Category: Travel

The Guitar Player (c.1670), Johannes Vermeer, London.

The Guitar Player (c.1670), Johannes Vermeer, London.

Johannes Vermeer (Netherlandish, 1632 – 1675)

Kenwood House, London

On the edge of Hampstead Heath and surrounded by tranquil landscaped gardens, Kenwood House is one of London’s hidden gems. The stately home has breathtaking interiors by Robert Adam and a stunning world-class art collection, which includes Vermeer’s ‘Guitar Player.

The Guitar Player (c.1670), Johannes Vermeer (Netherlandish, 1632 – 1675), 53x46cm, Kenwood House, London.

The Guitar Player properly demonstrates the energy of Vermeer’s late style, creating paintings that demonstrate dynamic poses and actions, implying that a movement (or in this case, sound) is taking place. In this painting, Vermeer depicts a young girl strumming a guitar. The instrument is placed comfortably on her lap while she plays near a window, sitting in the corner of a room. The young girl has an open expression that is joyous and flirtatious. The girl’s smile and tipped head, along with the fixed gaze on something just outside the painting suggests that she is playing not for us, but for an unseen individual. Her dress and hairstyle reflect the relevant fashions of the wealthy Dutch, in that day.

After Vermeer’s death in 1675, the painting stayed in Delft in the hands of Maria de Knuijt, his widow. In 1682, Maria gave the painting to their daughter, Magdalena van Ruijven. After Magdalena’s death, the painting was passed on to her widower, Jacob Abrahamsz Dissius. In 1696, the painting was auctioned off, went hrought various ownerships and has been on display at Kenwood House, London since the 1920s.

On February 23, 1974, someone stole the painting from Kenwood House and ransomed it for a deal to deliver and distribute over $1 million USD in food to the Caribbean island of Grenada, or the thief would destroy the painting. Following the threat, a small strip of the painting was sent to The Times in London. The painting was recovered by Scotland Yard in the cemetery of St Bartholomew-the-Great, in London’s financial district, on May 7, 1974. 

A period copy, A Lady Playing the Guitar, is in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Recent scholarship, as of June 2023, indicates the painting in the Philadelphia museum may be an original Vermeer work. Kenwood’s version could not be presented in the Rijksmuseum’s 2023 grand Vermeer exhibition, since its fragile condition made it too risky to travel. But, it can be seen at Kenwood House; without queues and not necessary to book tickets; and entrace is free!

Kenwood House, London.
  • Kenwood House is part of English Heritage; all details about opening times and visiting can be found here.
  • How to get to Kenwood House, click here. It’s 30 minutes walk from Highgate metro station, and that’s easily reached from central London.
Lamentation of Christ (c.1483), Mantegna, Milan.

Lamentation of Christ (c.1483), Mantegna, Milan.

Andrea Mantegna (Italian, 1431 – 1506)

Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan

Andrea Mantegna’s Lamentation of Christ, housed in the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan, is a portrayal of the aftermath of Christ’s crucifixion. Painted around 1483, it depicts the lifeless body of Jesus being mourned by the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene, and Saint John the Evangelist. The most striking aspect of the painting is Mantegna’s use of foreshortening to create a sense of depth and realism.

Lamentation of Christ (c.1483), Andrea Mantegna (Italian, 1431 – 1506), Tempera on Canvas, 68×81cm, Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan.

The painting was found in Mantegna’s studio at the time of his death, sold by his son Ludovico to Cardinal Sigismondo Gonzaga and inventoried among the property of the lords of Mantua in 1627.

The iconography of the work, probably intended for the artist’s private devotion, refers to the compositional scheme of the Lamentation over the Dead Christ, in which mourners are gathered around the body prepared for burial, laid out on the stone of unction and already anointed with perfumes.
The composition produces a great emotional impact, accentuated by the extreme foreshortening: Christ’s body is very close to the viewpoint of the observer who, looking at it, is drawn into the center of the drama; every detail is enhanced, the rigor mortis of the body and the wounds of the crucifixion.
It is an absolute peak in Mantegna’s production, a work whose expressive force and masterly handling of the illusion of perspective have made it one of the best-known symbols of the Italian Renaissance.

The Khan Academy has a beautiful video with explanation about Mantegna’s Lamentation of Christ. worth viewing before visiting.

  • The Pinacoteca di Brera is in the heart of Milan. For details about visiting, click here.
  • For directions, click here.
Basket of Fruit (c.1599), Caravaggio, Milan.

Basket of Fruit (c.1599), Caravaggio, Milan.

Caravaggio (Italian, 1571 – 1610)

Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan

The Pinacoteca Ambrosiana was established in April 1618, when Cardinal Federico Borromeo donated his collection of paintings, drawings and statues to the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, which he had founded in 1607. The museum consists of 24 rooms, where visitors can admire some of the greatest masterpieces of all time, and one of those is the Basket of Fruit or Canestra di Frutta by Caravaggio.

Basket of Fruit, Canestra di Frutta (c.1599), Caravaggio (Italian, 1571 – 1610), 68x55cm, Pinacoteca of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Milan.

This Basket of Fruit is probably the most famous painting in the collection of Cardinal Federico Borromeo, which formed the original nucleus of the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana. It is considered to be a sort of prototype of the “still life” genre. It shows a wicker basket brimming with fruit and leaves, rendered with great realism and attention to detail. This almost conflicts with the abstract neutral background of the painting and with the line of colour the basket itself is resting on, and from which it juts out. The founder of the Ambrosiana mentions this extraordinary painting many times in his writings and says he has searched in vain for a work that can bear comparison to it. But, he writes “for its incomparable beauty and excellence, it remained alone”. The painting has been interpreted in many different ways, some of which are religious: the extreme realism with which the fresh fruits are placed alongside those that are worm-eaten, and the leaves that gradually dry out and shrivel, give tangible form to the inexorable passing of time.

And when you are visiting the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, please do not forget to see Leonardo da Vinci’s only painting on panel to have remained in Milan, now called Portrait of a Musician.

Portrait of a Musician (c.1485), Leonardo da Vinci (Italian, 1452 – 1519), 45×32cm, Pinacoteca of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Milan.

Leonardo’s Portrait of a Musician was traditionally thought to depict Ludovico il Moro, Duke of Milan. In 1905, when restoration work removed the overpainting and uncovered the hand with a musical scroll in the lower part, it was suggested that this was the portrait of a Musician, at times identified as Franchino Gaffurio, chapel Master of the Duomo of Milan and at other times as the Franco Flemish singer and composer Josquin des Prez, both of whom worked in Milan at the time of Leonardo and Ludovico il Moro. Recently it has also been suggested that it is a portrait of Atalante Migliorotti, a Tuscan musician who was a friend of Leonardo and who came with him to the Duke’s court in Milan as a singer and talented lyrist. With other words, we don’t know who it is, but it’s a beautiful portrait for sure. And the queues are way less than for visiting Leonardo’s Last Supper!

San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane (1646), Borromini, Rome.

San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane (1646), Borromini, Rome.

Francesco Borromini (Italian, 1599 – 1667)

Rome

San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, also called San Carlino, is an iconic masterpiece of Baroque architecture. The church was designed by the architect Francesco Borromini, and it was his first commission. The church is built for the Spanish Trinitarians, an order dedicated to the freeing of Christian slaves.

San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane (1646), Francesco Borromini (Italian, 1599 – 1667), Rome.

In the 1630s, the monks of the Trinitarian Order were searching for an architect to build a church connecting their monastery. Francesco Borromini offered to complete the commission free of charge in order to start his career as a solo architect. The rise of baroque architecture prompted Borromini to bring his sculpture background to life by creating unexpected combinations of curves and rectangular forms in his work. Many baroque architects during the seventeenth century focused their design basis to fall in line with proportions of the human body. Borromini was non-classical in the sense that he based his designs on geometric figures. In San Carlino it all culminates in the dome with its geometrical patters.

