' Portrait of Mrs Fraser of Castle Fraser ' Sir Thomas Lawrence ( English 1769-1830 ) Oil on canvas , circa 1817. Philadelphia Museum of Art , Philadephia.

' The Shades of Francesco da Rimini and Paola Malatesta Appraised by Dante and Virgil ' Ary Scheffer ( French 1795-1858 ) Oil on canvas , circa 1855 . Louvre , Paris .

' Alice in Wonderland ' George Dunlop Leslie (English 1835-1921) Oil on canvas , circa 1879 . Brighton Museum and Art Gallery, Brighton.

The little girl lies snuggled in her mother's lap  ( the artists wife Lydia and daughter Alice ) listening intently to the the book being read to her. Her glance is outward at the viewer ,but it is misty eyed since the artist George Dunlop Leslie has managed to capture the moment before her eyelids droop and sleep envelops her . Above all else the story is paramount , and a discarded doll together with a decidedly rigid sofa attest to the power of the story to overcome all distractions.

' Charity ' Guido Reni ( Italian 1575-1642) Oil on canvas , circa 1630. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

   This painting exemplifies the refinement of Reni's much admired style. The canvas comes from the Liechtenstein collection in Vienna . The allegorical figure of Charity follows the well-established iconographical model of a woman breastfeeding a group of children.

' Death of Princess de Lamballe ' Léon-Maxime Faivre (French 1856-1941) Oil on canvas , circa 1908. Versaille Palace , Versaille .

' Benjamin Franklin ' (1706-1790) wearing a fur bordered cloak. Jean Baptitse Weyler (French 1747-1791) Enamel . Auctioned at Christies 27-28 November 2012 .

The fine setting for this enamel is most likely contemporary and commissioned for the purpose of housing such an important sitter.

Benjamin Franklin , the American statesman and polymath , was born in Boston , the youngest son of a soap and candle maker . After an apprenticeship in the print trade he escaped to New York , finally settling in Philadelphia . Here in set up in partnership with another printer and was able to publish his writings in pamphlets , eventually owning a newspaper and becoming the official printer of Philadelphia . His interests furthered into science , where he published theories on electricity .

When in 1776 , he was sent to Paris as a diplomat , he was welcomed into the scientific community where his high reputation allowed him an entrée into society , including the court of Louis XV1. In 1783, he signed the peace treaty, which recognised the independence of the United States of America .

Whilst in Paris , Franklin was painted and sculpted by Joseph-Sifftrein Duplessis , Houdon and the miniaturist Francois Dumont . In 1785 , Jean Baptiste Weyler  submitted a project to paint Franklin in enamel as part of a ' Panthéon Iconographique ' . This was to preserve famous men for posterity in enamel and Franklin became the most popular subject of this series.

Stravinsky The Rite of Spring - Choregraphed by Uwe Scholz

' Portrait of Diana Clements ' Augustus John , RA, OM (1878-1961) Pencil and red crayon on paper . Private Collection.

Augustus John was one of the greatest portraitists of the 20th century . He was radical and wild in nature , fellow artist Wyndham Lewis described John as : ".. as a great man of action into whose hands the faries had stuck a brush instead of a sword ". After mastering the art of drawing at the Slade , John moved to London where he established the Chelsea Art School (1903-7) with friend William Orpen.

'A Reclining Nude ' Paul Ayshford Methuin , 4th Baron Methuin ( English 1886-1974) Oil on canvas, circa 1930. Private Collection .

Paul Ayshford Methuin , 4th Baron Methuin (1886-1974) was a zoologist , painter and landowner . He was the eldest child of the 3rd Baron Methuin and his second wife , Mary Ethel. He was educated at Eton and New College,Oxford where he studied zoology and engineering .

From 1910 to 1914 he worked in the Transvaal Museum in Pretoria , where he published several scientific papers with the South African herpetologist , John Hewitt , with whom he collected and described a number of southern African and Madagascan genera and species in the early 20th century. He later refused a chair in zoology in a South African university because of his commitment to his ancestral home .

In the First World War he served with the Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry and then with his father's regiment , the Scots Guards. He married Eleanor Hennessy , daughter of the landscape painter William James Hennessy , in 1915.

