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Eyes to behold stunning artworks in world-class museums.

From 16th Century To 17th Century

  • Yoel Davis

Yoel Davis

•5 min read
Flemish, Siegen 1577–1640 Antwerp / The Met

    This sensitive portrait on copper is one of Rubens's earliest known works.
    The square and dividers may refer to architecture or geography, while the watch is a reminder of mortality.
    The square and dividers may refer to architecture or geography, while the watch is a reminder of mortality.

Reliquary

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts / The Met

    The reliquary takes the architectural form of a two-story altar, with a shell niche in the upper story framing enameled figures of the Crucifixion.
    The lower story contains a rock-crystal cylinder displaying a cross that was believed to incorporate a fragment of the true cross, and the capsule below contains a supposed relic of the sponge held to Christ's mouth when he was on the cross.
    The upper mount of the cylinder is engraved "LIGNUM. CRUCIS. SPONGIA. SAL[UTA]IS" (The wood of the cross; the alleviating sponge).

Christ Healing the Blind

Greek, Iráklion (Candia) 1541–1614 Toledo / The Met

    El Greco painted this masterpiece of dramatic storytelling either in Venice or in Rome, where he worked after leaving Crete in 1567 and before moving to Spain in 1576.
    It illustrates the Gospel account of Christ healing a blind man by anointing his eyes.
    The two figures in the foreground may be the blind man's parents.
    The upper left portion of the composition is unfinished.
    El Greco painted two other versions of the subject, and seems to have taken this one with him to Spain.

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From 14th Century To 15th Century

From 14th Century To 15th Century

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From 1819 To 1826

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From 1787 To 1800

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