The Frick Collection has recently acquired Portrait of a Woman, an intriguing and surprisingly assertive portrait of an unidentified woman in luxurious Renaissance clothing. Here is how I interpreted the work during and after my first chance to see it at Frick Madison.
Category: Renaissance Art
What is Attribution?
Understand attribution, the process by which art historians make educated suppositions about who made an artwork, and learn about the pseudonyms given to artists whose real names we don't know. Enjoy some pretty religious paintings at the same time.
The Sumptuous Saints of Carlo Crivelli
Meet Carlo Crivelli, painter of sumptuously-dressed Madonnas and saints. His rich and beautiful style is part Gothic and part Renaissance, with more than a hint of Byzantine icon painting.
A Universe of Art at TEFAF Online
This is my experience viewing TEFAF Online. This art fair has a little bit of everything, as well as the unique twist of only showing one object per gallery.
What is Contrapposto?
The term contrapposto is often used when describing classical, Renaissance, and later paintings and sculptures. But what exactly is contrapposto?
Irving Stone’s The Agony and the Ecstasy Brings Michelangelo to Life
Irving Stone's The Agony and the Ecstasy is a 1961 biographical novel about Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564). I'm glad that people kept pushing me towards this book until I couldn't resist anymore; I enjoyed it greatly and recommend it highly. Here's why.
“Pictor Angelicus” – Fra Angelico the Angelic Painter
In honor of the Christmas season, I thought it would be a nice idea to look at an artist famous for his beautiful and elegant angel paintings. I'm speaking, of course, about Fra Angelico.
Much Ado About a New Cimabue
Here's a fun piece of news to make things interesting in the art world. A painting attributed to early Italian Renaissance artist Cimabue was recently found in an elderly French woman's kitchen. Learn about Cimabue and why this new discovery is both significant and controversial.
The Grumpy Angel
In this tempera painting by 14th-century Italian artist Niccolo di ser Sozzo, the angel looks impatient and irritated. This is something you don't see very often, so why does it look like this?
Giorgio Vasari, the First Art Historian
Giorgio Vasari is considered to be the father of art history. In the mid-16th century, he wrote a set of biographies of Italy's most important artists and architects. It's been influential ever since then. A new biography of Vasari, published in 2017, takes a complete look at Vasari's life and work as both an artist and writer.