Methuin had studied drawing at Eton , at the Ruskin in Oxford , and with Charles Holmes . In 1927 he attended art classes given by Walter Sickert , which had a permanent effect upon his painting style. He established a reputation as a serious artist .

In 1939 he rejoined his regiment and served as a captain until 1944 when he was moved to the Procurement and Fine Art branch set up to protect works of art during the invasion of the continent . He later recounted his experiences in his book ' Normandy Dairy '

' Portrait of Elizabeth 1st ' (1533-1603) Studio of Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger (1561-1636) Oil on panel , circa 1595. Elizabethan Gardens , North Carolina . Presently exhibited at the Folger Shakespeare Library , Washington DC,

A rare portrait of Elizabeth the 1st displaying her with facial wrinkles is presently being exhibited at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC. The painting ( now owned by the Elizabethan Gardens in North Carolina's outer banks ) is having it's first public showing after conservation and authentication in 2011-2012. This painting is a rare exception in not covering up the queens flaws. A 1563 draft of Royal Proclamation attempted to regulate the production and circulation of the Queen's portraits , and a 1596 order to the Privy Council  commanded public officers : " to aid the the Queen's Sergeant Painter in seeking out unseemly portraits which were to her 'great offence' and therefore to be defaced and no more portraits to be produced except as to be approved by ( the) Sergeant Painter . This portrait however , by the studio of Gheeraerts in the early mid 1590s seems to have slipped through the net. The portrait was purchased in the fifties by the Elizabethan Gardens in Manteo , North Carolina from a New York art gallery for $3000 to hang in the gatehouse of the gardens . It was not until 2007 that the Gardens staff took steps to investigate its origins.

' Saint Sebastian ' Gerrit van Honthorst (Dutch 1592-1656) Oil on canvas, circa 1623. National Gallery, London.

Sebastian was a Roman centurion , who was discovered to be a Christian and was sentenced to death by the Emperor Diocletian . He was bound to a stake and shot with arrows . He was left for dead , although the arrows had not killed him and he was eventually stoned to death.

Honthorst was one of the first artists to portray Saint Sebastian as a half-length figure , slumped forward in a seated position. The pose was subsequently adopted by other followers of Caravaggio in Utrecht , including Jan van Biljert and Hendrik ter Brugghen in the mid 1620s. This picture was probably painted shortly after Honthorst's return to Utrecht in 1620.  

' Lamentation over The Dead Christ ' Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish 1577-1640) Oil on canvas , circa 1614. Palais Leichtenstein , Vienna , Austria.

' The Young Girl with the Straw Hat ' Friedrich von Amerling. ( Austro-Hungarian 1803-1887) Oil on canvas, circa 1840. Liechtenstein Museum, Vienna.

'The Young Girl with a Straw Hat' is considered to be Friedrich von Amerling's masterpiece work. Painted while the artist visited Italy , it's prestige has risen constantly along with renewed interest in the Biedermeir school. After achieving a world record price in October 2008 it is now assured of remaining in Austria ,together with around 20 other works by Amerling in the Princely Collection at the Liechtenstein.

Rachmaninoff: Suite nr.2 opus 17 voor twee piano's - Romance en Tarantel...

' Cup ' Jean-Valentin Morel (French 1794-1860) Bloodstone (jasper) , gold, enamels, emeralds, rubies, sapphires, cameo's . Circa 1854-1855 . Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis , Indiana .

Decorated with precious rubies, emeralds, and sapphires, this hardstone cup is a sumptuous example of the work of Jean-Valentin Morel, one of the most accomplished jewelers , silversmiths, and lapidaries of 19th century Paris. The cup's contour reveals the gem cutters extraordinary skill: the hard, dark green, highly polished, semiprecious bloodstone seems to have been utterly pliant in his hands. In fact, Morel's method of carving stone produced a suppleness of form that is rivaled only by the finest known works of ancient Greece and Rome. Despite Morel's talent, achievements, and fame, he endured several business and financial setbacks. He did , however, find an important patron in Honeré-Théodoric-Paul-Joseph d'Albert , duke of Luynes , a noted archaeologist and art collector. In 1854 , the duke commissioned this cup and gave Morel two cameos to decorate it. Two cast-gold female figures with wings enameled in red, blue, and green, form the cup's handles. A garland of individually cast gold-and-enamel flowers adorns each side. The overall design was inspired by Renaissance and Baroque hardstone vases. The cup was publicly displayed in 1855 at the Paris World Fair, where Morel received the Grand Medal.

