The sitter & the coat of arms at the upper left have not been identified. In the past the portrait has been described as being of a ' Medical Professor', presumably because of the presence of the skull. But in a 16th century work this is more likely to be intended as a 'memento mori' (reminder of the brevity of mortal life). When it was acquired by the Gallery this painting was attributed to Holbein. Subsequently it has been described as German, Netherlandish & as a work by Neufchâtel. It has also been suggested that the painting is a fake of the early 19th century, but this is not the case. ...

The man's white tunic is trimmed with gold. His wreath & the background are also gold. The painting is from the case of a mummy. It was found near the village of Er-Rubiyat, north-east of Medinet-el-Faiyum. ...

X-ray photographs reveal that the dog & dead game have been painted over the figure of a wounded man lying on the ground. These alterations must have been made after 1825, when it was included in a sale in its original state. The painting is an early wor ...

The sitter holds a paper with an inscription from the Old Testament in his right h&. On the forefinger of his left hand he wears two rings, the upper one of which appears to show the arms of the Strauss family (the other ring seems to have shown another ...

The painting perhaps shows a mathematician; it is likely that the inscription has been incorrectly repainted & should read ' Elementum' or ' Elementa'
- a book of the elements of mathematics. The paper beneath the book (now rubbed) suggests an astronomica
...

This painting was traditionally thought to be by Rembrandt, & then until 1960 was attributed to Segers. It is now considered to be the work of an imitator of Segers's etchings. There are two or three other paintings by the same hand as this work, for ex ...

Roghman lived & worked in Amsterdam, & was a close friend of Rembrandt. This landscape is attributed to him on the basis of comparison with a signed painting, ' Mountainous Landscape with Fisherman' in Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum). ...

Tura became the favoured court artist of the Este family in the late 1450s. He was paid a monthly salary to paint anything from heraldry to fresco cycles. He also designed silverware & tapestries. He was the foremost painter of a series of pictures of the Muses for a 'studiolo' or study at the Este castle of Belfiore near Ferrara. This picture is thought to be one of the series. It would have been displayed high up in a room, hence the low vanishing-point. There are a number of pictures by Tura & associated artists which are thought to be part of the set. Underneath the figure, which is painted in oils, is an earlier painting in tempera, of a figure on a throne of organ pipes. This was probably Euterpe 'discoverer of pipes'. Identifications can be difficult because Tura did not stick closely to his brief. The theme of fertility suggests that the final figure may be Polyhymnia, the muse who discovered the cultivation of the fields. ...

The depiction of elegantly dressed people singing & playing music often refers to courtship & the harmony of love. The pleasures of music are set against those of food, wine & tobacco. With the exception of one portrait, van Velsen painted only genr ...

The woman is playing a viola da gamba; the man with his back to the viewer, a lute; the man on the right, a flute; & the standing man, a violin. A figure of a boy in the background was painted out when the painting was cleaned in 1969-70, because it was ...