These four pictures are from a series illustrating stories from ancient Roman history. They show (top to bottom): ' The Attack on Cartagena', ' The Continence of Scipio', ' The Rape of the Sabines' & ' The Intervention of the Sabine Women'. Two other pictures from the same series are known: a ' Coriolanus' & a ' Scipio rewarding the Soldiers'. ' The Continence of Scipio' & ' Rape of the Sabines' were popular topics for illustration. The format of the pictures suggests they were made for the decoration of a room. The series is now thought to be the work of a minor Italian painter of the third quarter of the 16th century who was familiar with the work of Giulio Romano & Raphael, on whose styles they depend. ...

The story of the conversion of the Magdalene represented here is not told in the Gospels, but is implied by her actions towards Christ. The work is based on a lost fresco by Federico Zuccaro formerly in the Grimani chapel in S. Francesco della Vigna, Venice, & datable to the early 1560s. The composition was modified to incorporate portraits, presumably of members of Grimani's family. The painting was mentioned in Grimani's will. ...

This early work was probably produced for a noble patron in Verona. There has been much debate over the subject matter; however, it is now generally believed that the painting shows the conversion of Mary Magdalene. Concerned for her sister's spiritual health, Martha takes Mary to the Temple to hear Jesus preach. Veronese shows Mary blushing with shame & sunk to her knees as she is overcome by Christ's words. Her fashionably low-cut dress, inappropriate for a visit to the Temple, is emblematic of her formerly sinful life centered on vanity & pleasure. Converted by this encounter Mary then turns to a life of piety. The jewellery slipping from her neck foreshadows her subsequent renunciation of worldly goods. The scene depicted is absent from the Bible & the Golden Legend but narrated in Pietro Aretino's book 'L'umanità di Cristo' (1535). This publication was widely read in Northern Italy & probably constitutes the literary source for the painting. ...

This painting by a Cologne artist, together with ' The Mass of Saint Hubert' was one of the inside shutters of an altarpiece from the Benedictine Abbey at Werden, near Cologne. The outside shutters, depicting various saints, are also in the National Galler ...

The painting is unusual, though by no means unique, as a Dutch painting of the later 17th century representing a dramatic religious theme. Such subjects had been treated by Rembrandt &, in the earlier years of the century, by the Dutch followers of Cara ...

Create your own bespoke print of John Constable’s The Cornfield from our collection. About this painting The Cornfield, 1826 © The National Gallery, London This painting joined our collection in 1837 With our custom print service, you can order your own fully customised reproduction from the National Gallery Collection & exhibitions. Choose your own size, print material & frames & have your masterpiece delivered straight to your door. ...

The painting probably dates from shortly before Rottenhammer's move from Rome to Venice, about 1595/6, & is mentioned by his biographer, Carel van Mander (1604), who describes it as the first work to have brought fame to the painter. This meticulously e ...

The subject is more properly the Glorification of the Virgin, who is usually shown crowned by Christ & God the Father. Here the Virgin is crowned by angels (possibly as ' Regina angelorum'
- Queen of angels) & elements of the Assumption are mingled with those of the Glorification. The most evolved of Reni's treatments of the subject & generally dated about 1607.
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This was probably the central panel of an altarpiece, possibly from the church of San Giovanni de' Fieri near Pisa. It probably dates from the 1380s. Agnolo Gaddi, son of the painter Taddeo Gaddi, worked chiefly in Florence where the Coronation of the Virgin was an extremely popular subject for an altarpiece (see also ' The Coronation of the Virgin' by Jacopo di Cione & that by Lorenzo Monaco). The pink in Christ's robes & in the robes of the Virgin may have originally been richer & have faded with time. Many of the old retouchings have become discoloured. ...

The composition is based on the central panel of the ' Baroncelli Polyptych' signed by Giotto. Both have as their subject the coronation of the Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven, & intercessor for mankind. The surface of Daddi's painting, however, is more decorative than Giotto's, with a harmonious arrangement of gold-patterned pinks, whites & greys, dramatically contrasting with the bold celestial blue of Christ's robe. He also made the Virgin's pose deliberately ambiguous, so that we are unsure whether she is enthroned or kneeling in a posture of humility. This is the upper part of a panel that once had figures of four music-making angels & Saint John the Baptist & a deacon saint (probably Saint Stephen) in the lower part, which survives at Christ Church, Oxford. It is possible that this was a single independent panel, or that it was once part of a polyptych, made for the high altar of a church. ...