Religious Paintings
Christian and Biblical Images: Catholic, Protestant, Eastern Orthodox.
MAIN A-Z INDEX

One of the earliest surviving
Christian mural paintings of the
"Good Shepherd" discovered in the
Catacomb of Priscilla, Rome (c.275).

Evangelist Portrait from the Garima
Gospels, the world's oldest known
illuminated gospel manuscript.
Carbon-dated to 390-570.

Christ on the Cross (c.1632)
Prado Museum, Madrid.
By Velazquez.

Religious Paintings (c.200-present)
Painted Artworks of Christianity

Contents

• Early Murals, Icons and Illuminated Manuscripts
• Altarpieces
• Murals
• Giotto, Masaccio and Michelangelo
• Panel Paintings
• Themes Used in Religious Painting
• RELIGIOUS PAINTINGS (c.350-present)

Early Murals, Icons and Illuminated Manuscripts

Over the centuries, Christian art has featured many different types of painting, executed in a wide range of media. "Mural paintings" - all found in the catacomb burial chambers in Rome, just outside the city - were the first painted artworks to emerge (from about 200), more than a century before Christianity was legitimized. "Icons" were the next religious paintings to appear (from around 350) - first in the eastern Mediterranean region, and later in Middle Eastern sanctuaries like the Monastery of St Catherine on Mount Sinai (400-600). Icons were followed by the first "illuminated manuscripts" (the earliest are the Garima Gospels c.390-660) in Ethiopia, and also in Ireland where monastic scribes preserved key items of religious and literary culture. The history of illuminated manuscripts reveals a steady increase in the quality of the miniature painting involved, which only peaked around 1400 in masterpieces like "Les Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry" (1413) by the Limbourg Brothers.

Altarpieces

Meanwhile, from about 1000, the Church in Rome began a European-wide program of church building - in the style of Romanesque architecture - in which the shrine was relocated to make the altar the focal point of the church. This led to an entirely new form of medieval painting - known as "altarpiece art" - which involved one or more painted panels of varying size and shape. See, for example, The Wilton Diptych (1399). (Two panels made a diptych; three made a triptych; more made a polyptych.) Altarpieces typically depicted an image of the saint or member of the Holy Family to whom the church was dedicated. In a similar way, the introduction of the iconostasis - the Christian Orthodox screen between the altar and the congregation - encouraged the growth of icon painting as a means of inspiring the largely illiterate congregations in the East.

NOTE: For more on Medieval painting see: Medieval Christian Art (600-1200), and the Making of Illuminated Manuscripts, as well as the Novgorod School of Icon Painting (1100-1500).

Murals

Although mural painting predates all other forms of Christian painting, the collapse of Rome (c.450) caused it to disappear completely from Western Europe for several centuries. It survived only in Middle Eastern monasteries, and in certain churches in Constantinople where it was soon replaced by mosaic art. The art was revived in Kiev during the 10th century - where it became an important form of Russian medieval painting - and in France and Spain during the 11th century.

Giotto, Masaccio and Michelangelo

In terms of its painting, the Gothic period (c.1150-1400) was a sort of transition period between the flat, hieratic style of Byzantine art, and the naturalism of the Florentine Renaissance. Around 1303, however, the cosy world of Pre-Renaissance Painting was revolutionized by the "humanistic" frescoes painted on the walls of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, by a little-known Florentine artist called Giotto (1267-1337). About 120 years later, in 1424, Masaccio (1401-1428) produced an even more refined fresco cycle for the Brancacci Chapel in Florence, and in 1508 Michelangelo (1475-1564) began his mammoth series of religious frescoes for the Sistine Chapel in Rome.