' A Doleful Disaster or Miss Fubby Faterman's wig caught fire ' Thomas Rowlandson (English 1757-1827) Hand-coloured etching , circa 1813. British Museum, London.

' Pauline Bonaparte ' Antonio Canova. ( Italian 1757-1822 ) Marble , circa 1805-1808 . Galleria Borghese , Rome .

Canova's reclining statue of Napoleon's sister , Pauline Bonaparte , holds an apple in her hand evoking the 'Venus Victrix' in the judgement of Paris , who was chosen to settle a dispute between Juno and Venus. This marble statue of Pauline in a highly refined pose is considered a supreme example of the Neo-Classical style. Antonio Canova executed this portrait between 1805-1808 without the customary drapery of a person of high rank, an exception at the time. The wooden base , draped like a catafalque , once contained a mechanism that caused the sculpture to rotate , as in the case of other works by Canova. The roles of artwork and spectator were thus reversed, it was the sculpture that moved whilst the spectator stood still and observed the splendid statue from all angles. In the past, viewers admired the softly gleaming sculpture of Pauline by candlelight and it's lustre was not only due to the fine quality of the marble but also to the waxed surface which has been recently restored.

' Revolt in Cairo ' Anne-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Triosson .(French 1767-1824) Oil on canvas , circa 1810. Versailles National Museum , Versailles.

In 1798, Napoleon led the French army into Egypt , swiftly conquering Alexandria and Cairo. However, on October of that year, an uprising by the people of Cairo surprised the French forces , while Bonaparte was in old Cairo , the city's population was spreading weapons around the streets and fortifying strongpoints , especially at the Great Mosque. The French commander General Dupuy , was murdered as well as Bonaparte's Aide-de-camp Joseph Sulkowski. Excited by the sheikhs and inmans, the Egyptians swore by the Prophet to exterminate all Frenchmen and any Frenchman they met - at home or in the streets. Crowds rallied at the city gates to keep out Bonaparte , who was repulsed and forced to take a detour in order to enter by the Boulaq Gate.....( see Napoleon's Egyptian campaign )

' The Taking of Christ ' Caravaggio. (Italian 1573-1610) Oil on canvas, circa 1598. National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin .

" The Taking of Christ " was painted by Michelangelo da Merisi , better known as Caravaggio , in Rome , 1598-1602. By the late eighteenth century , however, the painting seemed to have disappeared, and it's whereabouts remained unknown for about two hundred years. In 1990 Caravaggio's lost masterpiece was recognised in the residence of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) in Dublin. The exciting rediscovery was published in 1993. The painting had been hanging in the Jesuits dining room since the early 1930s, but had been long considered a copy of the lost original by Gerard van Honthorst ,also known as Gerard of the nights, one of Caravaggio's Dutch followers . This erroneous attribution had been made while the painting was still in the possession of the Mattei family in Rome , whose ancestors had commissioned it. The family sold it, as a work by Honthorst , in 1802 to William Hamilton Nisbet , in whose home in Scotland it hung until 1921. Later that decade the painting was sold to an Irish pediatrician who eventually donated it to the Jesuit Brothers in Dublin in gratitude for their support following the death of her husband. 'The Taking of Christ ' remained in their possession for about sixty years , until the decision was made in the early 1990's to have it cleaned and restored. As layers of dirt and discoloured varnish were removed , the supreme technical quality of the painting was revealed , and it was identified as Caravaggio's lost painting. It is now on long-term loan to the National Gallery of Ireland .

' Amour a l'affut ' (Love on the Lookout) William-Adolphe Bouguereau (French 1825-1905) Oil on canvas, circa unknown. Private Collection.

' The Railway ' Edouard Manet, (French, 1832-1883) Oil on canvas, circa 1873. National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.

