Nicolas de Largillière, French Baroque painter famous for his portraits, was born on this day the 10th of October, 1656, in Paris, France. Largillière painted many important figures of his day, including famous wit and philosopher Voltaire, and diamond merchant, Jean-Baptiste Tavernier. Here is a lovely video with images by Largillière and music by Marin Marais:
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, better known simply by his forename, Rembrandt, died on this day the 4th of October, 1669. During his life, the Dutch Republic, aka the United Provinces, was in its Golden Age (gouden Eeuw) and this region prospered not only economically, but culturally – with some of the most beautiful works of Baroque art being… Read on
This beautiful, and lesser-known work of Baroque artist Peter Paul Rubens, represents the marriage of Anne of Austria to Louis XIII of France and also the marriage of Phillip IV of Spain. Surrounded by deities and gods from classical mythology, one princess is being guided towards France, the other towards Spain, and thus do we have the exchange. Note… Read on
Historic Royal Palaces have put on a brilliant exhibition at Hampton Court Palace of the decadence of the late Stuart court. I had a good chat with curator Brett Dolman about the exhibition and we both agreed that the Late Stuart period has been overlooked by many. He and his team did an excellent job of bringing the… Read on