The 100 Most Famous Paintings in the World

The most famous painting in the world is Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci (c. 1503–1506), at the Louvre Museum in Paris.

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The hundred paintings

100 paintings

  1. Mona Lisa, by Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1503–1506, oil on poplar panel and wood. No. 1 Mona LisaLeonardo da Vincic. 1503–1506Louvre MuseumParis 79 × 53 cm From $449.95 at 61 × 76 cm

    No. 1

    Mona Lisa

    Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1503–1506

    Movement
    Italian Renaissance
    Medium
    Oil on poplar panel and wood
    Size
    79 × 53 cm (31 × 21 in), height by widthA1 poster
    Museum
    Louvre Museum
    Where it is
    Paris, France
    Accession no.
    INV 779
    Palette
    • #150a0a
    • #5e3a17
    • #ab7a2a
    • #311a0d
    • #e2af3c
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    In 1911 the painting was still little known outside the art world. On 21 August a Louvre employee, Vincenzo Peruggia, locked himself in the building and walked out with it. The theft and the recovery two years later produced publicity no art crime had drawn before.

    Note

    Leonardo drew no outlines. The soft blending he used, known as sfumato, leaves the corners of the mouth and the corners of the eyes ambiguous, and that is where the expression seems to change.

    The story

    Giorgio Vasari wrote that Leonardo took on the portrait of Lisa del Giocondo for her husband Francesco, a Florentine silk merchant, and that after four years he left it unfinished. Leonardo never handed the picture over. Francis I acquired it after the painter died in 1519.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $449.95At 61 × 76 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  2. The Starry Night, by Vincent van Gogh, 1889, oil on canvas. No. 2 The Starry NightVincent van Gogh1889Museum of Modern ArtNew York City 74 × 92 cm From $549.95 at 102 × 76 cm

    No. 2

    The Starry Night

    Vincent van Gogh, 1889

    Movement
    Post-impressionism
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    74 × 92 cm (29 × 36 in), height by widthJust over A1 poster
    Where it is
    New York City, United States
    Accession no.
    472.1941
    Palette
    • #5d7797
    • #384c71
    • #202221
    • #7e8e8e
    • #a0aca4
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    Van Gogh painted the view from his asylum window at Saint-Rémy in June 1889 and then called the picture a failure in a letter to Émile Bernard. Fame came later. Critics describe it as a touchstone of modern art, and it is one of the most recognizable paintings in the Western canon.

    Note

    The sky includes Venus, which was visible from Saint-Rémy at the time, while the moon is not rendered accurately. The cypresses in the foreground are larger than in Van Gogh's other views of the same field.

    The story

    Theo van Gogh inherited the canvas, and after his death his widow Jo sold it in Paris in 1900. It passed through Julien Leclercq, Émile Schuffenecker and a Rotterdam owner before Paul Rosenberg bought it in 1938 and sold it to the Museum of Modern Art in 1941.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $549.95At 102 × 76 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  3. The School of Athens, by Raphael, Fresco, 1512 No. 3 The School of AthensRaphael1512Vatican MuseumsVatican City 550 × 770 cm Not for sale

    No. 3

    The School of Athens

    Raphael, 1512

    Movement
    High Renaissance
    Medium
    Fresco
    Size
    550 × 770 cm (217 × 303 in), height by widthWider than a wall
    Where it is
    Vatican City, Vatican City
    Accession no.
    6306a.
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    Julius II hired Raphael to decorate the rooms of the Apostolic Palace, and this wall stands for philosophy in a set of four that divide human knowledge. Raphael used the perspective he had learned from Leonardo, and the ancient thinkers carry the faces of artists he knew in Rome.

    Note

    At the centre Plato points up, holding his Timaeus, while Aristotle holds the Ethics and gestures out along the floor. Plato is thought to carry Leonardo's face and Heraclitus Michelangelo's. Raphael put himself beside Ptolemy.

    The story

    The Stanza della Segnatura was the first room decorated, and this fresco is thought to be the third finished there, after the theology wall and the Parnassus. Vasari says Bramante helped Raphael with the architecture, which came out close to the new Saint Peter's then under construction.

    Sources for this entry

    Not for sale: Fresco

  4. The Last Supper, by Leonardo da Vinci, Tempera on gesso, 1490s No. 4 The Last SupperLeonardo da Vinci1490sSanta Maria delle GrazieMilan 700 × 880 cm Not for sale

    No. 4

    The Last Supper

    Leonardo da Vinci, 1490s

    Movement
    Renaissance
    Medium
    Tempera on gesso
    Size
    700 × 880 cm (276 × 346 in), height by widthWider than a wall
    Where it is
    Milan, Italy
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    Leonardo caught the table at the second after Jesus says one of the twelve will betray him, and the reactions run down the whole wall. He painted in tempera on dry plaster rather than in fresco, so it began to flake within twenty years and has been fought over by restorers ever since.

    Note

    Judas is the only figure with an elbow on the table, and his head is the lowest in the room. He clutches a small bag and has knocked over the salt cellar.

    The story

    Ludovico Sforza commissioned the wall for a family mausoleum. The prior of the convent complained about the delay, and Leonardo answered that he was still hunting for a face villainous enough for Judas, adding that if he found none he would use the prior's own features.

    Sources for this entry

    Not for sale: Mural

  5. Guernica by Pablo Picasso, a grey, black and white scene of a screaming horse at the centre, a bull standing over a woman who holds a dead child, a severed arm gripping a broken sword, and a lamp shaped like an eye overhead. No. 5 GuernicaPablo Picasso1937Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina SofíaMadrid 349 × 776 cm Not for sale

    No. 5

    Guernica

    Pablo Picasso, 1937

    Movement
    cubism
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    349 × 776 cm (137 × 306 in), height by widthWider than a wall
    Where it is
    Madrid, Spain
    Accession no.
    DE00050
    Rights
    Under copyright until 2044

    Why it is famous

    Picasso answered the bombing of a Basque town on 26 April 1937 by German and Italian aircraft. The canvas hung in the Spanish pavilion at the Paris International Exposition that summer, then toured to raise money for war relief, carrying news of the attack far beyond Spain.

    Note

    A bare bulb shaped like an eye burns over the horse. Below it a severed arm grips a broken sword, and a flower grows from the blade. The horse's nostrils and upper teeth read as a human skull.

    The story

    Dora Maar found the studio on Rue des Grands-Augustins that was large enough for the canvas, and photographed every stage of the work over thirty six days. Picasso finished on 4 June 1937. He later left the painting with the Museum of Modern Art until democracy returned to Spain.

    Sources for this entry

    Not for sale: Copyright until 2044

  6. The Scream, by Edvard Munch, 1893, tempera and wax crayon on cardboard. No. 6 The ScreamEdvard Munch1893National Museum of Art, Architecture and DesignOslo 91 × 74 cm From $549.95 at 76 × 102 cm

    No. 6

    The Scream

    Edvard Munch, 1893

    Movement
    Expressionism
    Medium
    Tempera and wax crayon on cardboard
    Size
    91 × 74 cm (36 × 29 in), height by widthJust over A1 poster
    Where it is
    Oslo, Norway
    Accession no.
    NG.M.00939
    Palette
    • #aa7441
    • #5e4d35
    • #151d19
    • #ce4d12
    • #3b463a
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file
    Auction record
    Sold for US$119.9 million at Sotheby's in 2012

    Why it is famous

    Munch said he was out walking at sunset when the light turned the clouds blood red and he sensed an infinite scream passing through nature. Both painted versions have been stolen from museums and both were recovered. A pastel version sold for almost 120 million dollars in 2012.

    Note

    In the upper left corner of the 1893 version there is a sentence in pencil, in small letters: could only have been painted by a madman. Study of the handwriting shows that Munch added it himself.

    The story

    Two men broke into the National Gallery in Oslo on 12 February 1994, the opening day of the Lillehammer Olympics, and left a note thanking the museum for its poor security. Police recovered the painting undamaged on 7 May that year.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $549.95At 76 × 102 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  7. The Great Wave off Kanagawa, by Hokusai, Woodblock print on paper, c. 1830–1833 No. 7 The Great Wave off KanagawaHokusaic. 1830–1833British MuseumLondon 26 × 38 cm Not for sale

    No. 7

    The Great Wave off Kanagawa

    Hokusai, c. 1830–1833

    Medium
    Woodblock print on paper
    Size
    26 × 38 cm (10 × 15 in), height by widthJust under A3 sheet
    Where it is
    London, United Kingdom
    Accession no.
    2008,3008.1.JA
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    It has been called possibly the most reproduced image in the history of all art. The print opened Hokusai's series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji and was among the first Japanese prints to use Prussian blue, a pigment that did not fade. About 113 first edition impressions are known to survive.

    Note

    Mount Fuji is the small snow capped peak in the background, seen through the curve of the wave, not the wave itself. Three fast fish barges ride below, with thirty rowers aboard of whom twenty two are visible.

    The story

    Hokusai was in his sixties and in trouble when he made it. He had money problems from 1826, probably a stroke in 1827, his wife died the next year, and his grandson's debts pushed him into poverty while he worked on the Fuji series. Roughly a thousand copies were printed first.

    Sources for this entry

    Not for sale: Woodblock print

  8. The Creation of Adam, by Michelangelo, Fresco, 1511 No. 8 The Creation of AdamMichelangelo1511Vatican MuseumsVatican City 280 × 570 cm Not for sale

    No. 8

    The Creation of Adam

    Michelangelo, 1511

    Movement
    High Renaissance
    Medium
    Fresco
    Size
    280 × 570 cm (110 × 224 in), height by widthWider than two sofas
    Where it is
    Vatican City, Vatican City
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    Michelangelo was hired to paint the twelve apostles, then talked Julius II into letting him replace that plan with the Genesis cycle, and this panel is the fourth scene in it. The reach between the two hands has been copied and parodied more than almost any other religious image.

    Note

    The fingers do not touch. The gap is about two centimetres, which some read as the distance man cannot close. Adam's arm mirrors God's, and the figure sheltered under God's left arm is usually identified as Eve.

    The story

    Julius II called Michelangelo to Rome in 1505 to build his tomb, and kept interrupting that work with other jobs. According to Condivi, Bramante resented the tomb commission and pushed the Pope to hand Michelangelo a medium he did not know, hoping he would fail at it.

    Sources for this entry

    Not for sale: Fresco

  9. Sunflowers, by Vincent van Gogh, 1887, oil on canvas. No. 9 SunflowersVincent van Gogh1887Metropolitan Museum of ArtNew York City 43 × 61 cm From $359.95 at its original size

    No. 9

    Sunflowers

    Vincent van Gogh, 1887

    Movement
    Post-impressionism
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    43 × 61 cm (17 × 24 in), height by widthA2 sheet
    Where it is
    New York City, United States
    Accession no.
    49.41
    Palette
    • #703822
    • #34553b
    • #a2562e
    • #391211
    • #1c1615
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    Van Gogh painted the Arles sunflowers to decorate the room he was preparing for Paul Gauguin at the Yellow House. In 1987 one version sold at Christie’s in London for nearly 40 million dollars, over three times the previous record paid for a work of art.

    Note

    The flowers appear at every stage at once, from full bloom to withering. Van Gogh was working with pigments that had only just been invented, which is part of how he got so many yellows into one canvas.

    The story

    Gauguin later claimed one of the Arles versions and Van Gogh refused, telling Theo that Gauguin already had two and should be satisfied. On 14 October 2022 two Just Stop Oil activists threw tomato soup at the fourth version in London. The glazing held and the frame took minor damage.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $359.95At the original size, 51 × 61 cm.

  10. Saturn Devouring His Son, by Francisco Goya, Mixed technique on wall and canvas, c. 1820–1823 No. 10 Saturn Devouring His SonFrancisco Goyac. 1820–1823Museo del PradoMadrid 144 × 81 cm Not for sale

    No. 10

    Saturn Devouring His Son

    Francisco Goya, c. 1820–1823

    Movement
    Romanticism
    Medium
    Mixed technique on wall and canvas
    Size
    144 × 81 cm (56 × 32 in), height by widthJust under adult height
    Where it is
    Madrid, Spain
    Accession no.
    P000763
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    Goya painted this on the wall of his own house, the Quinta del Sordo, as one of fourteen works made without commission and never meant for public display. He gave it no title. Baron Émile d'Erlanger had the murals moved onto canvas in the 1870s and later gave them to the Spanish state.

    Note

    The head and part of the left arm are already gone. The only bright areas are the white flesh, the red blood and the white knuckles of the fingers digging into the back of the body.

    The story

    The transfer from plaster to canvas damaged the murals, and some detail was lost. One account says a detail of the figure was painted out at the owner's request. Fred Licht has questioned the traditional title, since the usual attributes of Saturn are missing from the picture.

    Sources for this entry

    Not for sale: Not in the catalogue

  11. The Kiss, by Gustav Klimt, c. 1907–1908, oil and gold leaf on canvas. No. 11 The KissGustav Klimtc. 1907–1908BelvedereVienna 180 × 180 cm From $1,149.95 at 152 × 152 cm

    No. 11

    The Kiss

    Gustav Klimt, c. 1907–1908

    Movement
    Art Nouveau
    Medium
    Oil and gold leaf on canvas
    Size
    180 × 180 cm (71 × 71 in), height by widthAdult height
    Museum
    Belvedere
    Where it is
    Vienna, Austria
    Accession no.
    912
    Palette
    • #937d47
    • #c3ac5a
    • #939159
    • #b79f5b
    • #849765
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    Klimt had just been recast as an enfant terrible over the Vienna ceiling paintings, which critics attacked as pornographic. This picture went the other way. Shown at the 1908 Kunstschau in Vienna, it was received warmly and bought by the Austrian government while it was still unfinished.

    Note

    He wears a crown of vines and she a crown of flowers, and the couple stand at the edge of the flowery ground, which stops under the woman's bare feet. His head almost touches the top of the canvas.

    The story

    The gold leaf, silver and platinum belong to what scholars call Klimt's golden period. Who posed is still open. Emilie Flöge is the usual answer, Alma Mahler has been suggested without any record to support it, and the model known as Red Hilda has also been proposed.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $1,149.95At 152 × 152 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  12. Girl with a Pearl Earring, by Johannes Vermeer, c. 1665, oil on canvas. No. 12 Girl with a Pearl EarringJohannes Vermeerc. 1665MauritshuisThe Hague 45 × 39 cm From $249.95 at 41 × 41 cm

    No. 12

    Girl with a Pearl Earring

    Johannes Vermeer, c. 1665

    Movement
    Dutch Golden Age painting
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    45 × 39 cm (18 × 15 in), height by widthA3 sheet
    Museum
    Mauritshuis
    Where it is
    The Hague, Netherlands
    Accession no.
    670
    Palette
    • #060517
    • #0e0c17
    • #977c5c
    • #010011
    • #564233
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    The picture is a tronie, a study of a head rather than a portrait of a named person, and the identity of the girl has never been settled. A CNN survey named it one of the world’s most recognizable paintings, and it has been rewritten as a novel, a film and a play.

    Note

    Research in 2018 found things earlier viewers could not see: delicate eyelashes, and a green curtain behind the head where the background had always looked like flat, empty dark.

    The story

    Arnoldus Andries des Tombe bought the work at an auction in The Hague in 1881 for two guilders and thirty cents of buyer's premium, with parts of the paint layer already detached. He had no heirs and left it to the Mauritshuis in 1902.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $249.95At 41 × 41 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  13. The Garden of Earthly Delights, by Hieronymus Bosch, Oil on panel, c. 1490–1500 No. 13 The Garden of Earthly DelightsHieronymus Boschc. 1490–1500Museo del PradoMadrid 206 × 385 cm From $1,249.95 at 152 × 152 cm

    No. 13

    The Garden of Earthly Delights

    Hieronymus Bosch, c. 1490–1500

    Movement
    Early Netherlandish painting
    Medium
    Oil on panel
    Size
    206 × 385 cm (81 × 152 in), height by widthJust over living-room wall
    Where it is
    Madrid, Spain
    Accession no.
    P002823
    Palette
    • #967d56
    • #b9b861
    • #8a8c38
    • #b8bdbb
    • #768f5a
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    A canon from Molfetta, Antonio de Beatis, described the work in 1517 in the Nassau palace in Brussels, a house often visited by heads of state. Because it hung where many could see it, Bosch's reputation spread across Europe, and wealthy patrons ordered copies in oil, engraving and tapestry.

    Note

    With the wings closed, the outside shows the world in green-gray grisaille, without colour. God sits as a small figure at the upper left with a Bible on his lap, under a line from Psalm 33.

    The story

    The Duke of Alba confiscated the triptych in 1568 and took it to Spain. Philip II bought it at auction in 1591 and gave it to El Escorial two years later. A description from 1605 called it the strawberry painting, after the fruit that features in the center panel.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $1,249.95At 152 × 152 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  14. The Birth of Venus, by Sandro Botticelli, Tempera on canvas, c. 1478–1485 No. 14 The Birth of VenusSandro Botticellic. 1478–1485Uffizi GalleryFlorence 173 × 279 cm Not for sale

    No. 14

    The Birth of Venus

    Sandro Botticelli, c. 1478–1485

    Movement
    Early Renaissance
    Medium
    Tempera on canvas
    Size
    173 × 279 cm (68 × 110 in), height by widthJust under living-room wall
    Where it is
    Florence, Italy
    Accession no.
    00158551
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    A nude female figure at this scale, on a subject from classical myth, had almost no precedent in Western art since antiquity. That is what makes the picture unusual rather than any hidden programme; most art historians agree it does not need decoding the way the Primavera does, and it is the better known of the two.

