Famous Paintings Analyzed
Greatest Pictures Evaluated, How to Interpret a Painting

Mona Lisa (1503-6)
By Leonardo. One of the
Greatest Paintings Ever.

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Famous Paintings Analyzed

Contents

• How to Analyze a Painting
• List of Famous Paintings Analyzed
• Further Resources

Note: This is an ongoing series of educational articles devoted to the analysis and interpretation of important frescoes, oils and watercolours, with new essays being added on a regular basis. Bookmark this page for more details of beautiful portraits, history paintings, landscapes and genre paintings, by leading masters of the Baroque, Rococo and Neoclassical periods, as well as modern masterpieces of Impressionism, Expressionism and Cubism.

How to Analyze a Painting

In order to learn how to analyze and interpret a painting, it helps to read through evaluations written by others. This is why we have compiled a list featuring interpretations of famous paintings. We have no desire to impose our subjective views on you - in fact, we expect you to form your own opinion of all the paintings listed below - but our analyses may provide you with some food for thought, and may help you to get started. Art appreciation is not like solving mathematical equations because, there is rarely a 'correct' view about (1) what a particular painter was trying to achieve; (2) whether he/she succeeded; or (3) how beautiful his/her painting is. Furthermore, it is not your conclusion about a painting that matters - it is your reasoning: in other words, WHY you like it, or hate it, or feel indifferent towards it.

How to Interpret a Painting - A Few Simple Tips

When analyzing a painting, don't forget - it is merely paint arranged in a certain way. No more, no less. So open your eyes and take a careful look at things like: (1) how the artist has used lines to draw shapes; (2) the different colours (reds, yellows and so on) used; (3) the different shades or tones of particular colours used (light blue, mid-blue, dark blue and so on); (4) what sort of surface texture the painter has created - is it very smooth, for instance, with few visible brush strokes, or is it pitted with clumps of thick paint and obvious signs of brushwork? (5) how the artist catches your eye - for instance, are there features that catch your eye and lead it around the composition? is the picture organized horizontally from left to right, or diagonally, or vertically? (6) is the artist trying to represent something real, like a person, or scene? If so, is he simply trying to replicate reality, or is he trying to say something about it? (7) are some items included in the picture for symbolic reasons? In the old days, for instance, if an artist included a dog in his portrait of a married woman, it implied that the woman was faithful to her husband. Many paintings contain symbols like this; (8) if the painting is completely abstract, look closely at the types of shapes it contains, and ask yourself if they remind you of anything.

What is the Intention of the Painter?

Now, using the information you have generated by analyzing the painting according to these 8 points, ask yourself what the painter's intention was, in each case. For example, if you noticed (point 3) that the artist used a lot of bright red paint - ask yourself why? What was the artist trying to achieve? Or, if you notice that your attention is drawn to a particular object in the picture - ask yourself why the artist might wish to attract your eye to this particular spot. If you can form an opinion as to what the artist's intention was, in relation to the above points, you are bound to have a pretty good appreciation of the painting itself.

Famous Paintings Analyzed

Listed chronologically by artist.

Terms
See: Diptych (2-panel painting); Triptych (3-panel painting); Polyptych (multi-panel painting).

• Duccio di Buoninsegna (c.1255-1319)

Stroganoff Madonna and Child (1300)
Tempera/gold on wood, Metropolitan Museum of New York
This early religious masterpiece from the Sienese School of painting, also known as the Stoclet Madonna, is an important landmark in the transition from Medieval to Renaissance painting.
Maesta Altarpiece (1308-1311)
Tempera/gold/wood, Siena Cathedral Museum
Exemplifying the Gothic manner of the Sienese School of Painting, this Madonna and Child Enthroned with Angels and Saints was designed for the high altar of Siena Cathedral.

• Giotto (1267-1337)

Scrovegni Chapel Frescoes (c.1303-10)
Cappella degli Scrovegni, Padua
The cornerstone of Renaissance art, Giotto's fresco cycle in the Scrovegni or Arena Chapel marks an important pictorial break from the flat Byzantine/Gothic style of painting, and paves the way for quattrocento naturalism.

• Robert Campin (c.1378-1444)

Seilern (Entombment) Triptych (1410)
Oils/gold leaf, Courtauld Institute
The earliest surviving work of Robert Campin/Master of Flemalle, an important founder of the Flemish School, it illustrates the Flemish pictorial preference for observation - to create a new realism, the better to explain religion - instead of the Gothic reliance on formal attributes.
Merode Altarpiece (Annunciation Triptych) (c.1425)
Oil/panel, Cloisters, Metropolitan Museum of Art New York
Also called The Annunciation Triptych, this early 15th century Flemish oil painting was commissioned by the wealthy Flemish merchant Jan Engelbrecht as a domestic devotional altarpiece.

