wrmthorne/National_Gallery_style_classification huggingface dataset:
A young man gazes past us and into the distance, his hand resting on a  marble shelf. We don't know who he is, but he holds a scroll bearing his age (20), the date (1494) and a monogram, apparently 'AMPRF'. This is probably an early portrait by the Milanese painter Marco d'Oggiono, a pupil of Leonardo da Vinci, and it gives us a firm date for works produced under Leonardo's influence.

This painting was traditionally known as 'The Archinto Portrait'. It was in the Archinto Palace in Milan, and was once thought to show Francesco di Bartolomeo Archinto. Francesco died in 1551, and was possibly born in 1494, though we can't be sure of this. The portrait was formerly attributed to Giovanni Ambrogio de Predis, as the monogram was thought to be a contraction of Ambrosio Preda Fecit ('Ambrosio Preda made this'). But the monogram has to be interpreted with caution: the letters M and R are certainly there, but the horizontal strokes of the A and F are in a different paint, and may have been done at a different time.

Marco d'Oggiono developed a distinctive style, following and slightly exaggerating his master's innovations in composition and technique. There are similarities between this painting and Leonardo's La Belle Ferronière (Louvre, Paris), which was painted at about the same date: the marble shelf, the dark background and pale face, the coolly watchful gaze and the turn of the body so that one shoulder is further back. Some of these features are also seen in Girl with Cherries (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), probably also by Marco d'Oggiono.

Like Leonardo, Marco d'Oggiono seems to have been experimenting with novel painting techniques. Very unusually for painting on panel, there is no gesso ground, only a thick layer of lead white pigment in oil. It isn't possible to see any underdrawing, except for a few lines around the hand, in part due to the large amounts of charcoal black in the paint layer. There is no darker under-modelling that contributes to the tone seen at the surface, and shadows were created by the use of dark grey paint applied on the general pink colour of the flesh. This has resulted in the distinctive ashen hue, which has probably been exacerbated by the fading of the red lake pigment and so may not be entirely intentional.

The painting has suffered from drying cracks, especially in the bright blue doublet. There's a very thick layer of blue paint, made using the very expensive pigment ultramarine mixed with lead white, on top of a layer layer made with the pigment azurite (which was valuable but usually cheaper than ultramarine). The ultramarine in the upper layer has blanched, making the drapery appear flat and without modelling; the artist was using pigments he didn't know would later change in colour. With a stereomicroscope, red fibres can be seen in the hat, because shreds of textiles were used to make one of the pigments (red lake) used to paint it. While it now looks almost black, the mix of red lake, azurite and lead white pigments would have given it an intense purple colour.

Style: Early Renaissance
This painting stood above the altar in a chapel built to commemorate a local carpenter, Giovanni di Matteo di Giorgio Schiavone, in the church of Santa Maria dei Servi in Perugia. Giovanni left instructions in his will that the proceeds of the sale of his workshop should go towards the chapel, which he wanted Perugino to paint with a mural showing the Virgin Mary and Christ Child with Saints Jerome and Francis.

When Giovanni died in 1507, the executors of his will did hire Perugino, but instructed him to make a panel painting instead. The contract, which survives, specified that it should show: 'the glorious Virgin with her Son standing, similar to that of Loreto, with figures of the Blessed Jerome as Cardinal and Saint Francis with the stigmata.' Perugino stuck to the brief, painting Jerome in the red robes of a cardinal and Francis with blood pouring from the wound on his left hand.

The 'glorious Virgin' referred to a painted wooden sculpture in Loreto, a town on the coast of the Marche region. It was of the standing Virgin holding the Christ Child, both wearing crowns, and was, at the time, a focus of devotion. Churches in the surrounding area commissioned copies, sometimes with slight variations. Perugino's painted version seems to resemble a sculpture in the church of Sant'Agostino near Santa Maria dei Servi, which he probably knew because he had made altarpieces for the church. The angels hovering above, about to crown the Virgin, don't come from the sculpted version, but from prints that illustrated books devoted to Mary, which were popular from the late fifteenth century.

