Room 63 - Jan van Eyck - The Arnolfini Portrait (1434)
Room 58 - Botticelli - Venus and Mars (1485)
Room 66 - Leonardo da Vinci - The Virgin of the Rocks (1491/2-9 and 1506-8)
Room 10 - Titian - Bacchus and Ariadne (1520)
Room 12 - Hans Holbein - The Ambassadors (1533)
Room 32 - Caravaggio - Boy Bitten by a Lizard (1594)
Room 30 - Diego Velázquez - Rokeby Venus (1647-51)
Room 45 - Paul Delaroche - The Execution of Lady Jane Grey (1833)
Room 41 - Claude Monet - The Water Lily Pond (1902 - 1908)
Room 43 - Vincent Van Gogh - Sunflowers (1888)
Room 63 - Jan van Eyck - The Arnolfini Portrait, 1434
The Arnolfini Portrait, commissioned by the Arnolfini Family from Jan Van Eyck in 1434, is one of the most compelling paintings in the world. In this photo, a man and woman stand in a room, dressed in finery. While it looks like a ‘normal’ room, every object has been selected by van Eyck to represent the couple’s sophistication and wealth.
That’s because the Arnolfinis were wealthy merchants from Italy living in Bruges, where van Eyck was active. You can tell just by looking at the construction of the room. The brick home is immediately more stately than one made from wood or a village shack, and you can see a handsome cherry tree through the open window, itself a status symbol.
We can indeed see their bed, but this isn’t their bedroom. At this time in history, when the bed was the most expensive item of furniture one owned, this would be a reception room. It is covered with extremely expensive red cloth, with additional red cushions and on an ornately carved chair and bench. Above, an intricate brass chandelier. Underfoot, a handwoven Middle Eastern rug.
Look at the oranges casually dotted across the table - this tropical fruit required an orangery - or greenhouse - to grow, and it was incredibly expensive. Even the plaster walls show us that this couple can afford to pay for the details - most people used tapestries to cover unfinished walls.
Even the room itself if not a literal record of the couple’s home. Although it looks as if van Eyck has simply removed a wall, close examination reveals inconsistencies. The chandelier cannot fit into the space it seems to occupy; there is no sign of a fireplace; the bed is too short and the ornate convex mirror on the back wall seems impossibly large. As usual, van Eyck created a perfectly convincing show of reality but altered things to fit his aesthetic purposes and perhaps also to accord with Arnolfini’s aspirations.
Now let’s look at the couple themselves. They too are sumptuously decked out, wearing fine clothing that isn’t at all flashy. They are the epitome of 15th-century Flemish style - think of this like their Instagram!
It’s very common to misinterpret her as pregnant - she is holding a bulky belly, after all. However, she is actually just holding up the folds of her heavy gown in front of her, as was the fashion at the time.
On the wall behind them you can see a large round mirror. It has a convex shape, which contorts the room. Look in the mirror - you can see two men entering the room behind our perspective. One of the men is raising his hand, perhaps in greeting. Above this mirror, van Eyck has signed the painting Jan van Eyck was here. 1434’. Therefore, maybe the men are van Eyck and his servant, entering the room for a friendly visit.
Room 66 - Leonardo da Vinci - The Virgin of the Rocks
If you’re anything like me, the name Leonardo da Vinci takes your breath away. I grew up in absolute wonder of this genius. Today, while I tend to prefer other styles of art, there is still always something so special about viewing a da Vinci piece in person. And luckily, the National Gallery has three. This painting, the Virgin of the Rocks, depicts the Virgin Mary, the baby Jesus, and the infant John the Baptist.
It consists of three panels that would have originally been part of the altar of a chapel in the church of San Francesco Grande, Milan. Sculptor Giacomo del Maiano had already finished elaborate scultpturs for the altar, and then Leonardo and his associates were hired to do the paintings.
But wait - there is a second version. This one actually isn’t the first he painted! This one was made to replace another, which now hangs in the Louvre, perhaps because the religious order wouldn’t properly pay him for the expensive materials!
