The Mappa Mundi by Fra Mauro, created around 1450. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)

Before satellites and air flight, one might think mapping the contours of continents and the shores of seas accurately was nearly impossible. However, careful research alone could sometimes produce useable, surprisingly accurate renditions of geography. In the 15th century, a medieval monk known as Fra Mauro bucked cartographic tradition and carefully crafted a massive eight-foot by eight-foot map of the then-known world. Created for King Afonso V of Portugal, this Mappa Mundi (World Map) features over 3,000 locations across Africa, Europe, and Asia. While some may have fantastical stories and illustrations, the contours of this world match quite well the real boundaries of the land.

Fra Mauro was born around 1400, and he spent part of his youth traveling on merchant and military ships. He eventually became a monk at the Monastery of St. Michael, an outpost of the Camaldolese order that was perched on the Venetian island of Murano. There, he received a commission to create a world map for the king of Portugal, and he set to work. The map, completed around 1450, was essentially “crowd-sourced” like a medieval Google Maps, says Atlas Obscura. Living in a center of robust Mediterranean trade, the monk actively solicited insight and myths about the far corners of the then-known world from sailors, merchants, soldiers, and pilgrims. He then compiled them, with some assistance, into a map.

At a glance, one may not recognize the continents, as the map was drawn “upside down.” Stretching to the edges of the globe are the southern coast of Africa, Scandinavia, and the outer edge of what is now Russia. Ships, some labeled in Chinese, dot the wavy waters as far away as India. Almost 3,000 cities and sites are labeled and illustrated. Some are accompanied by troglodytes, seven-headed serpents, or gold lakes.

Clearly, the monk did not believe every legend he was told, noting in some places his disbelief. Impressively, this is the first European map to correctly depict Japan as an island. It also eschews certain Biblical fictions by not placing the Garden of Eden and its inhabitants at the center of the physical world. While not the only world map produced with accuracy, compared to the Hereford Mappa Mundi created about 150 years prior, the precision of Fra Mauro's map is especially stunning.

Fra Mauro, a 15th-century Venetian monk, created a large map of the world then known to Europeans.

Comparing the map to the real planet. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)

Despite fantastical contents, this Mappa Mundi surprisingly tracks the outlines of actual continents.

A close-up of Chinese ships in the Indian Ocean. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)

Watch this video to learn more about Fra Mauro's stunning feat of cartography.

h/t: [Open Culture, Atlas Obscura]

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For centuries, audiences have been captivated by the mysterious Mona Lisa. A key piece of Italian master Leonardo da Vinci‘s oeuvre and a prime example of High Renaissance painting, the piece has become known as one of the most recognizable and skillfully rendered works of art.

Since 1804 the iconic oil painting has been housed at the Louvre in Paris. Each year millions crowd the painting is hung, waiting for their turn to snap a photograph of Leonardo's most famous artwork. Through her captivating gaze and mysterious smile, the Mona Lisa has been enchanting the public since it was first painted in the early 16th century.

Renowned for its curious iconography, unique history, and infamous theft, the Mona Lisa has become one of the most well-known paintings in art history. Here, we explore these aspects of the painting in order to answer the question: why is the Mona Lisa famous today?

About the Artwork

What is the Mona Lisa?

The Mona Lisa is an oil painting by Italian artist, inventor, and writer Leonardo da Vinci. Likely completed in 1506, the piece features a portrait of a seated woman set against an imaginary landscape.

In addition to being one of the most famous paintings, it is also the most valuable. Permanently located in the Louvre Museum, it is estimated to be worth an impressive $800 million today.

Who is Mona Lisa?

Photo: Galerie de tableaux en très haute définition via Wikimedia Commons (PD-1923)

Rendered similarly to Renaissance portrayals of the Virgin Mary, the piece features a female figure—believed by most to be Lisa Gherardini, the wife of cloth and silk merchant Francesco del Giocondo—from the waist up. She is shown seated in a loggia, or a room with at least one open side.

Behind her is a hazy and seemingly isolated landscape imagined by the artist and painted using sfumato, a technique resulting in forms “without lines or borders, in the manner of smoke or beyond the focus plane.”