• Limbourg Brothers (Pol, Herman, Jean) (fl.1390-1416)

Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry (1413)
Gouache on vellum, Musee Conde, Chantilly
One of the most magnificent examples of Medieval miniature painting, this illuminated manuscript is the showpiece of the Musee Conde, in Chantilly.

• Jan Van Eyck (1390-1441)

Ghent Altarpiece (1425-32)
Oil on wood, St Bavo Cathedral, Ghent
This massive polyptych by Hubert and Jan van Eyck is one of the cultural cornerstones of the Flemish School of painting, acclaimed for its vivid colour, stunning realism and wide-ranging subject matter.
Man in a Red Turban (1433)
Oil on wood, National Gallery, London
One of several world-famous oil paintings by the leader of the Flemish School, it exemplifies the new realism which emanated from Flanders during the 15th century, and which influenced a wide range of Italian Renaissance painters.
Arnolfini Portrait (1434)
Oil on wood, National Gallery, London
Painted in Bruges and crammed with complex symbolism, this work is one of the most famous panel paintings of the 15th century Flemish School of painting.

• Paolo Uccello (1397-1475)

Battle of San Romano (1438-55)
Tempera on panel, National Gallery London; Uffizi Florence; Louvre Paris
One of the few secular triptychs of the Italian Renaissance, it was 'acquired' by the covetous Lorenzo de' Medici from its owner the Bartolini Salimbeni family. The work was an important experiment in linear perspective.

• Fra Angelico (1400-55)

The Annunciation (c.1450)
Fresco, San Marco Museum, Florence
Commissioned by the Medici family, this fresco wall painting was part of the decorative scheme painted by Fra Angelico for the Dominican convent in Florence - one of the most important sets of murals from the Florentine Renaissance.

• Roger Van der Weyden (c.1400-1464)

Descent From the Cross (Deposition) (c.1435-40)
Oil on panel, Prado, Madrid
This masterpiece of Flemish religious art is Van der Weyden's greatest work, and one of the most influential works of the mid-15th century.

• Tommaso Masaccio (1401-28)

Brancacci Chapel frescoes (1424-8)
Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence
Known as the "Sistine Chapel of the Early Renaissance", the Brancacci Chapel was frescoed by Masolino da Panicale and his young assistant Masaccio, and became the embodiment of Early Renaissance art in Florence.
Expulsion From the Garden of Eden (1425)
Fresco mural, Brancacci Chapel
Known in Italian as Cacciata dei progenitori dall'Eden, this painting is probably the best known of all the Brancacci Chapel frescoes.
The Tribute Money (1426)
Fresco mural, Brancacci Chapel
Another mural from the Brancacci Chapel fresco cycle, it is noted for its scientific linear perspective, humanistic aesthetics and three-dimensional figures.
Holy Trinity (1428)
Fresco mural, Santa Maria Novella, Florence
An iconic work of Early Renaissance painting, it is noted for its outstanding application of single-point linear perspective.

• Piero Della Francesca (1415-92)

Flagellation of Christ (1450-60)
Tempera/oil on panel, Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, Urbino
Ranked by the art scholar Kenneth Clark as among the ten finest paintings of all time, this Early Renaissance masterpiece is renowned for its application of linear perspective.

• Jean Fouquet (1420-81)

Melun Diptych (1450-55)
Oil/panel, Koninklijk Museum; Gemaldegalerie, SMPK, Berlin
This devotional diptych - commissioned by Etienne Chevalier, treasurer to King Charles VII - could easily be mistaken for a work of modern art, rather than an example of International Gothic.

• Andrea Mantegna (1431-1506)

Lamentation over the Dead Christ (c.1470-80)
Tempera on panel, Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan
One of the greatest Early Renaissance paintings produced outside Florence, it is renowned as probably the most famous example of the illusionistic technique of foreshortening in the quattrocento.
Camera degli Sposi frescoes (1465-74)
Fresco, Camera Picta, Ducal Palace, Mantua
One of the most famous examples of Early Renaissance illusionistic painting, the ceiling and mural frescoes in this commonplace reception room at the Ducal Palace in Mantua, are characterized by trompe l'oeil painting techniques like quadratura.