Leonardo worked with two Milanese painters to create the altar paintings, half-brothers Ambrogio and Evangelista de Predis. Leonardo took on the most elaborate of the paintings, the Vigin and Child, though the other men and their friends likely painted elements within.
This painting is notable because it introduces us to Leonardo’s iconic style of using shadows instead of outlines. Think about it - in typical renaissance paintings, the Virgin and Child are usually depicted in bright daylight with the blue sky behind them. In this case, Leonardo positions them in a dark cave, which some people would have found quite blasphemous. However, it is this contrast that makes the painting so unique.
Leonardo wrote that light and shadow should blend together “without lines or borders in the manner of smoke.” This gave rise to the term sfumato, which means “seen as if through smoke.”
But just so we’re clear - Leonardo did not think Israel looked like this cave! This setting was meant to remind us about many biblical metaphors. For instance, Mary and Joseph are often associated with caves and rocks because they make us think of sanctuary. Similarly, the flowers at the bottom left are called Star of Bethlehems, or heartsease - they symbolise purity. We can also see palm leaves, a symbol of the Virgin Mary, behind the infant John’s head. We may write these off as small details, but a Renaissance viewer would have been very familiar with metaphors like these.
Room 48 - Sandro Botticelli - Venus and Mars 1485
One of the most famous Renaissance artists, Sandro Botticelli is often thought of as the archetypal Florentine painter. Here, he has painted the goddess Venus with the God of War, Mars. Of course, Venus represents love - she is alert and awake while Mars is sleeping - you can almost hear him snoring. It is clear that love has conquered war in this particular sexual encounter.
Botticeli painted this to honour his patrons’ wedding. Who were they? Check out the wasps buzzing around. Vespe is the Italian word for wasp, and this could be a nod to the Vespuccis, a noble Florentine family.
This was a popular myth amongst the Florentines in the late 15th century when this was painted. In the story, Venus was married to Vulcan, the god of the forge, often represented as an unattractive blacksmith. He heard about this tryst between Venus and Mars, and so he forged chains to catch them in the act. However, the chains were so light and delicate that the gods did not know they had been captured - soon, Vulcan invited the other gods from Mount Olympus, and then pointed and laughed at the adulterers.
Botticelli has painted this for his client with a keen attention to detail and lots of funny inclusions meant to amuse the viewer. Let’s look at these impish satyrs - they’re playing with Mars’s armour - the helmet is covering their entire face!
One of the little ones is even blowing a conch shell into Mars’s ear, but this doesn’t even disturb his deep slumber. The conch further symbolises Venus’s connection with the sea, which you can almost see in the distance. All of this mayhem has disturbed a wasp’s nest, and these prickly little creatures buzz around his head.
Botticelli is showing off his knowledge of ancient Greek sculpture, which was the pinnacle of sophistication in 15th-century Florence. Mars almost looks like a classical nude sculpture, but Venus is fully clothed. In fact, look at her clothing and her hair. Her braids are actually woven into her dress, which is fastened with a jewel - her dress would have been impossible to take off! Botticelli might be nodding to her chastity, even though we know she has just committed adultery.
Works like this were typically placed in a newlywed couple’s bedchamber, where guests were received. Therefore, since this was a pretty public space and he wouldn’t have wanted to offend his patron, Botticelli may be referencing the bride’s purity before marriage. There is also a myrtle bush behind Venus, which was a symbol of marriage.
But despite her chastity, there did need to be some lust going on in this painting. I mean, the young couple would also meet in this room to try to conceive children!
Room 10 - Titian - Bacchus and Ariadne, 1520-23
This is a piece by one of the most important painters in history, the Venetian painter known as Titian, or Tiziano Vecelli in Italian. This painting is of Bacchus and Ariadne and depicts Cretan princess Ariadne, whose love Theseus, had just left her on the Greek island of Naxos. Look at the horizon, at the top left of the painting behind Ariadne, and you can see his ship sailing away as he abandons her.
Bacchus, the god of wine, is entering the painting in a chariot drawn by two cheetahs. He is being trailed by his followers and revellers, as well as Drunken Silenus, who is slumped on a donkey. He is immediately in love with Ariadne, but she is put off by him - after all, her lover has just left her. However, Bacchus promises that he will turn her into a constellation, Corona Borealis, which you can see above her at the top left of the painting.