'The Railway ' is one of Manet's most important and ravishing paintings. Manet was one of the first to take the railway station as a modern subject. Unlike Monet's series on trains , Manet used the trains and stations as a backdrop . The woman is Victorine Meurent , the woman who posed for Manet's most sensational pictures . ' Déjeuner sur l'Herbe ' (previously posted ) and ' Olympia ' (Musée d'Orsay) This painting , which drops you into the heart of urban Paris is the very essence of a modern picture. This was the only painting by Manet excepted by the Salon in 1873.

' The Calmady Children ' Sir Thomas Lawrence (English, 1769-1830) Oil on canvas , circa 1823. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Emily and Laura Anne were the children of Charles Calmady of Devonshire. Their portrait - shown at the Royal Academy, and engraved under the title Nature - has always been one of Lawrence's most popular works... He once described it as " my best picture...one of the few I should wish hereafter to be known by "

' Portrait of a Young Man ' Pompeo Batoni ( Italian 1708-1787) Oil on canvas, circa 1760-1765 . Metropolitan Museum, New York.

The leading Italian painter of eighteenth-century Rome, Batoni was especially prized as a portraitist. The sitter in this picture has not been identified , but he may be French. He is shown with some of Batoni's favourite Grand Tour props: an ancient bas-relief of Antinous , a statue of Minerva , an armillary sphere , guidebooks to ancient and modern Rome , a volume of biographies of painters, and the second part of Homer's 'Odyssey '

' A Cruise to Covent Garden ' Isaac Cruikshank (English 1764-1811) Hand-coloured etching , published by Thomas Tegg , 1807. British Museum, London.

Two sailors carry a sedan-chair, in which sits a young prostitute, with one leg out of the front window , as if to kick the bearer, who smokes with closed eye. A third sits tipsily on the roof, smoking, he says: "Come messmates have a head ". Two sailors wear striped trousers , the third a short petticoat and a fur hat. Behind is the portico of St Pauls , Covent Garden, with two men , one a Jew , the other a (?) tipsy parson.

' Defeat of the Spanish Armada , 8 August 1588. Philipe-Jacques de Loutherbourg (English painter of French origin 1740-1812) Oil on canvas, circa 1796. National Maritime Museum, Greenwhich.

A theatrical interpretation of 'The Battle of Gravelines ' , an historical episode that had taken place over 200 years earlier. The narrative shows the morning after the English fireship attack on the Armada in Calais Roads , which found the Spaniards in a north-westerly gale of Dunkirk . A shift in the wind direction prevented many of their ships from being wrecked on the surrounding shoals. Saved from this disaster, they fought all day with the English and Dutch until they turned northwards, defeated , on their retreat around Scotland.

' The Hunters in the Snow ' Pieter Brughel the Elder (Dutch 1525-1569) Oil on panel , circa 1565. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.

One of the most famous landscape paintings of the Northern Renaissance , 'Hunters in the Snow' was originally part of a series of twelve landscapes (Twelve Months) covering all the months of the year. Commissioned by the wealthy Antwerp banker Niclaes Jonghelinck , this work was almost certainly called 'January'. Other surviving pictures in the series include 'The Gloomy Day' (February), 'Haymaking' (July), 'The Harvesters' (August), and the return of the herd, (probably November). These panel paintings did much to secure Brueghel's reputation as one of the finest landscape artists of Northern Europe.

' Roundel with Apollo ' (Greek 100-150 BC) Silver gilt , eyes originally laid in another material. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston .

'Captain Horatio Nelson ' (1758-1805) John Francis Rigaud (1742-1810), oil on canvas, circa 1781.. National Maritime Museum, Greenwhich, London.

Captain Horatio Nelson , painted by John Rigaud in 1781 , with Fort San Juan- the scene of his most notable achievement to date - in the background . The painting was begun and nearly finished prior to the battle, when Nelson held the rank of lieutenant , when Nelson returned the artist added the new captains gold braided sleeves.

' Nelson Hat worn at the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801 ' National Maritime Museum , Greenwhich , London.

Liszt Un Sospiro Concert Étude No. 3 Valentina Lisitsa ( Happy Birthda...

' Plate depicting the story of Perseus and Andromeda from the Isabella d'Este service ' Nicola da Urbino (Italian 1480-1540/1547) Tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica) , circa about 1524. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts.

