Such a tease! This ambiguous portrait plays psychological and optical games with the viewer.
The Renaissance in Italy: 1500s
From military machines to playful cats, Leonardo’s extraordinary drawings capture his incessant curiosity.
Leonardo and his drawings
Night and day, rough and polish—this chapel embodies opposition and traps the viewer in a moment of transition.
Michelangelo, Medici Chapel (New Sacristy)
With a complex, multi-figure composition, this monumental sculpture captures a moment from ancient Roman history.
Giambologna, Abduction of a Sabine Woman
Female painters were rare in sixteenth-century Italy. In self-portraits, Sofonisba made sure to appear virtuous.
Sofonisba Anguissola
Cracks, picks, polish—and teeth. Sounds like dentistry, but the pearly whites here are blocks of Carrara marble.
Quarrying and carving marble
Location, location, location. Meant for the cathedral, David presided over a public square—and now stands inside.
The many meanings of Michelangelo’s David
Michelangelo transforms a male model into a female figure. Discover the artist’s working process.
Michelangelo, Studies for the Libyan Sibyl (recto); ...
Human cadavers and dead cows—Leonardo dissected both. He kept his notes private, but paintings betrayed this work.
Leonardo: Anatomist
Watch a sculptor demonstrate the use of traditional tools as he carves a block of marble.
Carving marble with traditional tools
Forget mythology—Cellini makes his skill the subject. Defying skeptics, he cast this upright bronze without flaw.
Benvenuto Cellini, Perseus with the Head of ...
Whose side are you on? Two great philosophers of antiquity, Plato and Aristotle, face off in this meeting of minds.
Raphael, School of Athens
As it recesses, Tintoretto’s strange space collapses time. No wonder Saint Mark multiplies.
Jacopo Tintoretto, The Finding of the Body ...
This personal image was destined for Titian’s tomb, but he may also appear in it as St. Jerome.
Titian and Jacopo Palma il Giovane, Pietà
Riddle me this. Bronzino’s allegorical painting is one of the most disturbing and curious in all of art history.
Bronzino, An Allegory with Venus and Cupid
Here, everything is askew. Form dissolves as Tintoretto unites Florentine line with Venetian color.
Jacopo Tintoretto, Last Supper
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Michelangelo, Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
Veronese described himself as a painter of figures. Judging by the throng depicted here, he clearly enjoyed it.
Paolo Veronese, Feast in the House of ...
Who gets the girl? This event may be sacred, but Raphael treats us to a very human performance.
Raphael, Marriage of the Virgin
This painting was once criticized for its loose, open brushwork—a hallmark of Tintoretto’s style we now admire.