That’s why her pose is quite complicated. She seems partially turned towards her disappearing lover Theseus, but she is also clearly intrigued by Bacchus and his wild energy as he leaps out of his chariot, shown suspended in mid-air. They were both clearly doing other things when they were unexpectedly drawn to each other - their bodies are kind of at odds with their heads, which is a good metaphor for intense passion.
Titian was a master colourist, and he used all of the most vibrant paints and pigments available in Venice, undiluted and unmixed. Since he was painting for a wealthy patron, he had the money to use all of the finest materials. Using these colours at full strength gives this painting a bold, jewel-like feeling, with a brilliant blue sky and richly dressed subjects each with their own personal flesh tone.
This painting was hugely influential on European Art. Soon, many other painters were depicting the gods and their love lives.
Room 12 - Hans Holbein - The Ambassadors
Hans Holbein The Younger was a German-Swiss painter most famous for his Tudor portraiture - think of these famous images of Henry the 8th, Anne of Cleves, Thomas More, and many more. He created this magnificent work in 1533.‘The Ambassadors depicts Jean Dinteville, the French ambassador to England at the time. On the right is his friend and fellow diplomat, George de Selve.
Just as people do today on Instagram, George and Jean are surrounding themselves with status symbols to show you just how important they are. It would have cost a fortune to own clothes like these.
Have a look - the globe shows that they are worldly, travelled people. The giant lute demonstrates that they can either play the lute, which would have been a symbol of education and sophistication or that they had the money to pay someone else to play for them.
There are also a number of astronomy objects here, and a crucified Jesus Christ in the top left corner. Perhaps the ambassadors are showing that whilst they are enjoying the earthly pleasures, they haven’t forgotten Christ?
It’s also fascinating to note the date at the bottom - 1533. at the time this was perceived to be exactly 1500 years since Christ had died.
There are many clues about the painting in the tiniest details. For example, we know the ages of the two men because Jean’s little sword reads 29, and the book George is touching reads 25. These objects also tell us something about their characters - the book shows George to be a more contemplative person, whereas the sword shows Jean to be a man of action.
Look at the lute’s broken string - it is positioned next to a book of hymns to signify the tension between the religious and political situation of the day - remember, this is 1533, and Henry 8 secretly married Anne Boleyn, annulled his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, and officially changed England’s religion to the CofE from Catholicism.
Now we can’t leave this painting without enjoying the crazy visual effect it has. The skull is known to be anamorphic, which means if you stand here it comes to life - it’s quite spooky. I know you can see it to some degree in the video, but in person? It is wild.
It’s a classic ‘Momento Mori’ - a popular phrase at the time, meaning “remember you are going to die.” While it sounds quite goth, it is a way to remind you that your time on earth is short, and so you should be focusing on preparing for the afterlife.
Room 32 - Caravaggio - Boy Bitten by a Lizard, 1594
This is one of Caravaggio’s early works, painted as he tried to attract attention from one of the wealthy patrons in Rome. Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was a Milan-born painter often considered the father of modern painting.
He is known for his tempestuous life and habit of using sex workers and orphaned children as models, which was very scandalous at the time. He has been described as the “rebellious, hot-tempered punk of art history.”
This is my favourite Caravaggio piece here in the National Gallery - Boy Bitten by a Lizard, painted in 1594. Some art historians think this Mario Minniti, Caravaggio’s companion and fellow painter, while others think this may be Caravaggio himself. As you can see, the boy’s middle finger is getting bitten by a lizard as he reaches for some grapes. In 16th century Rome, the middle finger had a similar meaning as it does today, so perhaps Caravaggio was sending a message to his many rivals. Regardless of this choice of finger, there is a lot of symbolism in the lizard biting the boy, and quite a few different theories. This could be a metaphor for love, with the flowers representing love and the lizard’s bite a warning for getting hurt.
