Faith To Inspire

The Canadian galleries here at the National Gallery are undergoing a reorganization and should be open imminently, but while I was here to take in the Janvier exhibit, I went up to the world art galleries on the second level. I paused for a shot of the glass tower. A glimpse at the lower right will pick out the Parliament Buildings.

Since this is the Easter weekend, I have some appropriate material for the occasion. Christ Blessing is an oil painting circa 1505, whose artist is unknown, aside from being a follower of Giovanni Bellini. 

The Crucifixion is attributed to the French artist Jean Il Penicaud, dating circa 1550. It is enamel painted on copper. The minimal colour is typical of the artist, and the scene is all the more vivid for it.

This is another take on the subject. Flemish artist Quinten Massys painted The Crucifixion in oil around 1515. Mary, Mary Magdalene, and John are the figures at the base of the cross.

The Lamentation is from the workshop of Massys, an oil painting done around 1511. 

Christ And The Adulteress is an oil painting dating circa 1535-40 by the German artist Lucas Cranach the Elder. It shows Christ's rebuking of those who have gathered to challenge him to condemn an adulterous woman. He replies that whoever is without sin should be the first to throw a stone.

This is an oil painting done by the Italian Giovanni Busi, also called Cariani. Giovan Antonio Caravaggi was painted at some point between 1520-30. Little is known of the subject, but Cariani himself spent some years in the workshop of Bellini. 

Some of you might remember this 1545 oil painting I've shown before. Daniele Barbaro is a work by Tiziano Vecellio, better known as Titian. The artist was commissioned by Barbaro, a noble and scholar, for the job. There is another version of this portrait, likely done at the same time, in the Prado. This one has undergone extensive restorations in recent years- the work of art conservation is an art in and of itself.

I am finishing today with another portrait, an oil painting titled Portrait Of A Young Lady. Bartolomeo Veneto, the Italian artist, painted this circa 1520-30. The woman's name is lost to history, but she comes across as vividly depicted.