    Note

    Gold was used as a pigment on her hair, on the wings, on the shell and across the landscape, and it was applied after the painting was framed. None of the figures cast a shadow.

    The story

    It was long thought that Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici ordered it for a villa outside Florence, but an inventory of his branch's holdings from 1499, published only in 1975, does not list it. The picture and the Primavera stayed together and moved to the Uffizi in 1815.

    Sources for this entry

    Not for sale: Not in the catalogue

  15. Las Meninas, by Diego Velázquez, Oil on canvas, 1656 No. 15 Las MeninasDiego Velázquez1656Museo del PradoMadrid 318 × 276 cm From $1,149.95 at 152 × 152 cm

    No. 15

    Las Meninas

    Diego Velázquez, 1656

    Movement
    Baroque
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    318 × 276 cm (125 × 109 in), height by widthJust under living-room wall
    Where it is
    Madrid, Spain
    Accession no.
    P001174
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    The picture puts the viewer where the king and queen stand, and nobody has settled what is happening. Luca Giordano called it the theology of painting; Thomas Lawrence called it the true philosophy of the art in 1827; Foucault opened The Order of Things with it in 1966.

    Note

    The mirror on the back wall shows the heads of Philip IV and Queen Mariana. Velázquez wears the red cross of the Order of Santiago, which he did not receive until three years after the picture was finished.

    The story

    Early inventories called it The Family. Fire destroyed the Alcázar in 1734 and damaged the canvas; the court painter Juan García de Miranda repaired it and had to repaint most of the infanta's left cheek. It entered the Prado in 1819 and was first listed under this title in 1843.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $1,149.95At 152 × 152 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  16. Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan on November 16, 1581, by Ilya Repin, 1883, oil on canvas. No. 16 Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan on November 16, 1581Ilya Repin1883Tretyakov GalleryMoscow 200 × 254 cm From $1,299.95 at 183 × 122 cm

    No. 16

    Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan on November 16, 1581

    Ilya Repin, 1883

    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    200 × 254 cm (79 × 100 in), height by widthJust over three-seat sofa
    Where it is
    Moscow, Russia
    Accession no.
    743
    Palette
    • #25211e
    • #623c23
    • #353430
    • #a36f40
    • #352114
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    In April 1885 the authorities forbade viewings, which made this the first painting censored in the Russian Empire, and the ban held until July. A visitor slashed the canvas with a knife in 1913, and another struck it with a metal bar in 2018. It went back on display in December 2024.

    Note

    Repin does not show the blow. The sceptre lies on the floor in front of the two men, and the father's left hand is pressed to his son's temple, trying to hold back blood that keeps coming.

    The story

    Repin picked his models by face. The painter Grigoriy Myasoyedov sat for the Tsar and the writer Vsevolod Garshin for the son, because Garshin had, in Repin's words, the face of a man condemned to perish. Pavel Tretyakov bought the finished canvas in 1885.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $1,299.95At 183 × 122 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  17. Nighthawks by Edward Hopper, four figures at the counter of a brightly lit all-night diner seen through a curved glass window on a dark street corner. No. 17 NighthawksEdward Hopper1942Art Institute of ChicagoChicago 84 × 152 cm Not for sale

    No. 17

    Nighthawks

    Edward Hopper, 1942

    Movement
    American realism
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    84 × 152 cm (33 × 60 in), height by widthJust over A0 poster
    Where it is
    Chicago, United States
    Accession no.
    1942.51
    Rights
    Under copyright until 2038

    Why it is famous

    Hopper said the scene was suggested by a restaurant on Greenwich Avenue where two streets meet, and that he simplified it and made the restaurant bigger. Asked about loneliness, he said he did not see it as particularly lonely, then added that unconsciously he was painting the loneliness of a large city.

    Note

    Jo Hopper's notes say the title may come from the beak shaped nose of the man at the counter. She also wrote that Edward posed for both men using a mirror and that she posed for the woman.

    The story

    At a Museum of Modern Art opening, Jo told the director Alfred Barr to go and see the picture at Hopper's gallery. Daniel Catton Rich of the Art Institute of Chicago went instead, called it fine as a Homer, and arranged the purchase in May 1942.

    Sources for this entry

    Not for sale: Copyright until 2038

  18. Water Lilies, by Claude Monet, 1919, oil on canvas. No. 18 Water LiliesClaude Monet1919Metropolitan Museum of ArtNew York City 101 × 200 cm From $1,149.95 at 152 × 152 cm

    No. 18

    Water Lilies

    Claude Monet, 1919

    Movement
    Impressionism
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    101 × 200 cm (40 × 79 in), height by widthThree-seat sofa
    Where it is
    New York City, United States
    Accession no.
    1998.325.2
    Palette
    • #7e8589
    • #6c9075
    • #6f7f93
    • #638280
    • #a18199
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    Monet painted roughly 250 canvases of the lily pond in his garden at Giverny, and the series took up most of the last thirty one years of his life. Many of them were made while he had cataracts. Single versions have since sold for tens of millions at auction.

    The story

    France built a pair of oval rooms at the Musée de l'Orangerie during the 1920s as a permanent home for eight large water lily murals. They opened to the public on 16 May 1927, a few months after Monet had died. Sixty of the paintings came back there in 1999.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $1,149.95At 152 × 152 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  19. The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dalí, three soft pocket watches draped over a bare branch, a rectangular block and a pale creature lying on the ground, with a cliff and a calm sea behind. No. 19 The Persistence of MemorySalvador Dalí1931Museum of Modern ArtNew York City 24 × 33 cm Not for sale

    No. 19

    The Persistence of Memory

    Salvador Dalí, 1931

    Movement
    surrealism
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    24 × 33 cm (9 × 13 in), height by widthJust over A4 sheet
    Where it is
    New York City, United States
    Accession no.
    162.1934
    Rights
    Under copyright until 2060

    Why it is famous

    Dalí first showed the picture at the Julien Levy Gallery in 1932, where it sold for 250 dollars. An anonymous donor gave it to the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1934, and it has stayed there since. It introduced the image of the soft melting pocket watch.

    Note

    Beneath the rightmost clock lies a distorted face in profile, read as an approximation of Dalí's own. At the lower left, one orange watch does not melt and is covered in ants, a motif he used for decay.

    The story

    Asked by Ilya Prigogine whether the soft watches came from Einstein's theory of relativity, Dalí answered that they came instead from the surrealist perception of a Camembert melting in the sun. The year before, he had developed what he called his paranoiac-critical method.

    Sources for this entry

    Not for sale: Copyright until 2060

  20. American Gothic, by Grant Wood, 1930, oil. No. 20 American GothicGrant Wood1930Art Institute of ChicagoChicago 78 × 65 cm From $449.95 at its original size

    No. 20

    American Gothic

    Grant Wood, 1930

    Movement
    Regionalism
    Medium
    Oil
    Size
    78 × 65 cm (31 × 26 in), height by widthJust under A1 poster
    Where it is
    Chicago, United States
    Accession no.
    1930.934
    Palette
    • #191a22
    • #d1bd99
    • #8f7a60
    • #7c7d78
    • #332211
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    Wood entered it in a competition at the Art Institute of Chicago, where one judge called it a comic valentine. A museum patron talked the jury into a bronze medal and a 300 dollar prize, then persuaded the museum to buy it. Newspapers reprinted the image within weeks.

    Note

    The plants on the porch are mother in law's tongue and beefsteak begonia, the same two that appear in Wood's 1929 portrait of his mother. The pointed window behind the pair is what makes the house Carpenter Gothic.

    The story

    The models were Wood's sister Nan and the family dentist, Byron McKeeby. Nan made the apron herself and took the rickrack trim from their mother's old dresses because shops no longer sold it. Iowans read the result as an insult and said so in print.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $449.95At the original size, 61 × 76 cm.

  21. Liberty Leading the People, by Eugene Delacroix, 1830, oil on canvas. No. 21 Liberty Leading the PeopleEugene Delacroix1830Louvre MuseumParis 260 × 325 cm From $1,299.95 at 183 × 122 cm

    No. 21

    Liberty Leading the People

    Eugene Delacroix, 1830

    Movement
    Romanticism
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    260 × 325 cm (102 × 128 in), height by widthJust under living-room wall
    Museum
    Louvre Museum
    Where it is
    Paris, France
    Accession no.
    RF 129
    Palette
    • #1a1619
    • #544233
    • #90795c
    • #cebd98
    • #403c3a
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    Delacroix painted it in the autumn of 1830 to commemorate the July Revolution that toppled Charles X. The French state bought it in 1831 but removed it from view because of its political message, and the Third Republic finally acquired it for the Louvre in 1874.

    Note

    A second, tiny tricolore flies from the towers of Notre-Dame in the distance. The 2024 restoration found a boot in the bottom left corner that had blended into the paving stones.

    The story

    Delacroix wrote to his brother on 21 October 1830 that he had embarked on a modern subject, a barricade, adding that if he had not fought for his country he would at least paint for her. The painting was first exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1831.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $1,299.95At 183 × 122 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  22. The Last Judgment, by Michelangelo, Fresco, c. 1536–1541 No. 22 The Last JudgmentMichelangeloc. 1536–1541Vatican MuseumsVatican City 1370 × 1220 cm Not for sale

    No. 22

    The Last Judgment

    Michelangelo, c. 1536–1541

    Movement
    Mannerism
    Medium
    Fresco
    Size
    1370 × 1220 cm (539 × 480 in), height by widthWider than a wall
    Where it is
    Vatican City, Vatican City
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    The fresco was attacked as soon as it was seen. Nearly forty figures later had drapery painted over them, most of that work done by Daniele da Volterra, who earned the nickname Il Braghettone, the breeches maker. The Council of Trent had ruled on such images in 1563.

    Note

    Most writers read Michelangelo's own face in the flayed skin held by Saint Bartholomew. The face of the saint and the face on the loose skin are entirely different from each other.

    The story

    Before the work was finished, the pope's Master of Ceremonies Biagio da Cesena called it fit for public baths and taverns rather than a papal chapel. Michelangelo painted his face from memory into the bottom right corner as Minos, judge of the underworld, with donkey ears.

    Sources for this entry

    Not for sale: Fresco

  23. Madame X by John Singer Sargent, a woman in a black evening dress standing in profile against a dark brown ground. No. 23 Madame XJohn Singer Sargent1884Metropolitan Museum of ArtNew York City 243 × 144 cm Not for sale

    No. 23

    Madame X

    John Singer Sargent, 1884

    Movement
    academic art
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    243 × 144 cm (96 × 57 in), height by widthJust over door size
    Where it is
    New York City, United States
    Accession no.
    16.53
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    Sargent asked to paint Virginie Gautreau rather than taking a commission, and the result caused a scandal at the Paris Salon of 1884. Reviews called the figure vulgar and over-sexualized, and the reception set his French career back before he rebuilt it in Britain and America.

    Note

    As first exhibited, the right shoulder strap of the gown had fallen down her arm, and Sargent later overpainted it to sit securely on the shoulder. Look also at her red ear against the powdered white skin.

    The story

    Gautreau sat unwillingly through drawings at her estate in Brittany in 1883, and Sargent complained of her hopeless laziness. After the Salon her mother asked him to withdraw the canvas and he refused. He sold it to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1916.

    Sources for this entry

    Not for sale: Not in the catalogue

  24. The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife, by Katsushika Hokusai, Woodcut on paper, 1820 No. 24 The Dream of the Fisherman's WifeKatsushika Hokusai1820 17 × 22 cm Not for sale

    No. 24

    The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife

    Katsushika Hokusai, 1820

    Medium
    Woodcut on paper
    Size
    17 × 22 cm (7 × 9 in), height by widthJust under A4 sheet
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    This woodblock printed design is Hokusai's most famous shunga, included in Kinoe no Komatsu, a three volume book of erotica first published in 1814. Earlier Western critics such as Edmond de Goncourt and Jack Hillier read it as a rape scene, a reading later scholarship has set aside.

    Note

    The text runs around the figures, and both the woman and the creatures speak in it. The larger octopus says he will bring her to the undersea palace of the sea god, which ties the scene to the Tamatori legend.

    The story

    In 2003 a derivative work by the Australian painter David Laity sparked a minor obscenity controversy when it was shown at a gallery in Melbourne. Police investigated after complaints and decided it did not break the city's anti-pornography laws. Picasso had drawn his own private version of the design in 1903.

    Sources for this entry

    Not for sale: Woodcut

  25. The Raft of the Medusa, by Théodore Géricault, 1819, oil on canvas. No. 25 The Raft of the MedusaThéodore Géricault1819Louvre MuseumParis 491 × 716 cm From $1,299.95 at 183 × 122 cm

    No. 25

    The Raft of the Medusa

    Théodore Géricault, 1819

    Movement
    Romanticism
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    491 × 716 cm (193 × 282 in), height by widthWider than a wall
    Museum
    Louvre Museum
    Where it is
    Paris, France
    Accession no.
    INV 4884
    Palette
    • #564025
    • #1a1511
    • #321f10
    • #947247
    • #301918
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    The wreck of the Méduse in 1816 became an international scandal, blamed on an inexperienced captain appointed by political favour. Géricault chose the subject for a large uncommissioned canvas to launch his career, and the painting was the star of the 1819 Salon.

    Note

    The pyramid of bodies rises from the dead at the lower left to an African crew member, Jean Charles, standing on an empty barrel and waving a handkerchief at the ship on the horizon.

    The story

    Géricault interviewed two survivors, the surgeon Henri Savigny and the engineer Alexandre Correard, and built a scale model of the raft with the carpenter Lavillette. He sketched bodies in the morgue of the Hospital Beaujon and kept a severed head on his studio roof for a fortnight.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $1,299.95At 183 × 122 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  26. Olympia, by Edouard Manet, 1863, oil on canvas. No. 26 OlympiaEdouard Manet1863Musée d'OrsayParis 131 × 191 cm From $1,299.95 at 183 × 122 cm

    No. 26

    Olympia

    Edouard Manet, 1863

    Movement
    French Realism
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    131 × 191 cm (51 × 75 in), height by widthThree-seat sofa
    Where it is
    Paris, France
    Accession no.
    RF 644
    Palette
    • #bab293
    • #b8b5a5
    • #222020
    • #948b6f
    • #494030
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    At the 1865 Paris Salon the picture caused an uproar. Conservatives condemned it as immoral and vulgar, and the journalist Antonin Proust said later that the canvas survived only because of the precautions the administration took. The gaze and the details identifying the woman as a courtesan were the reason.

    Note

    Manet reworked Titian's Venus of Urbino point by point. The little dog of fidelity becomes a black cat, and the maid holds out cut flowers wrapped in flimsy paper, which Olympia ignores.

    The story

    In 1888 John Singer Sargent warned Monet that Manet's widow was in financial trouble and might sell the painting abroad. Monet spent a year raising the 20,000 francs asked for it. The French state took the gift in 1890, and Clemenceau sent the work to the Louvre in 1907.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $1,299.95At 183 × 122 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  27. The Night Watch, by Rembrandt, Oil on canvas, 1642 No. 27 The Night WatchRembrandt1642RijksmuseumAmsterdam 363 × 437 cm From $1,299.95 at 183 × 122 cm

    No. 27

    The Night Watch

    Rembrandt, 1642

    Movement
    Dutch Golden Age painting
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    363 × 437 cm (143 × 172 in), height by widthWider than two sofas
    Museum
    Rijksmuseum
    Where it is
    Amsterdam, Netherlands
    Accession no.
    SK-C-5
    Palette
    • #15120c
    • #2c200e
    • #4f3e1e
    • #8c7846
    • #211f0b
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    The usual title is a misnomer. The scene is not nocturnal; the picture only looked dark under an old coat of varnish. Rembrandt turned a paid group portrait of a militia company into a scene of movement and light. It has also been attacked three times, with a knife in 1975 and acid in 1990.

    Note

    Look for the girl carrying a dead chicken at her belt, the emblem of the arquebusiers who paid for the picture. In the background, a shield painted around 1715 lists eighteen names, one for each man who contributed.

    The story

    Frans Banninck Cocq and seventeen of his militiamen commissioned it around 1639, each paying a hundred guilders. It was too big for Rembrandt's studio, so he is thought to have painted it in a lean-to in his garden. In 1715 the canvas was cut on all four sides to fit a wall.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $1,299.95At 183 × 122 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  28. Arnolfini Portrait, by Jan van Eyck, 1434, oil on oak panel. No. 28 Arnolfini PortraitJan van Eyck1434National GalleryLondon 82 × 60 cm From $449.95 at 61 × 76 cm

    No. 28

    Arnolfini Portrait

    Jan van Eyck, 1434

    Movement
    Early Netherlandish painting
    Medium
    Oil on oak panel
    Size
    82 × 60 cm (32 × 24 in), height by widthA1 poster
    Where it is
    London, United Kingdom
    Accession no.
    NG186
    Palette
    • #201c20
    • #2e4610
    • #503f34
    • #282132
    • #1d2c10
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    Van Eyck signed the wall above the mirror Johannes de eyck fuit hic 1434, Jan van Eyck was here. Erwin Panofsky argued in 1934 that the picture works as a marriage record, and the debate over what the scene shows has run ever since.

    Note

    The convex mirror at the back shows two more figures just inside the door the couple face. One wears red and is presumed to be the artist. The frame carries small scenes of the Passion painted behind glass.