This plate is one of twenty-two surviving pieces of a splendid service made for Isabella d'Este , duchess of Mantua. It bears her coat-of-arms in the centre. In spite of being constantly short of money, Isabella was an ambitious patron of the arts with, as she admitted , an ' insatiable desire ' for ancient Greek and Roman art. Tin-glazed earthenware (known as maiolica), was often decorated during this period with scenes from classical mythology....Nicola da Urbino (1480-1540-1547) has been designated as the Italian ceramicist who introduced into painted maiolica the new ' Istoriato' style, in which the whole surface of a plate or charger is devoted to a single representational scene.

'Portrait of Lady Barbara Lowther on Horseback ' Sir Alfred James Munnings (English 1878-1959) Oil on canvas, circa around 1914, Private Collection.

Sir Alfred Munning's 'Portrait of Lady Barbara Lowther on Horseback ' was sold by Sotheby's to a mystery bidder in May 2008 for nearly £900,000. Lady Barbara, of Lowther nr Penrith ,was the great aunt of the present Earl of Lonsdale. She shocked the society world by running off and leaving her husband and their three-year old son in 1918. The picture was commissioned by Lady Barbara's husband , Boar War hero Lieutenant Colonel Archie Innes , shortly after their lavish wedding in 1914. But their fairytale marriage was actually a short-lived disaster , and in 1918, Lady Barbara 'ran off' leaving her husband and their three-year old son, Jimmy. She rarely saw her son. Some years later it is said that Jimmy Innes was visiting Newbury racecourse when he noticed a striking-looking woman , so he asked a friend : " Who is that extraordinary looking woman over there?" " Surely you know " replied the friend. " It's your mother "

' Ophelia ' John William Waterhouse (English 1849-1917) oil on canvas, circa 1889. Private Collection.

John William Waterhouse depicts Ophelia lying in a riverside meadow in an attitude of deranged abandon,one hand in her tousled hair , the other grasping flowers. The entry for the Royal Academy notes for 1889 reads: " Ophelia lying in the grass, with the wild flowers she has gathered in the folds of her dress. In one hand she holds a bunch of buttercups; in her rich brown hair , which half hides her face, is a coronet of daisies ; in the background through the willow-stems a stream winds, and swallows fly low in the air "

' Fragment of a mixing bowl (volute-krater) Daruis The Painter ( Greek South Italian ) Ceramic : Red figure , circa , about 330BC . Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts.

' Sarcophagus with Triumph of Dionysos ' Roman (about 215-225 AD) Marble , from the island of Procconnesus . Museum of Fine Art , Boston, Massachusetts.

The scene that sweeps along the side of this sarcophagus depicts the triumphant return of the god Bacchus (Dionysus) from India , where he had been spreading his cult of joyous physical abandon. On the left edge , Bacchus steps into a chariot drawn by two Indian elephants. Before him , his merry-making attendants (many part human-part beast) celebrate with wine, dance and music. At the far right is Hercules , who has lost a drinking contest to Bacchus and staggers toward a coyly welcoming maenad , one of Bacchus' lustful female followers .Almost every inch of the relief is covered with figures of astonishing variety and vitality , carved in such high relief that some are almost free of the block.

' The Last Day of Pompeii ' Karl Brullov (Russian 1799-1852) oil on canvas, circa 1830-1833) Hermitage Museum , St Petersburg.

Brullov visited Pompeii in 1828 and made sketches depicting the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79AD. The painting received rapturous reviews at it's exhibition in Rome and brought Brullov more acclaim than any other work in his lifetime. The first Russian artwork to cause such interest abroad, it inspired an anthologic poem by Alexander Pushkin , and the novel 'The Last Days of Pompeii' by Edward Bulwer-Lyyton. It depicts a classical topic but exhibits characteristics of Romanticism as manifested in Russian art. A self portrait is in the upper left corner of the painting , under the steeple, but not easy to identify.

Massenet - Meditation de Thais - Sarah Chang & Placido Domingo - Waldbüh...

French Late 19th Century Light Blue Bresse Enamel Casket . Napoleon 111 period , circa 1860. Private Collection.