Perugino was allowed four months to complete the work and the contract specified that he was to use 'fine colours' and 'gold ornaments'. It also stated that Perugino himself must complete the work. The budget for the work was, however, low, which might explain why its quality is nowhere near that of his earlier panels for the Certosa altarpiece. Perhaps -- despite the contract -- he delegated it to one of the assistants. Infrared reflectography reveals that the underdrawing is very simple and that very few changes have been made during the painting stage, evidence which usually suggests an assistant slavishly following his master's designs. Technical analysis has shown that the two floating angels are made from the same design, which has been reversed -- the underdrawing of one is the mirror image of the other.

Some parts -- like Christ and Jerome's heads, and the atmospheric, soft landscape -- look more like Perugino's work. Perugino might have made it himself, working quickly and reusing existing designs and drawings -- common practice for him at the end of his career. As a result he received fewer commissions, while his pupil  Raphael overtook his fame.

Style: High Renaissance
From the 1640s to the 1660s the Low Countries (and indeed much of Europe) experienced a particularly intense phase of what has become known as the Little Ice Age. A series of severe winters froze the canals and rivers hard for weeks at a time.

The wintry transformation of towns and landscapes during this period caught the imagination of many local artists and their clients, and there was a sharp rise in the number of paintings depicting winter scenes. Aert van der Neer was one of those who specialised in such works, and this image of an unknown town and a frozen river is one of dozens of similar landscapes which he made around this time. This one probably dates from about 1665, towards the end of this phase of sub-zero temperatures; by this point, the population must have been used to the canals and rivers icing over. Perhaps we can sense this in the ease with which the figures are casually skating along with their hands behind their backs. It seems as though they have had plenty of practice.

As we can see, this is not a scene of heavy snow drifts. Indeed the vast majority of van der Neer’s winter scenes are set under a relatively light dusting or a heavy frost. We don’t know enough about these winters to know whether this reflected cold but relatively dry weather, or whether van der Neer was more interested in this effect than in depicting blankets of snow. He definitely seems to have relished evoking the deep ice-green surface of the river as it reflects back a particularly dramatic sky. The dark clouds, tinged with the russet from an unseen sunset, billow up like smoke from behind the buildings. High above, dark sweeping brushstrokes suggest a wind is blowing up.

This and van der Neer’s other landscapes are almost certainly not intended to be accurate records of real scenes or places, though some may be based on particular views which now can’t be identified. In this case there are similarities with another painting by van der Neer (National Trust Collection, Tyntesfield, Somerset), though in the latter example the viewpoint is further away from the church and the windmill. The figures in his paintings are types, carefully positioned for effect. Here they seem to represent a rather lonely collection, with lots of single figures scattered about the ice. On the left, a kolf player (the game is a sort of cross between golf and ice hockey) knocks a ball about on his own, while another also plays a single game on the opposite side of the picture.

The squatting figure behind the tree in the right foreground appears to be a man defecating. Although this kind of earthy humour was not uncommon in Dutch painting (van der Neer includes a man urinating in the foreground of another of his winter scenes, now in a private collection), a later owner clearly found it distasteful. In 1969, cleaning revealed that his lower half had been overpainted sometime after the original painting was made.

Style: Baroque
In some paintings a vast, empty landscape might evoke feelings of loneliness or even melancholy, but this small picture, probably painted by Jan van Goyen, seems to do just the opposite. It's light and airy, with a patch of sun on glowing soil, and tiny, almost comical, trees, their branches misty with delicate new leaves. Puffy clouds float across the sky on a breath. It seems to be an image of spring that brings the fresh air in to its viewers.

It would seem that van Goyen liked to make viewers look for the many details he partially concealed. At first hidden, the little cottage among the trees seems to have grown from the earth, its curved lines of roof and gable echoing the lines of nature. A figure sits, almost invisible, wearing a jacket that's the same colour as the cottage wall. A band of sunlight on the roof above the figure draws the eye to the long curved battens slanting upwards to keep the threadbare thatch in place.