    The story

    For a century the sitters were taken to be Giovanni di Arrigo Arnolfini and Jeanne Cenami. A discovery published in 1997 showed they married in 1447, thirteen years after the date on the panel and six years after van Eyck died. The National Gallery bought it in 1842.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $449.95At 61 × 76 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  29. The Ambassadors, by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1533, oil on oak panel. No. 29 The AmbassadorsHans Holbein the Younger1533National GalleryLondon 207 × 209 cm From $1,149.95 at 152 × 152 cm

    No. 29

    The Ambassadors

    Hans Holbein the Younger, 1533

    Movement
    Mannerism
    Medium
    Oil on oak panel
    Size
    207 × 209 cm (81 × 82 in), height by widthThree-seat sofa
    Where it is
    London, United Kingdom
    Accession no.
    NG1314
    Palette
    • #15120f
    • #563d2b
    • #97745a
    • #321e13
    • #5b3532
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    The work holds one of the best known examples of anamorphosis in painting. A grey slash across the lower centre resolves into a human skull when seen from high on the right or low on the left. The National Gallery bought it in 1890.

    Note

    On the lower shelf a lute has a broken string, a common symbol of discord, and it sits next to a hymnbook in Martin Luther's translation. The floor pattern copies the Cosmati pavement at Westminster Abbey.

    The story

    Jean de Dinteville was French ambassador to the court of Henry VIII for most of 1533, and Georges de Selve, Bishop of Lavaur, visited London that spring. Cleaning the picture revealed that Dinteville's seat of Polisy is one of only four French places marked on the globe.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $1,149.95At 152 × 152 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  30. The Dog by Francisco Goya, a dog's head emerging from a dark slope against a large empty ochre sky. No. 30 The DogFrancisco Goya1819–1820Museo del PradoMadrid 131 × 79 cm From $649.95 at 91 × 122 cm

    No. 30

    The Dog

    Francisco Goya, 1819–1820

    Medium
    Oil mural transferred to canvas
    Size
    131 × 79 cm (52 × 31 in), height by widthJust over A0 poster
    Museum
    Museo del Prado
    Where it is
    Madrid, Spain
    Accession no.
    P000767
    Palette
    • #8f7647
    • #5a3f20
    • #3c2515
    • #b79e6a
    • #bca26f
    Rights
    Public domain.

    Why it is famous

    One of the fourteen Black Paintings that Goya painted straight onto the walls of his house and never showed to anyone. The Spanish painter Antonio Saura called it the world's most beautiful picture, and on his last visit to the Prado, Joan Miró asked to see two works, this one and Las Meninas.

    Note

    The picture divides into two unequal parts, a wide ochre field above and a dark sloping mass below, with only the dog's head showing. The faint dark shape at the upper right may survive from the painting Goya covered.

    The story

    Goya bought the house, known as the Quinta del Sordo, in 1819, at seventy-three and functionally deaf. He left it to his grandson when he went into exile in France. The banker Émile d'Erlanger bought the property in 1874, had the murals moved to canvas, and later gave them to the Spanish state.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $649.95At 91 × 122 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  31. Virgin of the Rocks, by Leonardo da Vinci, Oil on panel, transferred to canvas, c. 1482–1484 No. 31 Virgin of the RocksLeonardo da Vincic. 1482–1484Louvre MuseumParis 199 × 122 cm From $1,299.95 at 122 × 183 cm

    No. 31

    Virgin of the Rocks

    Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1482–1484

    Movement
    Early Renaissance
    Medium
    Oil on panel, transferred to canvas
    Size
    199 × 122 cm (78 × 48 in), height by widthDoor size
    Museum
    Louvre Museum
    Where it is
    Paris, France
    Accession no.
    INV 777
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    Leonardo and the brothers de Predis signed a contract with a Milanese confraternity in April 1483 for an altarpiece due that December. The argument over payment dragged on until 1508 and drew in Ludovico Sforza and Louis XII. Two versions of the composition survive, one in Paris and one in London.

    Note

    In the Paris version the angel raises a hand and points a finger at the infant John, and looks out toward the viewer. This version carries no haloes and no cross-shaped reed staff, and its flowers are botanically accurate.

    The story

    An evaluation in 1506 judged the altarpiece still unfinished, and the panel was put in place only in August 1508. Cassiano dal Pozzo saw the Paris picture at Fontainebleau in 1625, and the restorer Hacquin moved it from its wooden panel onto canvas in 1806.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $1,299.95At 122 × 183 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  32. A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, by Georges Seurat, 1884, oil on canvas. No. 32 A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande JatteGeorges Seurat1884Art Institute of ChicagoChicago 208 × 308 cm From $1,299.95 at 183 × 122 cm

    No. 32

    A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte

    Georges Seurat, 1884

    Movement
    Post-impressionism, pointillism
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    208 × 308 cm (82 × 121 in), height by widthJust under living-room wall
    Where it is
    Chicago, United States
    Accession no.
    1926.224
    Palette
    • #4c4c4c
    • #7a7977
    • #7e7154
    • #3a4a3d
    • #79764d
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    The canvas is the founding work of Neo-Impressionism and the leading example of the technique now called Pointillism. It was first shown at the eighth and last Impressionist exhibition in May 1886, and Seurat was at once acknowledged as the leader of the new movement.

    Note

    In 1889 Seurat added a border of painted dots around the edge of the canvas, in inverted colour, so the eye would pass from the picture to the frame. A woman at the right holds a monkey on a leash.

    The story

    Seurat used the new pigment zinc yellow for highlights in the sunlit grass. It darkened to brown, a change already visible in his lifetime, caused by chromate ions turning to dichromate. The Art Institute of Chicago bought the painting in 1924.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $1,299.95At 183 × 122 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  33. Bal du moulin de la Galette, by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1876, oil on canvas. No. 33 Bal du moulin de la GalettePierre-Auguste Renoir1876Musée d'OrsayParis 131 × 175 cm From $1,299.95 at 183 × 122 cm

    No. 33

    Bal du moulin de la Galette

    Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1876

    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    131 × 175 cm (52 × 69 in), height by widthJust under three-seat sofa
    Where it is
    Paris, France
    Accession no.
    RF 2739
    Palette
    • #13171a
    • #454746
    • #544530
    • #0c1d2d
    • #8b7961
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file
    Auction record
    Sold for US$78.1 million at Sotheby's in 1990

    Why it is famous

    Renoir painted a Sunday afternoon at the Moulin de la Galette in Montmartre, where working class Parisians danced, drank and ate galettes. A smaller version with the same title sold at Sotheby's in 1990 for 78 million dollars, then among the highest prices ever paid for a painting.

    Note

    Renoir's friend Georges Rivière identified several of the dancers. Estelle Samary wears the blue and pink striped dress, and the Cuban painter Pedro Vidal de Solares y Cardenas dances in striped trousers at the centre.

    The story

    Renoir rented a studio in an abandoned cottage on the rue Cortot to be near the mill. Rivière wrote that the picture was painted on the spot, and not without difficulty, since the wind kept threatening to blow the canvas away.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $1,299.95At 183 × 122 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  34. Primavera, by Sandro Botticelli, Tempera on panel and plaster, c. 1480–1485 No. 34 PrimaveraSandro Botticellic. 1480–1485Uffizi GalleryFlorence 203 × 314 cm Not for sale

    No. 34

    Primavera

    Sandro Botticelli, c. 1480–1485

    Movement
    Early Renaissance
    Medium
    Tempera on panel and plaster
    Size
    203 × 314 cm (80 × 124 in), height by widthJust under living-room wall
    Where it is
    Florence, Italy
    Accession no.
    8360
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    No known story brings this group of figures together, and the panel has been described as one of the most written about and most controversial paintings in the world. Giorgio Vasari gave it the name Primavera after seeing it at the Medici villa at Castello by 1550.

    Note

    Flowers come out of the mouth of Chloris at the right, the sign of her transformation. At the far left Mercury turns his back and raises his rod towards clouds. Scholars have identified 500 plant species in the garden.

    The story

    An inventory of 1499 records the panel in the city palace of Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici, hanging over a lettuccio, a piece of furniture with a raised base and a seat. Most scholars now connect it to his marriage on 19 July 1482.

    Sources for this entry

    Not for sale: Not in the catalogue

  35. Irises, by Vincent van Gogh, 1889, oil on canvas. No. 35 IrisesVincent van Gogh1889J. Paul Getty MuseumLos Angeles 74 × 94 cm From $549.95 at 102 × 76 cm

    No. 35

    Irises

    Vincent van Gogh, 1889

    Movement
    Post-impressionism
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    74 × 94 cm (29 × 37 in), height by widthJust over A1 poster
    Where it is
    Los Angeles, United States
    Accession no.
    90.PA.20
    Palette
    • #648e6f
    • #3f5181
    • #5a8782
    • #586e93
    • #737e7c
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file
    Auction record
    Sold for US$53.9 million at Sotheby's in 1987

    Why it is famous

    In 1987 it became the most expensive painting ever sold, going for 53.9 million dollars to Alan Bond, who turned out not to have the money for it. The record stood for two and a half years. The Getty Museum bought the painting in 1990.

    Note

    One of the pollen cones that drop from the umbrella pines in the asylum garden is stuck in the paint. Under the blue petals sits a violet that has faded, because the red mixed into it did not last.

    The story

    Van Gogh painted it in the walled garden of the asylum at Saint-Rémy within a month of admitting himself, and treated it as a study. Theo sent it to the Indépendants that September and wrote that it struck the eye from afar. Octave Mirbeau paid 300 francs for it.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $549.95At 102 × 76 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  36. The Oath of the Horatii, by Jacques-Louis David, c. 1784–1785, oil on canvas. No. 36 The Oath of the HoratiiJacques-Louis Davidc. 1784–1785Louvre MuseumParis 330 × 425 cm From $1,299.95 at 183 × 122 cm

    No. 36

    The Oath of the Horatii

    Jacques-Louis David, c. 1784–1785

    Movement
    Neoclassicism
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    330 × 425 cm (130 × 167 in), height by widthWider than two sofas
    Museum
    Louvre Museum
    Where it is
    Paris, France
    Accession no.
    INV. 3692
    Palette
    • #120e13
    • #5b3e2f
    • #010108
    • #9a7150
    • #712626
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    The commission came from the household of Louis XVI and was meant as an allegory of loyalty to the state and so to the king. David painted a different scene from the one agreed. Five years later the Revolution arrived, and David voted in the National Assembly for the king's execution.

    Note

    The father holds all three swords at the centre, and none of the brothers show anything on their faces. On the right the women already grieve, one of them betrothed to a man her brothers will fight.

    The story

    David began the studies in Paris but painted the canvas in Rome, where his pupil Jean-Germain Drouais visited him. The oath itself is not in Livy or in Dionysius, the two sources for the legend. The moment shown is David's own invention, built onto the story of the two families.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $1,299.95At 183 × 122 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  37. The Death of Socrates, by Jacques-Louis David, Oil on canvas, 1787 No. 37 The Death of SocratesJacques-Louis David1787Metropolitan Museum of ArtNew York City 130 × 196 cm From $1,299.95 at 183 × 122 cm

    No. 37

    The Death of Socrates

    Jacques-Louis David, 1787

    Movement
    Neoclassical painting
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    130 × 196 cm (51 × 77 in), height by widthThree-seat sofa
    Where it is
    New York City, United States
    Accession no.
    31.45
    Palette
    • #5b3a24
    • #231d18
    • #332317
    • #96774c
    • #42422d
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    David showed the picture at the Paris Salon of 1787, where it drew immediate acclaim. Joshua Reynolds called it the greatest work of art since the Sistine Chapel and Raphael's Stanze, and Thomas Jefferson, then American minister to France, judged it the best work in the Salon.

    Note

    David signed the canvas twice. His full signature sits under Crito, the young man clutching Socrates's thigh, and his initials sit under Plato, the old man slumped at the foot of the bed.

    The story

    Charles-Michel Trudaine de la Sablière, then about twenty years old, commissioned the work privately in 1786 rather than through the crown. After Trudaine and his brother were executed during the Terror in 1794, the painting passed through private hands until the Metropolitan Museum of Art bought it in 1931.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $1,299.95At 183 × 122 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  38. Lady with an Ermine, by Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1490, oil and tempera on walnut panel and panel. No. 38 Lady with an ErmineLeonardo da Vincic. 1490Czartoryski MuseumKraków 54 × 39 cm From $299.95 at 41 × 51 cm

    No. 38

    Lady with an Ermine

    Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1490

    Movement
    High Renaissance
    Medium
    Oil and tempera on walnut panel and panel
    Size
    54 × 39 cm (21 × 15 in), height by widthJust under A2 sheet
    Where it is
    Kraków, Poland
    Accession no.
    MNK XII-209
    Palette
    • #100906
    • #5b3a1a
    • #a37439
    • #e7b964
    • #311f0e
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    It is one of only four surviving portraits of women by Leonardo. The Nazis seized it in 1939, and Hans Frank hung it in his offices at Wawel Castle before Allied troops found it at his country house in Bavaria at the end of the war. Poland bought it with the Czartoryski collection in 2016.

    Note

    The animal is too big for an ermine and looks more like an albino ferret. The black behind her is not Leonardo's either: an eighteenth century hand painted over a bluish grey ground.

    The story

    The sitter is Cecilia Gallerani, about sixteen, mistress of Leonardo's employer Ludovico Sforza and pregnant with his son. Prince Adam Czartoryski bought the panel in Italy in 1798. In 1830 his mother, then eighty four, hid it from the Russian army and sent it a hundred and fifty kilometres south.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $299.95At 41 × 51 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  39. The Fallen Angel by Alexandre Cabanel, a nude young Lucifer lying on the ground, arms over his face, angels flying above. No. 39 The Fallen AngelAlexandre Cabanel1847Musée FabreMontpellier 121 × 197 cm From $1,299.95 at 183 × 122 cm

    No. 39

    The Fallen Angel

    Alexandre Cabanel, 1847

    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    121 × 197 cm (47 × 77 in), height by widthThree-seat sofa
    Museum
    Musée Fabre
    Where it is
    Montpellier, France
    Accession no.
    889.2.1
    Palette
    • #eaecf6
    • #57422e
    • #e5bfa3
    • #a08160
    • #b6bddf
    Rights
    Public domain.

    Why it is famous

    Cabanel chose a subject not often represented in French painting, the fall from heaven of the angel who goes on to become the Devil. He was twenty-four years old and still a resident in Rome, and he treated Lucifer as a Romantic nude.

    Note

    Lucifer lies on the ground with his hands clasped, glaring out from behind his arm with tears in his eyes. A thorny blackberry vine trails behind his legs, and the angels overhead all fly in the direction he faces.

    The story

    In 1845 Cabanel won the second Grand Prix de Rome at the National School of Fine Arts, which took him to Italy. He painted The Fallen Angel at the Villa Médicis in 1847 as his second official envoi to Paris. The Musée Fabre in Montpellier has held it since 1889.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $1,299.95At 183 × 122 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  40. The Third of May 1808, by Francisco Goya, 1814, oil on canvas. No. 40 The Third of May 1808Francisco Goya1814Museo del PradoMadrid 268 × 347 cm From $1,299.95 at 183 × 122 cm

    No. 40

    The Third of May 1808

    Francisco Goya, 1814

    Movement
    Romanticism
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    268 × 347 cm (106 × 137 in), height by widthLiving-room wall
    Where it is
    Madrid, Spain
    Accession no.
    P000749
    Palette
    • #51402d
    • #1e1a17
    • #917451
    • #302315
    • #38332e
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    Goya proposed the commission himself in February 1814, asking to record the heroic actions of the insurrection against Napoleon. Kenneth Clark called it the first great picture that can be called revolutionary in style, subject and intention. It inspired later paintings by Manet, and Picasso's Guernica and Massacre in Korea.

    Note

    A square lantern on the ground between the two groups throws the light. The man with raised arms wears yellow and white and shows stigmata like marks on his right hand.

    The story

    No details of a first exhibition survive, and by some accounts the painting sat in storage for thirty to forty years. It appears in an 1834 Prado inventory and was first listed in the museum catalogue in 1872. It was damaged in a road accident during the Civil War.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $1,299.95At 183 × 122 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  41. The Swing, by Jean-Honore Fragonard, c. 1767–1768, oil on canvas. No. 41 The SwingJean-Honore Fragonardc. 1767–1768Wallace CollectionLondon 81 × 64 cm From $449.95 at 61 × 76 cm

    No. 41

    The Swing

    Jean-Honore Fragonard, c. 1767–1768

    Movement
    Rococo
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    81 × 64 cm (32 × 25 in), height by widthA1 poster
    Where it is
    London, United Kingdom
    Accession no.
    P430
    Palette
    • #1c1e1c
    • #3c4b3b
    • #758a6f
    • #353833
    • #474834
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    The dramatist Charles Collé recorded how the commission arrived. A courtier asked Gabriel François Doyen for a picture of himself and his mistress on a swing pushed by a bishop; Doyen refused the subject and passed it to Fragonard, who painted the pusher as a layman instead.

    Note

    She kicks off her shoe with her left foot while the young man in the bushes points up at her dress. Above him a stone putto holds a finger to its lips, and a small white dog barks nearby.