Panel Paintings

By 1450, altarpieces and murals were established as the pre-eminent forms of religious painting. But at the beginning of the 15th century the Flemish painter Melchior Broederlam (1350-1411) painted the Dijon Altarpiece (1393-99) and so began the process of replacing miniature book painting with the art of panel painting. Panel painting was further refined by the Flemish school with its adoption of oil painting, but it was the Italian Renaissance that breathed real life into religious art, and paved the way for Baroque painting and the intensity of Catholic Counter-Reformation Art (1560-1700). The Dutch Republic, newly independent from the empire of Catholic Spain, created its own style of Protestant Reformation Art (c.1520-1700), courtesy of the Biblical paintings of Rembrandt (1606-69), the moralising of Jan Vermeer (1632-75), and the vanitas painting of Harmen van Steenwyck (1612-56), although this was unable to compete with the drama and colour of Rubens (1577-1640) as well as the awesome quadratura of Pietro da Cortona (1596-1669) and Andrea Pozzo (1642-1709).

Themes Used in Religious Painting

Iconographic themes used in religious art have included subjects from both the Old Testament and New Testament of the Bible. Old Testament paintings have covered events from Genesis (the Creation) as well as stories concerning the Sacrifice of Isaac, Jacob's Dream, The Flood, Judith Beheading Holofernes, David and Goliath, Samson and Delilah, plus a range of scenes from the lives of the Prophets.

Biblical art of the New Testament has tended to focus on the Holy Family (Jesus, Mary, Joseph), and the Saints (including: Andrew, Antony, Augustine, Bartholomew, Benedict, Bridget, Catherine, Christopher, Elizabeth, Francis, Gregory, Ignatius, James, Jerome, John, Joseph, Jude, Leonard, Luke, Magdalene, Margaret, Mark, Mary, Matthew, Nicholas, Paul, Peter, Simon, Stephen, Theresa, Thomas and others). Other New Testament subjects have included: scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary - notably the Annunciation - scenes involving Jesus - notably the Nativity, the Adoration of the Magi, the Miracles, the Last Supper, the Crucifixion, the Descent, the Lamentation and Entombment, Christ in Majesty and the Last Judgment - as well as scenes from the lives of the Apostles.

Religious Paintings (c.200-present)

Paintings Listed Chronologically under Artist's Name

Early murals - Early manuscripts
A - B - C - D-F - G - H-L - M-N - O-P - Q-R - S-T - U-Z

Early Christian Murals

For details of early Christian wall paintings, see the following articles:

• Early Christian Art (c.150-1100)
• Byzantine Christian Art (inc.mosaics) (c.400-1200)
• Romanesque Painting in France (c.1000-1200)
• Romanesque Painting in Italy (c.1000-1200)
• Romanesque Painting in Spain (c.1000-1200)

Early Christian Manuscripts

Among the earliest surviving religious paintings are figurative and abstract works that decorate early Christian gospel texts. Here is a short selected list:

• Garima Gospels (Ethiopia) (390-660) Abba Garima Monastery.
• Rabbula Gospels (Syria) (c.586) Laurentian Library, Florence.
• Book of Durrow (650-80) Trinity College Library.
• Echternach Gospels (690-715) (Gospels of St Willibrord) B.N., Paris.
• Lindisfarne Gospels (690-720) British Museum.
• Lichfield Gospels (730) Lichfield Cathedral Library.
• Book of Kells (800) Trinity College Library.
See especially: Christ's Monogram Page (Chi/Rho).

For later examples of illuminations from Romanesque, Gothic and International Gothic gospel manuscripts, see the following articles:

• Medieval Manuscript Illumination (c.1000-1500)
• Romanesque Illuminated Manuscripts (c.1000-1150)
• Gothic Illuminated Manuscripts (c.1150-1350)
• International Gothic Book Paintings (c.1375-1450)

A

Andrea del Sarto (1486-1530)
Leading Florentine Renaissance artist with Venetian sense of colour and tone.
• Madonna of the Harpies (1517) Uffizi Gallery, Florence.

Fra Angelico (1387-1455)
Dominican Friar, religious painter of the Early Renaissance.
• The Annunciation (c.1450) fresco, San Marco Musem, Florence.

