Head of Medusa | Studio of Antonio Canova, 1806-1807

On view in the Museum's Carroll and Milton Petrie European Sculpture Court is the marble version of Perseus with the Head of Medusa that Canova (1757-1822) carved for Countess Valeria Tarnowska.

He wrote that he was also shipping a plaster of the Medusa head, lest the marble one add too much weight to the statue's outstretched arm.

The countess could attach the lighter plaster to the arm instead, and, placing a lit candle inside the marble one, which is hollow, she could watch the eerie light effects.

Antonio Canova | Head of Medusa (Studio) 1806-1807 | Metropolitan Museum of Art

Jean-François de Troy | Study of three figures

Jean-François de Troy, de Troy also spelled Detroy (baptized January 27, 1679, Paris, France - died January 26, 1752, Rome, Papal States [Italy]), French Rococo painter known for his tableaux de mode, or scenes of the life of the French upper class and aristocracy, especially during the period of the regency-e.g., Hunt Breakfast (1737) and Luncheon with Oysters (1735).
As a youngster he studied with his father, François de Troy (1645–1730), a portrait painter from Toulouse, but moved to Italy at 14 years of age.

Hubert Robert | Hall of Seasons at the Louvre, 1802-03

Angelica Kauffmann | Portrait Louisa Leveson Gower, 1767

Maria Anna Angelika Kauffmann RA (30 October 1741 - 5 November 1807), usually known in English as Angelica Kauffman, was a Swiss Neoclassical painter who had a successful career in London and Rome.

Remembered primarily as a history painter, Kauffmann was a skilled portraitist, landscape and decoration painter.

She was, along with Mary Moser, one of the two female founding members of the Royal Academy in London in 1768

François Joseph Bosio (1769-1845)

Il barone François Joseph Bosio (Principato di Monaco, 19 marzo 1768 - Parigi, 29 luglio 1845) è stato uno scultore Francese che assurse ad una certa fama nel primo quarto del XIX secolo per i lavori commissionatigli da Napoleone e dal governo di restaurazione.

Biografia

Bosio ricevette una borsa di studio dal principe Honoré I per studiare a Parigi con il grande scultore Augustin Pajou.

Dopo il breve servizio nell'esercito rivoluzionario visse a Firenze, Roma e Napoli, offrendo sculture per le chiese sotto l'egemonia francese in Italia negli anni 1790.

Francesco Hayez (1791-1882)

Francesco Hayez nacque in una famiglia di condizioni modeste. Il padre Giovanni era di origini francesi; la madre, Chiara Torcella, veniva da Murano.

Il piccolo Francesco, ultimo di cinque figli, venne affidato ad una sorella della madre che aveva sposato Giovanni Binasco, armatore e mercante d'arte proprietario di una discreta collezione di dipinti.

Già da piccolo mostrò una predisposizione per il disegno e lo zio lo affidò ad un restauratore affinché ne imparasse il mestiere.

In seguito divenne allievo del pittore Francesco Magiotto presso il quale rimase per tre anni.

Frequentò il primo corso di nudo nel 1803 e nel 1806 venne ammesso ai corsi di pittura della Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti dove fu allievo di Teodoro Matteini.

Francisco Goya | La duquesa de Abrantes, 1816

Doña Manuela Isidra Téllez-Girón y Alonso de Pimentel (1793-1838) era la figlia minore dei Duchi di Osuna (P00739) e sorella della Marchesa di Santa Cruz, anch'essa ritratta da Goya.

Nel 1813 sposò Don Ángel María de Carvajal y Fernández de Córdoba y Gonzaga (1793-1839), futuro VIII Duca di Abrantes (1816).

Come il resto dei suoi fratelli, ha ricevuto un'educazione illuminata dalla sua famiglia e tra i suoi hobby c'erano la musica ed il canto, come rivela Goya nel suo ritratto attraverso la partitura musicale.

François Boucher | Head of a Young Girl, 1740-1750

Venice by Canaletto, Monet, Renoir, Turner, Corot, Boldini..

Venice is a city in northeast Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks.

Venice has been known as the "La Dominante", "Serenissima", "Queen of the Adriatic", "City of Water", "City of Masks", "City of Bridges", "The Floating City" and "City of Canals". The name is derived from the ancient Veneti people who inhabited the region by the 10th century B.C. The city historically was the capital of the Venetian Republic.

Canaletto 1697-1768

Jan Van Huysum (1682-1749) | Pittore di fiori

Jan van Huysum, o Huijsum (Amsterdam, 1682-1749), è stato un pittore e disegnatore Olandese, specializzato nella pittura di fiori e frutta.

Figlio di Justus van Huysum I, pittore di fiori e paesaggi, dipingeva paesaggi classici, ma è famoso per essere, assieme a Rachel Ruysch, un importante esponente della pittura floreale olandese, tradizione che portò avanti fino alla metà del XVIII secolo dipingendo nature morte con fiori e frutta.

Questo particolare tipo di natura morta, nasce dalla passione, tutta olandese, per la natura e in particolare per i fiori.

