Sandro Botticelli | The Virgin and Child with a Pomegranate, 1480-1500

The Virgin Mary stands with her infant son, Christ, in the corner of a large but sparsely decorated room.

He is balanced on a small table, the only piece of furniture, but is dangerously close to its edge; a closed book further restricts the space available to him.

The Virgin uses both hands to support his left leg as he leans forward. His translucent robe hardly provides protection.

The grey colour of the walls evokes a sandstone known as pietra serena, a common building material in Renaissance Florence.

Sandro Botticelli | The Virgin and Child with a Pomegranate, 1480-1500 | National Gallery, London

Hugo Salmson | Something in the air

Hugo Fredrik Salmson (1843-1894) was a Swedish painter, known for figures and genre scenes.

Salmson was born in Stockholm, Sweden.

He was the son of Fredrik Ludvig Salmson, a wholesaler, and his wife Maria Perlberg. He initially studied business, but soon decided on an artistic career.

In 1862, he began his studies at the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts where he was trained by Johan Christoffer Boklund.

Albrecht Dürer | The Madonna with the Iris, 1500-10

The Virgin Mary breastfeeds the infant Christ in a walled garden surrounded by flowers.

God the Father, a small figure radiating light, appears in the sky above.

The image of the Virgin and Christ Child in a garden was derived from the poetic imagery of the Song of Solomon, a book of the Old Testament.

In it, a woman is described as a lily and a rose as well as an enclosed garden (which, when associated with Mary, came to symbolise her virginity).

Eduardo Naranjo, 1944

Eduardo Naranjo, uno dei più grandi pittori Spagnoli, è nato a Monastero (Badajoz).

Incontra nel 1957 il suo maestro Eduardo Acosta e si iscrive alla Scuola di Arti e Mestieri, dove studia fino al 1960.

Nello stesso anno entrò alla Scuola di Belle Arti di Santa Elisabetta d'Ungheria.

Nel 1961 si trasferisce a studiare alla Escuela de Bellas Artes de San Fernando di Madrid, ed è lì che la sua formazione termina con la pittura.

Ambrogio Alciati | The kiss, 1917

The Italian Ambrogio Alciati (1878-1929) was a well-known portrait painter at the beginning of the 20th century, who mainly found his clients among the wealthy Milanese bourgeoisie.

He owed his popularity to his talent to get through to the character of those portrayed.

This gift led in his free work - especially female figures and genre pieces - to the expression of deeply felt human emotions such as passion and emotion.

Antonio Ambrogio Alciati | Convegno, 1918 | Museo del Paesaggio, Verbania

Nato a Vercelli nel 1878, Antonio Ambrogio Alciati (1878-1929) si trasferisce con la madre e la sorella nel 1879 a Milano per frequentare l’Accademia di Brera, dove riceve gli insegnamenti di Vespasiano Bignami, Giuseppe Mentessi e Cesare Tallone.

Quest’ultimo lo aiuta a perfezionarsi nel ritratto, introducendolo fra la ricca borghesia milanese.

Tra il 1902 e il 1910 esegue una serie di quadri d’ispirazione romantica e familiare, ma si dedica anche alla decorazione di chiese e ville lombarde, mentre nel secondo decennio del secolo il suo stile si evolve abbandonando le tonalità sfumate e la gamma spenta che rasenta il monocromo, per acquistare gradatamente un maggior vigore costruttivo e un vivace cromatismo.

Odilon Redon - Still Life