Michelangelo Buonarroti | 238 Drawings | Part.¹

A towering genius in the history of Western art, Michelangelo (Italian, Caprese 1475-1564 Rome)🎨 was celebrated during his long life for the excellence of his disegno, the power of drawing and invention that provided the foundation for all of the arts.

For his mastery of drawing, design, sculpture, painting, and architecture, he was called Il divino ("the divine one") by his contemporaries.

His powerful imagery and dazzling technical virtuosity transported viewers and imbued all of his works with a staggering force that continues to enthrall us today. | © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Giuseppe De Nittis | How cold! / Che freddo! 1874

Having begun to adapt the motif of the road to the local urban setting in 1871, in 1873-1874 Giuseppe De Nittis (February 25, 1846 - August 21, 1884) painted many views of Paris.

In these he captured the spectacle of a modern city, often indulging in images of elegant women walking or riding or promenading children and dogs.

Adopting a Naturalistic approach, he used complex and bold compositional structures, as in How Cold it Is! (1874; Milan, Eredi Jucker priv. col., see 1990 exh. cat., p. 101).

The vivid sense of movement created by the figures in this work reflects De Nittis’s habit of sketching and painting them in motion; here they are modelled, as usual, by his wife, Leontine Gruvelle.

How Cold it Is! was enthusiastically received at the Salon of 1874, and the same year De Nittis participated in the First Impressionist Exhibition on the invitation of Degas🎨.

He exhibited five works (unidentified) but went to London before the opening.

Rembrandt and the Inspiration of India | The J. Paul Getty Museum

In an intriguing moment late in his career, Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn (1606-1669)🎨 created a series of unusually meticulous drawings depicting emperors and courtiers from Mughal India.

This exhibition explores the Dutch🎨 master’s careful studies of imperial Mughal portraiture and places them within a broader circuit of cross-cultural exchanges.

By juxtaposing Rembrandt’s drawings with Indian paintings of similar compositions - and pairing Mughal artworks with European prints that inspired them - fascinating stories unfold about the flow of art and ideas across time and oceans.

Alfred Boucher (French sculptor, 1850-1934)

A French🎨 sculptor, Alfred Boucher (23 September 1850-1934), mentor to Camille Claudel🎨 and friend of Auguste Rodin🎨.

Born in Bouy-sur-Ovin (Nogent-sur-Seine), he was the son of a farmhand who became the gardener of the sculptor Joseph-Marius Ramus, who, after recognizing Boucher's talent, opened his studio to him.

He won the Grand Prix🎨 du Salon in 1881 with La Piété Filiale. He then moved to Florence for a long period and was a favourite sculptor of presidents and royalty such as George I of Greece and Maria-Pia of Romania.

He provided inspiration and encouragement to the next generation of sculptors such as Laure Coutan and Camille Claudel🎨.

Julius LeBlanc Stewart (1855-1919) | Painter of the Belle Époque

Julius LeBlanc Stewart (September 6, 1855, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - January 5, 1919, Paris, France), was an American artist🎨 who spent his career in Paris.

A contemporary of fellow expatriate painter John Singer Sargent🎨, Stewart was nicknamed "the Parisian from Philadelphia".

His father, the sugar millionaire William Hood Stewart, moved the family from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Paris in 1865, and became a distinguished art collector and an early patron of Marià Fortuny and the Barbizon artists🎨.

Julius studied under Eduardo Zamacois as a teenager, under Jean-Léon Gérôme🎨 at the École des Beaux-Arts, and later was a pupil of Raymondo de Madrazo🎨.

Stewart's family wealth enabled him to live a lush expatriate life and paint what he pleased, often large-scaled group portraits.

The first of these, After the Wedding (Drexel University Art Collection, 1880), showed the artist's brother Charles and his bride Mae, daughter of financier Anthony J. Drexel, leaving for their honeymoon.

Armand Guillaumin (Impressionist painter, 1841-1927)

Armand Guillaumin, in full Jean-Baptiste-Armand Guillaumin (born February 16, 1841, Paris, France-died June 26, 1927, Paris), French🎨 landscape painter and lithographer who was a member of the Impressionist group🎨.

Guillaumin was a close friend of the painter Camille Pissarro🎨, whom he met while studying at the Académie Suisse.

Together they found employment painting blinds, and Guillaumin portrayed his friend at work-Pissarro Painting Blinds (c. 1868). Guillaumin exhibited in the Salon des Refusés in 1863 and in the first Impressionist exhibit in 1874.

One of the more impoverished members of his artistic circle, Guillaumin was obliged in 1872 to take a post with the department of bridges and causeways. It was not until 1892, when he won 100,000 francs in a city lottery, that he was able to give up his government job and paint full-time.

El Greco | The Adoration of the Name of Jesus, 1579

The larger version of this picture is in the Escorial in Madrid, and was probably intended for King Philip II.

El Greco🎨 made small copies of several of his own pictures to keep in his studio, of which this is probably one. The subject is thought to be an allegory of the Holy League, a military alliance between Spain, the Papacy and the Venetian Republic, which was formed to combat the rise of Islam and the Turks.

The Pope, the Doge of Venice and Philip II are shown kneeling in adoration of the name of Jesus, shown in the heavens as IHS, these being the first letters of Jesus in Greek (IHSOUS).

The name of Jesus was believed to have power over infidels, and the picture perhaps commemorates the League's victory over the Turks at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571 which was led by Philip II's brother Don Juan. It may have been painted after the latter's death in 1578. Heretics are shown being swallowed by a monstrous beast, symbolising Hell, swimming in a sea of fire. | © The National Gallery

Charles Caryl Coleman | Capri, 1897

American painter🎨 Charles Caryl Coleman (1840-1928) was born in 1840. He was a landscape, portrait and figure painter who lived most of his life in Capri, Italy.

Coleman studied art with Andrew Andrews and W.H. Beard in Buffalo, NY in the 1850s.

He traveled to Paris to study for three years before returning to America in 1862 to enlist in the Civil War.

Hermann Corrodi | Notturno sul Monte Athos / Night on Mount Athos, 1905

Hermann David Salomon Corrodi🎨 (July 1844 - 30 January 1905) was an Italian painter🎨 of historical and orientalist scenes.

Corrodi received commissions for history paintings from the British royal family. He was acquainted with most of the European royalty of the time, including a friendship with Queen Victoria, and traveled widely in the Far East, including Egypt, Syria, Cyprus and Istanbul, which provided the subject matter for many of his paintings.

In 1893 he was knighted as an Academic of Merit by the Academy of St Luke, where he had been a professor.

In the last month of his life he made The nocturnal ascent on mount Athos.

Hermann Corrodi died on January 30, 1905. So, this ascent must have been one of his very last paintings.

The hermits hut clung on the steep rock like a birds’ nest is an interesting detail. The seven monks with their lamps and walking sticks lead the viewer to the ascent.

Gianni De Conno | Surrealist book illustrator

Gianni De Conno (Milan, 1957 - Milan, 26 agosto 2017) is an Italian painter.

In 1990 Gianni received the Gold Plate🎨 of Italian Illustrators Annual, in 1998, 2000 and 2001 the Communication Arts Award of Excellence, in 2002 the Stepan Zavrel prize for Children's Illustrator and the Silver Medal of the President of the Italian Republic for artistic merits.

Gianni De Conno is teaching in the main schools of illustration.

He has illustrated and published numerous books for children.