Painting ID:: 64256
Construction of the 1669 Oil on canvas, 103 x 138,5 cm Royal Collection, London The Cheteau de Versailles, a 17th-century palace built by Louis XIV, was the principal residence of the kings of France and the seat of the government for more than 100 years. The first scenes of the French Revolution were also enacted at the palace, whose gardens, the masterpiece of AndreLe Netre, have become part of the national heritage of France and one of the most visited historic sites in Europe. Although it was a place of entertainment, the grandiose palace was also well equipped as a centre of government. Of about 20,000 persons attached to the court, some 1,000 courtiers with 4,000 attendants lived in the palace itself. About 14,000 soldiers and servants were quartered in annexes and in the town, which was founded in 1671 and had 30,000 inhabitants when Louis XIV died in 1715. The palace of Versailles led to the French court style in interior decoration and furnishings. Versailles was intended to be the outward and visible expression of the glory of France, and of Louis XIV, then Europe's most powerful monarch. His finance minister, Colbert, set up a manufactory that made works of art of all kinds, from furniture to jewellery, for interior decoration. A large export trade took French styles to almost every corner of Europe, made France a centre for luxuries, and gave to Paris an influence that has lasted till the present day. The vast initial cost of Versailles has been more than recouped since its completion. Even Louis XIV's most violent enemies imitated the decoration of his palace at Versailles. In 1667 Charles Le Brun was appointed director of the Gobelins factory, which had been bought by the King, and Le Brun himself prepared designs for various objects, from the painted ceilings of the Galerie des Glaces (Hall of Mirrors) at Versailles to the metal hardware for a door lock. , Artist: MEULEN, Adam Frans van der , Construction of the Cheteau de Versailles , 1651-1700 , Flemish , painting , historical new21/MEULEN, Adam Frans van der-885684.jpg
Painting ID:: 64257
Triptych of Virtue of Patience 1521 Oil on oak, 174 x 80 cm (each wing) Musees Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels The triptych, which was very likely commissioned by Margaret of Austria, the governor of the Low Countries, depicts two biblical episodes illustrating the virtues of patience: the Book of Job and the parable of Lazarus the beggar and the rich man. Since the Middle Ages it had been common practice to draw a parallel between the resignation of Job and of Lazarus in the face of misfortune and the constancy of their faith in God. When closed, the triptych depicts the parable of Lazarus. At the bottom of the wings, divided into three symmetrical registers, Lazarus is dying at the rich man's gate, whilst the latter suffers eternal torment. The Italianate pose, and the monumentality and beauty of the nude are inspired by Raphael. In the centre, the rich man's feast, followed by his agony, take place in a sumptuous mansion. His wife, bringing him communion, and the physician, examining his urine, are looking after him whilst, in hell, two demons are torturing him, presenting him with a chalice writhing with serpents and a bowl filled with an infernal liquid. At the top, Lazarus' soul rises up to heaven in the form of a child, first held up by two angels in a transparent bubble, then in the bosom of Abraham. Van Orley creates his masterpiece by marrying the Flemish tradition with the new directions of Italian art and his own inventiveness. The result is a veritable profession of faith in the Renaissance, underlined by the artist's motto, "Elx syne tyt" (each in his time) inscribed on the pillar to the left of the central panel. , Artist: ORLEY, Bernaert van , Triptych of Virtue of Patience (closed) , 1501-1550 , Flemish , painting , religious new21/Bernaert Van Orley-649363.jpg
Painting ID:: 64398
Triptych of the Entombment 1559-60 Oil on oak, 219 x 66 cm (each wing) Mus?es Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels Maerten van Heemskerck probably produced this imposing triptych for a church in Delft. It is a mature work, and one of the artist's most accomplished paintings. The reverse sides of the wings are decorated with the majestic figures of the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah. Artist:HEEMSKERCK, Maerten van Title: Triptych of the Entombment (closed), 1501-1550, Dutch , painting , religious new22/HEEMSKERCK, Maerten van-246375.jpg
Painting ID:: 64400
Vanitas 115 x 134 cm Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp Many Flemish still-lifes refer in all their beauty to the transience of life but it was Franciscus Gysbrechts who expressed this transience in the most explicit fashion. His Vanitas is conceived as a grandiose spectacle dealing with the vanity of the intellectual world (globe, books), of the 'vita voluptaria' (musical instruments, smoking implements) and, finally, of the transience of life (skull, hourglass). The moralistic meaning of these still-lifes might have lost some of its urgency as far as modern viewers are concerned, but the visual pleasure which they offer is an equally important aspect. Artist:GYSBRECHTS, Franciscus Title: Vanitas, 1651-1700, Flemish , painting , still-life new22/unknow artist-578429.jpg
Painting ID:: 64643
Aristotle with a Bust of Homer 1653 Oil on canvas Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Artist:REMBRANDT Harmenszoon van Rijn Title: Aristotle with a Bust of Homer (detail), 1601-1650, Dutch , painting , portrait new22/REMBRANDT Harmenszoon van Rijn-263832.jpg
Painting ID:: 64697
Winter 1645 Oil on panel, 52 x 70 cm The Hermitage, St. Petersburg *** Keywords: ************* Author: GOYEN, Jan van Title: Winter, 1601-1650, Dutch , painting , landscape new22/GOYEN, Jan van-266575.jpg
Painting ID:: 64726
Lady and Gentleman with two Girls and a Servant 1742 Oil on canvas, 89 x 98 cm National Gallery, London Artist:LANCRET, Nicolas Title: Lady and Gentleman with two Girls and a Servant, 1701-1750, French , painting , genre new22/LANCRET, Nicolas-295969.jpg