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Curated playlist

Oil paintings on canvas

  • Chandos portraitThe Chandos portrait is an oil painting thought to show William Shakespeare, who lived from 1564-1616. It dates from somewhere between 1600 and 1610. The National Portrait Gallery in London now owns it, yet the gallery will go no further…
  • A Philosopher Lecturing on the OrreryA lamp stands in for the Sun in Joseph Wright's 1766 painting of an orrery. Faces around it glow from below.
  • The PeacemakersThe Peacemakers, an 1868 painting, shows a meeting its artist never saw.
  • Bonaparte at the Pont d'ArcoleNapoleon reportedly sat in Josephine's lap so a painter could study him. The portrait is Bonaparte at the Pont d'Arcole.
  • Bonaparte, First ConsulIngres's 1804 portrait of Napoleon shows a cathedral that was being torn down. The painter showed it whole on purpose.
  • The Last Day of PompeiiSome Russians read The Last Day of Pompeii as a warning about Saint Petersburg. The painting shows Vesuvius erupting.
  • The Coronation of NapoleonNapoleon's mother sits in place of honor in a painting of a coronation she skipped. She stayed home in protest.
  • The Persistence of MemoryDalí said his melting watches came from a Camembert cheese melting in the sun.
  • Amor Vincit Omnia (Caravaggio)Caravaggio painted a grinning boy with eagle wings on a heap of crushed crowns, armor and instruments.
  • The Lament for IcarusIn the painting The Lament for Icarus, Icarus still has his wings. Nothing melted in Herbert James Draper's version.
  • The Third of May 1808Goya's painting The Third of May 1808 helped inspire the peace symbol. The 1958 design drew on the kneeling man.
  • Bonaparte Crossing the AlpsDelaroche painted Napoleon crossing the Alps on a mule, not a warhorse. A peasant leads him through snow.

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