Antonello da Messina (1430-1479)
Learned oil painting from Jan Van Eyck; influenced Venetian Giovanni Bellini.
• Christ Crowned with Thorns (Ecce Homo) (1470) Metropolitan Museum, NY.
• Martyrdom of St Sebastian (1476) Alte Meister Museum, Dresden.

B

Baciccio (Giovanni Batista Gaulli) (1639-1709)
Italian quadraturista painter known for his High Baroque illusionist frescoes.
• Adoration of the Name of Jesus (1674-9) Fresco, Sant'Ignazio, Rome.

Giovanni Bellini (1430-1516)
Greatest Venetian painter of the Early Renaissance.
• Dead Christ Supported by the Madonna and St John (1460) Pinacoteca, Milan.
• St Job Altarpiece (1480) oil/tempera on panel, Galleria dell'Accademia, Venice.
• The Ecstasy of St. Francis (1480) Frick Collection, New York.
• San Zaccaria Altarpiece (1505) Church of San Zaccaria, Venice.

Hieronymus Bosch (1450-1516)
Hugely innovative, deeply religious, visionary Dutch painter; early Surrealist.
• Haywain Triptych (1490) Prado Museum, Madrid.
• Garden of Earthly Delights (1504) Prado Museum, Madrid.
• The Last Judgement (Triptych) (1505-10) Bildendenkunste, Vienna.
• Ecce Homo (1515-6) Fine Art Museum, Ghent.

Sandro Botticelli (Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi) (1445-1510)
Leading Medici painter of Florence.
• Madonna of the Magnificat (1483) Uffizi, Florence.
• Mystic Nativity (1500) National Gallery, London.

Dierec Bouts (1415-75)
Netherlandish artist inspired by Van Eyck & Van der Weyden.
• Last Supper (1464-7) Church of Saint Peter, Leuven, Belgium.

Melchior Broederlam (c.1350-1411)
Flemish court painter to Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy.
• Dijon Altarpiece (1394-99) Museum of Fine Arts, Dijon.

Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c.1525-1569)
Greatest Netherlandish painter of the mid-16th century.
• Netherlandish Proverbs (1559) Gemaldegalerie, SMPK, Berlin.
• Mad Meg (Dulle Griet) (1562) Mayer van den Bergh Museum, Antwerp
• Tower of Babel (1563) Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.
• Massacre of the Innocents (c.1565-7) Kunsthistorisches Museum.
• Parable of the Blind (1568) Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte.

C

Robert Campin (1375-1444)
The first great Flemish painter. Hugely influential.
• Merode Altarpiece (c.1427) Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
• Seilern (Entombment) Triptych (1410) Courtauld Institute Galleries.

Caravaggio (1573-1610)
Revolutionary Italian painter famous for natural-looking faces and use of tenebrism.
• The Calling of Saint Matthew (1599-1600)
Contarelli Chapel, San Luigi dei Francesi.
• The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew (1599-1600)
Contarelli Chapel, San Luigi dei Francesi.
• Conversion on the way to Damascus (1601)
Cerasi Chapel, Santa Maria del Popolo.
• Supper at Emmaus (1601)
National Gallery, London.
• Crucifixion of Saint Peter (1601)
Cerasi Chapel, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome.
• Death of the Virgin (1601-6)
Louvre Museum, Paris.
• The Entombment of Christ (1601-3)
Vatican Museums, Rome.

Vittore Carpaccio
Venetian painter, specialist in large narrative paintings (teleri).
• Miracle of the Relic of the True Cross (1494) Academy Gallery, Venice.

Petrus Christus (c.1410-75)
Outstanding Flemish painter, pupil of Jan van Eyck.
• The Lamentation (1455) Musee Royaux des Beaux Arts, Brussels.

Lovis Corinth (1958-1925)
German Expressionist painter and printmaker noted for drypoints and lithographs.
• Ecce Homo (1925), Basel, Kunstmuseum.

Correggio (1489-1534)
High Renaissance Italian artist from Emilia, noted for illusionistic frescoes.
• Vision of St John the Evangelist on Patmos (1520) Parma.
• Assumption of the Virgin (Parma Cathedral) (1526-30).

Pietro da Cortona (1596-1669)
Jesuit painter best-known for his trompe l'oeil quadratura frescoes.
• Allegory of Divine Providence (1633-39) Palazzo Barberini.

Gustave Courbet (1819-77)
Naturalist-style, socialist artist; leader of French Realism movement.
• A Burial at Ornans (1850) Musee d'Orsay.

D-F

Duccio Di Buoninsegna (1255-1319)
Greatest painter of the Sienese School of pre-Renaissance painting.
• Stroganoff Madonna (Stoclet Madonna) (1300) Metropolitan Museum of Art.
• Maesta Altarpiece (1308-11) Siena Museo dell'Opera del Duomo.

El Greco (1541-1614)
Greek-born painter, active in Spain, noted for large-scale religious paintings.
• Disrobing of Christ (1577) Cathedral of Toledo
• Burial of Count Orgaz (1586-88) Church of Santo Tome, Toledo.
• View of Toledo (1595-1600) Metropolitan Museum, New York.
• Christ driving the Traders from the Temple (1600) National Gallery, London.
• Portrait of a Cardinal (1600) Metropolitan Museum, New York.

James Ensor (1860-1949)
Belgian symbolist painter.
• Christ's Entry into Brussels (1888) Getty Museum, Los Angeles.

Jan van Eyck (1390-1441)
Most famous artist of early Netherlandish School; pioneer of oil painting.
• Ghent Altarpiece (1432) Saint Bavo Catherdal, Ghent.

Jean Fouquet (1420-81)
Foremost French artist of the 15th century.
• Melun Diptych (1450-55) Koninklijk Museum; Gemaldegalerie, SMPK, Berlin.

G

Paul Gauguin (1848-1903)
French Post-Impressionist, best-known for colourist scenes of Tahitian people.
• The Vision after the Sermon, (1888) National Gallery of Scotland.
• The Yellow Christ (1889) Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo.

Gentile da Fabriano (1370-1427)
Leading Late Gothic painter in Italy.
• Adoration of the Magi (1423) Uffizi, Florence.

Gentileschi, Artemisia (1597-1651)
Greatest female artist of the Baroque
• Judith Beheading Holofernes (1620) Uffizi Gallery, Florence.

Giotto (1267-1337)
Proto-Renaissance artist, noted for Padua frescos and a new non-hieratic Byzantine style of art.
• Scrovegni (Arena) Chapel Frescoes (1304-6) Padua, Italy.

Giotto's Arena Chapel frescoes feature scenes from the Life of Joachim, the Virgin Mary, and from the Life of Christ. The latter includes: The Nativity, the Adoration of the Magi, the Presentation of Christ at the Temple, the Massacre of the Innocents, Christ among the Doctors, the Baptism of Christ, the Marriage at Cana, the Raising of Lazarus, Christ's Entry into Jerusalem, the Expulsion of the Money-changers from the Temple, the Last Supper, the Washing of Feet, the celebrated mural of the Betrayal of Christ by Judas, Christ before Caiaphas the High Priest, the Mocking of Christ, the Road to Calvary, the Crucifixion, The Lamentation of Christ, the Resurrection (Noli me tangere), and the Ascension into Heaven.

Hugo Van Der Goes (1440–1482)
Netherlandish artist whose work had a major influence on painting in Florence.
• Portinari Altarpiece (Triptych) (1475) oil on wood, Uffizi, Florence.

Matthias Grunewald (1475-1528)
Greatest German Northern Renaissance painter after Albrecht Durer.
• Isenheim Altarpiece (1512-15) oil on panel, Musee d'Unterlinden, Colmar.

Guercino
Italian classical painter of the Bolognese School, noted for his dramatic lighting.
• Raising of Lazarus (1619) Louvre, Paris.

