders of the city’s long-held maritime connections with eastern Europe, Africa and Asia.
The piazza itself is a hive of activity; aristocrats stroll, servants talk, market stalls are visible in the distance. Guardi painted several views from this spot, doubtless because the site appealed to eighteenth-century tourists in much the same way as it does today. Pietro Longhi Italy 1700/2–1785
A fortune teller at Venice c 1756 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Bought 1891 NG 1334
Held annually in February for several weeks before the Christian season of Lent, the Carnival became famous in Venice in the eighteenth century and was a frequent subject for paintings. Longhi has set this scene of a fortune teller—a popular attraction during Carnival—in one of the arcades of the Doge’s Palace (the residence of the elected leader of Venice).
Several figures are wearing the long black capes and bauta [face masks] that were the traditional costume of Carnival. The masks added to the sense of intrigue and permissiveness that gripped the city during the festival, allowing people to disguise their identities and, by extension, behave in ways that they normally would not. For kids
Hold up your hand and look at the patterns and wrinkles on your palm.
Pietro Longhi has painted a fortune teller reading the palm of a young girl at the Carnival of Venice–a traditional celebration where people dress in elaborate masks and costumes. The girl looks out to us, while her fortune is being read and a masked figure looks on.
What might she be thinking?
What could the two shady figures in the background be discussing? Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini Italy 1675 –1741
Rebecca at the well 1708–13 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Bequeathed by Claude Dickason Rotch, 1962 NG 6332
This picture illustrates a story from the Book of Genesis (24:1–28) in which Abraham instructs a servant to find a wife for his son, Isaac. During his quest to find the perfect partner, the servant waits at a well for a woman kind enough to provide both him and his 10 camels with water. This kind stranger turns out to be Rebecca.
Pellegrini was widely travelled and sought-after as a decorative painter. In 1708 he went to England at the invitation of the 4th Earl of Manchester, whom he had met in Venice. He stayed for five years and this picture was probably painted during that time. Canaletto Italy 1697–1768
Venice: A regatta on the Grand Canal c 1735 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Wynn Ellis Bequest, 1876 NG 938
Giovanni Antonio Canal, better known by his nickname Canaletto (meaning ‘son of Canal’ or ‘little Canal’), became synonymous with paintings of the Grand Canal. One of the most spectacular scenes that Venice has to offer, this vista was popular in the eighteenth century among vedutisti, or view painters, catering to the tastes of tourists.
In this painting Canaletto depicts the annual regatta. The artist has selected this viewpoint to show off the longest straight stretch of the Grand Canal, and the festivities held at the finishing line of the race. The colour and composition of this painting is typical of Canaletto’s most important work of the 1730s. Introduction to Room 5 THE DISCOVERY OF SPAIN
Until the nineteenth century the art of Spain was little known outside the Iberian Peninsula. It was ‘discovered’ by French and British collectors and artists, who began to see the paintings that were taken from the country during the Peninsular War and Spanish War of Independence in the early 1800s. As paintings emerged there was seemingly unanimous agreement that the seventeenth century had constituted a ‘golden age of art’ in Spain.
The collecting habits of the Spanish Habsburg monarchy and the response of the Catholic Church to the rise of the Protestant religion in the Counter-Reformation created a culture of patronage in Spain during the sixteenth century that determined the course of art there for centuries to come. From the early seventeenth century Spanish artists developed a unique national style, within which clearly recognisable regional trends arose in the cities of Toledo, Seville and Madrid. The religious intensity, uncompromising naturalism and earthy realism that developed during this time became the principal measures for what still qualifies as ‘authentic’ Spanish art. Room 5 THE DISCOVERY OF SPAIN Wall labels for Room 5, clockwise
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Francisco de Zurbarán Spain 1598–1664
Saint Margaret of Antioch 1630–34 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Bought 1903 NG 1930
In Zurbarán’s precisely rendered painting of the fourth-century saint, Margaret of Antioch, she is depicted standing defiantly and brightly illuminated from above, with the dragon (Satan in disguise) lying in wait at her feet. Saint Margaret is dressed in the traditional Spanish folk garments of a shepherdess—woven-wool alforja [saddlebag] hangs over her left arm, she holds a shepherd’s crook in her right hand. The straw hat, which Zurbarán depicted in place of the more conventional gold crown, was almost certainly studied from life.