    The story

    Firm ownership begins with the tax farmer Ménage de Pressigny, who was guillotined in 1794, after which the revolutionary government seized the picture. Lord Hertford bought it at auction in Paris in 1865. Conservators cleaned it in 2021, the first time in more than a hundred years.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $449.95At 61 × 76 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  42. Impression, Sunrise, by Claude Monet, 1872, oil on canvas. No. 42 Impression, SunriseClaude Monet1872Musée Marmottan MonetParis 48 × 63 cm From $359.95 at its original size

    No. 42

    Impression, Sunrise

    Claude Monet, 1872

    Movement
    Impressionism
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    48 × 63 cm (19 × 25 in), height by widthJust over A2 sheet
    Where it is
    Paris, France
    Accession no.
    4014
    Palette
    • #6b716a
    • #687666
    • #856d5a
    • #4c5f53
    • #55706e
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    The critic Louis Leroy used the title against Monet in Le Charivari in 1874, writing that wallpaper in its embryonic state was more finished than that seascape. His review is usually credited with giving the Impressionists their name. Monet said he chose the word in haste for the catalogue.

    Note

    Measured with a photometer, the red sun has the same luminance as the sky around it. In a black and white copy of the picture the sun almost disappears, which is part of why the scene reads as it does.

    The story

    Monet painted the port of his home town in 1872, one of six canvases of Le Havre made at different hours and from different viewpoints. Philippe Jamin and Youssef Khimoun stole the picture in 1985. It was recovered and returned to the museum in 1990.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $359.95At the original size, 61 × 51 cm.

  43. Washington Crossing the Delaware, by Emanuel Leutze, 1851, oil on canvas. No. 43 Washington Crossing the DelawareEmanuel Leutze1851Metropolitan Museum of ArtNew York City 379 × 648 cm From $1,299.95 at 183 × 122 cm

    No. 43

    Washington Crossing the Delaware

    Emanuel Leutze, 1851

    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    379 × 648 cm (149 × 255 in), height by widthWider than two sofas
    Where it is
    New York City, United States
    Accession no.
    97.34
    Palette
    • #503c2d
    • #d1be9a
    • #8e7e61
    • #747469
    • #2d2521
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    Leutze painted three versions. The first was destroyed in Bremen by a Royal Air Force raid in September 1942. The second went on show in New York in October 1851, where more than fifty thousand people came to see it, and it has been at the Metropolitan Museum since 1897.

    Note

    The river behind the boat is the Rhine, because Leutze painted in Düsseldorf. In the boat he put a man in a Scottish bonnet, a rower of African descent, a rifleman at the bow and two farmers in broad hats.

    The story

    For ninety years the picture hung in a plain frame. In 2007 a photograph taken by Mathew Brady in 1864 turned up at the New-York Historical Society showing the eagle crested frame Leutze had designed, and a carved replica was made from it, twelve feet by twenty one.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $1,299.95At 183 × 122 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  44. The Great Masturbator by Salvador Dalí, a large soft yellow head resting on the ground in a desert, a grasshopper clinging to its face and a woman's head rising from the back of it. No. 44 The Great MasturbatorSalvador Dalí1929Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina SofíaMadrid 110 × 150 cm Not for sale

    No. 44

    The Great Masturbator

    Salvador Dalí, 1929

    Movement
    surrealism
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    110 × 150 cm (43 × 59 in), height by widthJust over A0 poster
    Where it is
    Madrid, Spain
    Accession no.
    AS11140
    Rights
    Under copyright until 2060

    Why it is famous

    The distorted profile at the centre comes from a rock at Cap de Creus on the Catalan coast, and the same profile returns two years later in The Persistence of Memory. Dalí called the painting a homage to one of the promontories of his kingdom.

    Note

    A nude female figure resembling Gala rises from the back of the head, her mouth near a thinly clad male crotch. On the mouth of the central head sits a grasshopper with four legs, and ants gather on its abdomen.

    The story

    Dalí kept the painting in his personal collection and displayed it at the Dalí Theatre and Museum in Figueres. He left it to the national collection of Spain on his death, and it went to the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid.

    Sources for this entry

    Not for sale: Copyright until 2060

  45. The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne, by Leonardo da Vinci, Oil on poplar panel, c. 1503–1519 No. 45 The Virgin and Child with Saint AnneLeonardo da Vincic. 1503–1519Louvre MuseumParis 168 × 130 cm From $1,299.95 at 122 × 183 cm

    No. 45

    The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne

    Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1503–1519

    Movement
    High Renaissance
    Medium
    Oil on poplar panel
    Size
    168 × 130 cm (66 × 51 in), height by widthAdult height
    Museum
    Louvre Museum
    Where it is
    Paris, France
    Accession no.
    INV 776
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    The work was commissioned as the high altarpiece for the Church of Santissima Annunziata in Florence, and Leonardo left it unfinished. Its cleaning at the Louvre split the advisory committee in 2011, when Ségolène Bergeon Langle and Jean-Pierre Cuzin resigned, while other experts backed the treatment.

    Note

    Mary sits on the knee of her mother Saint Anne and reaches for her son, who has hold of a lamb. Both women watch the child, and Mary is shown trying to restrain him as he clutches the animal.

    The story

    In 2008 a curator at the Louvre found faint sketches on the back of the panel. Infrared reflectography showed a drawing of a horse's head, a second of half a skull, and a third of the infant Jesus playing with a lamb. The Louvre called it the first drawing found on the back of one of his works.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $1,299.95At 122 × 183 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  46. The Blue Boy, by Thomas Gainsborough, c. 1770, oil on canvas. No. 46 The Blue BoyThomas Gainsboroughc. 1770The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical GardensSan Marino 179 × 124 cm From $1,299.95 at 122 × 183 cm

    No. 46

    The Blue Boy

    Thomas Gainsborough, c. 1770

    Movement
    Romanticism
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    179 × 124 cm (71 × 49 in), height by widthAdult height
    Where it is
    San Marino, United States
    Accession no.
    21.1
    Palette
    • #212524
    • #464632
    • #373c39
    • #364653
    • #4d4432
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    A printmaker published a story in 1821 claiming Gainsborough painted the boy in cool blue to contradict Joshua Reynolds, who had told painters to keep blue out of the lit areas. The picture was finished eight years before that lecture, but the false account carried it to international fame.

    Note

    The clothing is not from the boy's century. Gainsborough dressed him in seventeenth century silk as a tribute to Anthony van Dyck, whose portraits of young boys the pose follows. Under the paint lies an earlier composition he covered over.

    The story

    Jonathan Buttall owned the painting until his bankruptcy in 1796. It passed through several hands to the Grosvenor family, and in 1921 the second Duke of Westminster sold it to the railway magnate Henry Huntington. Ninety thousand people came to see it in London before it sailed for California.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $1,299.95At 122 × 183 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  47. The Tower of Babel, by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1563, oil on oak panel. No. 47 The Tower of BabelPieter Bruegel the Elder1563Kunsthistorisches MuseumVienna 114 × 155 cm From $849.95 at its original size

    No. 47

    The Tower of Babel

    Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1563

    Movement
    Northern Renaissance
    Medium
    Oil on oak panel
    Size
    114 × 155 cm (45 × 61 in), height by widthJust under three-seat sofa
    Where it is
    Vienna, Austria
    Accession no.
    GG_1026
    Palette
    • #5c4728
    • #88704a
    • #8d8f85
    • #4c4c30
    • #aba695
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    Bruegel painted the subject at least three times, and the Vienna panel of 1563 is considered the most famous and widely emulated depiction of the story. He modelled the tower on the Roman Colosseum, which Christians of his day read as a sign of pride and persecution.

    Note

    None of the layers lies on a true horizontal: the tower climbs as a spiral. The workers set the arches perpendicular to the sloping ground, and a few of them are already crumbling.

    The story

    The Vienna panel is signed and dated on a stone block in front of the king, presumably Nimrod. It was painted for the Antwerp banker Nicolaes Jonghelinck, one of Bruegel's best patrons, who owned no fewer than sixteen of his paintings.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $849.95At the original size, 152 × 102 cm.

  48. Luncheon on the Grass, by Édouard Manet, Oil on canvas, 1863 No. 48 Luncheon on the GrassÉdouard Manet1863Musée d'OrsayParis 208 × 265 cm From $1,299.95 at 183 × 122 cm

    No. 48

    Luncheon on the Grass

    Édouard Manet, 1863

    Movement
    French Realism
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    208 × 265 cm (82 × 104 in), height by widthJust over three-seat sofa
    Where it is
    Paris, France
    Accession no.
    RF 1668
    Palette
    • #45442b
    • #20201b
    • #4b442d
    • #887d5c
    • #7c7a56
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    The Salon jury turned the picture down in 1863 and Manet showed it instead at the Salon des Refusés, where it sparked public notoriety and controversy. The work increased his fame, though it failed to sell at its debut; Jean-Baptiste Faure bought it in 1878 for 2,600 francs.

    Note

    The bather in the background is out of scale with the group, and the man at right wears a flat hat with a tassel, a kind normally worn indoors. The clothes, fruit and bread sit like a still life.

    The story

    Manet took the arrangement of the three foreground figures from Marcantonio Raimondi's engraving of the Judgment of Paris, after a drawing by Raphael. Raphael was revered at the Académie des Beaux-Arts, and copies of his frescoes hung permanently at the École des Beaux-Arts.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $1,299.95At 183 × 122 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  49. Christina's World by Andrew Wyeth, a young woman in a pink dress lying in a wide dry field, propped on her arms and facing a grey farmhouse and barn on the horizon. No. 49 Christina's WorldAndrew Wyeth1948Museum of Modern ArtNew York City 82 × 121 cm Not for sale

    No. 49

    Christina's World

    Andrew Wyeth, 1948

    Movement
    Contemporary Realism
    Medium
    Tempera on panel
    Size
    82 × 121 cm (32 × 48 in), height by widthA0 poster
    Where it is
    New York City, United States
    Accession no.
    16.1949
    Rights
    Under copyright until 2080

    Why it is famous

    The painting drew little critical attention when it was first shown at the Macbeth Gallery in Manhattan in 1948. Alfred Barr, the founding director of the Museum of Modern Art, bought it for 1,800 dollars and promoted it there, and the museum now rarely lends it out.

    Note

    The field is treeless and mostly tawny, with no other figure in it. The woman is on the ground with her body inclined, looking up towards a grey house on the horizon, a barn and a few smaller outbuildings.

    The story

    The woman is Anna Christina Olson, who had a degenerative muscular disorder and crawled rather than use a wheelchair. Wyeth saw her crossing a field from a window of her house in Cushing, Maine, and painted the scene. His wife Betsy posed for the torso.

    Sources for this entry

    Not for sale: Copyright until 2080

  50. L'Origine du monde, by Gustave Courbet, Oil on canvas, 1866 No. 50 L'Origine du mondeGustave Courbet1866Musée d'OrsayParis 46 × 55 cm From $299.95 at 51 × 41 cm

    No. 50

    L'Origine du monde

    Gustave Courbet, 1866

    Movement
    French Realism
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    46 × 55 cm (18 × 22 in), height by widthJust under A2 sheet
    Where it is
    Paris, France
    Accession no.
    RF 1995 10
    Palette
    • #8e7d4f
    • #5f4922
    • #141413
    • #898866
    • #321f0e
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    The picture has repeatedly run into censorship. Police asked French bookshops to pull a 1994 novel that used it as a cover image, and Facebook disabled the accounts of users who posted it in 2011. A French court ruled against Facebook in 2018.

    Note

    Critics have pointed to the framing itself. The canvas shows only part of the body, cut off by the edges, with pale skin set against the cloth drawn around it.

    The story

    The Ottoman diplomat Khalil Bey is believed to have commissioned the work for his private collection. In 1889 Edmond de Goncourt found it in an antique shop behind a wooden pane painted with a snowy landscape. The psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan bought it in 1955 and kept it covered by a second panel.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $299.95At 51 × 41 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  51. Medusa by Caravaggio, the severed head of Medusa with snakes for hair, painted on a round shield. No. 51 MedusaCaravaggio1597Uffizi GalleryFlorence 60 × 55 cm From $380.95 at its original size

    No. 51

    Medusa

    Caravaggio, 1597

    Medium
    Oil on canvas mounted on a poplar wood shield
    Size
    60 × 55 cm (24 × 22 in), height by widthA2 sheet
    Museum
    Uffizi Gallery
    Where it is
    Florence, Italy
    Accession no.
    00289175
    Palette
    • #181310
    • #433f10
    • #4b3918
    • #2e1d0b
    • #25250a
    Rights
    Public domain.

    Why it is famous

    Caravaggio replaced Medusa's face with his own, which places him beyond the reach of her gaze. The picture was painted on a convex poplar shield rather than a flat panel, a form that invited comparison with an anecdote about Leonardo painting a hybrid monster on a shield.

    Note

    The severed head still looks conscious. The eyes are wide, the brows creased, the mouth open, and blood pours from the neck. The work carries no signature and no date, unlike the earlier version, which is signed Michel A F.

    The story

    The diplomat Francesco Maria del Monte commissioned the shield and planned it as a gift for Ferdinando I de' Medici, to be placed in the Medici collection. Caravaggio painted two versions. The first, of 1596, is privately owned, and this second one, of about 1597, hangs in the Uffizi.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $380.95At the original size, 61 × 61 cm.

  52. The Death of Marat, by Jacques-Louis David, Oil on canvas, 1793 No. 52 The Death of MaratJacques-Louis David1793Royal Museums of Fine Arts of BelgiumBrussels 165 × 128 cm Not for sale

    No. 52

    The Death of Marat

    Jacques-Louis David, 1793

    Movement
    Neoclassical painting
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    165 × 128 cm (65 × 50 in), height by widthAdult height
    Where it is
    Brussels, Belgium
    Accession no.
    3260
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    David painted it within months of the murder, and his pupils made copies while the image served as a symbol of martyrdom during the Terror. It then fell into obscurity until Proudhon and Baudelaire praised it at the Bazar Bonne-Nouvelle in 1845. T. J. Clark called it the first modernist work.

    Note

    The note in Marat's hand is not a real quotation from Charlotte Corday but an invented text. The arm hanging down over the side of the bath has often been compared with the arm in Michelangelo's Pietà.

    The story

    Marat had a skin condition that kept him in his bathtub, where he often worked. Corday got in by promising to name traitors to the Revolution, stabbed him and did not run. He was correcting a proof of his newspaper, and the bloodstained page survives.

    Sources for this entry

    Not for sale: Not in the catalogue

  53. Whistler's Mother, by James McNeill Whistler, 1871, oil on canvas. No. 53 Whistler's MotherJames McNeill Whistler1871Musée d'OrsayParis 144 × 163 cm From $849.95 at 152 × 102 cm

    No. 53

    Whistler's Mother

    James McNeill Whistler, 1871

    Movement
    Tonalism
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    144 × 163 cm (57 × 64 in), height by widthJust under three-seat sofa
    Where it is
    Paris, France
    Accession no.
    RF 699
    Palette
    • #0d0c0a
    • #889390
    • #39413d
    • #a5aaa5
    • #010101
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    The French state bought the painting in 1891, making it one of the best known works by an American artist held outside the United States. Whistler had pawned it. The Royal Academy came within a hair's breadth of rejecting it in 1872.

    Note

    Whistler's mother sits rather than stands. He had planned the figure standing, but she could not pose that way for long. The picture hangs in a frame of Whistler's own design.

    The story

    Anna McNeill Whistler posed while living with her son at 96 Cheyne Walk, Chelsea. After Thomas Carlyle saw the picture he agreed to sit for a similar one, titled Arrangement in Grey and Black, No. 2, which made this canvas No. 1.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $849.95At 152 × 102 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  54. Salvator Mundi, by Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1490–1500, oil on walnut panel. No. 54 Salvator MundiLeonardo da Vincic. 1490–1500Louvre Abu DhabiAbu Dhabi 66 × 45 cm From $359.95 at 51 × 61 cm

    No. 54

    Salvator Mundi

    Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1490–1500

    Movement
    Italian Renaissance
    Medium
    Oil on walnut panel
    Size
    66 × 45 cm (26 × 18 in), height by widthJust over A2 sheet
    Where it is
    Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
    Palette
    • #593c20
    • #1b140c
    • #393d3c
    • #311f0e
    • #99754a
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file
    Auction record
    Sold for US$450.3 million at Christie's in 2017

    Why it is famous

    Two dealers bought it for 1,175 dollars at an estate sale in New Orleans in 2005, catalogued as after Leonardo. It sold at Christie’s in New York on 15 November 2017 for 450.3 million dollars, the highest price ever paid for an artwork at public auction.

    Note

    Christ holds a crystal orb in his left hand that is transparent and does not refract what lies behind it. Infrared photographs showed a pentimento where the thumb of the blessing hand had first been painted more upright.

    The story

    Dianne Dwyer Modestini restored the picture from 2006. A woodworm infested panel on the back was removed and the painting broke into seven pieces, which were reassembled with adhesive and wood slivers. It has not been publicly exhibited since the 2017 sale.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $359.95At 51 × 61 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  55. The Treachery of Images by René Magritte, a brown pipe painted against a plain light background with the handwritten line Ceci n'est pas une pipe below it. No. 55 The Treachery of ImagesRené Magritte1929Los Angeles County Museum of ArtLos Angeles 60 × 81 cm Not for sale

    No. 55

    The Treachery of Images

    René Magritte, 1929

    Movement
    surrealism
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    60 × 81 cm (24 × 32 in), height by widthA1 poster
    Where it is
    Los Angeles, United States
    Accession no.
    78.7
    Rights
    Under copyright until 2038

    Why it is famous

    Magritte painted a tobacco pipe and wrote below it Ceci n'est pas une pipe, French for this is not a pipe. He answered the complaints himself, asking whether anyone could stuff his pipe and pointing out that it is just a representation. The work is at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

    Note

    The lettering sits directly below the pipe, in a careful hand, and the sentence denies the thing shown above it. Magritte extended the same pairing of pipe and text in later works, among them Les Deux Mystères.