H-L

Alexander Ivanov (1806-58)
Great religious painter in Russia during the early/mid 19th century.
• The Appearance of Christ to the People (1837-57) Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.

Juan de Juanes (Vicente Juan Macip) (1510-79)
Valencia-born artist strongly influenced by Venetian painting.
• The Last Supper (1560) Prado Museum.

Ivan Kramskoy (1837-1887)
Hugely talented Russian painter, noted for portraits and still lifes.
• Christ in the Wilderness (1872) Tretyakov Gallery.
• Laughter ("Hail, King of the Jews!") (1882) Russian Museum, St Petersburg.

Georges de La Tour (1593-1652)
French Baroque Catholic painter famous for his dramatic lighting.
• The Penitent Magdalene (1640) Louvre, Paris.

Tamara de Lempicka (Tamara Gorska) (1898-1980)
Polish-Russian Art Deco style portrait painter active in Paris and America.
• Adam and Eve (1932) Private Collection.

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Creator of the greatest ever portrait in classical art.
• Virgin of the Rocks (Madonna of the Rocks) (1483-5) oil/panel, Louvre, Paris.
• Last Supper (1495-98) fresco, Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan.

Limbourg Brothers (Pol, Herman, Jean) (fl.1390-1416)
Greatest illuminators under the Duke of Burgundy and the Duke of Berry.
• Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry (1413) gouache on vellum, Musee Conde.

Stefan Lochner (c.1410-51)
Leading member of the Cologne School of painting.
• Dombild Altarpiece ("Three Kings Altarpiece", also called the Altar of the City Patrons) (c.1440) Cologne Cathedral.
• Madonna of the Rose Bower (1440–42) Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne.

Ambrogio Lorenzetti (1290-1348)
One of the first Sienese painter to adopt Giotto's naturalistic style.
• Allegory of Good and Bad Government (1338-9) Palazzo Pubblico, Siena.

M-N

Andrea Mantegna (1430-1506)
Influential Renaissance artist noted for trompe l'oeil and foreshortening.
• Lamentation over the Dead Christ (c.1490) Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan.

Simone Martini (1284-1344)
After Duccio, the greatest of all painters from the Siena School.
• Annunciation Triptych (1333) egg tempera on panel, Uffizi, Florence.
• Christ on the Cross (1340) Fogg Art Museum.

Masaccio (1401-28)
Greatest Florentine painter of the early quattrocento.
• Brancacci Chapel Frescoes (1424-8) Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence.
- Expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden (c.1425-6)
- Tribute Money (1426)
• Holy Trinity (1428) Santa Maria Novella, Florence

Masaccio's Brancacci Chapel frescoes feature: The Temptation of Adam and Eve and their Expulsion from the Garden of Eden; Peter's Calling; Peter's Repentance; The Tribute Money; Healing of the Cripple and Raising of Tabitha; St Peter Preaching; St Peter Healing the Sick with His Shadow; The Distribution of Alms and Death of Ananias; Raising of the Son of Theophilus and St Peter Enthroned; St Paul Visiting St Peter in Prison; St Peter Being Freed from Prison; Disputation with Simon Magus and the Crucifixion of St Peter.

Hans Memling (1433-94)
Netherlandish artist who combined Flemish realism and Italian Renaissance forms.
• Last Judgment Triptych (1471) Muzeum Pomorski, Gdansk.
• Donne Triptych (1480) National Gallery, London.

Michelangelo (1475-1564)
Arguably the greatest-ever painter and sculptor in the history of art.
• Sistine Chapel Frescoes (1508-41) Vatican, Rome.
• Genesis Fresco (1508-12) Sistine Chapel ceiling.
• Creation of Adam (God Passing the Spark of Life) (1511) Sistine Chapel.
• Last Judgment Fresco (1535-41) Sistine Chapel Altar Wall, Vatican.