“Mona Lisa” detail

The figure sits with her arms folded as she gazes at the viewer and appears to softly smile—an aesthetic attribute that has proven particularly eye-catching over centuries. The halfhearted or even ambiguous nature of this smile makes the iconic painting all the more enigmatic, prompting viewers to try to understand both the mood of its muse and the intention of its artist.

“Mona Lisa” detail

Her gaze is another bewitching part of the composition. Many believe that her eyes follow you across the room, making her an active participant when being viewed, rather than remaining an object to look upon. But while her eyes may seemingly follow you, according to German researchers, this “Mona Lisa effect” actually does not occur in the painting. In fact, they claim that the woman is always look about 15 degrees to your right, so more likely at your ear than your eyes. Whatever the case—perceived or real—her ambiguous expression is one of the strongest reasons for the Mona Lisa‘s enduring success.

In addition to its mysterious appearance, her expression has resonated most strongly with art historians for its possible symbolism, as many believe it to be a clever “visual representation of the idea of happiness suggested by the word ‘gioconda' in Italian.”

Why is the Mona Lisa so famous?

Photo: The Telegraph via Wikimedia Commons

After Leonardo's death in 1519, the Mona Lisa remained in France, where the artist had spent the remainder of his days. There, it stayed in the possession of the royal family for centuries, until it was finally put on permanent display in the Louvre in 1797.

At the beginning of the 2oth century, the Mona Lisa was still relatively unknown outside of the art world. Then, in 1911, a heist put the painting in the spotlight. Louvre employee Vincenzo Peruggia—an Italian native—stole the portrait from the museum with the intention of returning it to Italy, where he believed it belonged.

Newspaper detailing that the ‘Mona Lisa' had been found two years after its disappearance. (Photo: Le Petit Parisien via Wikimedia Commons, PD-1923)

After keeping the painting hidden in his apartment for two years, he presented it to a suspicious art dealer and the director of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, and it was exhibited in the museum for two weeks. Eventually, the Mona Lisa was returned to the Louvre, and Peruggia had to serve six months in prison.

This incident thrust the previously looked-over painting into the limelight, becoming an overnight sensation and inspiring people to appreciate it as an example of High Renaissance portraiture. Since then, the Mona Lisa has survived vandalism, like thrown rocks and red paint, which have only added to the lore of this masterpiece.

The Mona Lisa Today

Photo: Stock Photos from Resul Muslu/Shutterstock

Due to its tumultuous past and contemporary fame, today, the Mona Lisa is exhibited behind a layer of bulletproof glass. Even in such a unique and controversial display, the painting remains one of the most popular pieces in the Louvre and, unsurprisingly, one of the most viewed and visited paintings in the world.

For the 500th anniversary of Leonardo's death in Paris, the Louvre hosted a blockbuster exhibition that will use virtual reality to bring visitors closer to the Mona Lisa. Using cutting-edge technology, this event enabled art lovers to go behind the bulletproof glass and examine the hidden details of the painting.

This article has been edited and updated.

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“A Double Portrait of Sir Peter Paul Rubens and Sir Anthony Van Dyck,” by Eramus Quelliness II, circa 1640s. (Photo: Chatsworth House Trust)

Sometimes things turn up when you least expect them to. Such is true in the art world too, where pieces once feared to be lost to time or theft can reappear in unlikely places. Charles Darwin's notebooks returned themselves to Cambridge University, while the FBI recovered a stolen painting with mobster ties. Other works—looted or lost—have reemerged over the years and been returned to their rightful owners. A recent announcement that Chatsworth House, the stately historic home of the Duke of Devonshire in England, celebrated the return of a 17th-century painting that was dramatically stolen in 1979, only to turn up in a French auction house more than 40 years later.

The painting is small and monochromatic, featuring two men's portraits enshrined in decorative frames. Painted in the 1640s, it is entitled A Double Portrait of Sir Peter Paul Rubens and Sir Anthony Van Dyck. The likeness of these famous artists was captured by Eramus Quelliness II, a Flemish painter and engraver who trained with Rubens. The work was a study from which he planned to engrave. Due to its famous subjects, the work was loaned in 1979 by its owner, Chatsworth House, to the Towner Art Gallery for their Anthony Van Dyck exhibit. While on loan, thieves broke into the gallery and made off with the painting, ironically leaving much more expensive artwork behind. For decades, no one knew what became of the painting.

