John Singer Sargent · Madame X · 1883–84
Look at her shoulders before you read on. Which strap did Sargent change after the portrait was shown in Paris in 1884?
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Sargent · 1883–84
Which strap was repainted, and why did Sargent keep the portrait for more than thirty years?
Madame X (Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau). Oil on canvas, 208.6 × 109.9 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Arthur Hoppock Hearn Fund, 1916. 16.53.
Velázquez · 1650
The man in this portrait was enslaved in the painter's workshop. What did Velázquez sign within months of finishing it?
Juan de Pareja (ca. 1608–1670). Oil on canvas, 81.3 × 69.9 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Purchase, Fletcher and Rogers Funds, and Bequest of Miss Adelaide Milton de Groot (1876–1967), by exchange, supplemented by gifts from friends of the Museum, 1971. 1971.86.
David · 1787
Plato sits at the foot of the bed. He was not there. Why did David paint him in?
The Death of Socrates. Oil on canvas, 129.5 × 196.2 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Collection, Wolfe Fund, 1931. 31.45.
Leutze · 1851
Look past Washington. Who else did Leutze put in the boat?
Washington Crossing the Delaware. Oil on canvas, 378.5 × 647.7 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Gift of John Stewart Kennedy, 1897. 97.34.
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