The realism and seriousness with which Zurbarán rendered his saints leaves us with the impression that the artist used painting to illustrate the depth of his religious beliefs. Francisco de Goya Spain 1746–France 1828
The Duke of Wellington 1812–14 oil on mahogany
The National Gallery, London Bought with aid from the Wolfson Foundation, and a special Exchequer grant, 1961 NG 6322
This portrait of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, was painted shortly after his arrival in Madrid in August 1812 following the British victory over the French at the Battle of Salamanca. This turning point in the Peninsular War (1807–14) led to Napoleon’s exile and the restoration of the Spanish monarchy.
Probably painted from life, the portrait appears to have been made quickly. Goya re-worked the composition between 1812 and 1814 by changing Wellington’s pose and adding the medals and military orders that had been subsequently awarded to him. When Wellington returned to London in 1814 he took this and two other portraits the artist had made of him. Wellington is the only British sitter Goya ever painted. Juan Bautista Martínez del Mazo Spain c 1612/16–1667
Queen Mariana of Spain in mourning 1666 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Presented by Rosalind, the Countess of Carlisle, 1913 NG 2926
Mazo was the protégé and son-in-law of Diego Velázquez. Following the death of Velázquez in 1660, Mazo succeeded him as Painter to King Philip IV. This work, painted a year after the King’s death, shows Queen Mariana of Spain dressed in a widow’s white wimple and black habit. Their son and heir, Charles, who appears here in the background accompanied by servants, was too young to take to the throne, leaving Mariana to rule as Regent until 1677. Holding a petition, alluding to her official duties, she sits on a throne like chair in the Hall of Mirrors of the Alcázar, the royal palace in Madrid. Diego Velázquez Spain 1599–1660
Kitchen scene with Christ in the house of Martha and Mary c 1618 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Bequeathed by Sir William H Gregory, 1892 NG 1375
The style of naturalism Diego Velázquez introduced in the early decades of the seventeenth century established him as one of the most influential artists to have ever emerged from Spain. This painting is among one of Velázquez earliest works. It was painted in Seville in the years just prior to the artist’s move to Madrid to take up a position as Painter to the King at the court of Philip IV (1605–1665) in 1624. The episode depicted in this picture is described in a passage from the Gospel of Luke (10:38–42) and was used to exemplify two principal aspects of Christian life—namely bodily servitude and spiritual contemplation. By featuring a bodegón, a still life with kitchen items, in this picture Velázquez introduced a radical new style of authenticity and realism in his treatment of this religious subject matter. Bartolomé Esteban Murillo Spain 1617–1682
The Infant Saint John with the lamb 1660–65 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Bought 1840 NG 176
This picture refers to an episode from the New Testament in which Saint John the Baptist declares when meeting Christ: ‘Behold, the Lamb of God’ (John 1:29). By portraying adult biblical figures as children, Murillo appealed to his Catholic patrons’ desire to strive for a state of innocence and purity.
While appearing sentimental to modern eyes, Murillo’s style was much admired during his lifetime. His paintings were acquired by British and French collectors in such extraordinary numbers in the eighteenth century that in 1779 the Spanish government introduced a ban on their export. For kids
How would you feel if you were cuddling this lamb?
The infant snuggling a young lamb represents the story of Saint John the Baptist meeting Jesus, who is sometimes referred to as the ‘Lamb of God’.