More figures can be found among the scrubby bushes on the skyline and at the end of the rise looking out across the distance, perched on the edge of a sharp drop. An old dead tree behind them seems to refuse to lie down and in the distance a single faint line points upwards, perhaps a church spire. Two men chat quietly, perched on top of the yellow sand dune close to us; it looks like an earthbound version of the billowing clouds above. The men seem to ignore the cobwebby line of a fishing rod sticking up into space. It can take a while to notice the stream running on either side of the sandy hillock.

The picture was quickly and vigorously made. The paint is thin and in places sketchy, so much so that for many years A Cottage on a Heath was thought to be by someone imitating van Goyen's style. But in 1958, when it was cleaned, a figure in the foreground and other details added by a different artist were all removed. Cleaning also revealed van Goyen’s monogram, making it probable that it was his work painted early in his career. He was already experimenting with the muted, limited colours for which he became famous. In Haarlem, where van Goyen lived, other artists, such as Esaias van de Velde and Salomon van Ruysdael, were paving the way for this new 'monochromatic' painting; van Goyen went on to take it to new heights of lyrical subtlety in landscapes such as A Windmill by a River and scenes like A River Landscape.

Style: Baroque
Panini glorified Rome in countless capricci scenes like this, in which a known monument is set within a fanciful arrangement of ruins. The crumbling stone pyramid here is based on the tomb of Caius Cestius in Rome, which remains one of the city's best-preserved ancient buildings. All of the other elements are invented.

Remnants of the city's classical past fill the foreground: broken columns, a statue on a chipped plinth, a damaged sarcophagus and, at the bottom left, a frieze decorated with a wolf, a symbol of Rome. The view is animated by figures wearing classical dress who gather among the ruins. A soldier in armour and a man in orange drapery walk towards the central group, several of whom are captivated by what the man in red is saying. Illuminated clouds gather over the rolling hills of the Roman countryside beyond while evening light peeps through the dilapidated columns to the left, falling across the middle ground and the high wall of the building to the far right.

This is probably one of the artist's earlier works and can be dated to about 1730. He started his career as a stage designer and specialised mostly in view paintings of contemporary and ancient Rome. Although we don't know who first owned this picture, its small size and its subject matter might have made it desirable for British collectors on their Grand Tour who wished to take home a souvenir from their travels.

Panini painted many views of Rome taken from everyday life, such as The Interior of St Peter's, and also captured important ceremonies, as in The Lottery in Piazza di Montecitorio. Like his imaginary scenes, these were particularly popular among foreign tourists to the city.

Style: Baroque, Rococo
This painting is one of a series of panels that decorated a bedchamber in the Borgherini palace in Florence. They were probably set into furniture. They were painted in 1515 to celebrate the marriage of Pierfrancesco Borgherini and are known as The Story of Joseph: Scenes from the Borgherini Bedchamber.

Together, they tell the story of Joseph from the Old Testament. Five of the other panels are in the National Gallery's collection. Here, Joseph pardons his brothers for selling him into slavery in Egypt when he was a boy.

Joseph's brothers come to Egypt to seek grain during a famine. Joseph, now vizier of Egypt, accuses his half-brothers, who do not recognise him, of spying. When they tell Joseph that they have a younger brother at home, Joseph demands that they bring him to Egypt. He imprisons three of his brothers and sends three back home with their sacks and their purses full. The brothers persuade their father Jacob to allow them to return to Egypt with their younger brother, Benjamin, to prove they are honest men.

In Joseph receives his Brothers, the brothers return to Egypt with Benjamin and gifts from their father, which they give to Joseph. He sends his brothers back home, but with a cup hidden in Benjamin's sack.