That is quite an innocent reading, however. Another theory proposes that this painting is a metaphor for syphilis, which was a big problem in Rome. Perhaps the finger is a phallic symbol, and this scene is a warning not to enjoy too much of life’s carnal pleasures, as you might get bitten by disease!
A more academic reading of the painting’s symbolism could be that this is a rendering of the Apollo Sauroktonos theme, in which a poisonous salamander attacks and bests the god. The Four Temperaments are also represented, as the salamander was a symbol of fire in Caravaggio's time - and it also had phallic connotations!
Caravaggio is really showing off his talent in this painting - you can see a stunning still life of cherries, plums, and flowers. Look even closer at the reflection of the room in the glass of water.
Caravaggio’s biographers state that this painting was made for the open market and not for a specific patron. However, it did the trick- Caravaggio finally got a patron to fund his works shortly after it was completed.
Room 30 - Diego Velázquez - Rokeby Venus 1651
This is the Rokeby Venus, painted by Diego Velázquez around 1651. While we tend to think of the naked female form as common in Renaissance Art, this was not the case in 17th-century Spain. Due to the censorship of the Catholic Church, painting nudity could be punished with fines or even exile.
Therefore, this painting was almost undoubtedly displayed in a private room, probably covered with a curtain and only revealed to certain guests. The painting appears flirtatious - Velazquez has painted Venus here to reveal just enough for the viewer to be drawn into the subject, but does not reveal her front. There is still plenty of mystery to her form. Venus was the Roman goddess of love, beauty, desire, sex, fertility, prosperity and victory. Cupid, the god of erotic love, is propping up a mirror, and the erotic overtones are contrasted by the fact that Venus’ face in the mirror is rather blurred.
Why is that so? Art critics are undecided. It may be to conceal the identity of the woman who had posed for Velazquez. Or, it might be a deliberate technique to emphasise that our attention should be focused on Venus’ body, as the face is out of focus. The mirror also seems to be angled wrong - many people have tried to reconstruct this painting, only to discover that it is geometrically impossible for the mirror to show their face! This is Velazquez playing with our perspective. Instead of Venus looking at herself, she is looking at us looking at her.
After being owned in private collections in Spain since the 1600s, it was first brought to Britain in 1806 and kept in a private collection. It shot to fame in 1905 when it was purchased by the National Gallery - displaying erotica like this in a public gallery a hundred years ago did not go unnoticed!
In fact, it became so well known that it was the target of a protest by a suffragette campaigner. Women could not vote in elections in Britain, and some campaigners were committing acts of sabotage to draw attention to the cause. In 1914, Mary Richardson came right to where we are standing with a butcher’s meat cleaver and smashed the glass and the body of Venus. If you look closely at the painting you can see it still has the scars.
She said, “I have tried to destroy the picture of the most beautiful woman in mythological history as a protest against the Government for destroying Mrs Pankhurst, who is the most beautiful character in modern history.”
Mrs Pankhurst was Emily Pankhurst, one of the suffragette leaders who had been imprisoned the day before. Well, Mary Richardson herself was sentenced to 6 months in prison. This did not deter other campaigners from damaging other paintings in the gallery, and the National Gallery even closed for several months until the suffragettes agreed to stop destroying works of art. Whether you agree with their methods or not, they were successful; some white women were finally granted the right to vote in 1918.
Room 36 - Paul Delaroche - The Execution of Lady Jane Grey, 1833
When this painting ‘The Execution of Lady Jane Grey in the Tower of London’ was first exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1834, it drew massive queues as people pressed in just to get close to its hyper-realistic style.
But believe it or not, this painting was thought to be lost for most of the 20th century, believed to be destroyed in the Thames flood of 1928. It was rediscovered in the basement of the Tate in 1973, and was placed on display here in the National Gallery two years later. It drew crowds then, as well.
The painting depicts a legendary 1554 event - the execution of England’s shortest reigning Queen, known as Lady Jane Grey, the 9 Days Queen, at the Tower of London. This young girl took the throne after the death of King Edward (her cousin) at the age of 15. He wanted her to take the throne in order to stop the Catholic Mary I from becoming the monarch and threatening the relatively new Church of England, which was only 20 years old.