If you could represent yourself as an animal, what animal would you choose? Bartolomé Esteban Murillo Spain 1617–1682
A peasant boy leaning on a sill c 1675–80 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Presented by MM Zachary, 1826 NG 74
This is the type of genre painting for which Murillo became famous. With social inequality becoming a growing problem in the city of Seville in the seventeenth century, Murillo specialised in paintings that appealed to his patrons’ sense of Christian charity by humanising people living in poverty, especially children.
This painting has a companion piece titled A girl raising her veil (private collection), which shows a young girl leaning forward and looking up towards the boy to her right. By showing the figures ‘interacting’ with each other, Murillo was attempting to create a quality of realism in his paintings. El Greco Greece 1541–Spain 1614
Christ driving the traders from the temple c 1600 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Presented by Sir JC Robinson, 1895 NG 1457
This painting is one of four on the subject of Christ driving the traders from the temple in Jerusalem by El Greco (The Greek). Dating from about 1600, this is the third version and the first he painted after moving from Rome to Toledo in 1577.
This story is described in all four Gospels and is often interpreted as a warning against both hypocrisy and the commercialisation of holy things. The subject must have held a particular fascination for the artist during the highly charged religious atmosphere of the Counter-Reformation in both Italy and Spain. In his painting, El Greco used vibrant colour and dynamic movement to express the story’s narrative and essential human drama. Luca Giordano Italy 1634–1705
A homage to Velázquez c 1692–1700 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Presented by Lord Savile, 1895 NG 1434
The title of this painting derives from the fact that it was long thought to portray Diego Velázquez. However, recent scholarship leads us to believe that it is a picture of the Count of Santisteban with his daughter and members of his household. The Count was Viceroy of Naples (then under Spanish rule) between 1687 and 1696, after which he returned to Spain. It is known that he owned a ‘large sketch’ by Giordano, the description of which matches this painting.
Giordano—seen here at bottom right wearing spectacles—moved to Madrid in 1692 to undertake commissions at the Spanish court. It was during this time he saw the works Velázquez had painted for King Philip IV earlier in the century. For kids
How many dogs can you see in this painting?
So much is happening in the home of Count of Santisteban. He stands with his daughter while the other members of his household are busy working and talking. Look closely at their faces.
Can you spot any differences between them?
Notice a hazy texture around some of the characters.
What might this ghostly texture represent? Introduction to Room 6 LANDSCAPE AND THE PICTURESQUE
Originating in Italy and the Netherlands, landscape painting was a major contributor to the emergence of national schools of European painting from the seventeenth century. French-born painters Nicolas Poussin and Claude, who spent their working lives in Rome, drew on literature and imagery from antiquity to create imagined landscapes rich with poetry and nostalgia for a classical past. The Dutch artist Jacob van Ruisdael, who was particularly admired in Britain, painted landscapes that looked true to nature, but were in fact idealised views of his homeland.
The British school, which emerged in the eighteenth century, absorbed the influence of both naturalistic Dutch and imaginary Italian landscapes. Venturing en plein air [out of doors] to make sketches from nature, artists created picturesque images of the English countryside. The influence of landscape painting led to the development of parks and gardens in England, as artists, tourists and landowners came to judge nature itself as a picturesque scene and subject to cultivation and improvement. Room 6 LANDSCAPE AND THE PICTURESQUE Wall labels for Room 6, clockwise
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Nicolas Poussin France 1594–Italy 1665
Landscape with a man washing his feet at a fountain c 1648 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Presented by Sir George Beaumont, 1826 NG 40
This painting is one of a group of imaginary landscapes that Poussin made between 1648 and 1651 in Rome. In this scene, which may have been inspired by a description written in a classical Greek text, the artist uses light sparingly and highlights only certain elements to enhance the works poetic effect.