The next morning, Joseph sends his steward after the brothers to find the 'missing' cup; he discovers it in Benjamin’s sack and escorts the group back to Egypt. Joseph confronts his brothers and demands that whoever stole the cup should become his slave. Judah begs for Benjamin to be released and offers to be enslaved instead. Joseph breaks down in tears and reveals that he is the brother that they sold into slavery. In this painting by Bacchiacca, the brothers are brought to Joseph, with young Benjamin a prisoner. They beg for Joseph's mercy; he reveals his true identity and forgives them.

The painting is structured as a continuous narrative, with the characters represented three times at different moments of the story. In the distance we see the brothers, with Benjamin riding the pack horse, as they are intercepted by Joseph's guard. In the left foreground they are escorted back to Egypt. Bacchiacca has captured a wide range of expressions and poses. Two brothers appear to be fighting -- one shields his face as the other clenches his fist. A guard reaches for another brother's sword. Little Benjamin is escorted by a turbanned soldier at the head of the group, while one distraught brother looks up to heaven, as though appealing to God for mercy.

When the brothers learn Joseph's true identity on the right of the panel, their reactions are extreme: one wipes his eyes and hides his face beneath his hat; another falls to the ground clutching his hair; one holds his head as if he cannot believe his ears; another falls to his knee and begs forgiveness. Bacchiacca has used the variety of expressions and the rhythm of repeated colour across the panel to tie the disparate parts of the story together and express the intense emotion of the drama.

Joseph with Jacob in Egypt by Pontormo is the final part of the story.

Style: High Renaissance
In this mythological scene, a young woman embraces a youth who holds a golden apple. She turns to look at us as though we have interrupted their lovemaking. Cupid, god of love, raises his arrow, apparently about to pierce her breast with it.

The central figures of the scene may be Hippomenes and the virgin huntress Atalanta, who challenged her suitors to race with her. She told them that if they won they could marry her, and if they lost they would die. Hippomenes threw down golden apples as he ran, which had been given to him by Venus. When Atalanta stopped to pick them up she lost the race. Alternatively, the couple may be Venus and Adonis, as Venus was awarded a golden apple as a prize for her beauty. When Cupid accidentally pricked Venus with one of his arrows she fell in love with Adonis.

The scenes in the background relate to the legend of Adonis. The figures on the right are connected with his birth. Myrrha is driven from the house by her father whom she had seduced. She calls on the gods for help in the wilderness, turns into a myrrh tree and gives birth to Adonis. On the left we see Adonis’s death as he is gouged by a boar. Venus and Cupid race through the sky in a chariot drawn by four white doves but they are too late. Adonis dies and Venus laments over his body.

The stories of Adonis and Atalanta may have been connected in this painting because in Book X of the Roman poet Ovid's Metamorphoses, Venus tells the story of Atalanta to Adonis.

We do not know who painted the picture, but it is reminiscent of Titian's style and typical of the kind of mythological scene made for the enjoyment of learned, private patrons in Venice that he helped pioneer. It is unlikely to be by him, however.

Style: High Renaissance
We do not know the identity of this lady. The downturned corners of her mouth give her a somewhat mournful expression. The painted framing at the top of the picture is similar to examples seen in Northern European portraits, suggesting that it might be by a German or Netherlandish artist who was working in Venice.

The costume is meticulously painted and probably dates from about 1510--20, which may be when the portrait was made. The lady wears a pink damask gown with embroidered bands, and a row of pearls stitched to the bodice. The band across her chest features a pattern of hunting dogs chasing a deer and a hare. The artist has painted fine lines in the backgrounds of these scenes to suggest the individual embroidered gold threads. He has also painted every link in the long gold necklace with great attention to detail.

Style: High Renaissance
Many of Aert van der Neer’s atmospheric landscapes are set in the low light of evening or early morning, characterised by a silvery glow on water and the deep shade of the wooded banks. He also painted night scenes, lit by a moon often partly hidden by the clouds of a dramatic sky. It's not clear what time of day is depicted here, but the washed-out colours and the dull sheen on the water and of the sky behind the clouds give an impression of early dawn, before the sun has broken through and started to cast shadows.

