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The Italian Renaissance

Florence, Venice and Rome from 1400 to 1600: perspective, anatomy and the classical past.

61 works · hang 1199 ·

The rooms are imagined; every work on their walls is real.

Walk this roomRehang this room

First room, north wall

  1. A Bear Walking, by Leonardo da Vinci, ca. 1482–85
    A Bear WalkingLeonardo da Vinci, ca. 1482–85Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. This painting shows a person standing, their body turned to us, with their head looking downward to the left. The person has pale skin, round, rosy cheeks, and wavy yellow hair surrounded by a golden halo with intricate patterns. They are wearing a dark robe over a dark red dress or tunic and holding a long, thin red cross in one hand, while the other hand holds a closed red book. At their feet lies a black dog-like animal with wide yellow eyes. The scene is set against a golden textured background within a gilded border.
    Saint MargaretSassetta, c. 1435Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  3. Portrait of a Young Woman, by Lorenzo di Credi (Lorenzo d'Andrea d'Oderigo), ca. 1490–1500
    Portrait of a Young WomanLorenzo di Credi (Lorenzo d'Andrea d'Oderigo), ca. 1490–1500Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  4. Portrait of a Woman with a Man at a Casement, by Fra Filippo Lippi, ca. 1440
    Portrait of a Woman with a Man at a CasementFra Filippo Lippi, ca. 1440Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

First room, south wall

  1. Abraham, by Lorenzo Monaco, ca. 1408–10
    AbrahamLorenzo Monaco, ca. 1408–10Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. Two women, a man, and a satyr, a man with goat’s legs, are in two pairs in a forested landscape in this horizontal painting. The pale-skinned women are nude, and their blond hair is tied up and back. One woman sits on a brown boulder to the left of center. One hand covers her groin, and the other hand rests on the satyr’s shoulder. The satyr has deeply tanned skin, short white hair, and a long white beard. A white cloth wraps over one shoulder and across his hips. He holds up an object, perhaps a shell, with one hand. That arm crosses over the woman’s breasts. His other hand is by his lower belly, and he looks at the shell. A bit farther back and to our right, a second nude woman also sits on a boulder. She faces away from us and holds up a long stick with her left arm, which arcs over her body. A clean-shaven, pale-skinned man sits with his back against the boulder. He has long brown hair and looks off to the distance to our right. He wears a carnation-pink robe over a sapphire-blue tunic. His legs splay in front of him, his feet bare, as he holds a bow to a violin-like instrument tucked under his chin. The two pairs sit in a grassy glade occupied also by five pheasant- or peacock-like birds. A thin river running behind the glade is lined with spindly trees that together make an impenetrable bronze-brown and laurel-green canopy. The second woman’s stick points or is directed to a gray, mountain lion-like cat on the far bank. Closer inspection reveals deer and another person, who points, tucked among the trunks. A glimpse of blue sky is visible through a break in the tree trunks.
    OrpheusUnrecorded Italian maker, c. 1515Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  3. The Journey of the Magi, by Sassetta, ca. 1433–35
    The Journey of the MagiSassetta, ca. 1433–35Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Second room, south wall

  1. A Hunting Scene, by Piero di Cosimo (Piero di Lorenzo di Piero d'Antonio), ca. 1494–1500
    A Hunting ScenePiero di Cosimo (Piero di Lorenzo di Piero d'Antonio), ca. 1494–1500Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. A nude woman, pudgy child, and two satyrs, which have men’s heads and torsos with goat’s legs and horns, are in a landscape in this octagonal painting. The scene is divided in half by a tree stump which only reaches to the center of the composition. To the left of the stump, the pale-skinned, nude child stands and hunches over to draw on the ground with a V-shaped compass. Two pieces of paper and a violin lie nearby. The landscape behind him has a body of water leading back to a town with buildings streaked with peach, perhaps flames. A band of peach sky separates the blue silhouettes of mountains lining the horizon from the vivid blue sky above. At the bottom center of the painting, a shield with an oval horizontally striped with red and white leans on the boy’s side of the tree, which has one leafy branch growing on the left side. One satyr holds a jug and kneels close to the tree with his back to it as he looks back over one shoulder. He and the other satyr both have dark, peach-toned skin and full beards. The second satyr hovers to the right of the nude, sleeping woman, both hands reaching for her or the rose-pink cloth surrounding her. The woman has blond curls, a round face, and she sleeps with one hand resting across her belly and her head tipped to our left. The trio are on a grassy area enclosed by dense, dark-green bushes and trees.
    AllegoryPietro degli Ingannati, c. 1515-1525Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  3. Jupiter and Juno: Study for the "Furti di Giove" Tapestries, by Perino del Vaga (Pietro Buonaccorsi), ca. 1532–35
    Jupiter and Juno: Study for the "Furti di Giove" TapestriesPerino del Vaga (Pietro Buonaccorsi), ca. 1532–35Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Second room, north wall

