Provenance

Robert Grosvenor, 1st marquis of Westminster

British, 1767 - 1845

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Several people sit, stand, or stroll along a dirt road that winds from the lower left corner of this horizontal landscape painting into the distance, past trees and cottages under a vivid blue sky. The horizon line comes about a third of the way up the canvas, and the cloud studded, azure-blue sky fills the space above. Sunlight filtered through puffy white and steel-gray clouds illuminates the scene from the upper right, creating patches of light and shadow throughout. The road meanders through the center of the composition and is lined with dark and sage-green shrubs, scrubby growth, and gnarled, crooked trees. Closest to us and to our left, two tan cottages are tucked into deep shade created by a grove of several tall trees. The cottages have steeply pitched roofs and windows flanked by gray or brick-red shutters. Three people sit and stand near the path outside the closest building. A short distance to our right, a man sitting on a fallen log carries walking stick and a bundle on his back. His body faces us but his head is turned to our right to gaze toward the man and woman about to stroll past him, headed in our direction. The woman wears a black dress over a white skirt, and a white head covering and shawl. The man wears a brimmed hat with a red decoration, a brown coat with gold buttons down the front and a wide white collar, and heeled shoes. Beyond them, the road curves to our left around a small pond in front of the second cottage. Two people crouch to set a toy sailboat afloat by the edge of the pond, and a brown dog sniffs the ground nearby. Two more people stand talking at the doorway to the second cottage and another dog leaps up at the half-door. Further along the road, the light becomes stronger, illuminating a horse, rider, and another person walking alongside the horse. The road continues to curve around a butter-yellow cottage nestled in a grove of trees on the right. A sunny field is visible in the far distance.
Meindert Hobbema, A View on a High Road, 1665, oil on canvas, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1937.1.62

A View on a High Road

Meindert Hobbema · 1665 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1937.1.62

A winged angel strides toward a young woman who kneels at the foot of a bed, while an older, bearded man, surrounded by several winged babies and a dove, hover overhead in this vertical painting. All the people have pale skin. To our left, the blond angel steps forward on his right, sandaled foot. He holds a long stem with a white lily in his left hand, farther from us, and raises his other hand to the sky. His charcoal-gray wings are partly extended, and he wears long, flowing, goldenrod-yellow and sage-green garments with a green and blue striped sash wrapped around his chest. His lips are parted, and he looks toward the woman to our right. The woman, Mary, kneels at a wooden lectern that holds an open book near the foot of the bed. Pillows and a moss-green bed curtain are visible behind her. A cobalt-blue mantle drapes across her shoulders and wraps around her rust-red gown and caramel-brown shawl. Mary’s brown hair is partially covered by a golden brown cloth, and her dark eyes are lowered, looking down to our left. Her body is angled to our right, hands crossed over her chest, but her shoulders and head have begun to turn to look back at the angel. Almost lost in shadow, a translucent glass vase with a single stem of rose-red buds sits on the ground next to her. The floor is covered with geometric patterns in tones of brown, gray, and black. A balustrade under arched openings encloses the room beyond the bed. At the foot of one column, a striped cat laps from a saucer. Floating above the pair the bearded man looks down toward Mary, his hands and arms extended in front of him. He also wears a cobalt-blue robe over rose-pink sleeves. Two winged, nude babies cling to his outstretched arms, and also look down at Mary. A trio of three blond baby heads float around the white dove, which flies in a starburst of light. Midnight-blue wings frame each baby’s head. The entire group is surrounded by puffy, golden clouds. The landscape beyond the balustrade has lush green trees under a sapphire-blue sky sprinkled with clouds.
Veronese, Italian 16th Century, The Annunciation, c. 1583/1584, oil on canvas, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1959.9.6

The Annunciation

Veronese, Italian 16th Century · c. 1583/1584 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1959.9.6

We hover low over a body of choppy water in front of several rowboats filled to capacity with light-skinned men jostling and fighting each other amid larger wooden ships in this horizontal painting of a naval battle. The water transitions from tan and pale green near us to sage green in the background. A few of the men are bare-chested but most wear a wide range of colorful military uniforms or the full-sleeved shirts of sailors. A few vignettes within the bustling, action-filled boats draw our attention. For instance, at the center of the hubbub, two men wearing white shirts lean over the stern of a crowded boat, pulling two submerged men out of the water. Three other men float nearby, only their heads peeking above the water. In the same boat, another rescuer reaches for a man in the water, while yet another has pulled an unconscious or lifeless man into his arms. That rowboat bumps into several others filled with men weilding swords, long muskets, and perhaps spears. Much of the activity swirls around two men who stand in the boats to our right. One man wearing a fawn-brown uniform with gold embellishments, a white neck cloth, and a brown hat with red feathers brandishes a sword as he seizes the shirttails of a man wearing blue. The man in blue steps into another boat and clutches the mast as he raises his own sword up over his head. With eyes and mouth wide open, he looks over his shoulder toward the man in brown. Boats to our left are also filled with men but they sit in orderly rows. One man wearing a rust-orange suit and white plumed hat holds a sword in front of his body and raises his other pointer finger. A man blows a long horn behind the standing man. Other rowboats fill the space behind these, and surround three large wooden, ornately carved and decorated ships beyond. The carved insignia of the rightmost ship looms close to us along the right edge of the canvas; boats swarm around another ship in the distance at center; and flame and smoke billow from the ship to our left.
Benjamin West, The Battle of La Hogue, 1778, oil on canvas, Andrew W. Mellon Fund, 1959.8.1

The Battle of La Hogue

Benjamin West · 1778 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1959.8.1