    The story

    On 15 December 1929, Paul Éluard and André Breton published an essay about poetry in La Révolution surréaliste, reacting to Paul Valéry. Where Valéry had written that poetry is a survival, they made fun of the phrase and wrote that poetry is a pipe, a reference to Magritte's painting.

    Sources for this entry

    Not for sale: Copyright until 2038

  56. Declaration of Independence by John Trumbull, the drafting committee presenting the document to the Continental Congress. No. 56 Declaration of IndependenceJohn Trumbull1817–1819United States CapitolWashington, D.C. 366 × 549 cm From $1,299.95 at 183 × 122 cm

    No. 56

    Declaration of Independence

    John Trumbull, 1817–1819

    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    366 × 549 cm (144 × 216 in), height by widthWider than two sofas
    Where it is
    Washington, D.C., United States
    Palette
    • #584937
    • #8b7860
    • #222123
    • #47443f
    • #786e65
    Rights
    Public domain.

    Why it is famous

    The scene is often described as the signing of the Declaration, but it shows the five-man drafting committee presenting their draft to Congress on 28 June 1776. Trumbull's composition appears on the reverse of the United States two-dollar bill, and earlier on a 100-dollar National Bank Note of 1863.

    Note

    Forty-two of the fifty-six signers appear, along with several men who took part in the debate but did not sign. Jefferson looks as though he is standing on Adams's shoe, though a closer look shows their feet are close together.

    The story

    Trumbull painted many of the figures from life and visited Independence Hall to record the chamber where the Second Continental Congress met. He had no portrait of Benjamin Harrison V, so he painted the son, who was said to resemble his father. The work was commissioned in 1817 and placed in the Capitol rotunda in 1826.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $1,299.95At 183 × 122 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  57. The Coronation of Napoleon, by Jacques-Louis David, Oil on canvas, 1807 No. 57 The Coronation of NapoleonJacques-Louis David1807Louvre MuseumParis 621 × 979 cm Not for sale

    No. 57

    The Coronation of Napoleon

    Jacques-Louis David, 1807

    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    621 × 979 cm (244 × 385 in), height by widthWider than a wall
    Museum
    Louvre Museum
    Where it is
    Paris, France
    Accession no.
    INV 3699
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    Napoleon ordered the picture by word of mouth in September 1804. David worked on it in a former chapel near the Sorbonne with his student Georges Rouget and finished in January 1808. American businessmen then asked him for a full size replica, which he painted from memory and completed in exile in 1822.

    Note

    Every figure looks toward Napoleon, with the pope, the emperor and Josephine shown in profile on the steps towards the altar. The Pietà of Notre-Dame is only partly visible, cut off at the right edge of the canvas.

    The story

    The canvas stayed in David's hands until 1819, then went to the Royal Museums, where it sat in storage until 1837. Louis-Philippe had it installed at Versailles, and it moved to the Louvre in 1889. Boilly painted the crowds looking at it in 1810.

    Sources for this entry

    Not for sale: Not in the catalogue

  58. The Nightmare, by Henry Fuseli, 1781, oil on canvas. No. 58 The NightmareHenry Fuseli1781Detroit Institute of ArtsDetroit 101 × 127 cm From $649.95 at 122 × 91 cm

    No. 58

    The Nightmare

    Henry Fuseli, 1781

    Movement
    Romanticism
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    101 × 127 cm (40 × 50 in), height by widthJust over A0 poster
    Where it is
    Detroit, United States
    Accession no.
    55.5.A
    Palette
    • #110e15
    • #cbbdbb
    • #504a4d
    • #897f83
    • #544233
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    Critics at the 1782 Royal Academy show were taken aback by its sexuality, and the scandal made it Fuseli's first commercial success. Thomas Burke's engraving earned the publisher more than five hundred pounds, and caricaturists reused the scene for years to mock Napoleon, Pitt and other public figures.

    Note

    Look at the gap in the red curtain behind the bed. A horse's head pushes through it with blank, pupil-less eyes. On the small table beside the sleeper sit a mirror, a phial and a book.

    The story

    Fuseli had proposed to Anna Landholdt in Zurich and been refused by her father. In 1779 he wrote to their mutual friend Lavater describing a night he imagined with her. An unfinished portrait of a young woman, possibly Landholdt, sits on the back of this canvas.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $649.95At 122 × 91 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  59. The Rhinoceros, by Albrecht Dürer, Woodcut on laid paper, c. 1512–1515 No. 59 The RhinocerosAlbrecht Dürerc. 1512–1515Cleveland Museum of ArtCleveland 24 × 30 cm Not for sale

    No. 59

    The Rhinoceros

    Albrecht Dürer, c. 1512–1515

    Movement
    German Renaissance
    Medium
    Woodcut on laid paper
    Size
    24 × 30 cm (9 × 12 in), height by widthA4 sheet
    Where it is
    Cleveland, United States
    Accession no.
    1993.9
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    Dürer never saw the animal. He cut the woodcut from an anonymous written description and a brief sketch of an Indian rhinoceros brought to Lisbon in 1515, the first living example seen in Europe since Roman times. It was regarded as a true representation into the late eighteenth century.

    Note

    The body is covered with hard plates like sheets of armour, with a gorget at the throat, a solid looking breastplate and what appear to be rivets along the seams. A small twisted horn sits on its back.

    The story

    Manuel I of Portugal sent the rhinoceros to Pope Leo X in December 1515, with a new collar of green velvet decorated with flowers. The ship was wrecked in a storm off Porto Venere, and the animal, chained and shackled to the deck, was unable to swim to safety and drowned.

    Sources for this entry

    Not for sale: Woodcut

  60. Transfiguration, by Raphael, c. 1516–1520, oil on panel. No. 60 TransfigurationRaphaelc. 1516–1520Pinacoteca VaticanaVatican City 410 × 279 cm From $1,299.95 at 122 × 183 cm

    No. 60

    Transfiguration

    Raphael, c. 1516–1520

    Movement
    High Renaissance
    Medium
    Oil on panel
    Size
    410 × 279 cm (161 × 110 in), height by widthWider than two sofas
    Where it is
    Vatican City, Vatican City
    Accession no.
    MV.40333
    Palette
    • #5d3b1c
    • #14100c
    • #9e7749
    • #2d1606
    • #bfbebe
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    In 1577 the Spanish humanist Pablo de Céspedes called it the most famous oil painting in the world, and writers repeated that judgement for three hundred years. French troops took it to Paris in 1797, and Antonio Canova negotiated its return to Rome in 1815.

    Note

    Two stories share the canvas. Christ rises above the mountain in the upper half, while in the lower half the apostles are failing to heal a possessed boy, which is the episode that comes next in the Gospel.

    The story

    Cardinal Giulio de' Medici ordered the altarpiece for Narbonne Cathedral and at the same time ordered a companion piece from Sebastiano del Piombo, who worked from Michelangelo's drawings. Raphael died on 6 April 1520, and for two days the painting stood at the head of his coffin. It never went to France.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $1,299.95At 122 × 183 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  61. Campbell's Soup Cans by Andy Warhol, the thirty-two canvases hung in four rows of eight on a white gallery wall at the Museum of Modern Art. No. 61 Campbell's Soup CansAndy Warhol1962Museum of Modern ArtNew York City 246 × 414 cm Not for sale

    No. 61

    Campbell's Soup Cans

    Andy Warhol, 1962

    Movement
    pop art
    Medium
    Acrylic on thirty-two canvases, each 51 × 41 cm
    Size
    246 × 414 cm (97 × 163 in), height by widthWider than two sofas
    Where it is
    New York City, United States
    Accession no.
    476.1996.1-32
    Rights
    Under copyright until 2058

    Why it is famous

    Warhol painted thirty-two canvases, one for each variety of Campbell's soup, and the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles showed them in July 1962 on narrow ledges, in a single row, like tins on a shelf. The series brought him wide attention and became a reference point for Pop art.

    Note

    These are not silkscreens. Warhol traced and painted each canvas by hand, used a rubber stamp for the gold fleur-de-lis near the bottom, and worked in commercial-grade acrylic. Close up, the contours are shaky and the lettering irregular.

    The story

    Only five or six canvases sold in Los Angeles. The dealer Irving Blum asked the buyers to give theirs back so the set could stay together, then bought all thirty-two from Warhol for 1,000 dollars, paid in ten monthly instalments. The Museum of Modern Art acquired them in 1996.

    Sources for this entry

    Not for sale: Copyright until 2058

  62. Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, by Gustav Klimt, Oil and gold leaf on canvas, 1907 No. 62 Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer IGustav Klimt1907Neue GalerieNew York City 138 × 162 cm From $1,149.95 at 152 × 152 cm

    No. 62

    Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I

    Gustav Klimt, 1907

    Movement
    Art Nouveau
    Medium
    Oil and gold leaf on canvas
    Size
    138 × 162 cm (54 × 64 in), height by widthJust under three-seat sofa
    Museum
    Neue Galerie
    Where it is
    New York City, United States
    Accession no.
    2006.04
    Palette
    • #a47e32
    • #cab363
    • #b89f54
    • #8a8647
    • #655532
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file
    Auction record
    Sold for US$135 million in a private sale in 2006

    Why it is famous

    The portrait was stolen by the Nazis in 1941, after a false charge of tax evasion against Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer. His niece Maria Altmann won it back through a seven year claim that included a hearing before the Supreme Court of the United States, and sold it in 2006 for 135 million dollars, then a record price for a painting.

    Note

    Adele's hair, face, décolletage and hands are painted in oil and make up less than a twelfth of the work. The rest is gold and silver leaf, with decorative motifs on the theme of the letters A and B.

    The story

    Ferdinand commissioned the portrait in mid 1903 and wanted to give it to Adele's parents as an anniversary present that October. In December 1903 Klimt travelled to the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna, where the early Christian gold ground mosaics were, in his own words, a revelation.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $1,149.95At 152 × 152 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  63. Saint John the Baptist, by Leonardo da Vinci, Oil on panel, c. 1513–1514 No. 63 Saint John the BaptistLeonardo da Vincic. 1513–1514Louvre MuseumParis 69 × 57 cm From $449.95 at 61 × 76 cm

    No. 63

    Saint John the Baptist

    Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1513–1514

    Movement
    High Renaissance
    Medium
    Oil on panel
    Size
    69 × 57 cm (27 × 22 in), height by widthJust over A2 sheet
    Museum
    Louvre Museum
    Where it is
    Paris, France
    Accession no.
    INV 775
    Palette
    • #262223
    • #382223
    • #ac725a
    • #552d2b
    • #663a2f
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    Likely completed between 1513 and 1516, this is believed to be Leonardo's final painting. Before it, John the Baptist had traditionally been portrayed as a gaunt ascetic, and Leonardo's version proved influential on Raphael's workshop, with numerous copies made by the Leonardeschi.

    Note

    The saint appears to emerge from the shadowy background through chiaroscuro, smiling in a manner close to the Mona Lisa. He holds a reed cross in his left hand while his right hand points up toward heaven.

    The story

    The panel was part of Francis I's collection at Fontainebleau in 1542. In 1625, Charles I of England received it from Louis XIII in return for a Titian and Holbein's Portrait of Erasmus. It came back to the King of France in 1661 and entered the Louvre after the French Revolution.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $449.95At 61 × 76 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  64. Girl with Balloon by Banksy, a girl stencilled in black on a concrete wall reaching towards a red heart-shaped balloon drifting out of her hand. No. 64 Girl with BalloonBanksy2002London Not for sale

    No. 64

    Girl with Balloon

    Banksy, 2002

    Medium
    Spray-paint stencil on a wall
    Where it is
    London, United Kingdom

    Why it is famous

    A framed version sold at Sotheby's in London on 5 October 2018 for 1,042,000 pounds and began to shred itself seconds after the hammer fell, through a device Banksy had built into the frame. A 2017 Samsung poll of 2,000 people in the United Kingdom ranked the image their favourite artwork.

    Note

    The design is a stencil, a girl with one hand reaching out and a red heart-shaped balloon carried away from her by the wind. Banksy has also issued artist's proofs with blue, pink, gold and purple hearts.

    The story

    The work began in 2002 as a series of stencil murals around London, including Shoreditch and Waterloo Bridge, and none of those murals remain in place. Banksy reused the design for campaigns on the West Bank barrier in 2005 and the Syrian refugee crisis in 2014.

    Sources for this entry

    Not for sale: Copyright

  65. Madonna, by Edvard Munch, Oil on canvas, 1894 No. 65 MadonnaEdvard Munch1894National Museum of Art, Architecture and DesignOslo 91 × 71 cm From $549.95 at 76 × 102 cm

    No. 65

    Madonna

    Edvard Munch, 1894

    Movement
    Expressionism
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    91 × 71 cm (36 × 28 in), height by widthJust over A1 poster
    Where it is
    Oslo, Norway
    Accession no.
    NG.M.00841
    Palette
    • #62432d
    • #eebb5e
    • #9d6f3c
    • #1a1211
    • #321f15
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    In August 2004 masked men wielding firearms stole the Munch Museum's version of this composition together with The Scream, forcing the guards to the floor. Oslo police recovered both on 31 August 2006. In 2010 a hand coloured print of the same design sold at Bonhams in London for 1.25 million pounds.

    Note

    The usual golden halo has been replaced with a red one, read at the Oslo National Gallery as the duality of love and pain. Her eyes are closed while the light falls on her from above.

    The story

    Munch made the versions between 1892 and 1895 in oil on canvas, with Dagny Juel-Przybyszewska as the model. Infrared reflectography at the National Museum in Oslo revealed an underdrawing in which the arms hang down as in a conventional portrait, which suggests that version was the first.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $549.95At 76 × 102 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  66. The Concert by Johannes Vermeer, three musicians at a harpsichord in a sunlit interior. No. 66 The ConcertJohannes Vermeer1663Isabella Stewart Gardner MuseumBoston 73 × 65 cm From $499.95 at 76 × 76 cm

    No. 66

    The Concert

    Johannes Vermeer, 1663

    Movement
    Dutch Golden Age painting
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    73 × 65 cm (29 × 25 in), height by widthJust under A1 poster
    Where it is
    Boston, United States
    Accession no.
    P21w27
    Palette
    • #5e3e29
    • #3a1317
    • #8c7057
    • #30101d
    • #8c807e
    Rights
    Public domain.

    Why it is famous

    Thieves dressed as police officers took thirteen works from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston on the night of 18 March 1990, and this was one of them. It has not resurfaced since, and it is thought to be the most valuable unrecovered work in the world, estimated at 250 million dollars.

    Note

    The painting on the wall at the right is The Procuress by Dirck van Baburen, which belonged to Vermeer's mother-in-law Maria Thins and appears again in his Lady Seated at a Virginal. A viola da gamba lies on the floor.

    The story

    The picture is dated stylistically to the mid-1660s but is first documented only in 1780. Isabella Stewart Gardner bought it at a Paris auction in 1892 for 5,000 dollars, and it was then displayed in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum until the theft.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $499.95At 76 × 76 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  67. The Son of Man by René Magritte, a man in a dark overcoat and bowler hat standing in front of a low wall and the sea, his face hidden by a floating green apple. No. 67 The Son of ManRené Magritte1964 116 × 89 cm Not for sale

    No. 67

    The Son of Man

    René Magritte, 1964

    Movement
    surrealism
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    116 × 89 cm (46 × 35 in), height by widthA0 poster
    Rights
    Under copyright until 2038

    Why it is famous

    Magritte painted it as a self-portrait, and it is probably his best-known work. He described the idea behind it as concealment, everything we see hides another thing, and there is an interest in what is hidden and which the visible does not show us.

    Note

    The man's face is largely covered by a hovering green apple, though his eyes can be seen peeking over the edge of it. A subtler detail is that his left arm appears to bend backwards at the elbow.

    The story

    Magritte sold the painting to Harry Torczyner in August 1964. Christie's auctioned it to a private collector in 1998 for 5,392,500 dollars. Both owners have lent it to museums from time to time, and it was shown at SFMOMA in 2018.

    Sources for this entry

    Not for sale: Copyright until 2038

  68. The Wedding at Cana by Paolo Veronese, a crowded Venetian banquet with musicians in the foreground. No. 68 The Wedding at CanaPaolo Veronesec. 1562–1563Louvre MuseumParis 677 × 994 cm From $1,299.95 at 183 × 122 cm

    No. 68

    The Wedding at Cana

    Paolo Veronese, c. 1562–1563

    Movement
    Mannerism
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    677 × 994 cm (267 × 391 in), height by widthWider than a wall
    Museum
    Louvre Museum
    Where it is
    Paris, France
    Accession no.
    INV 142
    Palette
    • #8d745b
    • #634b39
    • #bec0b9
    • #888279
    • #bfb596
    Rights
    Public domain.

    Why it is famous

    With a pictorial area of 67.29 square metres, this is the largest picture in the paintings collection of the Musée du Louvre. French Revolutionary soldiers took it from the San Giorgio monastery in Venice in 1797, and it was never sent back, unlike other works Napoleon had plundered from Italy.

