| National Gallery of Art

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Admission is always free

6th and Constitution Ave NW
Washington, DC 20565

Must-Sees at the National Gallery

Make the most of your visit
Learn more
Exhibitions & Events
America’s 250th

Celebrating American art and artists
Art & Artists
West to East

Discover how artists across America have been inspired by the places they call home.
Start the series

Open 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

Visit
Admission is always free

6th and Constitution Ave NW
Washington, DC 20565

Must-Sees at the National Gallery

Make the most of your visit
Learn more
Exhibitions & Events
America’s 250th

Celebrating American art and artists
Art & Artists
West to East

Discover how artists across America have been inspired by the places they call home.
Start the series

Scholarly Article

French Paintings of the Fifteenth through Eighteenth Centuries: Young Girl Reading, c. 1769

by:

Yuriko Jackall

Scholarly Article

French Paintings of the Fifteenth through Eighteenth Centuries: Ceres (Summer), c. 1717/1718

by:

Philip Conisbee

Scholarly Article

Italian Paintings of the Sixteenth Century: Doge Alvise Mocenigo and Family before the Madonna and Child, c. 1575

by:

Robert Echols

Scholarly Article

Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century: Vase of Flowers, c. 1660

Scholarly Article

American Paintings, 1900–1945: Edith Reynolds, 1908

by:

Robert Torchia

Scholarly Article

American Paintings, 1900–1945: The Fire Boss, 1925

by:

Robert Torchia

Scholarly Article

American Paintings, 1900–1945: The Bersaglieri, 1918

by:

Robert Torchia

Scholarly Article

French Paintings of the Fifteenth through Eighteenth Centuries: The Italian Comedians, probably 1720

A man wearing loose, ivory-white clothing stands flanked by two groups of people in this horizontal painting. All the people have pale or peachy skin except for one person, who may have a brown mask. The man in the center, representing the character Pierrot, stands facing us with his hands by his sides. He has slightly bulging eyes, a bulbous nose, ruddy cheeks, and his full pink lips slightly smile. He wears a straw hat pushed back on his high forehead and a narrow ruffled collar around his neck. His shirt has long, voluminous sleeves and a row of small white buttons down the front. The pants are baggy and end abruptly above his white-stockinged ankles over white slippers. The fabric seems to have a sheen. In the shallow space behind him, a stone wall curves toward us to either side of a doorway that leads to a park-like setting. A crimson-red curtain is pulled to our right. Pierrot stands on the top of two steps, and the people to either side are arranged along the stage or the step that runs close to the bottom edge of the canvas. A spray of white flowers drapes down the front of the steps to our right of center. The group to our left has eight men, women, and children. Closest to us and in the lower left corner, a young man wearing a tomato-red jester’s costume trimmed with bells sits on the steps as he twists and looks back at the scene behind him. He holds a scepter or puppet in the shape of a doll-like jester. Two children gather at his feet. One weaves stems of white flowers together, and the other looks at us, smiling. Just above them another cleanshaven young man sits holding a lute in his lap. He wears a brick-red coat, brown breeches, and slate-blue stockings over crossed legs. He leans back and looks up and to our left, his round cheeks flushed. At the back of this group, two people wear tan-colored costumes covered in muted green and pink diamond shapes, and one might wear a brown mask. That person’s pink lips, black mustache and eyebrows, and black dots for eyes appear painted onto a hard, molded surface. The group of six people to our right stand on the same level as Pierrot. At the front of that group, a heavyset young man wears a gold-colored costume trimmed with black and a waist-length, Wedgewood-blue cape. He faces us but looks to our right as he leans back with one arm extended toward Pierrot. Beyond him are two woman and another person shown only from the neck up. The woman closest to Pierrot wears a pewter-gray gown with a scooped neckline. To the right of the man in gold is an old man with a long beard, wearing a black skullcap and cloak. He leans on a short staff and turns his head to look at the group. The last person on the far right is shown from the neck up and stands before the red curtain hanging from the upper right.

Scholarly Article

American Paintings, 1900–1945: Chester Dale, 1922

by:

Robert Torchia

This painting shows a man from the waist up, his body turned slightly to the right. He stands upright, looking at the viewer, holding a golf club or cane horizontally with both hands. The man has a neutral facial expression and a light complexion, a blond mustache, and neatly combed blond hair. He wears a white shirt under a pale yellow sweater and a brown coat, along with a red bow tie. He also has a long, multi-colored scarf draped over his shoulders with red and green stripes visible. The background is gray and becomes slightly lighter around the man's head and darker around the edges.

Scholarly Article

Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century: Girl with a Flute, c. 1669/1675

by:

Marjorie E. Wieseman