San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane (1646), view into the dome, Francesco Borromini (Italian, 1599 – 1667), Rome.

Francesco Borromini (1599–1667) came from a lower-class background but quickly built a name for himself by taking on small commissions for churches around Europe. Borromini became known as a father of baroque architecture after completing his first solo project, the San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane. Borromini first found his interest in architecture through his travels to Milan, in which his father sent him to observe stonecutting. His interest lead to years of architectural and sculptural training which caused a growing debt to his father. Borromini fled to Rome to avoid his debt and found himself becoming an architectural star pupil under renowned Italian architect Carlo Maderno. Together, Maderno and Borromini worked side by side on numerous architectural giants, St. Peter’s Basilica, Palazzo Barberini, Sant’Andrea della Valle, until Maderno died and Borromini found himself working as a solo baroque architect.

San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane (1646), Floorplan, Francesco Borromini (Italian, 1599 – 1667), Rome.

Being inside this small church San Carlino and looking up towards the dome is a grand exprerience and makes one realise that Borromini is a top genius of architecture. This church, small as it is, is a masterpiece of the baroque era. For Saint Peter’s church one needs to queue for hours, San Carlino has no queues at all!

The Khan Academy has a great and very instructive video about San Carlino and the Trinitarians, who commissioned the church.

Balaam and the Donkey (1626), Rembrandt, Paris.

Balaam and the Donkey (1626), Rembrandt, Paris.

Rembrandt (Netherlandish, 1606 – 1669)

Musée Cognacq-Jay, Paris

This composition of Balaam and the Donkey, among the first known paintings by the Dutch master, is probably the oldest Rembrandt held in France. The story depicted by Rembrandt is about the prophet Balaam beating his donkey who subsequently speaks with a human voice and asks Balaam why he is beating her. The angel is a messenger from God, and it’s all about obeying God.

Balaam and the Donkey (1626), Rembrandt (Netherlandish, 1606 – 1669), 63x47cm, Musée Cognacq-Jay, Paris.

The story of Balaam and the donkey is found in the Book of Numbers in the Bible, specifically in Numbers 22:21-35. Balaam was a prophet known for his wisdom and consulted by many. Balak, the king of Moab, became concerned about the Israelites who were encamped near his territory. He feared they would conquer his land, so he sent messengers to Balaam, offering him rewards if he would curse the Israelites.

Initially, God instructed Balaam not to go with the messengers and not to curse the Israelites because they were blessed. However, when Balak’s messengers returned with more valuable offers, Balaam asked God again, and this time, God allowed him to go but instructed him to speak only what He told him.

As Balaam set out on his journey riding his donkey, an angel of the Lord appeared on the road with a drawn sword, blocking the donkey’s path. The donkey saw the angel but Balaam did not. The donkey veered off the road into a field to avoid the angel. The second time, the donkey pushed itself against a wall to make space for the angel, but crushing Balaam’s foot against that wall. Balaam beat the donkey and forced it back onto the road. Further along the road, the angel appeared again, this time in a narrow path with no room to turn aside. The donkey lay down under Balaam, frustrating him further. Again, Balaam beat the donkey.

Then, the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth, and it spoke to Balaam with a human voice, asking him why he had beaten it. Balaam, surprised but not recognizing the significance of a speaking donkey, answered as if it were a normal conversation. Eventually, God opened Balaam’s eyes to see the angel standing in the road, and he realized his error. The angel told Balaam that the donkey had saved his life by seeing the angel and that if the donkey had not turned aside, Balaam would have been killed.

The story serves as a reminder of God’s sovereignty and His ability to use any means to communicate His will, even through a donkey. It also emphasizes the importance of listening to God’s instructions and not being swayed by personal desires or external pressures.

Balaam and the Donkey (1622), Pieter Lastman (Netherlandish, 1583 – 1633), 41x60cm, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem.

