wrmthorne/National_Gallery_style_classification huggingface dataset:
This modello, or detailed oil study, is one of a group of 12 -- ten of which are in the National Gallery -- that Giordano made in preparation for the ceiling frescoes in the Palazzo Medici Riccardi in Florence in 1682--85. The overall theme of these highly elaborate frescoes is the progress of mankind by means of Wisdom and Virtue.

Eleven of the modelli relate to the spectacular Galleria, a space that housed the family's precious collection of antiquities and also functioned as a public reception room. This is the only modello that relates to the adjacent Library, another architectural showpiece, the ceiling of which is lit by a semi-circular window high above the ornate bookcases.

Giordano has designed an appropriate allegory for a library. It celebrates the acquisition of knowledge and depicts human intellect as a kneeling warrior -- a youth being released from the bonds of ignorance. The rope which bound him hangs loose around his body. Attending him, dressed in a white gown and standing on a set square, is Mathematics -- she is giving him wings. In the foreground, Philosophy holds out a mirror that represents self-knowledge; above her, the winged figure of Theology directs the warrior's gaze up towards the enthroned figure who has become visible through the parting clouds. Holding a globe and sceptre, she represents Divine Wisdom, and the light shining from behind her head illuminates the whole scene. The naked woman to the right of her is Truth.

The subject is based on a line from the poet Petrarch's Rime (X, line 9). It appears in the fresco, inscribed on the scroll held by putti in the foreground, though slightly misquoted and with a spelling error: 'LEVAN DI TERRA A CIEL NOSTRO INTEILETTO [sic]' (‘They raise our mind from earth to heaven’).

Usually assumed to have been painted after the Galleria, the Library fresco was finished by March 1686 at the latest, when Giordano, who was by then back in his native Naples, received a payment of 1000 scudi from the Marquess Francesco Riccardi 'as the balance for all the works he has done for us and as a present'. Nicodemus Tessin the Younger, a Swedish architect who visited Florence in 1687, records that Giordano had painted the Library fresco in only five days. Giordano was a prolific artist, adept at painting on a large scale and renowned for working at great speed -- a skill that earned him the nickname ‘Fa Presto’ (‘does it quickly’).

Style: Baroque, Academic
Nicolas-Toussaint Charlet is known chiefly for his lithographs -- he produced around 2,000 of them -- but he also worked in other media, including oil sketches such as this one. Children often appear in his pictures, their spontaneous behaviour gently mocking social customs and pretensions.

In this small painting we see a group of young children being directed into a church by several clergymen dressed in black. The priest in the foreground has a sign pinned to his back that reads 'Hane' -- a childish misspelling of ‘âne’ (ass). Charlet provides a generalised impression of most of the children, but he singles out a few, most notably the boy on the right, who defiantly faces us with his arms firmly crossed as he smokes a clay pipe. His red cap is perhaps a reference to the red ‘liberty’ caps worn during the French Revolution, which itself had been overtly anti-clerical. The boy behind him also wears a cap with the colours of the French tricolour.

Style: Realist, Neoclassical
This modello, or detailed oil study, is one of a group of 12 that Giordano made in preparation for the ceiling frescoes in the Palazzo Medici Riccardi in Florence in 1682--5 (ten of the modelli are in the National Gallery's collection). It corresponds with the group in the corner of the barrel-vaulted ceiling of the grand Galleria, between the entrance and the north wall.

The central figure represents Prudence, one of the four Cardinal Virtues. These were first identified by the philosopher Plato and later adopted by the Roman Catholic Church. One Virtue is depicted in each of the four corners of the Galleria and they form part of a continuous frieze of allegorical and mythological scenes. In the finished fresco, four of the Medici family depicted in the centre of the ceiling are also given attributes representing each of the Virtues.

Here Prudence carries an arrow with a serpent entwined around it. The deer on which she rides is a symbol of prudence, because it was believed to move cautiously on account of the weight of its antlers. On the left are two philosophers dressed in oriental -- or Near Eastern -- style, one with a quadrant and compass, the other with a book. They may be the ancient mathematicians, Archimedes and Euclid, and they represent Order and Reason (or perhaps Experience).

Cowering at the feet of Prudence is a two-faced figure with claws instead of feet, intended to represent Fraud. Behind her is Ignorance, holding up a donkey's head. In the sky above are figures representing, from left to right: Abundance (or Felicity), with a cornucopia and olive branch; Grace, holding a key (the emblem of the Riccardi family) and dropping flowers; and Wellbeing, with a shield (on which there is a putto with a dolphin) and a cup.