  1. The Judgment of Paris: he is sitting at left with Venus, Juno and Pallas Athena, a winged victory above. In the upper section the Sun in his chariot preceeded by Castor and Pollux on horseback, at lower right two river gods and a naiad above whom Jupiter, an eagle, Ganymede, Diana and another goddess, by Marcantonio Raimondi, ca. 1510–20
    The Judgment of Paris: he is sitting at left with Venus, Juno and Pallas Athena, a winged victory above. In the upper section the Sun in his chariot preceeded by Castor and Pollux on horseback, at lower right two river gods and a naiad above whom Jupiter, an eagle, Ganymede, Diana and another goddessMarcantonio Raimondi, ca. 1510–20Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. Portrait of a Woman, Possibly a Nun of San Secondo; (verso) Scene in Grisaille, by Jacometto (Jacometto Veneziano), ca. 1485–95
    Portrait of a Woman, Possibly a Nun of San Secondo; (verso) Scene in GrisailleJacometto (Jacometto Veneziano), ca. 1485–95Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. This shield-shaped painting shows a young man with pale, peachy skin and curling brown hair standing astride the severed head of a man with dark hair and tanned skin. The painting is wider at the top and tapers like a pint glass to a narrower base. The young man, David, holds the end of long red slingshot with his right hand. The slingshot is weighted by a rock and swings behind his body. His sleeveless rust-red garment is cinched at his waist over a long white shirt. Both garments skim David’s thighs and his legs and feet are bare. Long, curling brown hair frames the ashen and bloodied upturned face of the head at David’s feet. A palm-sized stone is embedded in that forehead. The landscape background is made up of gray boulders, a meandering river, and low palm-like trees. Frothy white clouds sweep across an azure-blue sky.
    David with the Head of GoliathAndrea del Castagno, c. 1450/1455Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  4. Madonna and Child with Saint Jerome and Saint Bernardino of Siena, by Benvenuto di Giovanni, c. 1480/1485
    Madonna and Child with Saint Jerome and Saint Bernardino of SienaBenvenuto di Giovanni, c. 1480/1485Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

Third room, north wall

  1. A woman wearing a crimson-red brocade dress and gold jewelry fills most of this vertical portrait, but her right hand, on our left, rests on the shoulder of a young boy tucked into the lower left corner of the panel. The woman and boy both have pale, white skin, and both face and look out at us against an emerald-green curtain that falls behind them. The woman has brown eyes, a straight nose, full pink lips, smooth cheeks, and a long neck. Her brown hair is pulled back under a turban densely embroidered with gold. The woman’s dress has puffed shoulders and decorative slashes on the sleeves. One gold chain rests on her throat and the other falls over her chest. She wears long gold earrings, a gold belt, and two gold rings. She holds a brown leather glove in her left hand. The boy’s face is even with the woman’s waist, and he raises his left hand to hold hers, which is draped over his shoulder. He has curly blond hair and dark eyes, and he wears black with a ruffled white shirt just visible at his collar.
    A Young Woman and Her Little BoyAgnolo Bronzino, c. 1540Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. A woman sits and supports a baby standing on her lap, both against a gold background in this arched, vertical painting. The woman and baby’s light skin is shaded with faint green, and they have pale pink cheeks. The woman’s body faces us. She tips her head toward the baby who stands on her knee, to our right. The woman looks at us with light brown eyes under curving brows. She has a long, straight nose, and her small pink lips are closed. Her blond hair is mostly covered by a midnight-blue robe that drapes over her shoulders, across her lap, and pools on the floor. The robe is lined with goldenrod yellow, edged with bright gold, and has gold starburst-like designs on the shoulder we can see and top of the head. The dress she wears underneath has more gold stars creating a pattern across the pearl-white fabric. A sky-blue scarf wraps over her head and loops across her shoulders. The baby holds one end of the scarf, and his other elbow rests on the woman’s shoulder. She props him up with both hands. He has a cap of blond curls and chubby cheeks with delicate features. His geranium-red garment falls over a pale blue skirt that reaches his bare feet. In the hand near the woman’s shoulder, he holds a scroll with the letters “EGO S.” The floor beneath them is mint green and has gold writing across the front, reading, “AVE.G ANN O.D M.CCCC.XIII.” The woman and baby’s disc-like gold halos blend into the gold background, which is visibly cracked in some areas. The panel comes to a pointed arch at the top.
    Madonna and ChildLorenzo Monaco, 1413Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington