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Painting story
The Two Majesties by Jean-Léon Gérôme
Why did Jean-Léon Gérôme call his 1883 painting The Two Majesties? A lion watches the setting sun across the desert, inviting a closer look at…
Painting Stories
The meaning and history of famous paintings: what they show, where the originals hang, and how each one is recreated by hand in oil on canvas.
Painting Analysis articles
Painting story
The Execution of Lady Jane Grey
Explore Delaroche's The Execution of Lady Jane Grey: the blindfold, white dress, waiting axe and the differences between the painting and Tudor…
Painting story
The Garden of Death
Explore Hugo Simberg’s The Garden of Death: gentle skeletons, fragile flowers and the meaning of his mysterious 1896 garden of souls.
Painting story
Pietà
Explore Bouguereau’s Pietà: Mary’s outward gaze, the grieving angels and the memorial inscription for his son Georges, who died aged sixteen.
Painting story
The Dance Class
Explore Degas’s The Dance Class in Paris: Jules Perrot, the dancers’ ordinary gestures, the small dog and the working floor behind ballet.
Painting story
The Laughing Cavalier
Discover The Laughing Cavalier by Frans Hals: the uncertain smile, embroidered sleeve, black sash and what the inscription actually tells us.
Painting story
The Tower of Babel
Bruegel’s Tower of Babel contains more than an impossible building: explore its working cranes, occupied homes, stonecutters and the small details…
Painting story
L’Absinthe
Discover the story of Degas’s L’Absinthe: Ellen Andrée, Marcellin Desboutin, the staged café scene and its carefully constructed isolation.
Painting story
Sleeping Venus
Explore Sleeping Venus in Dresden: the sleeping face, white drapery, landscape and the roles of Giorgione and Titian in its creation.
Painting story
Netherlandish Proverbs
Look closely at Bruegel’s Netherlandish Proverbs: the blue cloak, upside-down globe, impossible tasks and human follies hidden in a village.
Painting story
The Large Blue Horses
Explore Franz Marc’s The Large Blue Horses, its expressive colour, three interlocking animals and journey to the Walker Art Center.
Painting story
The Rokeby Venus
Discover The Rokeby Venus by Velázquez: its blurred reflection, Cupid’s mirror, flowing satin and the mystery of the unidentified sitter.
Painting story
Medusa
Explore Caravaggio’s Medusa at the Uffizi: the shocked face, living snakes, shield illusion and the myth behind the severed head.
Painting story
Slave Ship
Explore Turner’s Slave Ship: the shackles and bodies in the foreground, the historical Zong massacre and why the brilliant sea cannot be read alone.
Painting story
The Red Vineyard
Explore Van Gogh’s The Red Vineyard: red vines, yellow reflections, harvest workers and the documented Anna Boch sale behind the misleading…
Painting story
Bacchus
Explore Caravaggio’s Bacchus: the offered wineglass, vine-leaf wreath, ribbon, marked fruit and the Uffizi painting’s invitation to the viewer.
Painting story
The Light of the World
Explore Hunt’s The Light of the World: the closed door, lantern, halo, neglected threshold and the differences between its Oxford and later versions.
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Curated collectionsOdyssey, Magic and Witchcraft, Famous Women, Landscapes and more.Artists A to ZEvery painter in the catalogue, with an archive of their works.Art movementsRenaissance to Expressionism: what defines each and who led it.Top 100 most famous paintingsThe ranked list, with the story behind every entry.