Although cast in shadow, the water in which the man washes his feet is central to this work. Water plays a crucial role throughout Poussin’s oeuvre. Serving as a symbol of purification it appeared, in some form, in nearly a quarter of his paintings. Thomas Gainsborough Great Britain 1727–1788
The watering place before 1777 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Presented by Charles Long MP, later Lord Farnborough, 1827
Painted while living in London, Gainsborough’s idyllic view of the English countryside incorporates studies made in Somerset and Wiltshire along with imagery borrowed from Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens’ painting Peasants with cattle by a stream in a wooded landscape c 1615–22. Unlike Rubens’ dynamic painting, however, where figures and animals are animated in a tussle, Gainsborough presents a scene of quiet tranquillity. The artist’s focus on rural scenes was perhaps a reaction to the growing urbanisation of England at the time. Aelbert Cuyp The Netherlands 1620–1691
A hilly river landscape with a horseman talking to a shepherdess c 1655–60 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Bought 1824 NG 53
The concept of distance is at the heart of this painting. The artist has carefully constructed the scene so that our eye is consistently drawn from near to far. The scarlet coat in the foreground immediately attracts the eye and we follow the direction of the horseman’s whip, which points away into the distance. A series of repeated diagonal lines leads away towards the hazy horizon.
Cuyp has infused this sweeping landscape view with a sense of pastoral tranquillity. It is underlined by the quiet docility of the animals, but also the warm sunshine which bathes both figures and landscape in a golden glow. This effect was made fashionable by Dutch painters who had travelled to Rome and were influenced both by Italian painting styles and by the warmer light of the south. For kids
When did you last watch a sunset?
The artist Aelbert Cuyp was renowned for his ability to paint sunlight. He also loved painting animals! The sun is not in the painting, but try to find a spot on the wall where you think it would be.
What is the horseman pointing toward?
What do you think he is saying to the shepherdess? Claude France 1604/5?–Italy 1682
A seaport 1644 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Bought 1824 NG 5
Claude became famous for bathing his landscapes in a nostalgic and warm light. This seaport scene is structured around a sunset—the clock at upper left shows that it is almost five o’clock. One of the few paintings by Claude that does not illustrate an episode from literature, it is composed from ancient Roman architectural landmarks, including the Arch of Titus.
A seaport is one of the earliest and most important paintings to have entered the national collection. It is one of the 38 works from John Julius Angerstein’s collection on which the National Gallery, London was founded. JMW Turner Great Britain 1775–1851
Ulysses deriding Polyphemus–Homer’s Odyssey 1829 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Turner Bequest, 1856 NG 508
The subject of this painting is taken from Homer’s ancient Greek poem Odyssey and shows Ulysses sailing from the island where the one-eyed giant, Polyphemus, had held him captive.
This painting signals the changing role of colour and light in Turner’s historical landscapes. It also marks the increasingly expressive direction his painting was to follow and anticipates the visionary qualities of his late work. Writing in 1856, the English art critic John Ruskin declared it to be ‘the central picture of Turner’s career’. Jacob van Ruisdael The Netherlands 1628/9?–1682
A landscape with a ruined castle and a church c 1655–70 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Wynn Ellis Bequest, 1876 NG 990
The size of this painting suggests that it was painted on commission and designed to hang in a very large room. Although it is reminiscent of the countryside around Haarlem, where Van Ruisdael grew up and trained as an artist, it is an idealised landscape. Van Ruisdael’s talent was his ability to balance the specificity of his scenes with a general appeal. The immense sky, taking up two-thirds of the image, and panoramic vistas appear recognisable and immensely appealing—even for audiences unfamiliar with the Dutch landscape. Richard Wilson Wales 1713/14–1782
Holt Bridge on the River Dee before 1762 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Bought, Colnaghi Fund, 1953 NG 6196
One of a pair of views that Welsh-born Wilson painted of Cheshire and the River Dee, this painting captures the point where the river serves as a border between Wales and England. The village of Holt is on the left and the tower of Farndon Church on the right. The scene is, however, invented and the general character of the landscape has been changed to make the image picturesque.
Frequently referred to as ‘the English Claude’, Wilson spent several years living and working in Italy. Paintings such as this show the extent of Claude’s influence; not least in the nostalgia and golden light. For kids
Would you like to take a picnic in this scene?
From on top of this mountain, we can see the mighty River Dee flowing in the background. The river acts as the border between the countries Wales and England.
The people in the painting are looking up to the sky.
What do you think they are looking at? Salvator Rosa Italy 1615–1673
Landscape with travellers asking the way c 1641 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Presented by the Trustees of Sir Denis Mahon’s Charitable Trust through the Art Fund, 2013 NG 6643
In 1640 Rosa travelled to Florence from Rome at the invitation of Prince Gian Carlo de’ Medici, brother of Ferdinand II, Grand Duke of Tuscany. While in Florence, the artist produced detailed studies of crags, plains, mountains and waterfalls in the countryside around Volterra in northern Tuscany. He combined these with the power of his imagination to produce wild, dramatic scenes of the natural world.
The picturesque quality and moodiness of Rosa’s landscapes made his work highly sought-after by British collectors. These characteristics, along with the fantastic tales that began to circulate about the artist in the decades after his death, mark him out as an aesthetic forebear of the British Romantic artists. John Constable Great Britain 1776–1837
Cenotaph to the memory of Sir Joshua Reynolds, erected in the grounds of Coleorton Hall, Leicestershire by the late Sir George Beaumont, Bt 1833–36 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Bequeathed by Miss Isabel Constable as the gift of Maria Louisa, Isabel and Lionel Bicknell Constable, 1888 NG 1272
This painting depicts a scene in the park at Coleorton Hall, the estate of Sir George Beaumont. A founder and benefactor of the National Gallery, London, Beaumont had a cenotaph in honour of artist and Royal Academy of Art president Sir Joshua Reynolds placed in the grounds. During a visit in 1823 Constable sketched the Reynolds cenotaph. When he painted this image 10 years later, he created a scene heavy with shadow. The artist’s famous attention to cloud and sky is the only punctuation of colour in the dense landscape. Introduction to Room 7 FRANCE AND THE RISE OF MODERN ART
In the decade that followed the French Revolution (1789–99), political, social, scientific and industrial change became a constant, not just in France but across Europe. These wide-reaching changes also influenced the style and subject matter of art. Portable easels and commercial paints facilitated the movement of artists outside their studios, as did the ever-expanding network of public transport that took artists from Paris to the countryside and beyond. Along with developing awareness of colour theory and optics, artists began to focus on changing natural light, resulting in lightened palettes and brighter tones. The necessity of completing works quickly led to simplified compositions and more impressionistic styles. The modernisation of Paris saw the medieval city transformed with boulevards, elegant apartment blocks and streetlights. Landscape painting expanded to include urban views of parks, gardens and city streets. The invention of photography and the influx of Japanese woodblock prints had a profound effect on how compositions were conceived. In the last decades of the nineteenth-century artists responded to changes in everyday life, especially work and entertainment, as seeing and being seen became key to French identity. Room 7 FRANCE AND THE RISE OF MODERN ART Wall labels for Room 7, clockwise
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Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot France 1796–1875
Avignon from the west 1836 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Sir Hugh Lane Bequest, 1917 NG 3237
This panoramic view likely dates from Corot’s visit to Provence in July 1836. It looks from the small town of Villeneuve-lès-Avignon towards the medieval city of Avignon. The Papal Palace is depicted on the far side of the Rhône River with the remains of the Pont Saint-Bénézet to its left and the spires of the churches of Saint Pierre and Didier to its right.
Corot’s interest centres on the overall effect of the composition as a harmoniously balanced arrangement of colours and tones. The luminosity of this study is similar to oil sketches he made during his first visit to Italy, using horizontal bands of light and dark tones and blocks of carefully modulated colour placed next to each other. Camille Pissarro West Indies 1830–France 1903
The Avenue, Sydenham 1871 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Bought 1984 NG 6493
One of 12 pictures painted during Pissarro’s self-imposed exile in London during the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71), this view looks down Lawrie Park Avenue in the fashionable semi-rural suburb of Upper Sydenham in South London. Pissarro includes the Church of Saint Bartholomew, built in 1832, in the distance.
