Floor plan

Style galleriesPaintings of the 18th century

Paintings of the 18th century

Manuscript folio
The Sacrifice of Isaac, Tobias and the Angel, The Angels Appearing to Abraham, Abraham Welcoming the Three Angels (painting series), by Francesco Guardi, 1750s
Washington Reviewing the Western Army at Fort Cumberland, Maryland, by Frederick Kemmelmeyer, after 1795
The Afternoon Meal (La Merienda), by Luis Meléndez, ca. 1772
Lotuses, Insects, and Birds, 1800s
Portrait of a Boy, ca. 1800

The works in this room are listed below.

Works in this room

Paintings made in the 18th century, from every museum.

Section 1, north wall

  1. Manuscript folio
    The poet Sundar Das before Emperor Shah Jahan, folio from a Sundar ShringarNainsukh, ca. 1750-1760Courtesy of the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution
  2. The Sacrifice of Isaac, Tobias and the Angel, The Angels Appearing to Abraham, Abraham Welcoming the Three Angels (painting series), by Francesco Guardi, 1750s
    The Sacrifice of Isaac, Tobias and the Angel, The Angels Appearing to Abraham, Abraham Welcoming the Three Angels (painting series)Francesco Guardi, 1750sCourtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  3. Washington Reviewing the Western Army at Fort Cumberland, Maryland, by Frederick Kemmelmeyer, after 1795
    Washington Reviewing the Western Army at Fort Cumberland, MarylandFrederick Kemmelmeyer, after 1795Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Section 1, south wall

  1. The Afternoon Meal (La Merienda), by Luis Meléndez, ca. 1772
    The Afternoon Meal (La Merienda)Luis Meléndez, ca. 1772Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. Lotuses, Insects, and Birds, 1800s
    Lotuses, Insects, and BirdsUnrecorded Korean maker, 1800sCourtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  3. Portrait of a Boy, ca. 1800
    Portrait of a BoyUnrecorded Italian maker, ca. 1800Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Section 2, south wall

  1. Artist: Charles Willson Peale, Sitter: Charles Willson Peale, Current owner: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
    Charles Willson Peale Self-PortraitCharles Willson Peale, c. 1791Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
  2. Overdoor Painting, by Pierre Rousseau, 1790s
    Overdoor PaintingPierre Rousseau, 1790sCourtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  3. A woman wearing flowing, pastel-colored robes and two, winged, child-like putti gather on a bank of clouds among musical instruments and sheet music in this horizontal painting. The people all have pale, pink-tinged skin. The woman sits to our right of center, facing our left in profile. She has straight nose, a rounded chin, and her small, pink lips are closed. Her ash-blond hair is pulled back under a yellow band. A voluminous white robe falls away over her left shoulder, to our right, to reveal a firm breast and small pink nipple. Sky-blue drapery wraps over her far arm, and deep rose-pink cloth falls across her lap and onto the clouds around her. Her legs extend to our left, her toes pointed. She leans back on her left elbow, closer to us, and points with that index finger to a lyre she props against her knee with her other hand. One chubby, nude putto reaches forward to strum the strings. The other putto hovers above, holding a ring of laurel leaves up in one hand and a flute in the other. Both putti have chubby limbs and torsos, blond curls lifted as if in a breeze, and short, ice-blue wings. Both look at the woman. In the lower left corner, a helmet with a topaz-blue feather and the gold hilt of a sword sit near the woman’s feet. Beneath the woman’s lower leg, at the bottom center of the painting, is a gold horn encircled by another wreath of laurel leaves. Two white doves with wings spread support an open book of sheet music and two pink roses tucked under the woman’s bent elbow. Fog-gray clouds billow up both sides of the scene against a pale blue sky. The clouds on which the trio gathers are parchment brown shaded with mauve pink. The outer corners of the image are white, indicating that the corners of the canvas were rounded. The artist signed and dated the painting in the lower right corner, “F Boucher 1764.”
    Allegory of MusicFrançois Boucher, 1764Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

Section 2, north wall

  1. A work made of oil on canvas.
    Mr. Quick as Vellum in Addison's DrummerSamuel De Wilde, 1792Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. The Glorification of the Barbaro Family, by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, ca. 1750
    The Glorification of the Barbaro FamilyGiovanni Battista Tiepolo, ca. 1750Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. Small Landscape, ca. 1750-1800
    Small LandscapeUnrecorded British maker, ca. 1750-1800Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Section 3, north wall

  1. Painting
    The sage-physician Dhanvantari, folio from the “Sixth” Bhagavata Purana series, also known as the “small” Guler-Basohli seriesManaku, ca. 1735-1740Courtesy of the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution
  2. This oval painting depicts a cherubic child in a garden setting. The child is standing with one foot in front of the other and has small wings on their back. The child has light skin, curly blond hair, rosy cheeks, and a playful expression. They are mostly nude, except for a cloth that wraps around their back and covers their groin. The child is holding a golden arrow. They are standing in front of a light green bush with pink flowers. In the bottom left, there is a dark blue object in the green grass that looks like a torch or cylindrical quiver. The setting includes lush greenery and more clusters of pink and white flowers. The background features a pastel blue sky with soft pink clouds and two white doves flying above.
    Love the SentinelJean Honoré Fragonard, c. 1773/1776Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  3. A work made of two hanging scrolls, ink on paper.
    Handwritten LetterSoga Shohaku, c. 1754Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  4. A work made of oil on canvas.
    Alexander at the Tomb of Cyrus the GreatPierre Henri de Valenciennes, 1796Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago