Giovanni Bellini, St Francis in the Desert, c. 1476-78, Frick Collection, New York. The sun is still shining outside my window, as it is in this fabulous painting. It captures that wonderful sense of release you get when you’ve been cooped up inside all day, and finally step out into the fresh air, take a deepContinue reading “Day 29 – St Francis in the Desert”
Author Archives: drrichardstemp
Day 28 – Catharina van Hemessen
Day 28 – Catharina van Hemessen, Self Portrait, 1548, Öffentliche Kunstsammlung, Basel. I promised you something sunnier today, but it’s lovely and sunny outside anyway (well, it is up here), so I’ve put off that idea until tomorrow. And anyway, today is World Art Day! According to at least one website, ‘World Art Day is an international celebrationContinue reading “Day 28 – Catharina van Hemessen”
Day 27 – Birds, Butterflies and a Frog among Plants and Fungi
Day 27 – Melchior d’Hondecoeter, ‘Birds, Butterflies and a Frog among Plants and Fungi’, 1668, National Gallery, London. Well, here’s a curious thing! In terms of the standard classifications of art, it’s hard to know where to put it. Given its size (68 x 57 cm) and its subject matter, it should be a Still LifeContinue reading “Day 27 – Birds, Butterflies and a Frog among Plants and Fungi”
Day 26 – ‘La Tasse de Chocolat’
Day 26 – Nicolas Lancret, ‘La Tasse de Chocolat’, probably 1742, National Gallery, London. It’s Easter Monday, which is not a religious festival (unless you’re Orthodox, in which case Easter isn’t until next Sunday anyway), but a chance for the banks to have a holiday because they wouldn’t have been open yesterday anyway, so couldn’t haveContinue reading “Day 26 – ‘La Tasse de Chocolat’”
Day 25 – The Resurrection
Day 25 – Donatello, The Resurrection, c. 1460-65, San Lorenzo, Florence. Happy Easter! And to celebrate: my favourite image of ‘The Resurrection’. Why this one, of all the possible examples? Quite simply, because it’s not easy: this is a hard won victory. And because it breaks all the rules. Most versions of the Resurrection make itContinue reading “Day 25 – The Resurrection”
Day 24 – The Devils
Day 23 – Andrea Bonauiti, The Devils, from The Harrowing of Hell, 1365-68, The Spanish Chapel, Santa Maria Novella, Florence. It’s Easter Saturday – a day, it might seem, like any other, trapped between two extraordinary days – Good Friday, and Easter Sunday – and we wait, expectant and patient, while nothing happens. Or so itContinue reading “Day 24 – The Devils”
Day 23 – The Crucifixion
Day 23 – Raphael Sanzio, The Crucified Christ with the Virgin Mary, Saints and Angels, about 1502-3, National Gallery, London. It is Good Friday – which, of course, every year, prompts the question, ‘Why is it Good’? Well, according to the OED, the first use of ‘Guode Friday’ was in 1290, and the word is usedContinue reading “Day 23 – The Crucifixion”
Day 22 – The Last Supper
Day 22 – Tilman Riemenschneider, The Last Supper, 1499-1505, St. Jacobskirche, Rothenburg ob der Tauber. It is the beginning of Week 4 of #pictureoftheday and I bring you a whole new innovation: I finally have my own website, and if you want to, you can head to the ‘home’ page and subscribe to my blog: http://www.drrichardstemp.comContinue reading “Day 22 – The Last Supper”
Day 21 – The Finding of Moses
Day 21 – Nicolas Poussin, The Finding of Moses, 1651, National Gallery, London. Originally posted on 8 April 2020 Happy Passover! It isn’t every year that Passover coincides exactly with Easter, but of course it is no coincidence when it does. It was the Seder – the ceremonial Passover meal – which brought Jesus and the apostlesContinue reading “Day 21 – The Finding of Moses”
Day 20 – An Old Woman Cooking Eggs
Day 20 – Diego Velázquez, An Old Woman Cooking Eggs, 1618, Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh. Originally posted on 7 April 2020 Too early for Easter eggs, you might say, and were the examples in this painting made of chocolate I wouldn’t for a moment dream of talking about them before Sunday – but I suspect thatContinue reading “Day 20 – An Old Woman Cooking Eggs”
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