Raphael, The Annunciation, c. 1506-7. Nationalmuseum, Stockholm. I’ve said in two different lectures (to two different audiences) that I intend to write about this drawing, thus announcing the Annunciation. I’d not seen it before my first visit to the glorious Raphael exhibition at the National Gallery, but it grabbed my attention, and instantly became myContinue reading “155 – Pre-Announced”
Category Archives: Virgin Mary
Revisiting Raphael
Raphael Sanzio, The Crucified Christ with the Virgin Mary, Saints and Angels, about 1502-3, National Gallery, London. Happy Easter! And greetings from Vienna! I’m here with a group, and actually wrote this paragraph in London on Easter Monday: I’m sure I’ll have to do a bit of preparation before I go. However, the blog below wasContinue reading “Revisiting Raphael”
153 – Fly on the Wall?
Carlo Crivelli, Madonna and Child, c. 1480. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Buona Festa! The ‘Festa’ in question is the Feast of the Annunciation, or, to give it its English name, Lady Day. It’s the reason why we (in the UK) have Mother’s Day this weekend, rather than in May like everyone else.Continue reading “153 – Fly on the Wall?”
147 – Inspiring Devotion
Marie Spartali Stillman, How the Virgin Mary Came to Brother Conrad of Offida and laid her Son in his Arms, 1892. National Trust Collections, Wightwick Manor and Gardens, Warwickshire. On Monday I will be talking about Lucy and Catherine Maddox Brown, whose work was once described as having Uncommon Power – a description which hasContinue reading “147 – Inspiring Devotion”
144 – Make a joyful noise
Geertgen tot Sint Jans, The Glorification of the Virgin, about 1490-95. Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam. I have a new favourite artist (those of you who follow me on Instagram might have noticed), although sadly a dozen of his works seem to have survived, maybe a couple more or less. This does mean that IContinue reading “144 – Make a joyful noise”
143 – A new Dürer
Albrecht Dürer, The Virgin and Child with a Flower on a grassy Bench, c.1503. Agnews, London. It’s not every day that a new drawing by a great master comes along, nor that, when it does, you have a chance to buy it. Sadly, it might just be beyond my reach, but instead I will –Continue reading ” 143 – A new Dürer”
137 – The little Lord Jesus, Asleep…
Cosmé Tura, Virgin and Child, 1480s. Gallerie dell’Accademia, Venice. Having spent a fair amount of time in my youth in Ferrara, when I was researching my PhD about the sculptures there, I grew inordinately fond of the idiosyncratic school of painting that flourished alongside my far scarcer sculptures. The paintings themselves are remarkably sculptural, weContinue reading “137 – The little Lord Jesus, Asleep…”
134 – Displaced Angels
Raphael, The Sistine Madonna, 1512-14. Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden. I am constantly reminded of something that, when I first heard it, was attributed to Mark Twain: ‘I am sorry to have written such a long letter: I didn’t have time to write a short one’. Since then I have heard it attributed to any numberContinue reading “134 – Displaced Angels”
Lent 46
Andrea Bonaiuti, The Crucifixion, 1365-68. The Spanish Chapel, Santa Maria Novella, Florence. As I said on Thursday, the Master of Delft does not take us any further than Good Friday, and so, for the final day of Lent we will leave the Netherlands and head down to Italy, and to Florence, to consider one ofContinue reading “Lent 46”
Lent 45 – Good Friday
The Master of Delft, Triptych: Scenes from the Passion of Christ, about 1510. National Gallery London. https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/NG2922.1 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/NG2922.2https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/NG2922.3