But, Jane only lasted nine days before the courts and wider population turned against her in favour of Queen Mary. She was put on trial and sentenced to death. You will notice she is wearing a ring on her finger - her husband, Lord Guildford, was executed not long before her. She didn’t see it happen but may have seen his decapitated body being towed away as it passed by her room on a horse and cart. Certainly, this would have terrified her.
When it was unveiled in 1834, it was hit with the public, but critics were not always so generous, claiming that it was too sensational and too similar to another painting, John Opie’s Mary Queen of Scots. There are also plenty of factually incorrect details in the painting, especially in the styles of the clothing. But the main difference between this painting and what really happened is the lighting. The execution occurred outdoors during daylight hours, yet this seems to be indoors in a relatively dark room.
That inaccuracy, though, may have been deliberate. Paul Delaroche was obsessed with British history and had visited the Tower of London, writing notes and drawing sketches. He was therefore probably aware that the execution had happened outside. So it is probably the case that he has deliberately made it darker to add to the drama. Rather like the Caravaggio and Wright paintings we saw earlier, this use of darkness makes it much more tense and forboding.
Claude Monet - The Water Lily Pond
Claude Monet was a French painter whose work came to epitomise the art movement Impressionism, which was all about capturing the way light lands on natural forms. He painted the Water Lily Pond, one of 250 paintings of lilies in his water gardens, in 1899.
Monet moved to Giverny in Normandy, France, in 1883, and he was absolutely taken by his gardens there. For Monet, gardens were a respite from the rapidly industrialising world, even as he benefited from advances in botanical science to create new hybrid flowers in a diverse array of sizes and shapes.
After moving to Giverny, he became a passionate gardener, and employed as many as 8 gardeners to help him cultivate his flowers.
He replaced his kitchen garden with flowers, and soon purchased the plot next to his. It came with a pond, and he transformed it into a water garden and lily pond that were “both for the pleasure of the eye and for the purpose of having subjects to paint.”
Over time, he enlarged the pond and tripled its size, and eventually built a Japanese bridge over the western end of the pond. He patiently waited for the garden to grow and mature before he could paint it. He said, “It took me some time to understand my water-lilies. It takes more than a day to get under your skin. And then all at once, I had the revelation – how wonderful my pond was – and reached for my palette. I’ve hardly had any other subject since that moment.” Today, he is most known for his lilies. I think he would have liked that.
Room 43 - Vincent Van Gogh - Sunflowers
This is one of the most famous works by Vincent Van Gogh - there are five different versions of it in different galleries around the world. Today, he is one of the most famous painters in the world, but that was not always the case. In fact, he himself was not even a painter until the age of 30, and his career in this field was incredibly short - he died at age 37.
What’s incredible about Van Gogh’s life is that until he turned to painting, he failed at almost everything else he tried - he failed at teaching, failed at preaching, failed as an art salesman, and of course, he failed at love with a number of tragic love affairs.
Van Gogh moved to the Arles in the south of France in 1888, and he was incredibly inspired by vivid colours of the countryside. Of course, this is also where his mental health suffered and he had a fateful argument with his friend, fellow painter Paul Gaugin, after which he cut off part of his ear. To learn more about that incident and see even more works by Van Gogh, watch my video on the Musee D’Orsay in Paris. But let’s focus on the happy times right now - this painting and the four others like it reveal Van Gogh in more uplifted spirits - these sunflowers radiate brightness.
He was also able to head outside owing to the invention of paint in small tubes! That’s right - before John G Rand invented paint tubes in 1841, painters were tied to their studios, indoors. However, paint in tubes makes their profession more portable than ever before, and Van Gogh can head outdoors and be inspired by these gorgeous colours.Of course, he wasn’t only inspired by nature and its beauty. He was also heavily influenced by Japanese art, particularly woodcuts, and he sought to bring these elements into his work.
These vibrant sunflowers, influential as they are, are a true juxtaposition with Van Gogh’s life and it’s tragic nature. Not long after these paintings were produced, he passed away at age 37, underappreciated, undervalued and having received little recognition from the general public. Just imagine what he would think today.