This rare subject seems to be a traditional one in 16th century Dutch art, and Rembrandt was certainly familiar with an interpretation by Pieter Lastman, in whose studio he did his apprenticeship. The young painter seems to have been inspired by it in several respects: the moment of the story represented in the painting and the animal’s posture  – bent left paw, head turned towards its master and mouth open. However, many signs of Rembrandt’s art can already be detected in this canvas. The meticulous technique and sophisticated colours already give pride of place to the central light in his mature work.

The dramatic tension of Rembrandt’s scene is concentrated in the three main characters: Balaam, the donkey and the angel. The eye moves around the central group to discover two other pairs of figures, including a turbaned head that evokes the master’s incredible tronies (the Dutch word for “face”), which are drawings of faces with singular features and striking expressions. In the painting of fabrics and drapes for the prophet’s clothing, or the satchel full of leaves, we can already distinguish Rembrandt’s unique treatment of materials, combining the rendering of details with the thickness of the paint, a liquid paste with granulation effects.

  • Musée Cognacq-Jay, Paris, off the beaten track but in middle of the Marais, no queues, and free when no exhibition going on.
  • For directions, click here. Musée Picasso is around the corner.
Villa La Rotonda (1567), Palladio, Vicenza.

Villa La Rotonda (1567), Palladio, Vicenza.

Andrea Palladio (Italian, 1508 – 1580)

Vicenza, Italy

Villa La Rotonda is a Renaissance villa just outside Vicenza in Northern Italy designed by Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio. The villa’s official name is Villa Almerico Capra Valmarana, but it is mostly known as La Rotonda. Along with other works by Palladio, the building is conserved as part of the Unesco World Heritage Site City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto.

Villa La Rotonda (1567), Andrea Palladio (Italian, 1508 – 1580), Vicenza, Italy.

This house, was to be one of Palladio’s best-known legacies to the architectural world. Villa La Rotonda may have inspired a thousand subsequent buildings, like the White House in Washington D.C., but the villa was itself inspired by the Pantheon in Rome.

The name La Rotonda refers to the central circular hall with its dome. This and all other rooms were proportioned with mathematical precision according to Palladio’s rules of architecture which he published in I quattro libri dell’architettura. The design reflected the humanist values of Renaissance architecture.  From the porticos, views of the surrounding countryside can be seen; this is purposeful as the Villa was designed to be in harmony with the landscape. This was in contrast to such buildings as Villa Farnese (aka Villa Caprarola) of just 16 years earlier.

Villa La Rotonda (Villa Almerico Capra Valmarana), from I quattro libri dell’architettura, Andrea Palladio (Italian, 1508 – 1580), published in Venice, 1570, 29x20cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Building began in 1567. Neither Palladio nor the owner, Paolo Almerico, were to see the completion of the villa. Palladio died in 1580 and Vincenzo Scamozzi, after Palladio the most famous Renaissance architect of those days, was employed by the new owners to oversee the completion. 

The villa is now owned by Count Nicolò Valmarana. The interior is open to the public Friday through Sunday, and occasionally the Count will give tours.

  • Villa La Rotonda can be visited Friday, Saturday and Sunday, for all the details, click here.
  • The Villa can be reached early from Vicenza, it’s a 30 minutes walk from the station. For directions, click here.
Last Supper (1450), Andrea del Castagno, Florence, Italy.

Last Supper (1450), Andrea del Castagno, Florence, Italy.

Andrea del Castagno (Italian, 1420 – 1457)

Cenacolo di Sant’Apollonia, Florence

This Last Supper is a fresco by the Italian Renaissance artist Andrea del Castagno, located in the refectory of the convent of Sant’Apollonia, now the Museo di Cenacolo di Sant’Apollonia, and accessed through a door on Via Ventisette Aprile at the corner with Santa Reparata, in Florence. The painting depicts Jesus and the Apostles during the Last Supper, with Judas, unlike all the other apostles, sitting separately on the near side of the table, as is common in depictions of the Last Supper in Christian art.