Rectangular casket in light blue Bresse enamel with bronze mounts resting on four feet richly decorated with acanthus leaves. The lid is decorated with a central medallion showing a couple sitting in a landscape , the man making flowers in the hair of his beloved in the style of the 18th century. The scene is encircled with white enamel imitation pearls and arabesques with threads in gold. The same decor with arabesques heightened with white, red and green enamel adorn the rim of the casket. The interior is lined with silk.

' Ascot ' Alfred James Munnings (English 1878-1959) oil on canvas, circa 1933. Private Collection.

Sir Alfred James Munnings (Mendham , Suffolk , 8th October , 1878- Castle House, Dedham , Essex 17th July, 1959) was known as one of England's finest painters of horses, and as an outspoken enemy of modernism. The loss of sight in his right eye in an accident in 1898 did not affect his determination to paint , and in 1889 two of his pictures were shown at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. He was awarded a knighthood in 1944.

' The Birth of Venus ' Nicolas Poussin (French 1594-1636) oil on canvas, circa 1635-36. Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia.

Although it is here entitled 'The Birth of Venus ' , the subject of this painting remains the subject of lively scholarly debate : some see her triumphal parade , and others see the sea god Neptune's marine procession. There is even disagreement as to whether Venus is depicted at all . The woman in the centre might instead be Galatea , a sea nymph who is often shown riding in a cockleshell chariot drawn by dolphins. As reflected here, Poussin exercised great skill into introducing multiple meanings and rich ambiguity into his paintings of classical themes. Sold to Catherine the Great of Russia in 1771, the painting was sold again from the Hermitage Museum in Leningrad ( now St Petersburg ) by a soviet government desperate for Western currency in 1932 , when it was acquired for the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

' Bronze Statue' Villa Poppaea , circa 79AD

' Aphrodite Andyomen ' Casa di Venus, Pompeii , circa 79AD

' Ceiling Fresco , Tepidarium ' Villa of Poppaea . Pompeii 79AD

Oplontis was a town near Pompeii, in the Roman Empire. On 24th of August , 79AD the eruption of Mount Vesuvius buried it under a deep layer of ash. It is today the location of the Villa Poppaea , the Villa possibly associated with the second wife of Emperor Nero . Like many of the frescoes that were preserved due to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius , those decorating the walls of the Villa Poppaea are striking both in form and colour. Many are in the 'Second Style' of ancient Roman painting, dating to 90-25BC .

' Du Paquier Porcelain Manufactory' (1718-1744) Gaming Set , Hard-paste porcelain enamels , gild mounts, diamonds . Austria, Vienna . The Art Institute of Chicago. .

This sumptuously painted and gold mounted gaming box , most likely used to play the game Hombre, is one of the most exceptional works of art produced by the Du Paquier Manufactory in it's brief 25-year history. The box is decorated with three playing cards framed with violet and gold fans , trelliswork patterns, and panels depicting landscapes with ruins. The interior of the box is divided into four compartments , each of which holds a gold and diamond box similarly decorated with strapwork and landscape panels . Within each small box are rectangular counters of varying denominations .

' Portrait of Gabrielle Cot ' William Bouguereau (French 1825-1905) oil on canvas, circa 1890. Fred and Perry Ross Collection.

Gabrielle Cot was the daughter of Bouguereau's most famous student, Pierre-Auguste Cot. Bouguereau was intending to use her for one of his major paintings , so he started this painting as a study , but as he worked , he was so captivated by Gabriele's beauty that he finished it as one of his only un-commissioned portraits.

' The Birth of Venus ' Alexandre Cabanel (French 1823-1889) ) oil on canvas, circa 1863 . Musée d'Orsay, Paris.

Alexandre Cabanel(1823-18890 created a sensation at the Salon of 1863, which was dubbed the ' Salon of the Venuses ' owing to the number of alluring nudes on view. Embodying the ideals of academic art, the careful modeling, silky brushwork , and mythological subject of Cabanel's canvas proved a winning combination: the salon picture was purchased by no less than Napoleon 111 for his personal collection.

' A Seaport ' Attributed to Claude-Joseph Vernet (French 1714-1789) oil on canvas, circa late 18th century . The National Gallery, London.

This seascape has the attribution of Claude-Joseph Vernet , but later ascribed to Lacroix de Marseille who closely imitated Vernet , it does not appear to be of sufficient quality to be by Vernet himself. The coat of arms on the wall at the right may stand for Marseille or Toulon .

