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Prize-Giving of the Prince Consort's Association, Windsor, 5 July 1869

Artist: William Corden the Younger (English, 1819-1900)

Date: 1869

Medium: Watercolor

Collection: Royal Collection Trust, London, United Kingdom

Depicted People:

Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein

Princess Helena of the United Kingdom

Prince Leopold Clement of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Princess Louise of Belgium

Description

Prince and Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein with Princess Louise and Prince Leopold drove to the site in the Home Park, on the North Side of the Castle, to distribute the prizes at the annual meeting of the Association.

Bianca Maria Sforza

Artist: Ambrogio de Predis (Milanese, c. 1455 - after 1508)

Date: c. 1493

Medium: Oil on poplar panel

Collection: National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, United States

Bianca Maria Storza

Bianca Maria Sforza (1472–1510) was a Holy Roman Empress and Queen of Germany as the third wife of Emperor Maximilian I. Born in Milan to the wealthy ruling Sforza family, her high-value political marriage provided her uncle with imperial backing and gave Maximilian a massive financial dowry.

Bianca Maria's uncle, Ludovico il Moro, was the ruler of the wealthy city of Milan whose funds permitted Maximilian to undertake a small expedition to Italy in 1496. The marriage was a failure from the beginning. Maximilian found Bianca Maria "nervous, capricious, indulgent, sickly, and gloomy," and his neglect of her made these traits worse. Eventually, he all but confined her to her quarters in the palace at Innsbruck.

Destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by Titus

Artist: Nicolas Poussin (French, 1594-1665)

Date: 1635

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria

Description

The subject matter is taken from Flavius Josephus's The Jewish War.

In 70 CE, Roman general Titus led a brutal four-month siege of Jerusalem during the First Jewish Revolt. The Roman army breached the city defenses, set fire to the Second Temple on August 30, and completely demolished the complex, ending centuries of Jewish sacrificial worship and reshaping religious history.

Arnold Tells His Wife of the Discovery of His Treason

Artist: Howard Pyle (American, 1853-1911)

Date: 1898

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: Brandywine Museum of Art, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, United States

Description

The painting depicts a tense, pivotal moment from September 1780 during the American Revolutionary War. Continental Army Major General Benedict Arnold's secret plot to surrender West Point to the British was exposed after British officer Major John André was captured with incriminating documents. Pyle captures the dramatic scene as Arnold breaks the news of the foiled conspiracy to his wife, Peggy Shippen.

Emperor Franz II (I) and Elector Karl Theodor in the Park of Nymphenburg Palace

Artist: Johann Baptist Hoechle (Swiss, 1754-1832)

Date: 1793

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria

Description

The painting depicts the newly elected Holy Roman Emperor Franz II (I) walking publicly through the Nymphenburg Palace Park alongside Elector Karl Theodor of Bavaria, showcasing a deliberate and friendly moment of royal diplomacy and accessibility to ordinary citizens.

Virginius Stabbing his Daughter to Tear her Away from the Decemvir Appius

Artist: Nicolas Guy Brenet (French, 1728-792)

Date: 1783

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: Louvre Museum, Paris, France

Description

The story of Virginius stabbing his daughter, Virginia, occurred around 451–450 B.C. during the corrupt rule of the Decemvirs in early Rome. To prevent his daughter from being enslaved and violated by Appius Claudius, the head of the corrupt decemvirate, the centurion Virginius killed her, sparking a popular uprising that abolished the Decemvirs

General Bonaparte Visiting the Plague-Stricken at Jaffa

Artist: Auguste-Hyacinthe Debay (French, 1804–1865); After Antoine-Jean Gros (French, 1771–1835)

Date: 1823

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, United States

Description

In 1798-1801 a French army led by general Napoleon Bonaparte sought to conquer Egypt and expand the French colonial empire. Here, Napoleon is shown visiting a convent in Jaffa that had been transformed into a hospital to house French soldiers devastated by the plague.

Tarquin and Lucretia

Artist: Tintoretto (Italian, 1518-1594)

Date: c. 1578-1580

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States

Description

According to Roman history, the rape of the virtuous matron Lucretia by Tarquin, son of the Roman king, incited the people to overthrow the monarchy and establish a republic around 510 BCE. Lucretia was hailed as a hero for subsequently committing suicide in an attempt to avoid any perceived dishonor to her family.

Tintoretto depicted one of the most violent moments of the story with his characteristic expressive distortions of anatomy and space and vibrant treatment of light: As Tarquin and Lucretia struggle, a pillow flies through the air, her pearl necklace breaks apart, and the fabric and carved posts of the bed’s canopy collapse around them.

George I at Newmarket, 4 or 5 October, 1717

Artist: John Wootton (English, 1682–1764)

Date: c. 1717

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, United States

Description

The painting depicts King George I visiting the historic horse racing hub of Newmarket in Suffolk, England, capturing an elite 18th-century royal race meeting.

