European Art

The Duchess of Alba and "la Beata" painted by Francisco Goya, 1795 Artist Stories

The Story Of Duchess of Alba – Francisco de Goya’s Muse

Few women in 18th-century Spain captured the imagination of contemporaries as thoroughly as Doña María de Pilar Teresa Cayetana de Silva Álvarez...

Zuzanna Stańska 1 July 2023

Love Story

Women in Rossetti’s Life and Art: Muses and Lovers

Anyone who knows of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood will remember their style by the representation of a very particular type of woman – the ones...

Bolor Jargalsaikhan 1 July 2023

Baroque

Dark Shadows of Seville in Murillo’s Paintings

Apart from fulfilling commissions for churches and noblemen’s mansions, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo painted genre scenes depicting poor children in...

Soledad Castillo Jara 30 June 2023

Fashion

Get Inspired: Jewelry in Rossetti’s Paintings

Each piece of jewelry in Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s paintings worn by his models wasn’t invented but copied from actual accessories from the...

Bolor Jargalsaikhan 29 June 2023

Music

Farinelli – The Best Castrato In Portraits

What does “castrato” mean? Castrati were male singers who had been castrated before puberty to retain the so-called voce bianca, that is...

Magda Michalska 26 June 2023

Artist Stories

Francisco Goya: The First Modernist?

Renowned as one of the most influential Spanish artists, Francisco Goya’s artistic prowess continues to bewitch and intrigue art enthusiasts...

Wendy Gray 17 June 2023

Artist Stories

Did Goya Make a Career?

Goya’s paintings are often disturbing and very very dark. It’s because his activity coincided with the last period of the Enlightenment, the...

Magda Michalska 17 June 2023

Nicaise de Keyser, William II (1792-1849), King of the Netherlands, when Prince of Orange, 1846, Royal Collection, UK. History

Willem II: The Queer King of the Netherlands

Willem II ruled the Netherlands from 1840 to 1849. In modern terms he would be considered a bisexual man, as he had relationships with both women and...

Jimena Escoto 14 June 2023

King Louis XIV painted by Hyacinthe Rigaud, 1701 European Art

The Sun King’s Reflection: Portraits of Louis XIV

Louis XIV was definitely a great arts patron but sadly a slightly less great king. However, that didn’t stop him from being self-indulging,...

Magda Michalska 14 June 2023

Rococo

7 Things You Need to Know About Jean-Honoré Fragonard

Before reading on, you should know that Jean-Honoré Fragonard was a Rococo master. One can say that Fragonard was Rococo. The works of this French...

Zuzanna Stańska, Matthew Vazquez 14 June 2023

Rococo

Everything You Need to Know About Venetian Rococo

Venetian Rococo played an important role in the 18th-century European art. Rococo covers the period from 1700 to 1799, also called settecento. Many...

Kateryna Martynova 14 June 2023

Herstory

The Hundred Faces of Kiki de Montparnasse

Kiki de Montparnasse was an actress, singer, and muse of Man Ray. Known as the “Queen of Montparnasse,” she influenced the trajectory of...

Zuzanna Stańska 12 June 2023