In 2021, an art historian noticed the work up for auction in Toulon, France. The seller allegedly discovered the work in his deceased parents' home in Eastbourne, England. It remains unclear how the work came to be there. The work required extensive restoration to remediate stains and flaking. However, after negotiations, the painting has at last been returned to Chatsworth House.

Visitors to the magnificent palatial home will be able to view it among the many other treasures of the house, which also hosts free events for the community. The house is managed by the Chatsworth House Trust.

A 17th-century painting by a Flemish artist was stollen in 1979, only to mysteriously reappear in 2021 in France.

Chatsworth House, the magnificent historic seat of the Duke of Devonshire. (Photo: Trevor Rickard
via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED)

h/t: [ARTnews]

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Photo: Pixel8tor via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

What is the most precious piece of art in your home? Did you purchase it from a local seller after you fell in love with their work? Or was it passed on from family member to family member before it ended up in your possession? Now, imagine if that piece of art turned out to be even more valuable than you originally thought, and curators from the Louvre were suddenly showing interest in purchasing it for their permanent collection.

This is precisely what happened to a 90-year-old French woman. Four years ago, she began clearing out her home ahead of a move, and had initially planned on throwing out the priceless piece of artwork. The painting, which depicted Jesus Christ surrounded by a small crowd of people, had been hanging above her hot plate for years, and the woman had no idea how special it was. Thankfully, her family stopped her, believing that it could be valuable, and they called in a fine art appraiser to assess the true price of the painting.

The appraiser estimated that it could be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, and also dropped the bombshell on the family that it was a long-lost painting  by Cimabue, a prolific Italian painter from the 13th century. He is considered by some to be one of the last great practitioners of the Byzantine style, which dominated parts of Eurasia through the 1450s. The painting, appropriately named Christ Mocked, is part of an eight part diptych which depicted the crucifixion and the passion of Christ. Other than Christ Mocked, only two other pieces from the diptych are accounted for, making the find extremely rare.

In 2019, the painting went to auction, where it was acquired by London-based dealer Fabrizio Moretti for €24.2 million ($26.8 million). Moretti's expensive bid drew the attention of the French government, who declared it to be a “national treasure,” which prevented the painting from leaving the country for 30 months after it was purchased. This was bad news for Moretti, but good news for the Louvre, as the delay gave them time to raise the funds to purchase the painting off of the art dealer.

Thanks to a successful mobilization of money and resources, the Louvre was able to acquire the painting and transport it to their museum for safe keeping. Christ Mocked is scheduled to be on display with another Cimabue piece, Maestà, at the museum this spring.

h/t: [Smithsonian Magazine]

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Notre Dame burns in 2019. (Photo: Wandrille de Préville via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED)

When Notre-Dame caught fire in 2019, millions of eyes watched, riveted in France and around the world. The devastating fire destroyed much of the roof and spires, and also severely damaging the priceless works of art within the church. The time since has revealed how medieval and modern can work together to rebuild. Building on traditional techniques used to create the cathedral, modern architects and conservators have fought to recreate and preserve. Thankfully, many of Notre-Dame's treasures were eventually saved from the building, either during the fire or afterwards. Among these were famous paintings belonging to what is known as the Mays, a series if religious paintings from the 17th and 18th centuries. These 13 works have now been conserved and will be displayed at the Mobilier National through July 2024.

These paintings are 13 held in Notre-Dame collections, but they are part of a larger series created between 1630 and 1707 and now held in multiple collections. They feature Christian scenes. The term “Mays” comes from the May deadline of the yearly contest hosted by the Confrérie des Orfèvres to honor the Virgin Mary. The politico-religious background is more complex. The paintings highlighted the Catholic victory in France's prior religious wars. While once all belonging to Notre-Dame, many paintings moved elsewhere during the French Revolution. Those remaining were removed in the 19th century during redecoration, and replaced in the cathedral in the early 20th century.