Hans Memling (c.1433-94)

The Last Judgment Triptych (c.1471)
Oil on panel, Muzeum Narodowe, Gdansk.
Painted a few years before the Donne Triptych (1475-80, National Gallery, London) this is Memling's most important religious painting, linking Gothic art with that of the Florence Renaissance.
Donne Triptych (1477-80)
Oil on panel, National Gallery, London.
Small-scale altarpiece with grisaille exterior, commissioned by the Welsh nobleman Sir John Donne of Kidwelly and executed in Bruges.

• Hugo Van Der Goes (1440-1482)

The Portinari Altarpiece (1476-9)
Oil on wood, Uffizi Gallery, Florence.
Flemish masterpiece commissioned by Tommaso Portinari, manager of the Bruges branch of the Medici Family Bank. Had a major influence on Florentine Renaissance art.

• Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510)

La Primavera (1482-3)
Tempera on poplar panel, Uffizi, Florence
Commissioned by the Medici family, this complex allegorical work combines the linear elegance of Gothic art and the humanistic narrative of the Italian Renaissance.
Birth of Venus (1484-6)
Tempera on canvas, Uffizi, Florence
Commissioned by the humanist patron Lorenzo Medici, this painting was the first secular nude since classical antiquity. It belongs to a series of mythological pictures painted by Botticelli after his return from the Sistine Chapel in Rome.

• Hieronymus Bosch (1450–1516)

Garden of Earthly Delights (1500-05)
Oil on wood, Prado Museum, Madrid
This devotional triptych is one of the most enigmatic and visionary works of art of the 16th century Netherlandish Renaissance.

• Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)

Virgin of the Rocks (Madonna of the Rocks) (1483-5)
Oil on panel, Louvre, Paris
This rare painting by Leonardo was installed in the chapel of the Immaculate Conception, in the church of San Francesco Grande in Milan. However, it was soon sold for to King Louis XII of France, whereupon a second version was executed. This now hangs in the National Gallery in London.
Lady with an Ermine (1490)
Oil on panel, Czartoryski Museum, Krakow
One of only a tiny handful of portraits completed by the Florentine genius Leonardo da Vinci, this painting was commissioned by Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, Leonardo's main employer between the years 1482 and 1499.
The Last Supper (1495–98)
Tempera/oil, Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan
Known in Italian as Il Cenacolo or L'Ultima Cena, this complex rendering of the Biblical story features mathematical and narrative symbolism, along with outstanding use of colour and perspective.
Mona Lisa (La Gioconda) (1503-06)
Oil on wood, Louvre, Paris
With an estimated value of $1 billion, La Gioconda is perhaps the greatest painting of the Italian Renaissance. It exemplifies Leonardo's matchless oil painting technique, including the device of sfumato.

• Matthias Grunewald (c.1475-1528)

The Isenheim Altarpiece (c.1515)
Oil on wood panel, Unterlinden Museum, Colmar.
The greatest expressionist altarpiece in the history of art; combines Gothic art, Bosch-like imagery and the latest German Renaissance painting techniques. Art critics have never fully understood it.

• Michelangelo (1475-1564)

Genesis Fresco (1508-12)
Ceiling of Sistine Chapel, Rome
Arguably the greatest exemplar of figurative painting in the history of art, this spectacular fresco decoration occupies about 1,000 square-metres of ceiling, illustrating events taken from the biblical Book of Genesis.
Creation of Adam (1511-12)
Fresco, Sistine Chapel, Rome
An iconic work of Christian art, this is the most famous of Michelangelo's ceiling frescoes from the Genesis cycle in the Sistine Chapel, commissioned by Pope Julius II.
Last Judgment Fresco (1536-41)
Altar Wall of Sistine Chapel, Rome
Painted 25 years after the completion of his Genesis fresco, this fresco mural was ordered by Pope Clement VII (1523-1534). Together with the Genesis work, it is regarded as the greatest ever masterpiece of religious art.