Suvorov's Crossing of the Panix

Artist: Alexander Evstafievich Kotzebue (German, 1815-1880) romantic

Date: 1860

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: The State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia

Description

Field Marshal Alexander Suvorov led a desperate and legendary retreat over the 2,404-meter-high Panixer Pass (Panix Pass) in October 1799, evading a larger French encirclement during the War of the Second Coalition. Facing freezing blizzards, starvation, and lost artillery, the Russian army punched through the Alps to safety.

Christopher's Columbus First Landing in America

Artist: Dioscorus Theophilus Puebla and Tolin (Spanish, 1831-1901)

Date: 1862

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, Spain

Description

The scene, according to the painter's very personal interpretation, depicts first expedition to the Indies and his arrival at Guanahani on October 12, 1492, where he named the land San Salvador.

President Molé Confronted by Insurgents

Artist: François André Vincent (French, 1746-1816)

Date: c. 1778-1779

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: Detroit Institute of Art, Detroit, Michigan, United States

Description

The painting depicts a dramatic 1648 event during the Fronde civil wars in France, where the statesman Mathieu Molé bravely faces an angry mob in the streets of Paris.

The Fronde was a series of civil wars in France from 1648 to 1653, fought during the early childhood of King Louis XIV. It was a revolt by nobles and law courts against the heavy taxes and growing absolute power of the royal government led by Queen Regent Anne and Cardinal Mazarin.

The Battle of Hanau

Artist: Emile-Jean-Horace Vernet (French, 1789-1863)

Date: 1824

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: The National Gallery, London, United Kingdom

Description

Following his defeat at the Battle of Leipzig on 19 October 1813, Napoleon was forced to withdraw west of the Rhine and retreat to France. As the French withdrew, they met a force of Austro-Bavarian troops, under the command of Karl Philipp von Wrede, on 30 October at the town of Hanau, near Frankfurt. Despite their previous heavy losses, the French, under the personal command of Napoleon, pushed back Wrede’s troops and captured Hanau, which gave them eventual access to France. The Battle of Hanau was one of Napoleon’s final victories before France was invaded.

Saint Elizabeth of Hungary Visits the Poor of the Hospice she had Founded

Artist: Raymond Balze (French, 1818-1909)

Date: 1866

Medium: Oil painting with charcoal drawing on canvas

Collection: Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon, Lyon, France

Elizabeth of Hungary

Saint Elizabeth of Hungary (1207–1231) dedicated her short life to radical charity, famously founding a hospital in Marburg in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi where she wore simple garb, made beds, fed the hungry, and personally nursed the sick and suffering,

The Founding of Constantinople

Artist: Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577-1640)

Date: c. 1622-1623

Medium: Oil on oak wood

Collection: Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe, Kalsruhe, Germany

The Founding of Constantinople

Constantinople was founded by Roman Emperor Constantine the Great in 324 CE on the site of the ancient Greek city of Byzantium. Construction began then, and the city was officially dedicated and inaugurated as the new capital of the Roman Empire on May 11, 330 CE.

The Founding of Constantinople is an oil sketch that is part of Rubens' famous design series, The History of Constantine, which served as a blueprint for a grand set of luxury tapestries.

Queen Juana "The Mad" (1479-1555)

Workshop: Master of the Magdalene Legend (Flemish, active c. 1490-c. 1526)

Date: After 1495-1496

Medium: Oil on panel

Collection: Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria

Joan the Mad, Queen of Castile (Joanna of Castile)

Joan the Mad, also known as Juana la Loca, was the daughter of Queen Isabella I and King Ferdinand II of Spain, and became the heir to the throne of Castile following the deaths of her siblings. In 1496, she married Philip I of Austria, which initiated a tumultuous relationship marked by jealousy and emotional distress, particularly due to Philip's infidelities. Joan’s mental health has been a subject of historical debate, with some suggesting she may have inherited a mental disability, though evidence is inconclusive. After her mother’s death in 1504, Isabella stipulated in her will that Joan would be crowned queen, although she lacked the ability to rule effectively due to her unstable condition.

Following Philip's unexpected death in 1506, Joan’s political influence diminished significantly, as her father, Ferdinand, assumed control over Castile. Even as she retained the title of queen, her authority was largely overshadowed by Ferdinand's regency and the growing power of her son, Charles, who would ascend to the throne in her stead. Joan’s reign is historically significant as it marked a transitional phase leading to the consolidation of Spanish territories under the Habsburg dynasty, setting the stage for future developments in Spanish and European history. Despite her title, she is often remembered more for her struggles with mental health, earning her the moniker "Joan the Mad."

Mad Joanna Awaiting the Resurrection of her Husband, Philip the Handsome

Artist: Charles de Steuben (German, 1788-1856)

Date: 1836

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: Lille Museum of Fine Arts, Lille, France

Description

This major work in the history of Romanticism depicts Joanna, daughter of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile. Neglected by her husband Philip the Handsome, Duke of Burgundy and King of Castile and León, she definitively lost her mind upon his death in 1506.

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