Cellini's salt cellar was prized as luxury tableware and was also an intellectual conversation starter in renaissance France.
Location: Kunsthistorisches Museum
Two different portraits—it’s St. Matthew in both, but watch the style change from smooth modeling to frenzied brushwork.
Matthew in the Coronation Gospels and Ebbo ...
Join the birds and soar through this frozen landscape. On the pond below, playful scenes warm the air.
Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Hunters in the ...
A well-dressed artist paints Clio, the muse of history, but as with any Vermeer, the real subject here is light.
Johannes Vermeer, The Art of Painting
Bruegel offers up a slice of peasant life. Despite our historical distance, this is a wedding party we can attend.
Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Peasant Wedding
These three learned men differ in age, outlook, and dress. But do they represent religions, eras, or philosophies?
Giorgione, Three Philosophers
Without historical sources, what gives an artist authority to depict the divine? Gossaert channels St. Luke.
Jan Gossaert, Saint Luke Painting the Madonna
What a show-off! Hoping to win a papal commission, the confident young painter foregrounds his hand—and his skill.
Parmigianino, Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror
With her open mouth, tilted head, and soft flesh, Io exudes sensuality, giving herself up willingly to Jupiter.
Correggio, Jupiter and Io
Such a gruesome act; such a passive woman. But is she really so refined? With Cranach, meaning is never clear-cut.
Lucas Cranach the Elder, Judith with the ...
From the ruffled veil around Mary’s face to the lancet windows of a very Gothic Jerusalem, Rogier revels in detail.
Rogier van der Weyden, Crucifixion Triptych
A perpetual construction site, this tower rises and falls—just like each of us.
Pieter Bruegel the Elder, The Tower of Babel
Roman rubble litters the ground at St. Sebastian’s feet. His nude body also recalls the antique past.
Andrea Mantegna, Saint Sebastian
Even the smallest carvings, seen only by a select few, could carry a strong political message.
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