Arnolfini Portrait
Jan van Eyck · 1434
National Gallery
London · Founded 1824
Two people, a mirror, and a dog in 1434. The Arnolfini Portrait is here, with the Hay Wain and the Rokeby Venus.
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Arnolfini Portrait
Jan van Eyck · 1434
The Arnolfini Portrait (or The Arnolfini Wedding, The Arnolfini Marriage, the Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and his Wife, or other titles) is an oil painting on oak panel by the Early Netherlandish painter Jan van Eyck, dated 1434 and now in the National Gallery, London. It is a full-length double portrait, believed to depict the Italian merchant Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini and his wife, presumably in their residence at the Flemish city of Bruges.
The Ambassadors
Hans Holbein the Younger · 1533
The Ambassadors is a 1533 painting by Hans Holbein the Younger. Also known as Jean de Dinteville and Georges de Selve, after the two people it portrays, it was created in the Tudor period, in the same year Elizabeth I was born. Franny Moyle speculates that Elizabeth's mother, Anne Boleyn, then Queen of England, might have commissioned it as a gift for Jean de Dinteville, the French ambassador, portrayed on the left. De Selve was a Catholic bishop.
Rokeby Venus
Diego Velázquez · 1644
The Rokeby Venus ( ROHK-bee; also known as The Toilet of Venus, Venus at her Mirror, Venus and Cupid and, in Spanish, La Venus del espejo) is a painting by Diego Velázquez, the leading artist of the Spanish Golden Age. Completed between 1647 and 1651, and probably painted during the artist's visit to Italy, the work depicts the goddess Venus in a sensual pose, lying on a bed with her back facing the viewer, and looking into a mirror held by the Roman god of physical love, her son Cupid.
The Hay Wain
John Constable · 1821
The Hay Wain, originally titled Landscape: Noon, is a painting by John Constable, completed in 1821, which depicts a rural scene on the River Stour between the English counties of Suffolk and Essex. It hangs in the National Gallery in London and is regarded as "Constable's most famous image" and one of the greatest and most popular English paintings.
Supper at Emmaus
Caravaggio · 1601
The Supper at Emmaus is a painting by the Italian Baroque master Caravaggio, completed in 1601, and now in London. It depicts the Gospel story of the resurrected Jesus's appearance in Emmaus.
Venus and Mars
Sandro Botticelli · 1485
Venus and Mars is a panel painting of about 1485 by the Italian Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli. It shows the Roman gods Venus, goddess of love, and Mars, god of war, in an allegory of beauty and valour. The youthful and voluptuous couple recline in a forest setting, surrounded by playful baby satyrs.
The collections
Cimabue: Virgin and Child with Two Angels English or French Medieval: Wilton Diptych Jan van Eyck: Arnolfini Portrait, Portrait of a Man (Self-Portrait?) Pisanello: The Vision of Saint Eustace Paolo Uccello: The Battle of San Romano, Saint George and the Dragon
Artists
Italian · 1488–1576 · Venetian school
Tiziano Vecellio, Latinized as Titianus, hence known in English as Titian, was an Italian Renaissance painter. The most important artist of Renaissance Venetian painting, he was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno.
Holy Roman Empire · 1483–1520
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, now generally known in English as Raphael (UK: RAF-ay-əl, US: RAF-ee-əl, RAY-fee-, RAH-fy-EL), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance.
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland · 1829–1896
Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet was an English painter and illustrator who was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.
Dutch · 1606–1669 · Dutch Golden Age painting
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, known mononymously as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in the history of Western art.
Italian · 1571–1610 · Baroque
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, known mononymously as Caravaggio, was an Italian painter active in Rome for a significant portion of his artistic life.
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland · 1828–1882
Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti, generally known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti, was an English poet, illustrator, painter and translator.
Artworks
The Entombment
Michelangelo · 1500
Whistlejacket
George Stubbs · 1762
The Vale of Rest
John Everett Millais · 1858
Boy Bitten by a Lizard
Caravaggio · 1594
Portrait of a Woman
Lorenzo Lotto · 1530
Our English Coasts
William Holman Hunt · 1852
Agony in the Garden
Giovanni Bellini · 1459
Christ Crowned with Thorns
Hieronymus Bosch · 1495
Bathers at Asnières
Georges Seurat · 1884
Plan your visit
Hours
Open daily 10am to 7pm, and until 9pm on Fridays. Closed 24 to 26 December and 1 January. Confirm on www.nationalgallery.org.uk before you travel.
Admission
Free, with donations welcome. Some exhibitions are ticketed, and an exhibition ticket includes general admission.
Getting there
Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 5DN. Enter through the Sainsbury Wing.
On their own site
Opening hours, tickets and current exhibitions are on the museum’s own site.
More guides to explore
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