When we are travelling to London, it has not completed yet if we do not go to National Gallery. In that place, there are many great paintings that we can enjoy. Some of them are:
Virgin and Child with St Anne and John the Baptist
This full-size drawing for a painting, known as a cartoon (from cartone, a large sheet of paper), is one of the masterpieces of the Renaissance, by Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519).
The Arnolfini Portrait
One of the most famous paintings from the extensive Flemish collection is this unusual and masterly portrait of an Italian banker and his wife in Bruges. Jan van Eyck (1389–1441) brought oil painting to a new and colourful height.
The Ambassadors
Full of symbols and hidden meaning, this painting by Hans Holbein (1533) has a foreshortened skull in the foreground.
Rokeby Venus
Painted in Rome to replace a lost Venetian painting, the Rokeby Venus is the only nude by Diego Velázquez (1599–1660), court painter to Spain’s Philip IV.
The Wilton Diptych
A highlight of Gothic art, this exquisite English royal painting, by an unknown artist, shows
Richard II being recommended to the Virgin by saints John the Baptist, Edward and Edmund.
Supper at Emmaus
A master of light and shade, Caravaggio (1573–1610) painted without preliminary drawings and used contemporary costumes and settings to produce a vivid realism.
Young Woman Standing at a Virginal
Peace and calm rule the works of the Dutch painter Jan Vermeer (1632–75). Many of his interiors were painted in his home in Delft, but it has never been possible to identify his models.
Bathers at La Grenouillière
Claude Monet (1840–1926), the original Impressionist, explored the effect of light on water at La Grenouillière, a popular bathing spot on the Seine, where he worked alongside Auguste Renoir.