Michelangelo's Genesis fresco features the story of the Creation laid out in a number of separate scenes. These include: the Separation of Light and Darkness; the Creation of the Sun, Moon and Planets; the Separation of Land and Water; the Creation of Adam; the Creation of Eve; the Temptation of Adam and Eve and Expulsion; the Sacrifice of Noah, the Flood, and the Drunkenness of Noah. Other panels (Medallions) portray Biblical stories such as: the Sacrifice of Isaac; the Ascent of Elijah to Heaven; the Death of King David's son Absalom; Destruction of the Statue of Baal by Iehu; the Punishment of Heliodorus; the Slaughter of Abner by Joab; the Fall of Joram from his Chariot and the Death of Nicanor. In each of the four corners of the Sistine chapel is a triangular-shaped pendentive. Here, Michelangelo has illustrated four Bible stories featuring four major heroes of Jewish history: Moses, Esther, David and Judith.

Jean-Francois Millet (1814-75)
Devout French realist painter of the Barbizon School of landscape painting.
• The Angelus (1859) Musee d'Orsay.

Mihaly Munkacsy (1844-190)
Hungarian artist influenced by Gustave Courbet; later adopted glowing colours.
• Christ Before Pontius Pilate (1881) Deri Museum, Debrecen, Hungary.

Bartolome Esteban Murillo (1618-1682)
Sentimental Spanish religious painter.
• Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception (1645-50) Hermitage, St Petersburg.

Emil Nolde (1867-1956)
Intense German expressionist, member of Die Brucke artist group.
• The Last Supper (1909) Statens Museum, Copenhagen.
• Pentecost (1909) Kunstsmuseum Bern.

O-P

Michael Pacher (1434-98)
Austrian Tyrolese painter and sculptor, influenced by Mantegna.
• Altarpiece of the Church Fathers (1484) Alte Pinakothek, Munich.

Parmigianino (1503-40)
• Madonna with the Long Neck (Madonna dal collo lungo) (1535) Uffizi.

Pietro Perugino (1450-1523)
Umbrian master, noted for Sistine Chapel frescoes and innovative oils.
• Christ Handing the Keys to St Peter (1481-2) Sistine Chapel, Vatican.

Piero Della Francesca (1415-92)
Early Renaissance expert in linear perspective.
• Flagellation of Christ (1450-60) Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, Urbino.

Vasily Polenov (1844-1927)
Russian historical and landscape painter.
• Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery (1887) Russian Museum, Petersburg.

Jacopo Pontormo (1494-1556)
Pupil of Andrea del Sarto and Leonardo; most influential Italian Mannerist artist.
• The Deposition of Christ (1525-8) Capponi Chapel, Florence.

Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665)
Greatest French painter of the 17th century, exponent of 'academic' art.
• Crossing of the Red Sea (1634) National Gallery of Victoria.

Andrea Pozzo (1642-1709)
Jesuit painter, architect and quadraturista, famous for illusionist murals.
• Apotheosis of St Ignatius (1694) ceiling fresco, San Ignazio, Rome.

Jean Pucelle (1290-1334)
• The Belleville Breviary (1323-26) Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris.
• The Hours of Jeanne d'Evreux (1324-28) The Cloisters, Metropolitan Museum..

Q-R

Enguerrand Quarton (de Charenton) (1410-66)
Leading panel painter in 15th century France.
• The Avignon Pieta (Pieta de Villeneuve-les-Avignon) (1454-6) Louvre, Paris.

Raphael (1483-1520)
Probably the greatest painter of the High Renaissance.
• Sistine Madonna (1513) Gemaldegallerie, Dresden.
• Pope Leo X with Cardinals (1518) Galleria Palatina, Pitti Palace, Florence
• Transfiguration (1518-20) Pinacoteca Apostolica, Vatican.

Rembrandt (1606-1669)
Greatest Biblical painter of the Dutch Realism movement.
• Bathsheba Holding King David's Letter (1654) Louvre Museum, Paris.
• Jacob Blessing the Children of Joseph (1656) Gemaldegallerie, Kassel.
• The Jewish Bride (1665-8) Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
• Return of the Prodigal Son (1666-9) Hermitage, St Petersburg.