Emmanuel Pénicaut, director of Mobilier National who restored the paintings, told The Guardian, “We were lucky to get them out quite quickly with just a little water damage and dust. It was rather miraculous. We began removing them the day after the fire and decided they would all be restored. The exhibition is a chance to see them all in one place, in the order they were painted, which is how they would have been originally displayed. What you see now is how they would have looked the day they were completed.”

The works will be displayed in an exhibit entitled Notre-Dame's Restored Masterpieces, a unique opportunity to see them restored and exhibited outside the cathedral. They will return to their true home in advance of the planned December grand reopening of Notre-Dame to the public.

The Notre-Dame fire in 2019 ravaged the cathedral, destroying parts of its architecture and the art it housed.

Inside the magnificent cathedral before the fire. (Photo: Peter K Burian via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED)

Luckily, some paintings were saved and restored, and now they are back on display in an exhibit titled Notre-Dame's Restored Masterpieces.

Jacques Blanchard, “The Descent of the Holy Spirit,” 1634. Currently in the collection of Notre-Dame. This image prior to restoration. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)

Charles Poerson, “The Preaching of St. Peter in Jerusalem,” 1642. Currently in the Notre-Dame collections. This image prior to restoration. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)

h/t: [The Guardian]

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Charles II in Armour, 1681, by Juan Carreño de Miranda. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)

Thanks to modern technology, we’re able to uncover hidden images within historic works of art. One recent discovery comes from a 17th-century portrait of a royal. The Habsburgs ruled early modern Europe. For almost seven centuries, members of the clan intermarried and ruled across Europe. From Hungary to Portugal and Germany, their power rose and fell. Austria remained the center of the family's power, where they ruled from 1282 until 1918, for much of this period as Holy Roman Emperors. Another outpost was the Spanish monarchy, where that branch of the family aggressively consolidated power by marrying their own relatives. The result was Charles II—the last Habsburg king of Spain—whose life was depicted in the work of painter Juan Carreño de Miranda.

Carreño de Miranda was a court painter in Madrid whose portraiture was influenced by the Baroque greats such as Titian, Rubens, and Van Dyck. He spent the second-half of the 17th century churning out depictions of Spanish nobles and royalty, including Charles II. Charles II was born in 1661. His father, Philip IV, was the uncle of his mother Mariana of Austria. He became king as a child in 1665, so his mother acted as regent. However, Charles II was unfortunately destined for a life of difficulty and disease throughout his childhood and adulthood.

Charles II was the only one of his parent's children to survive to adulthood. His progress from boy to man has been revealed by x-ray in Carreño de Miranda's work Charles II in Armour. Painted in 1681 when the king was 20 years old, it depicts the monarch in military regalia with all the symbolism of a bold leader. His armor was made for his esteemed ancestor Phillip II, and the young king stands in front of a battle scene in the background. However, x-ray examinations of the painting reveal the canvas previously boasted a different image. Behind the young man was a much shorter, yet similar in appearance, child king. His hair in both images is loose, his face long, and his pose similar.

According to the Museo del Prado where the painting resides, “Carreño probably used what had become an obsolete portrait of the child king to paint on top of it a new portrait that updated his image as an adult, showing his taller stature. He then added a strip of canvas to the top in order to augment the height of the painting, and he trimmed the sides slightly so that it would correspond to the format of the painting of Philip IV (also painted by the artist).” The now hidden image of the younger king is closely related to a verson painted of the 10-year-old monarch which now hangs in the Museo de Bellas Artes de Asturias. But behind both images of the king lurk sad realities of inbreeding in one of Europe's most dominant royal houses.

Charles II was the result of 16 generations of Habsburg inbreeding, including his own parent's very close genetic relationship. Within these generations of the Spanish royal family, researcher Gonzalo Alvarez discovered, “[o]f 34 children, half died before their tenth birthday, and 10 died before their first.” Charles II was rare in surviving, but he was born with intellectual and physical disabilities which affected his health and hindered his ability to speak. In particular, he had the Habsburg jaw, a severe underbite which made life difficult. He was infertile and left no heirs, dying at 35, plagued by senility and seizures. This sad life lurks behind his royal portraits, which nonetheless attempt to frame the monarch as the last of a powerful dynasty.