    Note

    By 17th-century tradition the musicians in front are painters: Veronese in white on the viola da braccio, Bassano on cornetto, Tintoretto on viola, and Titian in red on the violone. An hourglass stands before them.

    The story

    The Black Monks of San Giorgio commissioned the picture on 6 June 1562 for the refectory Palladio had designed. The contract set the fee at 324 ducats, covered the painter's board, required the best colours including ultramarine, and gave him a barrel of wine. He delivered it in September 1563.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $1,299.95At 183 × 122 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  69. Napoleon Crossing the Alps, by Jacques-Louis David, 1800–1801, oil on canvas. No. 69 Napoleon Crossing the AlpsJacques-Louis David1800–1801BelvedereVienna 275 × 232 cm From $1,149.95 at 152 × 152 cm

    No. 69

    Napoleon Crossing the Alps

    Jacques-Louis David, 1800–1801

    Movement
    Neoclassicism
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    275 × 232 cm (108 × 91 in), height by widthJust under living-room wall
    Museum
    Belvedere
    Where it is
    Vienna, Austria
    Accession no.
    2089
    Palette
    • #917e54
    • #5c4c2c
    • #c9b785
    • #8f8d6d
    • #8e9283
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    Bonaparte refused to sit for the portrait and asked David to show him calm on a fiery steed. In reality he had crossed the Great St Bernard Pass in fine weather, led by a guide on a mule. The image became one of the most reproduced of Napoleon.

    Note

    In the foreground the names BONAPARTE, HANNIBAL and KAROLVS MAGNVS IMP. are engraved on the rocks, and the picture is signed and dated on the yoke of the horse's breastplate.

    The story

    Charles IV of Spain commissioned the first version for the Royal Palace of Madrid, as part of an exchange of gifts. Bonaparte then ordered three more. The version delivered to Milan in 1803 was confiscated by the Austrians and installed at the Belvedere in Vienna in 1834.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $1,149.95At 152 × 152 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  70. Venus of Urbino, by Titian, Oil on canvas, 1538 No. 70 Venus of UrbinoTitian1538Uffizi GalleryFlorence 119 × 166 cm From $849.95 at 152 × 102 cm

    No. 70

    Venus of Urbino

    Titian, 1538

    Movement
    Venetian school
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    119 × 166 cm (47 × 65 in), height by widthJust under three-seat sofa
    Where it is
    Florence, Italy
    Accession no.
    1437
    Palette
    • #171513
    • #d3bf89
    • #967c4a
    • #5a4427
    • #321f12
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    Guidobaldo II della Rovere saw the picture in Titian's studio in 1538, called it simply the nude woman and worried that Titian would sell it to someone else. It was one of the sources for Manet's Olympia in 1863, and Mark Twain attacked it in print in 1880.

    Note

    A dog lies in the near background, often read as a symbol of fidelity, and further back two maids rummage through a cassone chest where clothes were kept. She holds a posy of roses.

    The story

    In December 1534 Titian wrote to the chamberlain of Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici that he was working on a painting of a woman for him. Ippolito died in 1535 and apparently never saw it. The picture reached the Medici collections in 1633 through a marriage.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $849.95At 152 × 102 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  71. The Massacre at Chios by Eugène Delacroix, a frieze of wounded and captive islanders in front of a ruined landscape. No. 71 The Massacre at ChiosEugène Delacroix1824Louvre MuseumParis 419 × 354 cm From $1,149.95 at 152 × 152 cm

    No. 71

    The Massacre at Chios

    Eugène Delacroix, 1824

    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    419 × 354 cm (165 × 139 in), height by widthWider than two sofas
    Museum
    Louvre Museum
    Where it is
    Paris, France
    Accession no.
    INV 3823
    Palette
    • #937b6b
    • #584337
    • #1a1514
    • #8b7e7a
    • #c5a999
    Rights
    Public domain.

    Why it is famous

    Delacroix showed it at the Salon of 1824, in the same room as Ingres's The Vow of Louis XIII, and the contrast started a public rivalry between them. Gros called the picture the massacre of painting. The state bought it that year for 6,000 francs.

    Note

    At the foot of the group on the right an old woman raises her head to the sky, and beside her a baby reaches for a clenched-fisted corpse. Delacroix appears to abandon perspective altogether in the clouds behind.

    The story

    Delacroix wrote to a friend in September 1821 that he wanted to make his name with a scene from the war between the Ottomans and the Greeks. The Ottoman campaign on Chios began in April 1822 and killed twenty thousand people. He committed to the subject in May 1823.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $1,149.95At 152 × 152 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  72. Les Demoiselles d'Avignon by Pablo Picasso, five nude women with angular pink bodies, the two on the right wearing mask-like faces. No. 72 Les Demoiselles d'AvignonPablo Picasso1907Museum of Modern ArtNew York City 244 × 234 cm Not for sale

    No. 72

    Les Demoiselles d'Avignon

    Pablo Picasso, 1907

    Movement
    primitivism
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    244 × 234 cm (96 × 92 in), height by widthJust over door size
    Where it is
    New York City, United States
    Accession no.
    333.1939
    Rights
    Under copyright until 2044

    Why it is famous

    Picasso painted this in 1907 while trying to take the lead of the avant garde from Matisse, and it opened the path he and Braque followed into cubism. Matisse treated the work as a bad joke, and when it was first exhibited in 1916 it was deemed immoral.

    Note

    The five figures are not painted alike. The far left has the features and dress of Egyptian or southern Asian style, the two next to her are Iberian, and the two on the right have African mask-like features.

    The story

    The canvas was rolled up and stayed with Picasso until 1924, when Breton and Aragon urged him to sell it to the designer Jacques Doucet. Before that it had been seen publicly only once, at the Salon d'Antin in July 1916, where André Salmon gave it the title it still carries.

    Sources for this entry

    Not for sale: Copyright until 2044

  73. The Potato Eaters, by Vincent van Gogh, 1885, oil on canvas. No. 73 The Potato EatersVincent van Gogh1885Van Gogh MuseumAmsterdam 82 × 114 cm From $649.95 at 122 × 91 cm

    No. 73

    The Potato Eaters

    Vincent van Gogh, 1885

    Movement
    Post-impressionism
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    82 × 114 cm (32 × 45 in), height by widthA0 poster
    Where it is
    Amsterdam, Netherlands
    Accession no.
    s0005V1962
    Palette
    • #151a13
    • #434425
    • #252612
    • #1e2515
    • #363d28
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    Van Gogh wanted anyone looking at it to understand that the people eating had dug those potatoes with the same hands they put in the dish. He argued in a letter to Theo that painting peasants in their coarseness produced better results than adding conventional sweetness.

    Note

    The whole room is lit by one small hanging lamp, and a figure at the centre of the table sits with her back to the viewer, a device Van Gogh may have taken from Jozef Israëls.

    The story

    Van Gogh worked on it in Nuenen from 13 April 1885 until early May, after weeks of studies. Thieves took the final version from the Amsterdam museum in April 1991 along with nineteen other paintings, but their getaway car blew a tyre and everything was recovered within thirty five minutes.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $649.95At 122 × 91 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  74. The Lady of Shalott, by John William Waterhouse, 1888, oil paint on canvas. No. 74 The Lady of ShalottJohn William Waterhouse1888TateLondon 153 × 200 cm From $1,299.95 at 183 × 122 cm

    No. 74

    The Lady of Shalott

    John William Waterhouse, 1888

    Movement
    Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
    Medium
    Oil paint on canvas
    Size
    153 × 200 cm (60 × 79 in), height by widthThree-seat sofa
    Museum
    Tate
    Where it is
    London, United Kingdom
    Accession no.
    N01543
    Palette
    • #1b1915
    • #5e4231
    • #9a6f4b
    • #623534
    • #3c3734
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    Waterhouse painted the ending of Tennyson's 1832 poem, the moment the Lady leaves in the boat. Sir Henry Tate donated the picture to the public in 1894. Waterhouse returned to the character twice more, in 1894 and 1915, and the work carries much of the Pre-Raphaelite style decades after the Brotherhood split.

    Note

    Three candles stand near a crucifix at the bow, and two of them are already blown out, a sign that her death is near. She sits on the tapestry she wove in the tower.

    The story

    In Tennyson's poem the Lady is forbidden to look directly at the world and weaves what she sees in a mirror. When Lancelot rides past and she looks at him, the mirror cracks; she writes her name on the prow and sails towards Camelot.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $1,299.95At 183 × 122 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  75. The Sleepers by Gustave Courbet, two nude women asleep on a bed, entwined. No. 75 The SleepersGustave Courbet1866Petit PalaisParis 135 × 200 cm From $1,299.95 at 183 × 122 cm

    No. 75

    The Sleepers

    Gustave Courbet, 1866

    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    135 × 200 cm (53 × 79 in), height by widthThree-seat sofa
    Museum
    Petit Palais
    Where it is
    Paris, France
    Accession no.
    PPP3130
    Palette
    • #dec091
    • #a68155
    • #f6ead6
    • #1a1637
    • #decfbc
    Rights
    Public domain.

    Why it is famous

    The Turkish diplomat Halil Şerif Paşa commissioned the painting, which Courbet made in 1866. It could not be shown publicly until 1988, and when a picture dealer exhibited it in 1872 it became the subject of a police report. Its theme of a female couple was taken up by other artists afterwards.

    Note

    Two women lie asleep on a bed, entwined. On the small wooden table in front are a coloured flacon, a crystal vase and a cup, and a broken pearl necklace and a hairpin lie scattered in the bedclothes.

    The story

    One of the models was Joanna Hiffernan, at the time the mistress of the painter James Abbott Whistler. Whistler's relationship with her ended soon afterwards and his opinion of Courbet soured. The picture is now in the collection of the Petit Palais in Paris.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $1,299.95At 183 × 122 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  76. The Birth of Venus, by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Oil on canvas, 1879 No. 76 The Birth of VenusWilliam-Adolphe Bouguereau1879Musée d'OrsayParis 300 × 218 cm From $1,299.95 at 122 × 183 cm

    No. 76

    The Birth of Venus

    William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1879

    Movement
    academic art
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    300 × 218 cm (118 × 86 in), height by widthJust under living-room wall
    Where it is
    Paris, France
    Accession no.
    RF 253
    Palette
    • #d0c0c6
    • #957b63
    • #5e4625
    • #caac9c
    • #8c8282
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    The canvas stands at just over 300 centimetres high and is considered Bouguereau's tour de force. It does not show the birth itself but her transportation in a shell as a fully mature woman from the sea to Paphos in Cyprus, a subject and composition close to Botticelli's version and to Raphael's Triumph of Galatea.

    Note

    In the clouds at the upper left of the painting there is a shadow. It appears to be the silhouette of the artist, with a head, shoulder, arm, and a raised fist that would seem to hold a paintbrush.

    The story

    Venus is an enlarged version of a nymph from Bouguereau's The Nymphaeum, completed a year earlier in 1878. The nymph is slightly thinner, while Venus has longer and lighter hair and a more intense contrapposto, though she arranges her hair almost identically.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $1,299.95At 122 × 183 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  77. Ghent Altarpiece, by Jan van Eyck, Oil on oak panel, 1432 No. 77 Ghent AltarpieceJan van Eyck1432St Bavo's CathedralGhent 375 × 520 cm Not for sale

    No. 77

    Ghent Altarpiece

    Jan van Eyck, 1432

    Movement
    Early Netherlandish painting
    Medium
    Oil on oak panel
    Size
    375 × 520 cm (148 × 205 in), height by widthWider than two sofas
    Where it is
    Ghent, Belgium
    Accession no.
    426
    Palette
    • #5f4534
    • #977452
    • #d6b584
    • #1e1a1a
    • #573635
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    Noah Charney counts thirteen crimes and seven thefts against the altarpiece. The Just Judges panel was stolen in 1934 and has never been found. In 1942 Hitler ordered it seized, it was hidden in the Altaussee salt mines, and Allied Monuments officers recovered it in 1945.

    Note

    With the wings closed you see two saints painted to look like sculpture and the donors Joos Vijd and Lysbette Borluut. The Just Judges panel now in place is a copy made by the restorer Jef Van der Veken.

    The story

    Joos Vijd, a wealthy Ghent merchant and warden of St John's church, commissioned the polyptych for a chapel he endowed with his wife Lysbette Borluut. The couple died childless. It was consecrated on 6 May 1432, the day Philip the Good's son was baptised in the church.

    Sources for this entry

    Not for sale: Polyptych

  78. The Goldfinch, by Carel Fabritius, 1654, oil on panel. No. 78 The GoldfinchCarel Fabritius1654MauritshuisThe Hague 34 × 23 cm From $299.95 at 41 × 51 cm

    No. 78

    The Goldfinch

    Carel Fabritius, 1654

    Movement
    Dutch Golden Age painting
    Medium
    Oil on panel
    Size
    34 × 23 cm (13 × 9 in), height by widthJust over A4 sheet
    Museum
    Mauritshuis
    Where it is
    The Hague, Netherlands
    Accession no.
    605
    Palette
    • #d3b36a
    • #5c4626
    • #987637
    • #32220e
    • #5b5835
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    Fabritius died in the Delft gunpowder explosion of 12 October 1654, the year he signed this panel, and few of his works survive. The picture was lost for more than two centuries before Théophile Thoré-Bürger found it in Brussels in 1859.

    Note

    The bird is life size, chained by the leg to the upper ring of its feeder, and the panel is signed and dated C fabritivs 1654 at the bottom. The viewpoint sits slightly below the bird.

    The story

    A 2003 restoration used a CT scanner, since lead based paint limited X-rays. It showed the thick panel was once part of a larger piece of wood, perhaps a window jamb or a hinged cover, and that small dents formed while the paint was still wet.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $299.95At 41 × 51 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  79. The Card Players, by Paul Cezanne, 1890, oil on canvas. No. 79 The Card PlayersPaul Cezanne1890Musée d'OrsayParis 48 × 57 cm From $380.95 at 61 × 61 cm

    No. 79

    The Card Players

    Paul Cezanne, 1890

    Movement
    Post-impressionism
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    48 × 57 cm (19 × 22 in), height by widthA2 sheet
    Where it is
    Paris, France
    Accession no.
    RF 1969
    Palette
    • #9e7559
    • #644130
    • #ccaa94
    • #caae88
    • #867b7b
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file
    Auction record
    Sold privately for US$250 million in 2011

    Why it is famous

    One version of the series was sold in 2011 to the royal family of Qatar for a price estimated at 250 million dollars, the highest sum recorded for a painting until November 2017. Cézanne swapped the rowdy tavern gamblers of earlier genre painting for silent Provençal farmhands.

    Note

    There is no money on the table and, apart from an unused wine bottle in the two player versions, no drink either, though both were fixtures of the seventeenth century card games Cézanne was working from.

    The story

    The models were local farmhands, some of whom worked on the Cézanne family estate at the Jas de Bouffan. In 2010 and 2011 the Courtauld Gallery and the Metropolitan Museum of Art ran the first exhibition devoted to the series, though two versions could only be shown there as prints.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $380.95At 61 × 61 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  80. Weeping Woman by Pablo Picasso, a woman's face broken into angular planes of yellow, green and blue, a white handkerchief pressed to her mouth, tears at her eyes and a blue flower in her red hat. No. 80 Weeping WomanPablo Picasso1937TateLondon 50 × 61 cm Not for sale

    No. 80

    Weeping Woman

    Pablo Picasso, 1937

    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    50 × 61 cm (20 × 24 in), height by widthA2 sheet
    Museum
    Tate
    Where it is
    London, United Kingdom
    Accession no.
    T05010
    Rights
    Under copyright until 2044

    Why it is famous

    Picasso made the series in 1937 while working on Guernica, after the bombing of the Basque town, and thirty-six works on the theme have been identified. The version in the Tate, dated 26 October 1937, is the most elaborate, and the series has been described as a postscript to Guernica.

    Note

    The face is put together from mixed viewpoints, with the nose in profile, the mouth in three-quarter view and the eyes seen from the front. The eyes sit on the peaks of the handkerchief and are drawn like overflowing saucers.

    The story

    The model was Dora Maar, the photographer who documented the painting of Guernica. Picasso sold this version to Roland Penrose in November 1937. It was stolen from the Penrose home in London in 1969 and recovered in Ealing that July, after which it went on loan to the Tate.

    Sources for this entry

    Not for sale: Copyright until 2044

  81. The Angelus, by Jean-Francois Millet, c. 1857–1859, oil on canvas. No. 81 The AngelusJean-Francois Milletc. 1857–1859Musée d'OrsayParis 56 × 66 cm From $359.95 at 61 × 51 cm

    No. 81

    The Angelus

    Jean-Francois Millet, c. 1857–1859

    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    56 × 66 cm (22 × 26 in), height by widthJust over A2 sheet
    Where it is
    Paris, France
    Accession no.
    RF 051804048
    Palette
    • #241e1b
    • #453b2b
    • #8e805e
    • #bcb485
    • #31261c
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    At the Secrétan sale of 1889 the Louvre and the American Art Association bid against each other until the price reached 553,000 francs, and the painting left for New York. It came back to France a year later for 750,000 francs. The gap between those prices and what Millet's family had led to the droit de suite law.

    Note

    The steeple on the horizon is the church at Chailly-en-Bière, and Millet added it late. At their feet are a basket of potatoes, a fork, the sacks and a wheelbarrow, which is the whole of the day's work.