Ilya Repin (1844-1930)
Outstanding late-19th century Russian narrative painter.
• The Raising of Jairus's Daughter (1871) Russian Museum, St Petersburg.
• Religious Procession in Kursk Gubernia (1883) Tretyakov Gallery.

Francisco Ribalta (1565-1628)
Spanish realist artist who paved the way for Velazquez, Ribera and Zurbaran.
• Christ Embracing St Bernard (1625-27) Prado.

Georges Rouault (1871-1958)
French Expressionist artist noted for his "stained-glass style" religious paintings.
• Christ Mocked by Soldiers (1932) MOMA, New York.
• Christ on the Cross (1936) Private Collection.
For an explanation of modern religious paintings by painters like Georges Rouault, please see: Analysis of Modern Paintings (1800-2000).

Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640)
Flemish painter, greatest Baroque artist of Northern Europe.
• Samson and Delilah (1609) National Gallery, London.
• Descent from the Cross (Rubens) (1612-14) Cathedal of Our Lady, Antwerp.

Andrei Rublev (c.1360-1430)
The finest Russian Orthodox icon painter.
• Holy Trinity Icon (c.1411-25) Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.

S-T

Karl Schmidt-Rottluff (1884-1976)
German expressionist painter/printmaker; co-founder of Die Brucke.
• The Pharisees (1912) Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida (1863-1923)
Classical realist painter from Valencia, later turned to Impressionism.
• The Relic (1893) Museum of Fine Arts, Bilbao.

Harmen van Steenwyck (1612-56)
Leading Dutch exponent of vanitas painting in 17th century.
• An Allegory of the Vanities of Human Life (1640) National Gallery, London.

Tintoretto (1518-1594)
Greatest 16th century Venetian painter after Titian.
• The Crucifixion (1565) Scuola Grande di San Rocco, Venice.

Titian (c.1477-1576)
Venice's finest painter and one of the greatest colourists in the history of art.
• Assumption of the Virgin (1516-8) S. Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, Venice.
• Pesaro Madonna (1519–1526) S. Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, Venice.
• Pope Paul III with his Grandsons (1546) Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte.

U-Z

Diego Velazquez (1599-1660)
The greatest Old Master of the Spanish Baroque.
• Christ Crucified (1632) Prado Museum, Madrid.

Jan Vermeer (1632-1675)
Greatest genre painter of the Dutch Golden age. Specialized in depicting highly symbolic scenes filled with moral and Biblical messages.
• The Milkmaid (1658-60) Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
• Woman Holding a Balance (1663) National Gallery of Art, Washington DC.
• Girl with a Pearl Earring (Head of a Girl with a Turban) (1665) Mauritshuis.

Paolo Veronese (1528-88)
Finest Venetian decorative painter, and the greatest colourist after Titian.
• Wedding Feast at Cana (1563) Louvre, Paris.
• Feast in the House of Levi (1573) Venice Academy Gallery.

Roger van der Weyden (1400-1464)
The greatest Netherlandish painter of the mid-15th century.
• Descent From the Cross (Deposition) (1435-40) Prado Museum.
• Seven Sacraments Altarpiece (1445) Koninklijk Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp.
• St John Altarpiece (1446-53) Gemaldegalerie, Alte Meister, Berlin.
• The Lamentation Before the Tomb (1450) Uffizi Gallery.
• The Beaune Altarpiece of the Last Judgement (1450) Chapel at Hotel Dieu.

Francisco de Zurbaran (1598-1664)
Spanish painter, noted for his austere religious paintings and portraits.
• Christ on the Cross (1627) Art Institute of Chicago.
• Saint Luke as a painter, before Christ on the Cross (1639) Prado Museum.
• Saint Francis in Meditation (1639) National Gallery, London.

• For more about Christian and Biblical painting, see: Homepage.

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ART
© visual-arts-cork.com. All rights reserved.