Behind this portrait of the Spanish King Charles II is a past portrait, x-rays reveal. The king is depicted as younger and shorter in the older version.

Este retrato de Carlos II adulto que pinta Carreño de Miranda en 1681 esconde otra obra: Carreño reutilizó un lienzo en el que había pintado años antes un retrato del rey más joven y en la misma estancia, el Salón de los Espejos del Real Alcázar de Madrid pic.twitter.com/b5g29SJlq6

— Museo del Prado (@museodelprado) July 8, 2020

Charles II was a member of the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs, a ruling family of Europe known for inbreeding.

Carlos II de España, circa 1680, by Juan Carreño de Miranda. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)

h/t: [Museo del Prado]

This article has been edited and updated from an earlier version that misspelled the Habsburgs.

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The Tudor wall painting emerges. (Photo: Tobit Curteis Associates LLP)

The Tudors are arguably the most famous of England's monarchs, with the exception of the present House of Windsor. However, the violent and extreme marital activities of Henry VIII and the “Merry England” of his daughter Queen Elizabeth tend to dominate the public perception of the dynasty. The beginning of the House of Tudor was equally dramatic. Arising out of the mid-15th-century civil War of the Roses, Henry VII eventually emerged triumphant as the first Tudor king. Establishing legitimacy was no easy feat, and a level of self-promotion and advertising was required. Christ's College at the University of Cambridge in England has discovered an example of what they term early 16th-century “royal branding”: a magnificent wall-painting featuring royal symbols.

Christ's College was established in 1505 by Lady Margaret Beaufort. The powerful, wealthy daughter of the Duke of Somerset, she had royal blood tracing to King Edward III. At 12 years old, she married Edmund Tudor, the half-brother of the unfortunate monarch Henry VI who became embroiled and was ultimately deposed during the War of the Roses. Decades of turmoil and “kingmaking” ensued among the elite nobles of the Yorkist and Lancastrian factions. Lady Margaret had a son who grew up to end the bitter civil war by claiming the crown himself as Henry VII, due to his heritage from King Edward III.

While a great patron of the college, Lady Margaret was also a mother and powerful political mind. The mural painted on the high wall of the library building in the early 1500s was likely a tribute to her and her family's new position, painting it as legitimate and derived from their bloodline. The painting was discovered, well-preserved behind an existing wall, during renovations of the building known as First Court. University of Cambridge art historian Dr. Christina Faraday says, “This is a really exciting and unusual discovery, revealing the ways that the College celebrated and advertised its royal patron during the early years of the 16th century, following its re-founding.”

The design centrally features a red Lancastrian rose, crowned much like Henry VII (who used the symbol) was by this point. To the left, a portcullis (the gates that were raised and lowered at castle entrances) is depicted. As the symbol of the Beaufort family, it too is crowned. On the right, a large symbol is either a fleur-de-lis or feathers associated with the Prince of Wales. The former would indicate the historic connection of the English and French thrones, although by Henry VII any pretension to being the king of France was becoming largely tradition and vanity. The painting is well-preserved, and the etchings in the plaster which guided the hands of the painters are still visible.

“Such survivals are extremely unusual,” said Dr. Faraday. “Wall paintings were a relatively cheap and disposable form of decoration, and so were rarely deliberately preserved. Now we can appreciate them for their historical value and what they reveal about Tudor art beyond the more traditional portraits.”

While the painting is not in a location which can be easily displayed to the public, the College is working on how to best preserve, publicize, and study it. A search of college records suggest the paintings have been hidden since about 1738, and their reemergence is a royal surprise.

At Christ's College, within the University of Cambridge, restorations of a 15th-century building revealed an imposing royal-themed wall painting.

The crown is perched above a portcullis. (Photo: Tobit Curteis Associates LLP)

The University calls it “royal branding” of the medieval sort, featuring a red Lancastrian rose.

