The St. Gothard Mail Coach by Johann Rudolf Koller
Switzerland, 1873
Painting, Oil on canvas
via missfolly
Temptation (Detail) by Michelangelo
Vatican, 1510
Fresco
Sistine Chapel Ceiling, Vatican, Rome
via cavetocanvas
Medusa (Detail) by Caravaggio
Italy, 1598-1599
Painting, Oil on canvas mounted on wood
Galleria degli Uffizi (Florence, Italy)
via welovepaintings
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In Greek myth, Perseus used the severed snake-haired head of the Gorgon Medusa as a shield with which to turn his enemies to stone. By the sixteenth century Medusa was said to symbolize the triumph of reason over the senses; and this may have been why Cardinal Del Monte commissioned Caravaggio to paint Medusa as the figure on a ceremonial shield presented in 1601 to Ferdinand I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. The poet Marino claimed that it symbolized the Duke’s courage in defeating his enemies.
Web Gallery of Art
(Source: avengered)
Portrait of princess Marthe-Lucile Bibesco (Detail) by Giovanni Boldini
Italy, 1911
Painting, Oil on canvas
via paintingispoetry
(via welovepaintings)
