Two particularly notable paintings by Lavinia Fontana
It’s fair to say that almost every painting featured in Lavinia Fontana: Trailblazer, Rule Breaker, the exhibition that the National Gallery of Ireland is currently dedicated to the Bolognese artist, has the power of charming the viewer but two in particular – Cleopatra (1585 ca. or 1605) and Venus and Mars (1595 ca.) – have had me hooked on their iconography since the exhibition opened in May.
(re)Acting Rembrandt
The whole face has a life. Showing the whites of the eyes and opening the mouth in disbelief, Rembrandt’s face is acting. Or better re-acting. It’s as if I gave him a start coming from behind the corner, and he had exclaimed ‘Goodness! You gave me quite a turn, creeping up like that!’
Two unconventional self-portraits for a twofold problem
How these two Baroque self-portraits, which resort to the personification of Painting to frame the artist as an object of admiration – or, someone may say, to divert viewers’ gaze from a face that didn’t launch a thousand ships, connect to one another despite all their notable differences?
A putti bonanza in a limited palette
A set of ten large paintings, displayed in one of the most recently redecorated rooms of Dublin Castle, has always made me gaze up with wonder because of the painting technique by which they were executed, but also the considerable (someone may say excessive) number of putti depicted.
A portrait true to (Spanish court) life
Until fairly recently, Portrait of Prince Alessandro Farnese was not one of the paintings I would have made a beeline for when calling in the National Gallery of Ireland. And yet it was the one I went looking for when the gallery finally re-opened its doors to visitors.
Light and Atmosphere: Turner's Interior of a Great House
Diving into the Tate Britain’s collection online I discovered ‘Interior of a Great House: The Drawing Room, East Cowes Castle’ by J.M.W. Turner. This I found intriguing and not only for its subject matter.
A ‘Trop Athlétique’ Napoleon
Last year, in the space of just a couple of months, I came across a statue of a naked Napoleon twice.