The roses's detail is impressive. (Photo: Tobit Curteis Associates LLP)

The etching which guided the painter can be seen. (Photo: Tobit Curteis Associates LLP)

h/t: [artnet]

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Recent results at an auction prove that we're still making new discoveries, even when it comes to some of the most famous artists in history. Rembrandt van Rijn is one of the most beloved artists of the Dutch Golden Age, and his paintings, etchings, and drawings continue to captivate the public's imaginations. So much so, that a painting that was valued at $15,000 two years ago, just sold for £11 million ($13.8 million), according to CNN.

The incredible sale occurred during Sotheby's Old Master & 19th Century Paintings auction in London on December 6. The Adoration of the Kings is a small oil painting by the 17th-century painter. It first gained public attention in 1955, when it was purchased by collector J.C.H. Heldring. His widow then sold it to a German family in 1985, and they, in turn, put it up for auction at Christie‘s in 2021.

Interestingly, though the painting was originally attributed to Rembrandt, the 2021 sale listed the oil painting as by “Circle of Rembrandt.” This typically means that the work would have been carried out by a student or close associate. At the time, the work was valued between $11,000 and $16,000, eventually selling for about $910,000.

Whoever made that purchase was quite savvy, as the painting has been reevaluated by Sotheby's experts after an 18-month research period. This included x-rays of the panel, as well as consultation with leading experts on Rembrandt. In the end, Sotheby's team concluded that the work was, indeed, painted by Rembrandt, most likely when he was a young artist living in Leiden.

The attribution is meaningful, as it is rare to see a Biblical scene by Rembrandt for sale. Typically, according to Sotheby's press release, any Rembrandts coming up for auction over the past three decades have been portraits or single-character studies.

“I would say that it’s particularly significant because it adds to our understanding of Rembrandt at this crucial date in his development and career when he was clearly very ambitious and developing very quickly as an artist,” George Gordon, co-chairman of Old Master Paintings Worldwide at Sotheby’s, told CNN.

Sotheby's determined that The Adoration of the Kings was likely first mentioned in a 1714 inventory of a Dutch collector. It then changed hands a few times in the early 19th century before disappearing until the mid-20th century. At that point, it was considered a work by Rembrandt and was exhibited several times. But thanks to a German art historian, who had only seen the work in a black and white photo, it was largely ignored after being described as being by the Rembrandt school and omitted from a catalog of the artist's work.

Given that the 2021 auction saw a sale price far above the estimate, it's possible that many bidders already realized the high quality of the painting and the possibility that it might actually be a Rembrandt. Now, the lucky owner has the privilege of adding a rare piece of history to their collection.

“Very few narrative paintings by Rembrandt remain in private hands, making this an opportunity for a private collector or an institution that is as rare as it is exciting,” shared Gordon.

“This sophisticated painting is in equal measure a product of Rembrandt’s brush and his intellect. All the hallmarks of his style in the late 1620s are evident both in the visible painted surface and in the underlying layers revealed by science, showing multiple changes in the course of its creation, and casting fresh light on how he thought.”

Watch as art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon discusses the importance of Rembrandt's The Adoration of the Kings, which just sold at auction for $13.8 million.

h/t: [CNN]

All images via Sotheby's.

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The painting before (left) and after (right) the removal of the Victorian overpainting and careful restoration of the original. (Photo: screenshot of video from Carnegie Museum of Art)

Years ago, a painting of a young woman ended up at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The museum was not very impressed by the benign, uninspired face of the sitter, leading to the painting's eventual deaccession from the collection. Instead, it found its way into the collection of the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It then sat in the basement, unseen, until it caught the eye of Louise Lippincott, a former museum curator. She showed the work to chief conservator Ellen Baxter, who worked her magic to transform a mediocre work into its original, elegant form. The shocking before and after, documented in 2014, demonstrated the many transformations a work can go through over the centuries.

Originally, the painting was thought to depict Eleanor of Toledo, wife of Cosimo I de’ Medici, who ruled Florence. A sticker on the back frame alleges the painter was court artist Bronzino. However, Baxter suspected the truth was hidden within, under the pretty yet unremarkable features of the young woman. An x-ray scan confirmed that beneath the face was another one, with larger features and much more character. Beneath the petite hand was a larger one, and it held a vase which had later been painted over. The 16th-century painting had clearly undergone a transformation in the 19th century. The wood panel on which it was painted was shaved down to a very thin strip which was then affixed to canvas. Meanwhile, the face and hand of the woman were overpainted with a more Victorian, delicate image that lacked the vibrance of the original.