In the final fresco, Giordano twisted the head and torso of Prudence so that she looks up and back towards Grace. He made similar changes to the postures of three of the four Virtues, presumably at the request of his patron, the Marquess Francesco Riccardi (only Fortitude keeps the same downward gaze employed in the modello). These alterations better suit the curvature of the ceiling and inject more energy and dynamism to the design, sending the eye up towards the centre of the room.

Style: Baroque, Academic
Jupiter, the ruler of the gods, is seated on a cloud, his attribute of an eagle with thunderbolts in its beak beside him. He is embracing the goddess Minerva, his daughter. The scene is witnessed by a gathering of the gods of Olympus, clearly shocked at what they see.

Jupiter's son Mercury, the messenger god, appears on the far left, wearing his winged hat and carrying his winged caduceus (wand). He points his finger at the pair. Chaste Diana, goddess of the moon, with her back turned, has abandoned her bow and her quiver full of arrows to watch. Below the cloud are Hercules with his club and Hades, the god of the underworld, with the three-headed dog Cerberus. The fair-haired Apollo is seated with his lyre, looking either at the gods above or at the naked Venus, who leans against a boulder as Cupid covers her with a shimmering drapery. Neptune with his trident leans lazily on the other side of the rock.

It is unclear what this unusual scene represents, but a drawing by the artist of the same subject (now the State Library of Württemberg, Stuttgart) may bear the answer. In around 1600 the drawing belonged to a man called Paul Jenisch, who explained the scene in an inscription. In translation it reads: 'This shows how Jupiter abandons Venus and loves Minerva, to the amazement of all other pagan gods.'

From 1596, Hans von Aachen was working in Prague, where he was employed as court painter by the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II, for whom he may have made this picture. Though the subject is unusual, it was probably intended to delight and entertain its sophisticated viewers with the variety of recognisable gods, the delicately coloured, luxurious draperies and the eroticism of Venus' pose. Rudolf was often depicted as Jupiter, for example in an allegory where he, as Jupiter with thunderbolts, defeats the Turks (Harrach Collection, Rohrau, Austria). He may have been attracted by the idea of the union between the powerful Jupiter and Minerva, the goddess of wisdom.

The soft pastel colouring matches the delicacy of the brushstrokes, and they combine to enhance the sense that the scene is taking place in the realm of the gods. A ruined classical style archway with a sculpture in a niche adds a sense of antiquity to the scene.

Style: High Renaissance, Mannerist
The huge sky and the grey -- but luminous -- tones of this painting are typical of Jan van Goyen’s landscapes and seascapes. About three quarters of the composition is devoted to the towering clouds and the grey haze which obscures the brighter blues above; still more space is used to capture the bright reflections in the waters of the estuary.

But this picture isn’t only about the sea and the sky, it is also a portrayal of everyday life. In the shadowy foreground we see passengers being rowed in a ferry and a woman dipping a basket over the quay. Two men moor a boat; others deliver cargo. The building at the left appears to be a water-gate of a type which appeared at the entrance of many Dutch towns. Its specific location has not been identified.

Along with Salomon van Ruysdael, van Goyen was one of the pioneers of a naturalistic approach to landscapes and seascapes. This work was made towards the end of his career.

Style: Baroque
This exquisite little picture evokes the tranquillity of the early morning, perhaps -- judging by the low, clear light and puffiness of the clouds -- at the beginning of spring. The reflections in the calm water are perfect, undisturbed by the porpoises in the shadow of the vessel with the blue and white flag. A little further out, where an anchored warship waits for a breeze, the haze left by the dawn mist has yet to clear. Men are already at work, but with no sense of urgency -- the wind will come when it will. Despite the calm, there would be sound carrying across the water: the splash of oars, the rattle of a rising sail, men’s voices.

The boat on the right is a kaag, an inshore transport vessel with a flat bottom, making the most of what little breeze there is. Two fishing boats appear on the left: a hoeker, its white sail brilliant in the sun, and a fishing buss with the arms of the city of Hoorn on the stern. The striped flag suggests that although the ship was built in Hoorn it is working out of Texel, an island town not far away.

Willem van de Velde the Younger painted this around 1660 with his usual fine, accurate detail in the various craft, flags and coats of arms. He has signed it 'WVV' on the taffrail, directly under the golden horn on the fishing buss. The picture was painted for the family studio and was obviously very successful: at least eight other versions of it are known.