    The story

    Millet painted it for the American collector Thomas Gold Appleton, who never came to collect the picture. He said the idea came from his grandmother, who made the family stop work in the fields whenever the church bell rang. Salvador Dalí later had the Louvre X-ray it.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $359.95At 61 × 51 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  82. Starry Night Over the Rhone, by Vincent van Gogh, Oil on canvas, 1888 No. 82 Starry Night Over the RhoneVincent van Gogh1888Musée d'OrsayParis 72 × 92 cm From $549.95 at 102 × 76 cm

    No. 82

    Starry Night Over the Rhone

    Vincent van Gogh, 1888

    Movement
    Post-impressionism
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    72 × 92 cm (28 × 36 in), height by widthJust over A1 poster
    Where it is
    Paris, France
    Accession no.
    RF 1975 19
    Palette
    • #284c68
    • #457aa1
    • #6b7f64
    • #365151
    • #475949
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    Theo van Gogh sent the canvas to the 1889 exhibition of the Société des Artistes Indépendants in Paris and showed it beside Irises, although Vincent had proposed one of his paintings of the public gardens in Arles instead. He painted it on the bank of the Rhône, a minute or two from the Yellow House.

    Note

    The Plough in Ursa Major sits above the town, although it could not be seen looking southwest from that spot. Van Gogh painted the stars in 1888 to resemble flowers. Two lovers walk along the bank in the foreground.

    The story

    Van Gogh described the composition in a letter to Theo and included a sketch of it in a letter to his friend Eugène Boch dated 2 October 1888. The foreground shows heavy rework, painted wet in wet as soon as the first state was finished.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $549.95At 102 × 76 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  83. Wheatfield with Crows, by Vincent van Gogh, Oil on canvas, 1890 No. 83 Wheatfield with CrowsVincent van Gogh1890Van Gogh MuseumAmsterdam 50 × 103 cm Not for sale

    No. 83

    Wheatfield with Crows

    Vincent van Gogh, 1890

    Movement
    Post-impressionism
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    50 × 103 cm (20 × 41 in), height by widthJust under A0 poster
    Where it is
    Amsterdam, Netherlands
    Accession no.
    s0149V19558
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    Many people call this Van Gogh's last painting, an idea spread by Vincente Minnelli's 1956 film Lust for Life, which shows him painting it just before he shot himself. His letters place it around 10 July 1890, and Tree Roots was in fact the final canvas.

    Note

    The canvas is a double square. A central path runs into the field and leads nowhere, the crows fly in no clear direction, and the windswept wheat fills two thirds of the surface under a heavy sky.

    The story

    Around 10 July 1890 Van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo and to Jo Bonger that he had painted three more large canvases at Auvers. He said he had set out to express sadness and extreme loneliness, and also what he found healthy and fortifying in the countryside.

    Sources for this entry

    Not for sale: Not in the catalogue

  84. The Milkmaid, by Johannes Vermeer, c. 1660, oil on canvas. No. 84 The MilkmaidJohannes Vermeerc. 1660RijksmuseumAmsterdam 46 × 41 cm From $249.95 at 41 × 41 cm

    No. 84

    The Milkmaid

    Johannes Vermeer, c. 1660

    Movement
    Dutch Golden Age painting
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    46 × 41 cm (18 × 16 in), height by widthJust over A3 sheet
    Museum
    Rijksmuseum
    Where it is
    Amsterdam, Netherlands
    Accession no.
    SK-A-2344
    Palette
    • #54402d
    • #d0c8b7
    • #937b5e
    • #191b1d
    • #0f1f35
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    The Rijksmuseum calls it one of the museum's finest attractions. It arrived in 1908, when the Six family sold thirty nine paintings to the museum with help from the Dutch government and the Rembrandt Society, after public squabbling and the intervention of the Dutch parliament.

    Note

    Look at the floor behind her. There is a foot warmer, and beside it a row of Delft tiles, one of them showing Cupid. Half her face is in shadow, so her expression stays out of reach.

    The story

    Pieter van Ruijven, Vermeer's patron in Delft, probably bought the picture straight from the painter, and at his death he owned twenty one of Vermeer's works. At the 1696 sale of that collection the record called this one exceptionally good, and only View of Delft brought more.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $249.95At 41 × 41 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  85. Self-Portrait (1889) by Vincent van Gogh, the artist in a blue jacket against a swirling blue-green background. No. 85 Self-Portrait (1889)Vincent van Gogh1889Musée d'OrsayParis 65 × 54 cm Not for sale

    No. 85

    Self-Portrait (1889)

    Vincent van Gogh, 1889

    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    65 × 54 cm (26 × 21 in), height by widthJust over A2 sheet
    Museum
    Musée d'Orsay
    Where it is
    Paris, France
    Accession no.
    RF 1949 17
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    This is the self-portrait van Gogh painted in oil in September 1889, shortly before he left Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, and it may be his last. He made about thirty-two self-portraits over ten years, partly because he often lacked the money to pay models.

    Note

    The Musée d'Orsay notes that the model's immobility contrasts with the undulating hair and beard, which are echoed and amplified in the hallucinatory arabesques of the background.

    The story

    Van Gogh sent the picture to his brother Theo with a letter asking him to study it for a time, and saying that his expression had become much calmer although his eyes had the same insecure look as before. He also showed it to Dr Paul Gachet at Auvers-sur-Oise.

    Sources for this entry

    Not for sale: Not in the catalogue

  86. Gabrielle d'Estrées et une de ses sœurs, two nude women in a bath behind a parted curtain, one pinching the other's nipple. No. 86 Gabrielle d'Estrées et une de ses sœursUnknown (School of Fontainebleau)c. 1594Louvre MuseumParis 96 × 125 cm Not for sale

    No. 86

    Gabrielle d'Estrées et une de ses sœurs

    Unknown (School of Fontainebleau), c. 1594

    Movement
    School of Fontainebleau
    Medium
    Oil on oak panel
    Size
    96 × 125 cm (38 × 49 in), height by widthA0 poster
    Museum
    Louvre Museum
    Where it is
    Paris, France
    Accession no.
    R.F. 1937-1
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    The painting is by an unknown artist and is usually given to the Fontainebleau School. The nipple-pinching gesture has often been read as a symbolic announcement that Gabrielle d'Estrées, mistress of Henry IV, was pregnant with his child. Since the twentieth century it has also often been read as an image of female homosexuality, although the women are sisters.

    Note

    Gabrielle sits in a bath holding a ring and her sister pinches her right nipple. Both wear pearl earrings and nothing else. A curtain parts as if on a stage, and in the background a seamstress works beside a fireplace.

    The story

    Brantôme described a group going to see the picture. A 1935 account says that during the first half of the nineteenth century it hung in the Prefecture of Police in Paris, where an official had a green curtain drawn across it, and that when the curtain was drawn back for a cleaning the frame was empty.

    Sources for this entry

    Not for sale: Not in the catalogue

  87. The Hay Wain, by John Constable, 1821, oil on canvas. No. 87 The Hay WainJohn Constable1821National GalleryLondon 130 × 185 cm From $1,299.95 at its original size

    No. 87

    The Hay Wain

    John Constable, 1821

    Movement
    Romanticism
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    130 × 185 cm (51 × 73 in), height by widthJust under three-seat sofa
    Where it is
    London, United Kingdom
    Accession no.
    NG1207
    Palette
    • #2c2312
    • #443b24
    • #89887e
    • #46442a
    • #211b10
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    Constable showed it at the Royal Academy in 1821 under the title Landscape: Noon and found no buyer. Three years later it caused a sensation at the Paris Salon, where Charles X awarded it a gold medal, and the French painters who saw it there took note.

    Note

    Willy Lott's cottage stands at the far left. The three horses cross the Stour, which is the county line here, so the left bank is Suffolk and the right bank is Essex.

    The story

    Flatford Mill belonged to Constable's father, and the house on the left was home to Willy Lott, a tenant farmer said never to have left it for more than four days in his life. The cottage still stands. None of the trees in the picture do.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $1,299.95At the original size, 183 × 122 cm.

  88. Café Terrace at Night, by Vincent van Gogh, 1888, oil on canvas. No. 88 Café Terrace at NightVincent van Gogh1888Kröller-Müller MuseumEde 81 × 65 cm From $449.95 at 61 × 76 cm

    No. 88

    Café Terrace at Night

    Vincent van Gogh, 1888

    Movement
    Post-impressionism
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    81 × 65 cm (32 × 26 in), height by widthA1 poster
    Where it is
    Ede, Netherlands
    Accession no.
    KM 108.565
    Palette
    • #a47d49
    • #2b4c7c
    • #d8ae4d
    • #4874b0
    • #797a74
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    This was the first painting in which Van Gogh used a star filled sky, a motif he returned to in Starry Night Over the Rhône the same month and in The Starry Night a year later. He described it as a night painting made without any black.

    Note

    The painting carries no signature. A single large yellow lantern lights the terrace, the house front and the paving, and the position of Aquarius in the sky allowed Albert Boime to date the scene to about 11 pm.

    The story

    Van Gogh painted it on the spot in Arles in mid September 1888 and described it to his sister in a letter, saying he enjoyed painting at night rather than working up a drawing by day. The site on the Place du Forum was rebuilt in 1990 and 1991 to match the picture.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $449.95At 61 × 76 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  89. Annunciation, by Leonardo da Vinci, Oil on panel, c. 1472 No. 89 AnnunciationLeonardo da Vincic. 1472Uffizi GalleryFlorence 90 × 222 cm Not for sale

    No. 89

    Annunciation

    Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1472

    Movement
    Italian Renaissance
    Medium
    Oil on panel
    Size
    90 × 222 cm (35 × 87 in), height by widthJust over three-seat sofa
    Where it is
    Florence, Italy
    Accession no.
    1618
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    This is Leonardo's earliest extant major work, completed in Florence while he was an apprentice in the studio of Andrea del Verrocchio. It reached the Uffizi in 1867 attributed to Domenico Ghirlandaio, and only in 1869 did Karl Eduard von Liphart specify it as a youthful work by Leonardo.

    Note

    Leonardo painted the wings of the angel to resemble those of a bird in flight, and another artist later lengthened them dramatically. The angel holds a Madonna lily, a symbol of Mary's virginity and of the city of Florence.

    The story

    In March 2007 the painting was at the centre of a furor between Italian citizens and the Minister of Culture, who had decided to lend it to an exhibition in Japan. Around 300 politicians and art experts wrote to Francesco Rutelli urging him to halt the transfer.

    Sources for this entry

    Not for sale: Not in the catalogue

  90. The Turkish Bath by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, a round painting of nude women gathered around a pool in a harem. No. 90 The Turkish BathJean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres1862Louvre MuseumParis 110 × 108 cm From $759.95 at 122 × 122 cm

    No. 90

    The Turkish Bath

    Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, 1862

    Movement
    Orientalism
    Medium
    Oil on canvas and panel
    Size
    110 × 108 cm (43 × 43 in), height by widthJust under A0 poster
    Museum
    Louvre Museum
    Where it is
    Paris, France
    Accession no.
    R.F. 1934
    Palette
    • #998159
    • #d1b68c
    • #495540
    • #757650
    • #634f37
    Rights
    Public domain.

    Why it is famous

    Ingres signed the picture in 1862, at about eighty-two, and wrote his age on it as AETATIS LXXXII. The first buyer, a relation of Napoleon III, returned it within days because his wife found it unsuitable. The Louvre refused the work twice before accepting it in 1911.

    Note

    Ingres first painted it as a rectangle and later changed it to a tondo, so the viewer looks in through an oculus. At the centre is the figure from his Valpinçon Bather, here playing a long-necked lute.

    The story

    Ingres never travelled beyond Europe. He worked from sketches and from his own earlier paintings, and from texts he had copied out, including Lady Mary Wortley Montagu's description of the women's bath at Adrianople. Khalil Bey, a former Ottoman diplomat, bought the painting in 1865 for his collection of erotic pictures.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $759.95At 122 × 122 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  91. Freedom of Speech by Norman Rockwell, a man in a work jacket and plaid shirt standing among seated men and looking up as he speaks, a folded town report in his jacket pocket and the men nearest him turning their faces up towards him. No. 91 Freedom of SpeechNorman Rockwell1943Norman Rockwell MuseumStockbridge 116 × 90 cm Not for sale

    No. 91

    Freedom of Speech

    Norman Rockwell, 1943

    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    116 × 90 cm (46 × 35 in), height by widthA0 poster
    Where it is
    Stockbridge, United States
    Accession no.
    NRACT.1973.021
    Rights
    Under copyright until 2049

    Why it is famous

    This is the first of Rockwell's Four Freedoms, a series prompted by Franklin D. Roosevelt's State of the Union address of 6 January 1941. The Saturday Evening Post published it on 20 February 1943 with an essay by Booth Tarkington, and the set later became central to the United States war bond drive.

    Note

    The speaker wears a plaid shirt and suede jacket and has dirty hands, unlike the men around him in white shirts and ties. One of them holds a document showing the meeting subject, a discussion of the town's annual report.

    The story

    The scene comes from a 1942 town meeting in Arlington, Vermont, where Jim Edgerton was the only person to speak against the plan to build a new school. Rockwell used his Vermont neighbours as models. Carl Hess, who ran a gas station in town, posed eight times for the speaker.

    Sources for this entry

    Not for sale: Copyright until 2049

  92. Return of the Prodigal Son, by Rembrandt, c. 1665–1668, oil on canvas. No. 92 Return of the Prodigal SonRembrandtc. 1665–1668Hermitage MuseumSaint Petersburg 262 × 205 cm From $1,299.95 at 122 × 183 cm

    No. 92

    Return of the Prodigal Son

    Rembrandt, c. 1665–1668

    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    262 × 205 cm (103 × 81 in), height by widthJust over door size
    Where it is
    Saint Petersburg, Russia
    Accession no.
    ГЭ-742
    Palette
    • #341616
    • #653527
    • #190a0c
    • #5e2926
    • #ab6541
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    Kenneth Clark described it as a picture that those who have seen the original in St Petersburg may be forgiven for claiming as the greatest ever painted. It is among Rembrandt's final works, likely finished within two years of his death in 1669.

    Note

    The father's two hands differ. The left one on the son's shoulder appears larger and more masculine, while the right is softer and more receptive in gesture.

    The story

    Rembrandt returned to the parable across decades, in drawings, etchings and paintings, starting with an etching of 1636. The painting includes figures not in the parable whose identities are debated: the woman at top left is likely the mother, and the seated man may be an estate advisor.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $1,299.95At 122 × 183 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  93. The Fighting Temeraire, by J.M.W. Turner, 1839, oil on canvas. No. 93 The Fighting TemeraireJ.M.W. Turner1839National GalleryLondon 91 × 122 cm From $649.95 at its original size

    No. 93

    The Fighting Temeraire

    J.M.W. Turner, 1839

    Movement
    Romanticism
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    91 × 122 cm (36 × 48 in), height by widthA0 poster
    Where it is
    London, United Kingdom
    Accession no.
    NG524
    Palette
    • #8c8987
    • #b8b5b0
    • #9e866b
    • #c0af86
    • #677893
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    The ship had fought at Trafalgar, and her sale for scrap was covered at length in the press, which is probably what brought Turner to the subject. In a 2005 poll run by BBC Radio 4 listeners voted it the nation's favourite painting, and it went onto the 20 pound note in 2020.

    Note

    The tug flies a white flag rather than the Union Jack, a sign that the ship had been sold to a private company. On the opposite side the sun sets, and a thin moon shows behind the warship.

    The story

    Turner kept the canvas in his studio until he died. Around 1848 he refused an offer reported at 5,000 pounds and then a blank cheque, having decided to leave the work to the nation. It came to the National Gallery with the Turner Bequest in 1851.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $649.95At the original size, 122 × 91 cm.

  94. The Problem We All Live With by Norman Rockwell, a girl in a white dress carrying schoolbooks and a ruler walking past a wall marked by a racial slur and the splatter of a thrown tomato, escorted by four men in suits and armbands shown from shoulder to knee. No. 94 The Problem We All Live WithNorman Rockwell1964Norman Rockwell MuseumStockbridge 91 × 150 cm Not for sale

    No. 94

    The Problem We All Live With

    Norman Rockwell, 1964

    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    91 × 150 cm (36 × 59 in), height by widthJust over A0 poster
    Where it is
    Stockbridge, United States
    Accession no.
    NRM.1975.01
    Rights
    Under copyright until 2049

    Why it is famous

    Rockwell painted Ruby Bridges, six years old, walking to William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans on 14 November 1960 under escort by four deputy US marshals. Look published it as a centrefold on 14 January 1964, after Rockwell had left the Saturday Evening Post over limits on political subjects.

    Note

    The wall behind her carries a racial slur and the letters KKK, and a thrown tomato has smashed against it. The white protesters are not shown, because the viewer is looking at the scene from their point of view.

    The story

    Rockwell did not use Ruby Bridges as his model. A local girl, Lynda Gunn, posed for the figure, with her cousin Anita Gunn. After publication he received sacks of disapproving mail. At Bridges's suggestion the painting hung outside the Oval Office from July to October 2011.

