How real is too real?
Baroque Spain
The Immaculate Conception of Los Venerables is the most famous painting by the most acclaimed Spanish painter of the latter half of the seventeenth century
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, The Immaculate Conception of ...
Seen from across the Spanish Court at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, St. John looks uncannily alive!
Juan Martínez Montañés, St. John the Baptist
An ancient Greek story on a tapestry made in China, for export back to Portugal.
The Abduction of Helen Tapestry
In this still life, objects and customs from around the world converge around one delicious food: chocolate.
A Still Life of Global Dimensions: Antonio ...
This multimedia architectural altarpiece took two decades to complete, and required teams of workers in many media.
Jerónimo de Balbás, Altar of the Kings (Altar ...
The sculptor Martínez Montañés was the “God of Wood,” but it’s the painter Pacheco who brought this work to life.
Juan Martínez Montañés and Francisco Pacheco, Christ ...
How do you paint your own slave? Painter Julie Mehretu explores Velázquez’s answer to this troubling question.
Diego Velázquez, Juan de Pareja
Ribera depicts the moment before St. Philip’s death, yet the martyr’s body distorts and collapses before our eyes.
Jusepe de Ribera, The Martyrdom of Saint ...
This puzzling painting about painting is half genre scene, half family portrait. But what’s on the large canvas?
Diego Velázquez, Las Meninas
Don’t strike the messenger! Interrupted at his forge, a horrified Vulcan looks ready to hammer Apollo.
Diego Velázquez, Vulcan’s Forge
Velázquez lends immediacy and gritty realism to a mythological subject. We are right there, ready to partake.
Diego Velázquez, Los Borrachos (The Drunks), or ...
Zurbarán’s primary patrons were monks, and this image of St. Serapion’s lifeless body inspired contemplation.
Francisco de Zurbarán, The Martyrdom of Saint ...
Disorganized and youthful, Dutch troops surrender to the seasoned Spanish army. Count the victors’ spears!
Diego Velázquez, The Surrender of Breda
Combining earthtones with dramatic lighting, Velázquez meticulously renders a waterseller’s world.
Diego Velázquez, The Waterseller of Seville
Whichever way you slice it, that’s one inscrutable melon. Does it symbolize geometry, astronomy, or empire?
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