Style: Baroque
The Virgin Mary holds her clothing out the way as Christ leans towards her to breastfeed, and Saint Joseph dotes upon him. The image of Christ breastfeeding emphasised his humanity and was common in Italian painting, particularly in the late medieval period (see, for example, The Madonna of Humility with Saints Mark and John the Baptist). Signorelli has updated the theme, introducing Joseph and showing the figures without haloes as though they are an ordinary family.

By using a plain dark background and a tightly cropped close-up view, Signorelli invites us into the scene. The holy figures themselves are completely engaged with one another: the Virgin and Joseph both gaze at Christ, who looks towards his mother. Christ holds a strawberry plant, which symbolises his fruitful and righteous life but also adds a familiar element -- possibly evoking memories of the fruit's texture and smell -- to a holy scene. The elaborately decorated shawls worn by Mary and Joseph are Signorelli's way of showing their middle eastern origins. Textiles like this would have been known through imported goods, and the looping pattern on the Virgin's mantle might be intended to evoke an ancient script.

While the Virgin Mary is an idealised young woman with a profile resembling a classical statue of a goddess, Joseph is more individualised, with a tanned complexion, tufty grey hair and bushy eyebrows. He was probably drawn from life. Signorelli was known for his ability to paint the human body convincingly. Joseph's skull is well defined beneath his skin, his prominent cheekbone catching the imaginary light source coming from the left. Christ's torso is sturdy and his stocky little body has chubby folds of baby fat around his armpits and inner thighs.

The picture was heavily restored before entering the National Gallery's collection, and discoloured paint from the restoration remains near the Virgin's ear, in Christ's left shoulder and Joseph's face, as well as in the draperies.

Style: Early Renaissance
Corot painted this view of the gently hilly landscape and river Seine west of Rouen from the top of the Tour du Gros Horloge, a popular viewing platform in the city for the vistas it afforded of the surrounding countryside. The island just visible at the far left is the Ile Rollet, which is now connected to the left bank of the mainland. The church spire on the hill belongs either to the church in the village of Canteleu or to that in the village of Bois-Guillaume. Around six or seven isolated buildings dot the foreground fields, some quite ghostly in appearance, and it is possible that they are an afterthought, added by Corot back in the studio. The red stamp of Corot’s studio sale, which took place in May and June 1875, can be seen in the bottom left corner.

Corot had long associations with Rouen and its surrounding area. He had attended school in the city from 1807 to 1812, and in 1822 he made his first sketching trip to Normandy. He returned in 1829, 1830 and 1833, and he probably painted this view on one of these visits.  It is a quiet, overcast scene, and the tonality is cool throughout. The steely clouds in the sky are reflected in the grey of the water, the landscape itself depicted in a limited range of greens. The whole is quite thinly and fluidly painted.

Technical analysis has revealed an earlier composition underneath the present one, painted in a portrait format instead of the landscape format of this picture. At the right there are long curving tree trunks, to the left of which two arches of a bridge are seen, the bases of which appear to be hidden behind a gully or ravine. Wooded hills are in the distance. Underneath the top layer is a yellow-green layer of paint, which belongs to this first composition; this green can be seen through the grey paint of the sky at the top left as well as beneath some of the dull green of the present landscape. This underlying scene has not yet been identified with any certainty. It is possible that it was painted during Corot’s first trip to Italy in 1825–8, with the trunks reminiscent of studies he made of trees at Civita Castellana, north of Rome. But it is equally possible that Corot painted it in France; the bridge is of a type that can be found throughout both countries.

Style: Neoclassical, Barbizon
A bishop saint holds up a book in this rather damaged medallion. We are not sure exactly who he is. This is one of three fragments which possibly came from the Palazzo del Podesta in Assisi. They were perhaps once part of the framing of some large composition.

Unlike the vast majority of medieval and Renaissance paintings in our collection, this picture was not painted on a panel or even a linen  support. It is a fresco, and was painted on the wall of a public building.

The three fragments were probably painted in the first half of the fourteenth century and have recently been attributed to the so-called Master of San Crispino, who decorated the Oratorio di San Crispino at Assisi in the 1330s.

Style: Gothic, Early Renaissance
The man in this portrait has not yet been identified, but he is probably from the Yorkshire gentry. With his body positioned at a slight angle to us, in a three-quarter view, he leans against a stone column with his right hand tucked into his waistcoat -- a pose that was often adopted by English sitters in the mid-eighteenth century. X-ray photography reveals that the position of his left hand has been changed and that it may originally have been holding a cane with a silver or ivory handle. Although it is difficult to see beneath the covering of dark yellow varnish, there is a landscape with trees in the background.