' A Young Gentleman , wearing blue coat and pale yellow waistcoat, his hair powdered ' Samuel Shelley (English 1750-1808) watercolour on ivory . oval 70mm high. Private collection.

Samuel Shelley followed a conventional route into his chosen career but later diversified from the traditional portrait miniature. After studying at the RA schools from 1774(and exhibiting 1774-1804), he became an important voice in the history of watercolour painting in the eighteenth century. A founder member of the first watercolour society in 1805, he believed that watercolours should be given their own forum and exhibition space in order to be properly appreciated. Before the formation of such a society , watercolours could only be shown next to oils at the conventicle exhibition spaces of the Society of Artists or Royal Academy. This new separation from brightly coloured, large oil paintings allowed watercolours to be viewed among paintings in the same media and heralded a new admiration of such work....This portrait of a young man was probably painted in the late 1790's when Shelley was establishing himself as a fashionable miniaturist.

The Broadway Sound: West Side Story (Balcony Scene) - BBC Proms 2012

' Statue of Eros Sleeping ' Helenistic or Augustian, 3rd century BC -early 1st century AD. Bronze. Metropolitan Museum of Art , New York.

During the Hellenistic period young children enjoyed great favour , whether in mythological form, as baby Herakles or Eros , or in genre scenes ,playing with each other or with pets. This Eros, god of love, has been bought down to earth and charmingly disarmed ...... One of the few bronze statues to have survived from antiquity, this figure of a plump baby in relaxed pose conveys a sense of the immediacy and naturalistic detail that the medium of bronze made possible and is clearly based on firsthand observation.

' Seated woman playing a kithara : From Room H of the Villa of Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale ' Fresco , Roman circa 40-30BC

In this fresco, the kithara player is depicted as a plump young woman clothed in a purple chiton and white himation. She is adorned with a bracelet, earrings, and headband with a central medallion , all of gold. A small figure of Atlas supports the arm of her elaborately carved chair that originally was lacquered in a deep lustrous red. The instrument she plays is not a simple lyre , but a gilded kithara , a large concert instrument played by Apollo and professional musicians. Behind the seated woman stands a small girl wearing a sleeveless purple chiton . She, too, is adorned with a gold headband , bracelet, and loop earrings. Like portrait figures, the woman and the girl gaze directly at the spectator.

' Plaque with Soloman Turning to Idolatry ' Pierre Reymond (French 1513-1584) painted enamel and copper, circa 1550-1573. Walters Art Musuem, Baltimore, Maryland.

This plaque and it's companion 'Jael Killing Sisera ' are from a series ' The Power of Women ' based on engravings of around 1569, published in Antwerp by Phillips Galle (1537) See earlier post :'The Idolatry of Salomon ' Sebastiano Conca for subject description... Pierre Reymond (1513-84) had a large workshop in Limoges and specialised in mythological scenes. Reymond also made the enameled altarpiece commissioned by Anne de Montmorencey for the chapel of his Chateau d'Écouen (now the Musée de la Renaissance)

' Harem Pool ' Jean-Léon Gerome. (French 1824-1904) Oil on canvas, circa 1876. Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg .

' Nordic Summer Evening ' Sven Richard Bergh. (Swedish 1858-1919) Oil on canvas, circa 1899-1900. Gothenburg Museum of Art, Gothenburg.

Richard Bergh's 'Nordic Summer Evening ' has become something of a symbol of Nordic light ever since it made part of an exhibition touring America in the early 1980's. Turned away from the viewer stands the woman and the man. From the terrace they are looking out on the mirror surface of the water. A boat lies tied up to a small pier. The landscape is coloured with the last beams of the sunset, and the warm orange light embellishes the balustrade and the terrace and paints the shadows in blue. The soft light of dawn between dream and vigil dissolves all sharp edges and calls a mood of melancholy and longing, with an erotic undertone. The models are Prince Eugene and the young singer Karin Pyck. Both are friends of Richard Bergh.

' Portrait Charles the 1st ' Studio of Daniel Mytens the Elder (Dutch 1590-1648) Oil on canvas , circa 1630-31. Private Collection .