Last Supper (1450), Andrea del Castagno (Italian, 1420 – 1457), fresco, 453x975cm, Museo di Cenacolo di Sant’Apollonia, Florence.

Sant’Apollonia was a Benedictine convent of cloistered nuns, and Castagno’s fresco was not publicly known until the convent was suppressed in 1866. Thus its exclusively female audience should be considered in analyzing the work. Castagno painted a large chamber with life-sized figures that confronted the nuns at every meal. The fresco would have served as a didactic image and an inspiration to meditation on their relationship with Jesus.

Although the Last Supper is described in all four Gospels, Castagno’s fresco seems most closely aligned with the account in the Gospel of John, in which eleven of the apostles are confused and the devil “enters” Judas when Jesus announces one of his followers will betray him. Saint John’s posture of innocent slumber neatly contrasts with Judas’s tense, upright pose and exaggeratedly pointed facial features. Except for Judas, Christ and his apostles, including the recumbent Saint John, all have a translucent disc of a halo above their heads.

Portrait of Andrea del Castagno, from the series “Serie degli Uomini i più illustri nella pittura, scultura e architettura” (c.1770), made by Giovanni Battista Cecchi, engraving, 17x12cm, British Museum, London.

Andrea del Castagno (1420 – 1457) was an Italian Renaissance painter in Florence, influenced chiefly by Masaccio and Giotto. In 1447 Castagno worked in the refectory of the Benedictine nuns at Sant’Apollonia in Florence, painting, in the lower part, a fresco of the Last Supper, accompanied above by other scenes portraying the Passion of Christ: the Crucifixion, Entombment, and Resurrection, which are now damaged. The fresco of the Last Supper is in an excellent state of conservation, in part because it remained behind a plaster wall for more than a century. Many important Florentine families had daughters in the convent at Sant’Apollonia, so painting there probably brought Andrea to Florentine fame. Del Castagno’s Last Supper may have been seen by Leonardo da Vinci before he painted his own Last Supper, about 50 years later. Castagno died of the plague in 1457. 

Museo di Cenacolo di Sant’Apollonia, Florence.
Last Supper (1525), Andrea del Sarto, Florence, Italy.

Last Supper (1525), Andrea del Sarto, Florence, Italy.

Andrea del Sarto (Italian, 1486 – 1531)

Cenacolo di Andrea del Sarto, Florence.

In the old refectory of the San Salvi monastery on the outskirts of Florence, Andrea del Sarto painted the life-like Last Supper. Initially, the artist painted the sub-arch, which took 18 days. Work was suspended for about fifteen years, and then he was called back to fresco the Last Supper properly and completed it in 46 days. During the siege of Florence it was one of the very few surviving works outside the walls of Florence, the only one of importance, and it seems that the imperial soldiers were so enchanted by its surprising modernity that they spared it. In 1534 the monastery became a female monastery and then a strict enclosure was introduced, which made the work de facto invisible until the monastery was suppressed. 

Last Supper (1525), Andrea del Sarto (Italian, 1486 – 1531), fresco, 468x871cm, Museo del Cenacolo di Andrea del Sarto, Florence.

At this Last Supper, the apostles are seated, shocked by the announcement of the betrayal just uttered by Jesus. Judas, as Leonardo already did in his Last Supper, is not separated from the table on this side as in so many other Last Suppers, but is at the right hand of Jesus, faithful to the Gospel text of John with his hand on his chest to demonstrate his disbelief, as he receives a piece of soaked bread from Jesus. Jesus had just told the group that one of them will betray him, the one he will rech out to with a piece of bread.

Selfportrait (1528), Andrea del Sarto (Italian, 1486 – 1531), fresco, 51x38cm, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.

Andrea del Sarto (1486 – 1530) was an Italian painter from Florence, whose career flourished during the High Renaissance and early Mannerism. Although highly regarded during his lifetime as an artist senza errori or without errors, his renown was eclipsed after his death by that of his contemporaries Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael.

