Anton Raphael Mengs, son of Ismael Israel Mengs (1688–1764), a Dresden court painter who had converted to Protestantism, was a pioneer of the neoclassical style. In his time, he was celebrated as the greatest living painter. Among Mengs’s most notable works are the ceiling fresco Parnassus with Apollo and the Muses (1759) in the Villa Albani in Rome and the frescoes he painted for Charles III at the Palacio Real in Madrid (1762–1769 and 1774–1775). Mengs published a number of volumes on art, including the influential handbook for painters Thoughts on Beauty and Taste in Painting (1762).
Isabel María Parreño Arce y Valdés (1759–1822), the Marquesa de Llano, had her portrait painted by Anton Raphael Mengs, in Parma, Italy, where her husband was the ambassador from Spain. At the time…
Commandment II is from a series of forged-iron sculptures Kirili began in the late 1970s. They are among his best-known works and reflect his strong interest in religious concepts and ancient texts…
Ezekiel Katzenellenbogen (ca. 1670–1749) was a rabbi in Altona. His gravestone bears a relief of open books and is inscribed with the titles of his works, each playing on a scriptural phrase involving…