Read about these 17th- through 19th-century works of art and the world museums where they can be visited today.

Where does each of these paintings reside today?

“Cardinal Fernando Niño de Guevara” by El Greco

In this portrait (c. 1600) the identification of the sitter as Cardinal Guevara, the Grand Inquisitor, is not certain. The painting hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

“The Descent from the Cross” by Peter Paul Rubens

This beautiful painting (1612-1614) is the central panel of a triptych that today hangs in the Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp.

“The Waterseller of Seville” by Diego Velazquez

This artwork (1618), depicting a waterseller which was a common trade for the lower classes in Velázquez's Seville, is believed to be Velazquez’s greatest of his paintings of Seville. It hangs in Apsley House, London.

“The Laughing Cavalier” by Frans Hals

In the painting (1624), the effort of the artist is obvious in the subject’s gorgeous silk and lace costume. Today it’s in the Richard Wallace Collection museum in London.

“Landscape with the Funeral of Phocion” by Nicolas Poussin

The painting (1648), which exemplifies Poussin's interest in classical antiquity, hangs in the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff.

“The View of Delft” by Jan Vermeer

This painting (1659) is an idealized interpretation of Delft, with the city’s main characteristics simplified, emphasized in the skyline of the harbor, and creating reflections in the water. It hangs in the Mauritshuis, the Hague.

“The Artist’s Studio” by Jan Vermeer

This most famous of paintings (c. 1666) – also known as “Allegory of Painting” – may symbolize the artist and his muse personified by his model. It hangs in Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.

“The Jewish Bride” by Rembrandt van Rijn

Also known as “The Loving Couple,” this painting (1666) has charmed viewers for centuries because it stirs understandings of tender, loving intimacy between a man and a woman. According to art historian Helen Digby, Vincent van Gogh once said that he’d exchange ten years of his life for the opportunity to gaze at this masterpiece for two weeks. Currently it hangs in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

“The Honourable Mrs Graham” by Thomas Gainsborough

Landowner Thomas Graham commissioned this lovely full-length portrait (1777) to commemorate his wife; later when devastated by his wife's premature death he gave the painting to her sister. Next it was given to the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh on condition that it never leave Scotland.

“Belisarius” by Jacques-Louis David

This is a strong work (1781) focused on four expressive figures: a woman restraining her emotion; a child portraying entreaty; the suffering old beggar, a former general tortured and destroyed by the Roman Emperor; and a soldier dumbstruck as he recognizes his former general in this beggar. The painting resides in the Musee des Beaux-Arts in Lille.

“The Lincolnshire Ox” by George Stubbs

The Lincolnshire Ox was a prize Hereford owned by John Gibbons of Long Sutton, Lincolnshire. The ox grew to an enormous size (supposedly over a ton) being fed solely on grass and became a symbol of progress. Its owner commissioned Stubbs to paint the ox in 1790; today it can be viewed at Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool.

“The Rev. Robert Walker Skating” by Henry Raeburn

“The Reverend Robert Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch,” better known by its truncated title “The Skating Minister” (1790s), is a vital emblem of Scottish culture painted during the Scottish Enlightenment. It hangs in the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh.

“The Death of Marat” by Jacques-Louis David

This painting (1793), depicting the writer of the radical newspaper L'Ami du peuple (The Friend of the People), is one of the most famous images of the French Revolution. It hangs in Musees Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels.

“Napoleon on the Battlefield at Eylau” by Antoine Gros

The Battle of Eylau, when the Russian army was defeated by the French, was an extremely brutal engagement. The painting (1808) depicts a moment when Napoleon, touring the battlefield, was struck with pity at the sight of so much carnage. Napoleon wished this painting to commemorate the battle to show his humanity rather than his abilities in war. Today it hangs in the Louvre, Paris.

“The Monk by the Sea” by Caspar David Friedrich

Friedrich is greatly admired for this painting done in 1809 in which a tiny figure of a man is set against a bleak landscape described as “a vast endless expanse of sky ... still, no wind, no moon, no storm … On the unending sea there is no boat, no ship … in the sand not even a blade of grass, only a few gulls float in the air and make the loneliness even more desolate and horrible." It hangs in the Nationalgalerie, Galerie der Romantik, Berlin.

“The White Horse” by John Constable

This is one of Constable’s famous six-foot landscapes (1819) that portray areas along the Stour River in Suffolk that is commonly known as "Constable Country." It resides in the Frick Collection in New York.

“The Haywain” by John Constable

In this painting (1821) the mill belonged to Constable’s father and the house on the left to a neighbor, Willy Lott, who supposedly never left the place for more than four days in his lifetime. Lott’s cottage has survived to today virtually intact. Today it is revered as one of the greatest British paintings and hangs in the National Gallery, London.

“The Kleptomaniac” by Theodore Géricault

This portrait (1822) is one of a series of ten portraits of the insane, notable for their expressive realism and each depicting a different malady. It can be seen today in Musee des Beaux-Arts, Ghent.

“Olympia” by Edouard Manet

Manet, today known as the father of modern painting, created this nude in 1863; it caused such an uproar at the Salon of 1865 that two armed guards were placed by the painting to protect it. Today it can be seen at the Musee d’Orsay, Paris.

“Emile Zola” by Edouard Manet

This artwork (1868) shows the interest of Manet – the experimental artist and leader of the Impressionists – in Japanese prints. It can be seen in Musee d’Orsay, Paris.

“La Grande Jatte” by Georges Seurat

Known in French as “Un dimanche après-midi à l'ile de la Grande Jatte,“ this painting (1884-1886) is Seurat's most famous work and is the most striking example of pointillism. It hangs in the Art Institute, Chicago.

“The Vision after the Sermon” by Paul Gauguin

In this stylized painting (1888) the artist was inspired by the bold flat areas of color inspired by Japanese prints; he claimed he was concerned with inner rather than external truth. It hangs in National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh.

Sources:

• Bailey, Colin J. The Art Quiz Book: 2000+ Questions on Painters and Paintings. Station Press: Scotland, 1995.
• Digby, Helen. Rembrandt. Brompton Books: 1995.
• Grove Dictionary of Art. Oxford University Press, 2006.