    Sources for this entry

    Not for sale: Copyright until 2049

  95. Grande Odalisque, by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Oil on canvas, 1814 No. 95 Grande OdalisqueJean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres1814Louvre MuseumParis 91 × 162 cm From $849.95 at 152 × 102 cm

    No. 95

    Grande Odalisque

    Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, 1814

    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    91 × 162 cm (36 × 64 in), height by widthJust under three-seat sofa
    Museum
    Louvre Museum
    Where it is
    Paris, France
    Accession no.
    RF 1158
    Palette
    • #101216
    • #e3bf86
    • #9c8360
    • #172231
    • #223c4c
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    Queen Caroline Murat of Naples, sister of Napoleon Bonaparte, commissioned the picture, and critics attacked it. One wrote that the work had neither bones nor muscle, neither blood, nor life. In 1989 the Guerrilla Girls put a gorilla mask on the figure for their Metropolitan Museum poster.

    Note

    The spine is impossible. Measurements against real proportions found the figure drawn about five vertebrae too long, with a curvature and pelvic rotation no body can reproduce, and a left arm shorter than the right.

    The story

    Ingres drew on the Dresden Venus by Giorgione and on Titian's Venus of Urbino for his reclining nude, and took the pose of a figure looking back over her shoulder from the 1800 Portrait of Madame Récamier by Jacques-Louis David. The Louvre purchased the work in 1899.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $849.95At 152 × 102 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  96. The Calling of Saint Matthew, by Caravaggio, 1609, oil on canvas. No. 96 The Calling of Saint MatthewCaravaggio1609San Luigi dei FrancesiRome 340 × 322 cm From $1,149.95 at 152 × 152 cm

    No. 96

    The Calling of Saint Matthew

    Caravaggio, 1609

    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    340 × 322 cm (134 × 127 in), height by widthLiving-room wall
    Where it is
    Rome, Italy
    Palette
    • #262121
    • #5a3e31
    • #957660
    • #503130
    • #35231c
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    This was Caravaggio's first major church commission and his first painting with more than a handful of figures. Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte intervened to obtain it for him. Pope Francis has said he often went to San Luigi as a young man to contemplate the painting.

    Note

    Christ points at Matthew with a hand that nearly mirrors Adam's in Michelangelo's Creation of Adam, and a beam of light crosses the wall to reach the faces at the table.

    The story

    Cardinal Matthieu Cointerel had left funds and instructions in his will for a chapel decorated with themes about his namesake, Saint Matthew. The commission for the two lateral paintings is dated July 1599, and the final payment was made in July 1600.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $1,149.95At 152 × 152 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  97. Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?, by Paul Gauguin, Oil on canvas, c. 1897–1898 No. 97 Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?Paul Gauguinc. 1897–1898Museum of Fine Arts BostonBoston 139 × 375 cm Not for sale

    No. 97

    Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?

    Paul Gauguin, c. 1897–1898

    Movement
    Post-impressionism
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    139 × 375 cm (55 × 147 in), height by widthLiving-room wall
    Where it is
    Boston, United States
    Accession no.
    36.270
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    Gauguin painted this in Tahiti while in debt and ill, and after learning of the death of his daughter in Copenhagen. He had told his friend Daniel de Monfreid that he planned to kill himself in December 1897, and wanted first to finish a large canvas. After completing it he attempted suicide with arsenic.

    Note

    The title is inscribed in the upper left corner with no question mark and every word capitalised. Read from right to left, the groups run from a sleeping child to an old woman, with a white bird at her feet.

    The story

    The three questions come from the catechism of Félix-Antoine-Philibert Dupanloup, Bishop of Orléans, who taught Gauguin Catholic liturgy as a boy. Vollard showed the canvas in Paris in 1898, Gabriel Frizeau bought it for 2,500 francs in 1901, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston acquired it in 1936.

    Sources for this entry

    Not for sale: Not in the catalogue

  98. The Surrender of Brea, by Diego Velázquez, Oil on canvas, c. 1634–1635 No. 98 The Surrender of BreaDiego Velázquezc. 1634–1635Museo del PradoMadrid 307 × 367 cm From $1,299.95 at 183 × 122 cm

    No. 98

    The Surrender of Brea

    Diego Velázquez, c. 1634–1635

    Movement
    Baroque
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    307 × 367 cm (121 × 144 in), height by widthLiving-room wall
    Where it is
    Madrid, Spain
    Accession no.
    P001172
    Palette
    • #56422c
    • #8e7654
    • #1e1816
    • #332318
    • #abbebc
    Rights
    Public domain. Download the high resolution file

    Why it is famous

    Philip IV commissioned the canvas for the Hall of Realms in the Buen Retiro palace in Madrid, where it hung with nineteen other paintings meant to praise Spanish arms. Velázquez chose the moment of reconciliation rather than the fighting, and left out the blood such a scene would normally carry.

    Note

    A mass of upright lances stands behind the Spanish troops on the right, which is why the picture is also called The Lances. Ortega y Gasset called them the backbone of the entire picture.

    The story

    The exchange of keys happened three days after the capitulation was signed on 5 June 1625. Witnesses said both men dismounted, that Spinola embraced his opponent and praised the long defence, and that he had forbidden his troops to jeer at the beaten Dutch.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $1,299.95At 183 × 122 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  99. The Birth of Venus by Alexandre Cabanel, a nude Venus reclining on a wave with cherubs overhead. No. 99 The Birth of VenusAlexandre Cabanel1863Musée d'OrsayParis 130 × 225 cm From $1,299.95 at 183 × 122 cm

    No. 99

    The Birth of Venus

    Alexandre Cabanel, 1863

    Movement
    academic art
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    130 × 225 cm (51 × 89 in), height by widthJust over three-seat sofa
    Museum
    Musée d'Orsay
    Where it is
    Paris, France
    Accession no.
    RF 273
    Palette
    • #b9b5b5
    • #908d87
    • #8e7e67
    • #5d4e32
    • #97a6bc
    Rights
    Public domain.

    Why it is famous

    The picture was a success at the Paris Salon of 1863 and Napoleon III bought it at once for his own collection. Cabanel was made a professor at the École des Beaux-Arts the same year. It is often compared with Manet's Olympia, shown at the Salon two years later.

    Note

    Venus looks out at the viewer from beneath the crook of her elbow. Robert Rosenblum noted the ambiguity of her eyes, which seem to be closed, until a close look shows that she is awake.

    The story

    Cabanel trained at the École des Beaux-Arts under François-Édouard Picot, entered his first Salon in 1843 and took second place in the Prix de Rome in 1845. He painted two further versions of this subject, one now at the Dahesh Museum of Art and one at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $1,299.95At 183 × 122 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  100. Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose by John Singer Sargent, two girls lighting paper lanterns in a garden at dusk. No. 100 Carnation, Lily, Lily, RoseJohn Singer Sargentc. 1885–1886Tate BritainLondon 154 × 174 cm From $1,149.95 at 152 × 152 cm

    No. 100

    Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose

    John Singer Sargent, c. 1885–1886

    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Size
    154 × 174 cm (61 × 69 in), height by widthJust under three-seat sofa
    Museum
    Tate Britain
    Where it is
    London, United Kingdom
    Accession no.
    N01615
    Rights
    Public domain.

    Why it is famous

    Sargent painted it outdoors, working only in the few minutes each evening when the light was right, from September to November 1885 and again the following summer. After the Royal Academy exhibition of 1887 the Tate bought it with money from the Chantrey Bequest, the first of his works to enter a public museum.

    Note

    Two children in white light paper lanterns in a garden of pink roses, yellow carnations and tall white lilies. There is no horizon to give depth, and the viewer seems both level with the children and looking down on them.

    The story

    The children are Dolly and Polly Barnard, aged eleven and seven, daughters of the illustrator Frederick Barnard. The title comes from the refrain of a glee by Joseph Mazzinghi. As the flowers died with the season, Sargent replaced them with artificial ones, and he cut about two feet from the left of the canvas.

    Sources for this entry

    Hand-painted reproduction from $1,149.95At 152 × 152 cm, the nearest size to the original.

  101. XV 15th century 10 paintings
  102. XVI 16th century 14 paintings
  103. XVII 17th century 9 paintings
  104. XVIII 18th century 7 paintings
  105. XIX 19th century 43 paintings
  106. XX 20th century 16 paintings
  107. XXI 21st century 1 painting
  108. ParisFrance26 paintings
  109. New York CityUnited States11 paintings
  110. LondonUnited Kingdom10 paintings
  111. MadridSpain8 paintings
  112. FlorenceItaly5 paintings
  113. AmsterdamNetherlands4 paintings
  114. Vatican CityVatican City4 paintings
  115. ChicagoUnited States3 paintings
  116. ViennaAustria3 paintings
  117. BostonUnited States2 paintings
  118. Los AngelesUnited States2 paintings
  119. OsloNorway2 paintings
  120. StockbridgeUnited States2 paintings
  121. The HagueNetherlands2 paintings
  122. Abu DhabiUnited Arab Emirates1 painting
  123. BrusselsBelgium1 painting
  124. ClevelandUnited States1 painting
  125. DetroitUnited States1 painting
  126. EdeNetherlands1 painting
  127. GhentBelgium1 painting
  128. KrakówPoland1 painting
  129. MilanItaly1 painting
  130. MontpellierFrance1 painting
  131. MoscowRussia1 painting
  132. RomeItaly1 painting
  133. Saint PetersburgRussia1 painting
  134. San MarinoUnited States1 painting
  135. Washington, D.C.United States1 painting
  136. Where they hang is not recorded 2 paintings
  137. Louvre Museum 13 paintings
  138. Musée d'Orsay 11 paintings
  139. Museo del Prado 6 paintings
  140. Metropolitan Museum of Art 5 paintings
  141. Museum of Modern Art 5 paintings
  142. Uffizi Gallery 5 paintings
  143. National Gallery 4 paintings
  144. Art Institute of Chicago 3 paintings
  145. Vatican Museums 3 paintings
  146. Belvedere 2 paintings
  147. Mauritshuis 2 paintings
  148. Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía 2 paintings
  149. National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design 2 paintings
  150. Norman Rockwell Museum 2 paintings
  151. Rijksmuseum 2 paintings
  152. Tate 2 paintings
  153. Van Gogh Museum 2 paintings
  154. British Museum 1 painting
  155. Cleveland Museum of Art 1 painting
  156. Czartoryski Museum 1 painting
  157. Detroit Institute of Arts 1 painting
  158. Hermitage Museum 1 painting
  159. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum 1 painting
  160. J. Paul Getty Museum 1 painting
  161. Kröller-Müller Museum 1 painting
  162. Kunsthistorisches Museum 1 painting
  163. Los Angeles County Museum of Art 1 painting
  164. Louvre Abu Dhabi 1 painting
  165. Museum of Fine Arts Boston 1 painting
  166. Musée Fabre 1 painting
  167. Musée Marmottan Monet 1 painting
  168. Neue Galerie 1 painting
  169. Petit Palais 1 painting
  170. Pinacoteca Vaticana 1 painting
  171. Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium 1 painting
  172. San Luigi dei Francesi 1 painting
  173. Santa Maria delle Grazie 1 painting
  174. St Bavo's Cathedral 1 painting
  175. Tate Britain 1 painting
  176. The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens 1 painting
  177. Tretyakov Gallery 1 painting
  178. United States Capitol 1 painting
  179. Wallace Collection 1 painting
  180. Collection not recorded 3 paintings
  181. Leonardo da Vinci 8 paintings
  182. Vincent van Gogh 8 paintings
  183. Jacques-Louis David 5 paintings
  184. Francisco Goya 3 paintings
  185. Johannes Vermeer 3 paintings
  186. Pablo Picasso 3 paintings
  187. Alexandre Cabanel 2 paintings
  188. Caravaggio 2 paintings
  189. Claude Monet 2 paintings
  190. Diego Velázquez 2 paintings
  191. Edvard Munch 2 paintings
  192. Gustav Klimt 2 paintings
  193. Gustave Courbet 2 paintings
  194. Jan van Eyck 2 paintings
  195. Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres 2 paintings
  196. John Singer Sargent 2 paintings
  197. Michelangelo 2 paintings
  198. Norman Rockwell 2 paintings
  199. Raphael 2 paintings
  200. Rembrandt 2 paintings
  201. René Magritte 2 paintings
  202. Salvador Dalí 2 paintings
  203. Sandro Botticelli 2 paintings
  204. Albrecht Dürer 1 painting
  205. Andrew Wyeth 1 painting
  206. Andy Warhol 1 painting
  207. Banksy 1 painting
  208. Carel Fabritius 1 painting
  209. Edouard Manet 1 painting
  210. Edward Hopper 1 painting
  211. Emanuel Leutze 1 painting
  212. Eugene Delacroix 1 painting
  213. Eugène Delacroix 1 painting
  214. Georges Seurat 1 painting
  215. Grant Wood 1 painting
  216. Hans Holbein the Younger 1 painting
  217. Henry Fuseli 1 painting
  218. Hieronymus Bosch 1 painting
  219. Hokusai 1 painting
  220. Ilya Repin 1 painting
  221. J.M.W. Turner 1 painting
  222. James McNeill Whistler 1 painting
  223. Jean-Francois Millet 1 painting
  224. Jean-Honore Fragonard 1 painting
  225. John Constable 1 painting
  226. John Trumbull 1 painting
  227. John William Waterhouse 1 painting
  228. Katsushika Hokusai 1 painting
  229. Paolo Veronese 1 painting
  230. Paul Cezanne 1 painting
  231. Paul Gauguin 1 painting
  232. Pierre-Auguste Renoir 1 painting
  233. Pieter Bruegel the Elder 1 painting
  234. Thomas Gainsborough 1 painting
  235. Théodore Géricault 1 painting
  236. Titian 1 painting
  237. Unknown (School of Fontainebleau) 1 painting
  238. William-Adolphe Bouguereau 1 painting
  239. Édouard Manet 1 painting
Questions

What people ask about famous paintings

What is the #1 most famous painting in the world?

In our ranking it is Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, painted in c. 1503–1506, and it hangs at Louvre Museum in Paris. It comes first because of what the numbers say, not because we like it best: how many people read about it, in how many languages, how many search for it every month, and how busy the museum that holds it is.

What are the top 5 most famous paintings?

These five sit at the top of the list. The order is the Fame Score, so it changes when the data changes.

  1. Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1503–1506
  2. The Starry Night, Vincent van Gogh, 1889
  3. The School of Athens, Raphael, 1512
  4. The Last Supper, Leonardo da Vinci, 1490s
  5. Guernica, Pablo Picasso, 1937
What are the 10 most valuable paintings?

Most of them have no price. They belong to museums, museums do not sell, and a painting that never goes to auction never gets a number attached to it. 6 paintings on this list have a public auction record:

  • The Scream, Sold for US$119.9 million at Sotheby's in 2012
  • Bal du moulin de la Galette, Sold for US$78.1 million at Sotheby's in 1990
  • Irises, Sold for US$53.9 million at Sotheby's in 1987
  • Salvator Mundi, Sold for US$450.3 million at Christie's in 2017
  • Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, Sold for US$135 million in a private sale in 2006
  • The Card Players, Sold privately for US$250 million in 2011
What are the 20 most popular paintings of all time?

Popularity and fame are measured the same way here: attention. These are the first twenty of the 100 we rank.

  1. Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci
  2. The Starry Night, Vincent van Gogh
  3. The School of Athens, Raphael
  4. The Last Supper, Leonardo da Vinci
  5. Guernica, Pablo Picasso
  6. The Scream, Edvard Munch
  7. The Great Wave off Kanagawa, Hokusai
  8. The Creation of Adam, Michelangelo
  9. Sunflowers, Vincent van Gogh
  10. Saturn Devouring His Son, Francisco Goya
  11. The Kiss, Gustav Klimt
  12. Girl with a Pearl Earring, Johannes Vermeer
  13. The Garden of Earthly Delights, Hieronymus Bosch
  14. The Birth of Venus, Sandro Botticelli
  15. Las Meninas, Diego Velázquez
  16. Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan on November 16, 1581, Ilya Repin
  17. Nighthawks, Edward Hopper
  18. Water Lilies, Claude Monet
  19. The Persistence of Memory, Salvador Dalí
  20. American Gothic, Grant Wood
Why are some famous paintings not for sale here?

Two reasons. A painting still under copyright cannot be reproduced and sold, which rules out most of the twentieth century. And some of the most famous images are not oil on canvas at all: a fresco is painted into a wall, a mural belongs to the building, a woodblock print is printed, not painted. Those works stay on the list. They just have no product link.

How did you rank the paintings?

Every painting gets a Fame Score built from four measured signals: how many times its Wikipedia article was read in the last twelve months (40 percent), how many languages have an article about it (20 percent), how many people search for it each month (25 percent), and how many visitors a year the museum that holds it receives (15 percent). No editor's vote, and nothing weighted by what we happen to sell.

Where can I see the most famous paintings in person?

Paris holds 26 of them, New York City 11, London 10. The map above has every museum on the list, and each museum links to its own site. Check there before you travel: paintings go on loan, and they go into storage.

Can I order a hand-painted reproduction at the original size?

We paint seven sizes, from 20 by 16 inches to 72 by 48 inches, and you can ask for custom dimensions to suit a wall. Original sizes vary enormously: some paintings on this list are smaller than a sheet of paper and others cover a whole wall, so our largest size is not always the original size. Each painting's page lists what is available for that work.

One of them, on your wall

Want one on your wall?

We paint the public domain ones by hand, in oils on canvas, one at a time.

  • Painted, not printed Oil on canvas, by hand, by an artist with 15 or more years of experience.
  • Seven sizes From 20 by 16 inches to 72 by 48 inches, or custom dimensions on request.
  • You approve first Unedited photos of the finished painting, and free revisions until you say yes.
  • Free shipping Every option ships free worldwide, in protective packaging.
See the ones we paint Ask for a custom order