What would the Baroque have been without Rubens? This dynamo of artistic energy infiltrated all the great courts of Europe, spreading the lush, riotous, regal style that had formed in the wake of the Renaissance. His sprawling canvases depict life on an epic scale, as if he needed extra room to inclu

Baroque art, Dramatic, Dreamy, Ecstatic, Fantastic, Intense

Faced with an unforgiving lump of marble, the 80-year-old Michelangelo sent more splinters soaring (and at three times the speed) than three robust stone cutters could produce. Mad with loneliness (his lover, Vittoria Colonna, closest friend, Luigi del Riccio, and lifetime servant, Urbino, were all d

Anxiety, Dramatic, Ecstatic, Intense, Renaissance art, Tragic, Visceral

A whisper of light illuminates four figures, cloaking them in tenderness and warmth, and there arises a sense of the subtle anticipation of early morning, the relief that accompanies forgiveness, and the graciousness that rewards gentle touch. "The Return of the Prodigal Son" exemplifies the human

Baroque art, Dramatic, Intense, Pathos, Religious, Violent

In 1610, when most girls her age were confined to embroidery and sewing, Artemisia Gentileschi was in her Roman studio producing an artistic back flip. "Susanna and the Elders" had, until Gentileschi stepped into the ring, been painted as a case of two repectable elderly gentlemen peeking at a sexual

Baroque art, Dense, Dramatic, Enigmatic, Intense, Pathos