The artist, Philippe Mercier, was born in Berlin in 1689 to French Huguenot parents, but eventually settled in England. He lived in York for eight years from 1739, working extensively as a portrait painter for the local gentry. This was perhaps his most productive period, during which this picture was painted.

Style: Baroque, Rococo
The subject of this portrait was once described as Baldassare Castiglione (1478--1529), the renowned humanist and author of The Book of the Courtier, who was most famously portrayed by Raphael in a painting now in the Louvre, Paris. However, there is no evidence to support this theory.

The unidentified bearded man is depicted bust length turned slightly towards the left. He does not look at us but gazes obliquely into the distance. His right hand holds the edge of his black robe, revealing a small gold ring with a green stone on his little finger. He wears sober, unostentatious clothes, and a black skullcap with a large black hat.

The composition is based on implied diagonal lines that follow the angles of the man’s hat and shoulders and cross in the centre of the panel, focusing our attention on his face. The colour palette is restricted to black, buff-brown and white, with what appears to be the sweep of a red curtain on the right. The colour of his jacket is echoed in the background, and the white arrow of his pleated shirt points to his face, framed between the black zones of his cloak and hat. The painting is damaged and the varnish covering it has discoloured, affecting its appearance.

The portrait was formerly thought to be by the Lombard artist Girolamo Savoldo. It has also been connected with portraits from the 1520s by the Venetian painter Marco Basaiti, which present the sitter in a similar way. However, the condition of the picture makes it difficult to tell with any certainty who painted it. There is a nineteenth-century copy at Burghley House, probably made when our portrait was sold from the collection of the Marquess of Exeter; another version, surely also a copy and formerly in the collection of Prince Galitzin, St Petersburg, appeared on the art market in 2019.

Style: High Renaissance
This unidentified woman wears a costume dating from the second half of the 1560s or early 1570s. Her feathered jewelled hat is influenced by  fashion in Lombardy and Venice, and her costume resembles that in a portrait drawing of a similar date attributed to Sofonisba Anguissola (Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden). The portrait has previously been thought to be by Salviati or Niccolò dell’Abate.

The lady wears a gold crucifix on a triple chain around her neck and a gold pendant hanging from a black ribbon. The figure in silhouette on her pendant -- seemingly a kneeling woman holding a tall object that resembles a distaff, used for spinning -- may give us a clue to her identity. It may be intended to express the sitter’s household industry or possibly refer to her name. The distaff is also the symbol of Nona, the Roman goddess of pregnancy and the spinner of the thread of life, which she spun from her distaff onto her spindle. Pregnant women called upon her in their ninth month when their baby was due to be born; the young lady may be pregnant and wearing the pendant as a charm.

Style: High Renaissance
The painting, perhaps a fanciful portrait of a woman as a saint, rather than merely a generic depiction, is related to a picture thought to be by Dosso Dossi now in a private collection. However, it is also close in style to the late work of Raphael which Dossi knew very well. It could well be by a later artist.

Style: High Renaissance
This fragment of a larger painting shows an elderly man, almost bald but for a few tufts of white hair, gingerly climbing down the rungs of a spindly ladder. His grip is obstructed by a pair of pincers, which he has used to extract the nails that secured Christ to the Cross, making his descent all the more precarious.

The character's rugged features, which Signorelli has studied from life, lend him an air of pragmatism that was probably useful for such a gruesome task. The portrayal of his body is also remarkable, capturing the contortion and weight distribution required for a man of his size to descend such a tall and narrow ladder. Signorelli was noted in his time for his expert depiction of the human body and his ability to paint it convincingly in a variety of complex poses without losing a sense of its solidity and weight.

The panel was part of an altarpiece showing the Lamentation of Christ at the Foot of the Cross made for the high altar of the church of Sant'Agostino in Matelica, a town in the Italian region of the Marche. Part of the haloed head of a saint, probably Saint John the Evangelist, is visible at the lower right edge. Like many altarpieces from Italian churches, it was probably cut up to create a number of separate paintings for sale in the late eighteenth century or early nineteenth century.  We know of other fragments which are now in collections across the world.

Giovannantonio di Luca di Paolo, the picture's patron, had obviously been impressed by a picture of the same subject that Signorelli made for Santa Margherita, a church in his home town of Cortona (Museo Diocesano, Cortona), as he asked him to produce a similar image. Piecing together the jigsaw puzzle of the remaining fragments reveals that the Matelica picture was probably very similar to its model, but the man on the ladder was a new addition to the composition.

Style: High Renaissance