Gli elementi naturali diventano protagonisti dell'arte, non mere decorazioni accanto a soggetti più importanti, come ad esempio soggetti storici o religiosi.

Joaquin Sorolla | Siesta in the Garden, 1904

While his beautiful young daughters Maria and Elena dozed in the warm afternoon sun, Joaquín Sorolla captured this sparkling glimpse of the garden and sea coast that his family enjoyed during his summer painting campaign of 1904.

Already well known and internationally acclaimed for his pictures of the fishing folk of his native Valencia, Sorolla was determined during the early years of the new century to expand his subject matter and to broaden the audience for his light-filled paintings.

Abastenia St. Leger Eberle | Windy doorstep, 1910

Abastenia St. Leger Eberle (April 6, 1878 - February 26, 1942) was an American sculptor. Her most famous piece The White Slave representing child prostitution caused controversy when exhibited at the 1913 Armory Show.
A native of Webster City, Iowa, her father was a doctor and her mother a musician. Her family later moved to Kansas, then Missouri, before settling in Canton, Ohio. She initially studied to become a professional musician, but her father noticed her talent for modeling. She received lessons from one of his patients before enrolling at the Art Students League in New York City.

Alfred Stevens | Un soir a la mer

Alfred Stevens, born in Brussels, was a student of François-Joseph Navez (1787-1869), Belgium's most important pupil of Jacques-Louis David; then in 1844 Stevens continued his studies under Camille Roqueplan (1803-1855) in Paris, whose looser, more casual technique pleased public taste.

After 1852, Stevens remained in Paris indefinitely; his earliest works show various influences, from Courbet, Couture, and Velázquez.

Vladimir Borovikovsky (1757-1825)

Vladimir Lukič Borovikovskij / Владимир Лукич Боровиковский, è stato un pittore russo, nato in Ucraina e reso celebre soprattutto per la carriera di ritrattista.

Vladimir Borovikovskij nacque come Vоlоdymyr Borovyk nella località di Myrhorod (ora in Ucraina).

Suo padre, Luka Borovyk, fu un appassionato pittore di icone.

Canaletto (1697-1768)

Giovanni Antonio Canal, better known as Canaletto, was a Venetian painter famous for his landscapes, or Vedute of Venice.

He was also an important printmaker in etching. His pupils included his nephew Bernardo Bellotto, Francesco Guardi, Michele Marieschi, Gabriele Bella and Giuseppe Moretti.

The painter, Giuseppe Bernardino Bison was a follower of his style. Joseph Smith sold much of his collection to George III, creating the bulk of the large collection of Canalettos owned by the Royal Collection.

There are many examples of his work in other British collections, including several at the Wallace Collection and a set of 24 in the dining room at Woburn Abbey. Canaletto's views always fetched high prices, and as early as the 18th century Catherine the Great and other European monarchs vied for his grandest paintings.

Jean-Baptiste Greuze | A Child with an Apple, 1779

A young child leans on a cushion holding an apple.

It is not clear if it is a girl or a boy.

The longish hair, delicate rosy cheeks and full, red lips suggest it might be a girl and the white cloth around the shoulders resembles a fichu - the shawl worn by little girls.

However, fichus were usually made of lighter, transparent material while this one is opaque.

Jean-Baptiste Greuze | A Child with an Apple, 1779 | The National Gallery, London

Berthe Morisot | Dahlias, 1876

La maggior parte dei dipinti della Morisot include scene domestiche di famiglia, bambini, donne e fiori, raffiguranti com'era la vita delle donne alla fine del XIX secolo.

Invece di ritrarre lo spazio pubblico e la società, Morisot preferiva scene private ed intime.

Ciò riflette le restrizioni culturali della sua classe e del suo genere in quel momento.

Come la sua collega impressionista Mary Cassatt, si è concentrata sulla vita domestica e sui ritratti in cui poteva usare la famiglia e gli amici personali come modelli, tra cui sua figlia Julie e sua sorella Edma.

Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun | Genius of Alexander I, 1814

"Genius of Alexander I" a remarkable painting created by Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun (1755-1842) in 1814. The artwork can be found in the prestigious Collection of State Hermitage, located in St. Petersburg, Russia.

In this neoclassical masterpiece, Vigee Le Brun skillfully portrays the essence and power of Alexander I, who was the ruler of France at that time.

The artist's attention to detail is evident as she captures every intricate feature with precision on canvas using oil paints.

Jacob de Wit | Dutch Rococo Era painter

Jacob de Wit (19 December 1695 - 12 November 1754) was a Dutch artist** and interior decorator who painted many religious scenes.

Jacob de Wit was born in Amsterdam, and became famous for his door and ceiling paintings. He lived on the Keizersgracht in Amsterdam, and many of the buildings on the Keizersgracht still have door or ceiling paintings done by him.

Still-Life

A still life is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or human-made (drinking glasses, books, vases, jewelry, coins, pipes, etc.).

With origins in the Middle Ages and Ancient Greco-Roman art, still-life painting emerged as a distinct genre and professional specialization in Western painting by the late 16th century, and has remained significant since then.