• Raphael (1483-1520)

School of Athens (Scuola di Atene) (1509-11)
Fresco, Stanza della Segnatura, Vatican
The most famous fresco painting in the Raphael Rooms at the Vatican, commissioned by Pope Julius II (1503-13), it is a pictorial synthesis of Greek Humanism and Renaissance Christianity.
Sistine Madonna (1513-14)
Oil/canvas, Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden
One of the last pictures completed by Raphael himself, and arguably his most beautiful Madonna, it was installed on the high altar of the Benedictine abbey church of San Sisto in Piacenza.
Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione (1514-15)
Oil/canvas, Musee du Louvre, Paris
This High Renaissance portrait depicts the eminent literary artist and thinker active at the court of Urbino during the early 16th century. It is believed to be a collaborative effort between Raphael and other assistants, such as Giulio Romano.
Pope Leo X with Cardinals (1518)
Oil on panel, Galleria Palatina, Pitti Palace, Florence
Like his portrait of Pope Julius II, this masterpiece is a complex work of political portraiture which influenced a wide number of Renaissance painters.
The Transfiguration (1518-20)
Oil on panel, Pinacoteca Apostolica, Vatican
Commissioned by Cardinal Giulio de' Medici, shortly to be elected Pope Clement VII, this masterpiece of High Renaissance Biblical art was an important precursor of Mannerism.

• Titian (1488-1576)

Venus of Urbino (1538)
Oil/canvas, Uffizi Gallery, Florence
Modelled on Giorgione's Reclining Venus (1518), it is one of the most famous female nudes of the Italian Renaissance.
Assumption of the Virgin (1516-18)
Oil/panel, Saint Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, Venice
Arguably the most dramatic and inspirational altarpieces in the history of art.
Pope Paul III with his Grandsons (1546)
Oil/canvas, Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte, Naples
Highly complex political portrait of the Farnese family pontiff, full of symbolism.

• Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c.1525-1569)

Netherlandish Proverbs (1559)
Oil on oak panel, Gemaldegalerie, SMPK, Berlin
Executed in the style of Bruegel's great Netherlandish predecessor Hieronymus Bosch, it illustrates the universal stupidity of man, and the supreme relevance of the Creator and Saviour.
Mad Meg (Dulle Griet) (1562)
Oil on wood, Mayer van den Bergh Museum, Antwerp
One of three panels painted by Pieter Bruegel the Elder in the manner of Hieronymus Bosch, it is a powerful, apocalyptic work of religious art, personified by the antics of the grotesque Griet.
Tower of Babel (1563)
Oil on panel, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Commissioned by the Antwerp art collector Niclaes Jonghelinck, this is the second of three versions of the same subject. A stunning pictorial expression of the idea that, without divine rescue, Man's worldly labours are pointless and futile.
Hunters in the Snow (1565)
Oil on oak panel, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
One of the most famous landscape pictures in the history of painting, it contains - like all Bruegel's works - a significant narrative on the rural behaviour of 16th century Netherlanders.
Massacre of the Innocents (c.1565-7)
Oil/panel, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
There are two versions of this chilling piece of Biblical art: one in the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, the other in the Royal Collection at Hampton Court Palace.
Peasant Wedding Feast (1568)
Oil on oak panel, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
This well-known Flemish illustration of peasant life exemplifies Bruegel's late Italianate style of figure painting. It contains numerous symbolic references and an unmistakable moral undertone.
Parable of the Blind (1568)
Oil on oak panel, Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte
One of the most famous examples of a diagonal spatial arrangement, this painting is the typical Bruegel mixture of genre painting, religious sermon and landscape painting.

• Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610)

Supper at Emmaus (1601-2)
Oil and tempera on canvas, National Gallery, London
One of the best examples of Caravaggio's realist religious painting, noted also for its foreshortening, chiaroscuro and trompe l'oeil effects at the edge of the picture plane.

• Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-69)

Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp (1632)
Oil/canvas, Mauritshuis, The Hague
One of the most famous group portraits of the Dutch Baroque, it was Rembrandt's first large canvas and the painting which helped to establish his reputation after his move to Amsterdam in 1631-2.
The Night Watch (1642)
Oil/canvas, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
The best known group portrait of the Baroque age, it is best known for its revolutionary composition in turning a humdrum subject into a dynamic work of art.
Aristotle Contemplating the Bust of Homer (1653)
Oil/canvas, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
This mythological portrait was executed for Don Antonio Ruffo of Messina (1610-78), one of Sicily's great art collectors. In 1961, it was acquired by New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art for $2.3 million. Its current estimated value exceeds $100 million.
Bathsheba Holding King David's Letter (1654)
Oil/canvas, Louvre, Paris
Amongst Rembrandt's greatest portraits, this Biblical work was an excuse for Rembrandt to paint another of his exquisitely expressive female nudes.
Portrait of Jan Six (1654)
Oil/canvas, Private Collection, Amsterdam
Perhaps Rembrandt's greatest individual portrait, it portrays his friend the businessman, magistrate, and writer Jan Six (1618-1700).
The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis (1661)
Oil/canvas, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm
One of the most powerful and controversial Baroque paintings, it was installed in the new Town Hall in Amsterdam, until a dispute arose, whereupon Rembrandt kept the painting, which he reduced in size to make it more easily sellable.
Syndics of the Cloth-Makers Guild (The Staalmeesters) (1662)
Oil on canvas Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Far less famous than The Night Watch, this is another of Rembrandt's fabulous group portraits, executed in his final decade. The commission was awarded to Rembrandt after his bankruptcy, indicating the high respect which he still commanded.
Suicide of Lucretia (c.1666)
Oil/canvas, Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Exemplifying Rembrandt's mastery of chiaroscuro, this dramatic but poignant work also illustrates his genius for injecting emotional content into portraiture.
The Jewish Bride (c.1665-8)
Oil/canvas, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
One of Rembrandt's final double portraits, this Biblical work is one of the few real expressions of love created by a Baroque artist in 17th-Century Holland.

