Floor plan

Style galleriesThe Italian Renaissance

The Italian Renaissance

The Musicians, by Caravaggio, 1597
The Adoration of the Shepherds, by Andrea Mantegna, shortly after 1450
The Triumph of Fame; (reverse) Impresa of the Medici Family and Arms of the Medici and Tornabuoni Families, by Giovanni di ser Giovanni Guidi (called Scheggia), ca. 1449
This is a drawing of an ornamental design featuring mythological creatures and motifs. The artwork depicts a symmetrical arrangement with two central figures holding musical instruments, surrounded by acanthus leaves, griffins, and sphinxes. In the upper portion, there is a winged figure with a crown-like headdress carrying symbols or trophies. The design is detailed with decorative elements including floral patterns and architectural motifs. Throughout the drawing, there are various mythological creatures integrated into the composition.
The Coronation of the Virgin, by Annibale Carracci, after 1595
Portrait of a Young Man, by Antonello da Messina (Antonello di Giovanni d'Antonio), ca. 1470

The works in this room are listed below.

Works in this room

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

First room, north wall

  1. The Musicians, by Caravaggio, 1597
    The MusiciansCaravaggio, 1597Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. The Adoration of the Shepherds, by Andrea Mantegna, shortly after 1450
    The Adoration of the ShepherdsAndrea Mantegna, shortly after 1450Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. The Triumph of Fame; (reverse) Impresa of the Medici Family and Arms of the Medici and Tornabuoni Families, by Giovanni di ser Giovanni Guidi (called Scheggia), ca. 1449
    The Triumph of Fame; (reverse) Impresa of the Medici Family and Arms of the Medici and Tornabuoni FamiliesGiovanni di ser Giovanni Guidi (called Scheggia), ca. 1449Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

First room, south wall

  1. This is a drawing of an ornamental design featuring mythological creatures and motifs. The artwork depicts a symmetrical arrangement with two central figures holding musical instruments, surrounded by acanthus leaves, griffins, and sphinxes. In the upper portion, there is a winged figure with a crown-like headdress carrying symbols or trophies. The design is detailed with decorative elements including floral patterns and architectural motifs. Throughout the drawing, there are various mythological creatures integrated into the composition.
    Ornamental Panel Inscribed "Victoria Augusta"Giovanni Antonio da Brescia, c. 1516Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. The Coronation of the Virgin, by Annibale Carracci, after 1595
    The Coronation of the VirginAnnibale Carracci, after 1595Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. Portrait of a Young Man, by Antonello da Messina (Antonello di Giovanni d'Antonio), ca. 1470
    Portrait of a Young ManAntonello da Messina (Antonello di Giovanni d'Antonio), ca. 1470Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Second room, south wall

  1. Two women and a man support the gray, lifeless body of a nearly nude man along a stone ledge in this vertical painting. The people have pale skin, except for the dead man at the center, Jesus, who has ash-white skin with dark shadows around his closed eyes. He has a long straight nose, and his lips are slightly parted. He has a brown beard, and his long, wavy hair falls away from his face. A white cloth wraps across his hips, and blood trickles from a gash over his right ribs and holes in his feet. A woman and man prop him up on either side, each holding Jesus by a limp arm, and each has a faint, gold halo encircling their heads. To our left, the woman holds her face close to his, her brows deeply furrowed and her mouth wide open, teeth showing. Her forehead, chin, and neck are covered by a white veil, worn under navy-blue cloak that covers her head and body. The cloak falls open over one arm and a bent knee to reveal her long-sleeved, lighter blue dress. On Jesus’s other side, a cleanshaven man with curly brown hair holds Jesus’s arm with both hands. The man’s eyes squint with tears as he tips his head toward Jesus. His pink lips are parted, and the corner of the mouth we can see is pulled down. He wears an emerald-green, long-sleeved tunic under a vivid red cloth that wraps around his right arm, waist, and left leg. The fourth and final person is a woman sitting on the ground, her arms wrapped tightly around Jesus’s crossed ankles. She sits with one foot tucked under her body and the other leg out straight. Waist-length, wavy, auburn-brown hair falls freely over her shoulders and across her face, but we can see her downturned, open mouth and nearly closed eyes. She wears a rose-pink dress, cinched at the waist. A brown cloth wraps around her waist and right leg. A cylindrical, lidded, white jar sits on the dirt ground nearby. The group is arranged in front a thigh-high stone ledge, except for the man in green and red, who steps into what is presumably the coffin. A rocky outcropping to our right has a cave-like opening with grasses and growth along the top. The landscape beyond has a dirt path winding between pine-green hills dotted with trees. Two slate-blue buildings perch atop one hill. White clouds float across the blue sky above.
    PietàMoretto da Brescia, 1520sCourtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. Brother Gregorio Belo of Vicenza, by Lorenzo Lotto, 1547
    Brother Gregorio Belo of VicenzaLorenzo Lotto, 1547Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. A woman holds the hands of two nude children in front of a crimson-red cloth in this vertical painting. All three have pale skin and brown hair. The woman wears a forest-green dress with voluminous sleeves and a gauzy white headdress that wraps around her hair and is fastened with a band across her forehead. She stands crouching with one foot extended slightly forward in a sandal, surrounded by broken chunks of masonry and bits of burning logs. Her body faces us but she turns her head to the right. Her mouth is wide open, and her eyes cut back to our left. The woman clutches the children’s hands in both of her own. The child to our left turns away from us and reaches one hand up to touch the back of the woman’s hand. The child on the right twists away from the woman, eyes squinted up and to the right and mouth open. Behind them, fold lines create a grid across the red cloth. Slivers of grass and blue sky line each side of the composition.
    The Wife of Hasdrubal and Her ChildrenErcole de' Roberti, c. 1490/1493Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  4. 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

Second room, north wall

  1. The image shows a human figure with wings positioned as though in flight. The figure is captured from a slightly frontal perspective, with the head turned downwards and the right arm outstretched. The facial features are undefined, focusing more on the body's muscular structure. The figure wears a cloth or drapery around the waist and has well-defined muscles on the chest, arms, and legs. Large wings extend out behind the figure, adding to the sense of flight. The background is plain with a light texture.
    A Flying AngelJacopo Palma il Giovane, 1580/1590Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. Saint John the Baptist Bearing Witness, by Annibale Carracci, ca. 1600
    Saint John the Baptist Bearing WitnessAnnibale Carracci, ca. 1600Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. 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
  4. Latona Giving Birth to Apollo and Diana on the Island of Delos, by Diana Scultori, 1561-1565
    Latona Giving Birth to Apollo and Diana on the Island of DelosDiana Scultori, 1561-1565Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

Third room, north wall

  1. 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
  2. The Creation of the World and the Expulsion from Paradise, by Giovanni di Paolo, 1445
    The Creation of the World and the Expulsion from ParadiseGiovanni di Paolo, 1445Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art