Despite the hallmarks of en-plein-air painting, Pissarro completed it in his studio. He mixed much of the paint with white to reduce the colour contrasts and create a consistent light tonality throughout. The traditional use of perspective, degree of finish and picturesque motif were perhaps intended to appeal to English buyers wary of the swift brushwork of Impressionist painting. Edgar Degas France 1834–1917
Ballet dancers c 1890–1900 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Bought, Courtauld Fund, 1926 NG 4168
The ballet was a pivotal subject for Degas and from 1890 it dominated three-quarters of his oeuvre. With access to all areas of the Palais Garnier, the newly built opera house in Paris, he was captivated by life backstage rather than performances.
Degas was fixated on depicting movement and drew inspiration from the burgeoning developments in photography, particularly the work of Eadweard Muybridge. Increasingly he would compose pictures from his repertoire of imagery: figures, poses, steps and gestures, costumes and coiffures. He combined these in this composition of young dancers practicing ballet postures. Pierre-Auguste Renoir France 1841–1919
La Première sortie [At the theatre] 1876–77 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Bought, Courtauld Fund, 1923 NG 3859
Between 1873 and 1880, Renoir frequently depicted audiences in the many theatres found around Paris at the time. Attending such venues was as much about social status as it was about watching the show—seeing who was there, with whom they were associating and what they were wearing.
This painting shows the privileged, secluded boxes in the upper band and the blur of faces in the cheaper seats below. The main figure is presented as a wealthy young woman in her first Paris season, dressed smartly but demurely. Fashion played a central role in Renoir’s paintings and he held black to be the ‘queen of colours’. Paul Cézanne France 1839–1906
An old woman with a rosary c 1895–96 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Bought 1953 NG 6195
This portrait is thought to be of a 77-year-old nun who left her convent following a crisis of faith and was subsequently employed by Cézanne as his housekeeper. The contemplative and solemn tone of the painting not only reflects the religiosity of the sitter but also the elderly artist’s personal feelings. Plagued by thoughts of his own death, themes of spiritualism and mortality grew ever more prevalent in the later stage of Cézanne’s career as his health began to deteriorate. For kids
The artist Paul Cézanne painted this portrait of his housekeeper, who was a retired nun. We can see her counting rosary beads and saying prayers; it’s a way for her to remember the past and stay positive for the future. Look closely at the texture and detail of her expression.
What might she be thinking about?
Paul Cézanne France 1839–1906
Hillside in Provence c 1890–92 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Bought, Courtauld Fund, 1926 NG 4136
By the mid-1880s Cézanne increasingly lived in the south of France, where he developed a pictorial style characterised by simplified motifs and an emphasis on structural form. Objects in the landscape were reduced to geometric shapes. Here the wall of angular, jutting rocks reveals the exposed geological strata; possibly from the cuttings of a quarry. Cézanne celebrated the vividly coloured local sandstone using ochre pigments, in a palette more luminous than earlier in his career. While this hillside is in the artist’s native Provence, the specific location has not been conclusively identified. Vincent van Gogh The Netherlands 1853– France 1890
Sunflowers 1888 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Bought, Courtauld Fund, 1924 NG 3863
Van Gogh used sunflowers as a device to develop his love of saturated colour and impasto painting. He painted these sunflowers, along with three other versions on the same subject, between August and September 1888 in anticipation of Paul Gauguin’s arrival at his home in Arles in the south of France.
This painting, the fourth of the group and only one of two that the artist thought worthy of signing, was hung to decorate the room in which Gauguin slept. In a letter written the following year, Gauguin described his friend’s painting of ‘sunflowers on a yellow background’ as ‘a perfect page of an essential “Vincent” style’. For kids
Do you ever have flowers decorating your house?
