videos + essays
Anthony van Dyck, Charles I with M. de St. Antoine
Though he was eventually beheaded, this portrait encapsulates the king's notion of independent authority, and his belief in the divine right of kings.
Diego Velázquez, Juan de Pareja
How do you paint your own slave? Painter Julie Mehretu explores Velázquez’s answer to this troubling question.
Anthony van Dyck, Charles I at the Hunt
Van Dyck makes painting look easy! His king is just as self-assured—despite having dismounted, he exudes strength.
Diego Velázquez, Las Meninas
This puzzling painting about painting is half genre scene, half family portrait. But what’s on the large canvas?
Peter Paul Rubens, Arrival (or Disembarkation) of Marie de Medici at Marseilles
In Rubens’s hands, leaving a ship becomes a triumphal event—complete with a trumpeting angel.
Pierre Le Gros the Younger, Stanislas Kostka on His Deathbed
The Baroque doesn’t have to be loud, as this intimate and quiet sculpture demonstrates so well.
Hyacinthe Rigaud, Louis XIV
Royal portraitists negotiated between historical accuracy and ideal form. Here, Rigaud flatters the aging king.
Peter Paul Rubens, The Presentation of the Portrait of Marie de’ Medici
Be still, my heart! A portrait of Marie attracts the king’s gaze, yet our eyes zig-zag around this busy canvas.
