This bucolic little scene is just the background to Domenico Ghirlandaio’s Old Man and his Grandson ~ the boy gazes upward at the man’s face, dominated by his raspberry nose (rhinophyma) which contrasts so much with the boy’s own (c 1490) wga.hu/html_m/g/ghirl…

JS Sargent paints his teenage niece, a pensive Rose-Marie Ormond – described as “the most charming girl that ever lived” – by a mountain stream in Val d’Aosta, highlighting splashes of light on rocks, clothes & the dark tumbling water (Black Brook 1908) artinsociety.com/rose-marie-orm…

Whistler’s Woman in White (1862) initially met with outrage ~ 'too unfinished', with 'no story’/ the red-haired model was unkempt & (harrumph!) Whistler’s unmarried lover / & the bear/wolf’s skin rug was, well, very suggestive of something unseemly artinsociety.com/the-two-women-…

I’m enjoying the shadows of a late afternoon sun as a taxicab pulls into the kerb outside a Berlin café, captured from above by Dutch photographer Eva Besnyo (Starnberger Street, 1931, gelatin silver print). It reminds me a lot of Edward Hopper’s etching Night Shadows (1921)

Back in the 12th century, French sculptor Gislebertus carved this angel as (s)he appears to the three Magi as they dream, waking one with the delicate touch of a finger, and pointing her other forefinger toward the Bethlehem star (Cathedral of St Lazare at Autun)

In 1698, Peter I of Russia declared that bearded men had to pay a beard tax ~ 100 roubles for wealthy merchants, a kopek for peasants ~ & carry this token to prove it, otherwise they could be forcibly shaved on the spot. Widely resisted, poorly enforced & later abandoned

US-born but UK-based artist Kaffe Fassett specialises in intensely colourful paintings, knitting, tapestries, quilts ~ and mosaics, such as this vibrant mosaic garden terrace kaffefassett.com

Joaquin Sorolla often visited the Valencian coastal town of Jávea with his family. Here’s his wife Clotilde and daughter Elena having a scramble there (On the Rocks at Jávea, 1905)

A big “thank you” to all our followers, now over 60,000! Very glad to have you along, hope you’re enjoying it! So, here's an old fave of the (humming)bird and the bees😃-- Philip

Hard not to smile back at actress/opera singer Louise Jacquet, as she looks up at us engagingly from reading an admiring letter, in this exceptional pastel portrait by Jean-Étienne Liotard (c 1750). Check out the fine detailing on her clothes, too

Frank Cowper depicts Vanity as a pre-Raphaelite beauty in Renaissance dress, gazing aslant at her mirror reflection (1907). Poet Frances Sackett cuttingly suggests that depicting the woman as vain conveniently enables males to gaze at her guilt-free royalacademy.org.uk/article/how-to…

The Japanese word “tsundoku” describes the secret habit of acquiring books and then letting them pile up without necessarily ever reading them. I plead guilty! For some, just possessing a book is sometimes enough (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Jan van Eyck’s luminous ‘Annunciation’ is only 35 cm wide (14 inches), so the detail in these floor tiles depicting Bible scenes is amazing. Incidentally, the printed words spoken by Mary appear in reverse ~ they're intended for God to see (1436, NGA Washington)

Cornwall-based painter Gordon Hunt specialises in the sparkling effect of sunlight on water. Here’s ‘A Quiet Read’ gordon-hunt.co.uk

We’re right here in this tavern, as a Romani dancer performs, one arm dramatically outstretched. Along the atmospherical[y-shadowed back wall are guitarists, a singer & a man rhythmically clapping (JS Sargent, El Jaleo, 1882, Gardner Museum)

500 years ago Albrecht Dürer was one of the first Western popularisers of watercolours, of using wildflowers & plants as suitable subjects for art, & of new levels of botanical accuracy ~ all came together in works such as 8 Studies of Wildflowers ■ Large Tussock ■ Peonies

Just admiring the impressive detail in these engravings of 19th century works by Alphonse Mucha facebook.com/iofoetijojekje…

Composer Felix Mendelssohn could also paint. Here’s his view of the Amalfi Coast ■ & handwritten MS of his “Schilflied” (Reed Song), with his watercolour illustrating its words: “On the lake’s unruffled surface rests the moon’s fair beam” (1842, Bodleian)

From 3,200 years ago ~ glazed soapstone tablets (“squares”) with lapis lazuli, used in popular ancient Egyptian boardgame Senet (19th Dynasty, New Kingdom) collections.rom.on.ca/objects/206652…

Wealthy, energetic 16C Princess of Eboli, Ana de la Mendoza ~ famed for her beauty, her life beset by rumours of intrigue & scandal, she had 10 children, founded a convent, was jailed after a failed conspiracy, lost eye in childhood accident & inspired a Hollywood movie. Phew!