If so, the people of this village are up early. As well as the horseman, prominent in the foreground, there's a figure on the bank over the river behind him and another in his boat towards the centre of the painting. Just across the water from him and very hard to make out is the white sail of another boat making straight for us.

Style: Baroque
The Virgin is set against a gold-leaf background. Her heavenly nature is emphasised by her jewelled hood-trimming and the intricate patterns punched onto the painting's gilded surface. The Virgin's incomplete halo suggests that the panel may have been cropped at the top.

A false attribution to the 13th-century Italian artist Cimabue appears in an inscription on the back of the panel. Until recently, the painting was thought to be French but new evidence suggests it was made in the region of Valencia, Spain, in the mid-15th century. Pine panels like the one which this picture is painted were commonly used in the Mediterranean, particularly in Valencia. The thin layers of oil paint and the meticulous attention paid to decorative motifs recall Netherlandish painting, which the artist could have seen in Spain or by travelling to the Netherlands.

Such bust-length Virgins were frequently paired with images of Christ as the Man of Sorrows – a number of examples can be found in Valencian collections.

Style: Gothic
In one small picture, Jan van Os manages to combine feelings of tranquillity and industry. The sea is calm but dotted with craft in every state of readiness to sail. Overhead, puffy clouds seem to hang motionless over the scene. Below, the sails of the small boat coming towards us are filled with wind, its little red topsail jaunty, its broad white sails elegant. Yet there's no wake bubbling along its sides, as there should be if it were moving.

Van Os fills the picture with sky. He restricts the action to the bottom quarter of the oak panel, giving a sense of almost endless space. But in every vessel in eyeshot there are people, often in silhouette, to give the picture energy and character. By placing a vessel close to us on either side, he narrows the view a little and directs our attention towards the open sea. But the main pointer to the distance, and the unknown, is the urgent gesture of a man in a padded brown coat and a red hat. He sits in the boat drawn up on the beach on the left. He's hunched forward, his arm outflung, his finger pointing. We, along with the man with a basket tied round his waist, peer forward to see what's out there.

The man's little boat is a kaag, a small shallow-bottomed vessel that stayed fairly close to shore, often used as one of the many ferries between towns (the normal form of transport in the Netherlands at the time). Van Os has shown every detail of the broad overlapping planks of the keel, the fine, spidery lines of the rigging and the folds of the brown sail -- perhaps not stowed as tidily as some might be. Another man shakes his mop over the side after sluicing the deck.

The tjalk with red sails (a Dutch passenger ship) on the right flies two flags, one on either mast. The tiny monogram on the white central band of the Dutch flag -- 'VOC' -- shows that this vessel belongs to the Dutch East India Company, the powerful trading organisation largely responsible for the upsurge in commerce in the Netherlands in the seventeenth century. Their giant merchant vessels sailed to the East Indies, Africa and China bringing home wealth and luxuries. Van Os, like the greater part of the population, must have been aware of the importance of the company to the prosperity of the country. He perhaps included the flags on one of their smaller, inshore vessels as a reminder of its role in their lives.

Van Os was far better known for flower paintings in the style of Jan van Huysum than for marine subjects. In this picture, he harks back to the style of Willem van de Velde or Jan van de Cappelle, both painting more than a century earlier.

Style: Neoclassical
This is a display of all the rich fruit, fish and fowl that could be found on a wealthy man's table. Lobsters and chicken are placed close to the full basket of fruit -- peaches, nectarines, a single black plum. A costly blue-and-white Chinese bowl stands next to it, full of wild strawberries. The pale stalks of bunches of asparagus gleam in the dim light, with lemons and artichokes pressing in around them. It's a picture of abundance.

Pictures of this kind, without a focused arrangement and with little attempt at directional lighting to make objects and textures stand out, were intended to hang in the dining rooms of the wealthy -- a background that fitted the occasion without being too demanding.

Style: Baroque, Neoclassical