• Jan Vermeer (1632-1675)

The Little Street (Street in Delft) (c.1657-58)
Oil/canvas, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
A masterpiece of protestant Dutch Realism, this painting is one of only a tiny handful of works by the artist which do not contain a significant figurative element.
Soldier and a Laughing Girl (c.1658)
Oil/canvas, Frick Collection, New York
This genre painting demonstrates Vermeer's mastery of light and space, as well as his ability to create a sense of intimacy into which we intrude.
The Milkmaid (c.1658-1660)
Oil/canvas, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
One of the finest examples of Dutch Realist genre painting, full of symbolism and moral narrative, it has long been a favourite of artists and critics alike.
Woman Holding a Balance (1662-3)
Oil/canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
One of the greatest genre paintings in the history of art, this overtly allegorical work blends meticulous technique with profound intimacy - a style unmatched by any other painter from the Schools of Leiden, Haarlem, Utrecht, Dordrecht or Delft.
Young Woman with a Water Jug/Pitcher (c.1662)
Oil/canvas, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
One of five Vermeers in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the first in his series of "pearl pictures", it exemplifies Vermeer's handling of light, as well as the pearl-like tones of his blue and yellow colour palette.
Woman with a Pearl Necklace (c.1663)
Oil/canvas, Gemaldegalerie, SMPK, Berlin
Another of Vermeer's "pearl pictures", it exhibits Vermeer's hallmark painting technique, including soft-edge brushwork and yellow-blue-grey colour palette.
Girl with a Pearl Earring (Head of a Girl with a Turban) (1665)
Oil/canvas, Mauritshuis, The Hague
Known as the "Mona Lisa of the North", this works shows that Vermeer was also a master portraitist, as well as a master genre painter.
Girl with a Red Hat (c.1666-1667)
Oil/panel, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
Portrait or genre painting? Who cares! One of Vermeer's smallest paintings this exquisite masterpiece is also one of his few works on panel.
The Art of Painting: An Allegory (c.1666-73)
Oil/canvas, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
This work, also called The Artist in His Studio and The Allegory of Painting, is the largest of all of Vermeer's pictures and may contain a self-portrait of him in action.
The Lacemaker (c.1669-1670)
Oil on canvas, Louvre, Paris
Vermeer's smallest picture, it is regarded as one of the greatest genre paintings created during the period of Dutch Realism.

Between them, Rembrandt and Vermeer were undoubtedly responsible for the best Baroque paintings painted in Holland, during the 17th century.

• Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721)

Pilgrimage to Cythera (1717)
Oil/canvas, Louvre, Paris; Charlottenburg, Berlin
Part genre painting, part landscape painting, this work (two versions of which exist) introduced a brand new type of picture known as La fete galante.

Further Painting Resources

• Great European Painters
For biographies of famous painters (c.1250-1800), see: Old Masters.
• Great Modern Painters
For careers of modern artists (1700-1900), see: Famous Painters.
• Greatest Artists
For the greatest painters, see: Best Artists of All Time.
• Top History Paintings
For the finest narrative painters, see: Best History Painters.
• Top Portraits
For the greatest portraiture, see: Greatest Portrait Paintings.
See also: Best Portrait Artists.
• Top Landscape Paintings
For the most awesome views, see: Best Landscape Artists.
See also: Famous Landscape Paintings.
• Top Genre Paintings
For the most beautiful genre works, see: Greatest Genre Paintings.
See also: Best Genre Painters.
• Top Still Life Paintings
For the finest still lifes, see: Best Still Life Painters.

• For more advice about the interpretation of paintings, see our main index: Art Encyclopedia.

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