Baxter removed the old varnish covering the painting and slowly removed the 19th-century paint as well. Beneath it is the remarkable face of Isabella de’ Medici, daughter of Cosimo I and Eleanor of Toledo. While not certain, the work was likely done by Alessandro Allori, who trained under Bronzino. The work was then fully conserved to restore its original glory, with careful varnish and delicate inpainting to fix flaking. Baxter notes in a video of the process that she is careful to match color and texture while resisting the urge to “put [herself] in the painting.” Her work is engaging, and she talks to the painting pleasantly as she restores its glory. These restorations follow certain ethical rules of transparency.

Baxter's efforts are in service of presenting the princess in her glory, as the “Paris Hilton” of the day. Rich and wild, she took lovers and spent, spent, spent. She was well-educated and witty, but her intrigues may have contributed to her untimely death. Officially it was attributed to dropping dead while washing her hair, but historians believe her husband murdered her in revenge and anger for her affairs. As baxter describes her life, “a bad end, but a good story.” Painted in this newly uncovered work with a small vase typical of Mary Magdalene depictions, Lippincott explained to Carnegie Museums, “This [portrait] is literally the bad girl seeing the light.”

A painting of Isabella de' Medici was restored after being obscured under 19th-century additions. The subject was the “Paris Hilton” of the Italian Renaissance, known as the society “party girl” of the Medici family in the 16th century.

h/t: [Open Culture]

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“Charles I (1600-49,” by Van Dyck, c. 1635-6. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)

Some things become so ordinary that we easily miss their extraordinary nature. For some people, the decor they spend their lives around is merely sentimental or aesthetically pleasing. However, it can turn out to be extraordinary and of great interest to the world. We’ve recently seen a TV room painting turn out to be by Pieter Brueghel the Younger and even garage sale purchases turn out to be Ming Dynasty relics. The latest surprising find is a painting which hung for generations on the wall of a family's living room in Jaén, Andalucía. As it turns out, it is a 17th-century masterpiece entitled The Presentation of the Baby Jesus to Saint Barbara by Flemish Baroque artist Sir Anthony Van Dyck.

Sir Anthony Van Dyck trained in the studio of Peter Paul Rubens, and he later became court painter to the British Royal Family. His portraits of the doomed Charles I and other members of the elite ruling class were softer than the depictions of their predecessors. He became quite successful in these circles, dying in 1641, eight years before Charles I would lose his head in the English Civil War. Today, Van Dyck's name is attached to the signature point beards of many of his sitters, and his portraiture and religious work hangs in museums and private collections around the world.

It had, as it turned out, been hanging on the wall of the unnamed family in Spain for generations. No picture has been released of the work, which is religious in nature. It is possible the family acquired the work through the influx of Flemings which arrived in nearby Seville, where some of the family lived in the 17th century. The painting only measures 130 by 92 centimeters (51.18 by 36.22 inches). The family reportedly admired the artwork, but only recently realized its origins and verified its authorship. It now sits in a safety deposit box as the family strategizes its next home.

“The owner of the painting has no intention of speculating, but he does have a special interest in it staying in Seville, the city where the family now lives and with which he has a special connection,” says Luis Baena, the family's lawyer. Estimating its worth at this point will be purely speculative on the part of the public, but the family plans to ask “a fair and reasonable price.” The family is reportedly discussing possibilities with the Museum of Fine Arts of Seville, in order to keep the painting in its home city of several centuries, even if it no longer hangs on the living room wall.

A family in Andalusia long had a visual masterpiece hanging in their living room, but they did not know it was in fact a work by iconic Renaissance painter Anthony van Dyck.

“Christ Crowned with Thorns,” by Van Dyck, c. 1620. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)

“Anton Giulio Brignole-Sale on horseback,” by Van Dyck, 1627. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)

h/t: [Inside Edition]

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READ: Family Discovers Their Living Room Painting Is a Lost Masterpiece Worth Millions