Articles

Art History 101

Titian, Jacopo Pesaro Being Presented by Pope Alexander VI to Saint Peter (detail)

RA Exhibitions

> 8 years ago

How to read a Renaissance painting

Renaissance painters combined technical innovation with a richly symbolic visual language. But what did it all mean? The RA’s Lucy Chiswell zooms in on an example from our exhibition In the Age of Giorgione.

Jean-Etienne Liotard, Trompe-l'oeil with a Partial Portrait of Maria Theresa of Austria

RA Exhibitions

9 years ago

Art history 101: what is trompe l’oeil?

Liotard was a skilled portrait painter – but he also liked a joke, and was a key exponent of trompe l’oeil. Here’s a quick introduction to this strange phenomenon in art history.