The fragments of this altarpiece are mounted in a 19th-century frame. In the main panels are, from the left, Saints Michael & John the Baptist, & on the right, a bishop & a female martyr. The Archangel Gabriel & the Annunciate Virgin are depicted ...

On the left are a Bishop Saint & Saint Nicholas of Tolentino; on the right, Saints Bartholomew & Monica (the mother of Saint Augustine). The triptych is said to come from the Augustinian church of S. Spirito, Florence; & contains Augustinian saints. ...

The bishop saint shown here has not been identified; he holds a book. This, alongside a beardless ' Saint' & a ' Saint' with a beard, is one of three fresco fragments (now transferred to canvas) in the Collection which perhaps once formed part of the framing of some large composition. They are said to have come from the so-called Palazzo del Podestà, Assisi. Formerly ascribed to followers of Pietro Cavallini, they appear to be works of the middle or even late 14th century. ...

Along with paintings of Saints Peter, Jerome & Paul, this panel formed part of the upper tier of a polyptych (altarpiece consisting of several panels) of about 1470. Zoppo's artistic training was in Padua, where he was much influenced by Mantegna, but he ...

This painting has been variously attributed to Delacroix, Fromentin & to Marie-Guillemine Benoist. Although now unattributed, it is thought to be by a French hand & of the later 19th century. ...

The woman seems to unveil her charms & as she does so offers us flowers
- this is perhaps a poetic allusion to the goddess Flora
...

The artist is recorded only by her signature on this work. She is thought to have been French & to have lived in the 17th century. The flowers depicted include a yellow narcissus &, near the centre, 'primula auricula'. The large white flower hanging over the front of the terracotta pot may be 'viburnum lantana'. ...

It has recently been suggested that this painting serves as a warning against foolish & mischievous behaviour. The boy has used the small eel to entice the cat into his grasp & then withholds the bait, while the girl teases the cat further by pulling its tail. Judging by its extended claws the cat is about to scratch the boy. The picture thus seems to allude to the Dutch saying: ' He who plays with cats gets scratched', meaning he who looks for trouble will get it. It was common in Dutch 17th-century painting to use children in order to point out the foolish behaviour of adults. Judith Leyster, a painter of genre scenes, portraits & still lifes, was mainly active in Haarlem & Amsterdam. In 1636 she married the painter Jan Molenaer, whose works are also represented in the Collection. ...

This picture is attributed to Calraet because of its closeness in style to signed paintings by him. It does, however, bear a false Cuyp signature & in the past has been catalogued as his work. The horse in particular appears in pictures by both artists. ...

The boy is reading, having put down the book at his feet in which he was drawing a cast of the Christ Child from Michelangelo's statue of the Virgin & Child (Bruges, Notre Dame), known as ' The Bruges Madonna'. This is probably an early copy of the paint ...