Museo del Cenacolo di Andrea del Sarto, Florence.
Four Saints Altarpiece (1482), Filippino Lippi, Lucca, Italy.

Four Saints Altarpiece (1482), Filippino Lippi, Lucca, Italy.

Filippino Lippi (Italian, 1457 – 1504)

Lucca, Chiesa di San Michele in Foro

In 1482, Filippino Lippi painted the Fours Saints Altarpiece also known as the Pala Magrini; depicting the saints Roch, Sebastian, Jerome, and Helena. “Pala” is an Italian term used to refer to a single panel altarpiece. Filipino painted this altarpiece in “tempera”, a technique in which pigments are mixed with a water-soluble binder, typically egg yolk or egg white, to create a paint medium. Used before “oil painting” became popular. This beautiful painting can be seen in the Chiesa di San Michele in Foro, Lucca, Italy.

Pala Magrini or Four Saints Altarpiece (c.1483), Filippino Lippi (Italian, 1457 – 1504), 147x158cm, Chiesa di San Michele in Foro, Lucca, Italy.

The saints from left to right:

Saint Roch (San Rocco) is a Christian saint, often invoked against the plague. According to tradition, he cared for the sick during an outbreak of the plague in Italy, risking his own life. He is typically depicted with an enlarged lymph node on his thigh, symbolizing the plague, and with a pilgrim’s staff.

Saint Sebastian (San Sebastiano) is another Christian saint, known for his martyrdom, symbolized on the painting by the palm leave he is holding. He was a Roman soldier who converted to Christianity and was subsequently martyred for his faith. He is commonly depicted as a young man tied to a tree or column and pierced by arrows. Despite being left for dead, Sebastian survived and continued to profess his faith. Here he is recognoized by holding an arrow. 

Saint Jerome (San Girolamo) is one of the four Church Fathers and best known for his translation of the Bible into Latin, known as the Vulgate. He spent much of his life in study and contemplation, and he is often depicted with a lion, representing a famous legend in which he removed a thorn from the paw of a lion.

Saint Helena (Sant’Elena) was the mother of Emperor Constantine the Great. She is renowned for her pilgrimage to the Holy Land, where she is said to have discovered the True Cross, the cross upon which Jesus Christ was crucified. She is often depicted holding a cross.

A viewer from the 15th century, living in an era plagued by the Black Death, would interpret this altarpiece by reading it from left to right: Roch and Sebastian are depicted surviving wounds, reminiscent of the lesions caused by the plague. The message conveyed is that such salvation can be attained through faith in the Word of the Bible (represented by Jerome) and the Cross (depicted by Helena).

Portrait of Filippino Lippi, from the series “Serie degli Uomini i più illustri nella pittura, scultura e architettura” (c.1770), made by Cosimo Colombini, engraving, 17x12cm, British Museum, London.

Filippino Lippi – “Filippino” to avoid confusion with his father Fra Filippo Lippi – was an Italian Renaissance painter, born around 1457 in Florence, Italy, and died in 1504. He was the illegimate son of the renowned painter Fra Filippo Lippi. Filippino trained under his father’s guidance and later under Sandro Botticelli, another prominent Florentine artist. Filippino Lippi’s style was influenced by both his father and Botticelli. The figure of Helena on the Pala Magrini looks like Botticelli’s Primavera.

Chiesa di San Michele in Foro, Lucca, Italy.

The church of San Michele in Foro is a church located on Piazza San Michele in Lucca, Italy, on the site where the Roman forum was situated. It is particularly known for its richly decorated façade or front. Partly due to the use of various types and colors of marble on the exterior and the front, this church is considered by many Tuscans to be one of the most beautiful churches in Tuscany. In 1070, construction began by order of Pope Alexander II, who was bishop of Lucca for four years. However, it was never completed: because too much money was spent on the church’s facade, there was not much left for the rest of the church.

  • For directions, click here.