Vincent van Gogh painted these sunflowers in his home in France. He looked closely and studied the colour yellow, experimenting with how many different shades of yellow he could mix with his paints. Look for all the different yellows–light yellow, dark yellow, thin yellow, thick yellow. Give them all names.
What might the colour yellow symbolise in this painting? Paul Gauguin France 1848– Marquesas Islands 1903
A vase of flowers 1896 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Bought 1918 NG 3289
This still life was painted soon after Gauguin arrived in Tahiti for his second and final stay in 1895. The drooping bougainvillea, hibiscus, frangipani and tiare look slightly past their best, with some having already fallen on the table. When pressed by his art dealer Ambroise Vollard for more flower paintings for sale, the artist replied that he had ‘done only a few’ because ‘I do not copy nature … With me, everything happens in my exuberant imagination’. The artist was interested in the colour and pattern of flowers, rather than their horticultural detail. Claude Monet France 1840–1926
The water-lily pond 1899 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Bought 1927 NG 4240
In 1893 Monet bought a plot of land next to his house in Giverny. In addition to his colourful flower garden he wanted to create a water garden ‘both for the pleasure of the eye and for the purpose of having subjects to paint’. He enlarged the existing pond, filling it with exotic new hybrid water lilies, and built a humpback bridge at one end, inspired by examples seen in Japanese prints.
Painted 250 times, this scene became his main obsession during his later career. Here, the bridge spans the canvas but is cut off at the edges so that it seems to float unanchored above the water. The perspective shifts: the viewer looks up at the bridge but down on the water lilies. Henri Fantin-Latour France 1836–1904
A basket of roses 1890 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Bequeathed by Mrs MJ Yates, 1923 NG 3726
The Victorian obsession with the language of flowers contributed to Fantin-Latour’s popularity in England. Of all the flowers, roses were the artist’s most celebrated and appear frequently, particularly the fashionable larger opulent varieties seen here.
Despite working alongside the Impressionists, Fantin-Latour did not paint outside and remained committed to his traditional style of rendering still-life bouquets of flowers. The artist described his process as ‘representing things as they are found in nature; I put a great deal of thought into the arrangement, but with the idea of making it look like a natural arrangement of random objects’. Ary Scheffer The Netherlands 1795– France 1858
Mrs Robert Hollond 1851 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Bequeathed by Robert Hollond, with a life-interest to his widow; entered the Collection, 1885 NG 1169
The dignity of this portrait of English writer and philanthropist Ellen Hollond (born Ellen Julia Teed) suggests that the artist and sitter were acquainted. She and her husband, the pioneering balloonist and Member of Parliament Robert Hollond, lived part-time in Paris where she formed a progressive intellectual salon.
Instead of emphasising Mrs Hollond’s social status, Scheffer presents her with studied simplicity and restraint—muted colours, reduced setting, minimal jewellery—stressing her thoughtful expression. Although she was a Victorian woman with liberal sympathies, she is presented here as timeless and classical. Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres France 1780–1867
Angelica saved by Ruggiero 1819–39 oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London Bought 1918 NG 3292
This is a scene taken from Ludovico Ariosto’s sixteenth-century epic poem Orlando Furioso [The frenzy of Orlando]. Here the Christian knight Ruggiero is shown rescuing the naked and shackled pagan princess Angelica, who has been left as a sacrifice to a sea monster.
Ingres uses a series of contrasts to enhance the sense of drama. Angelica’s pale skin stands out against the dark sea and rocks and creates a tactile comparison to the armour, rocks and sharp objects (the lance, hippogriff’s beak and talons, and monster’s teeth) that surround her. The artist modelled the figure of Angelica on a classical Venus, although he exaggerates the length of her arms and the backward tilt of her neck for greater expressive effect.