Vincent Van Gogh | Butterflies series

Butterflies is a series paintings made by Vincent van Gogh in 1889 and 1890.

Van Gogh made at least four paintings of butterflies and one of a moth.

The metamorphosis of the caterpillar into a butterfly was symbolic to Van Gogh of men and women's capability for transformation.

Vincent van Gogh | Butterflies and Poppies | Van Gogh Museum

Raphael | The Mond Crucifixion, 1502-3

"The Crucified Christ with the Virgin Mary, Saints and Angels" or "The Mond Crucifixion" is an oil painting on wood (279x166 cm) by Italian Renaissance artist Raphael (1483-1520), datable to 1502-1503 and preserved in the National Gallery in London.

One of Raphael’s earliest works, this altarpiece was commissioned by the wool merchant and banker Domenico Gavari for his burial chapel dedicated to Saint Jerome in the church of S. Domenico in Città di Castello, Umbria.

Raphael | The Mond Crucifixion, 1502-3 | National Gallery, London

Thomas Lawrence | The Red Boy, 1825

This portrait of Charles William Lambton - aged six or seven - was commissioned by the boy's father John George Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, a Whig politician and MP for County Durham.

Popularly known as The Red Boy, it remained in the Lambton family until it was acquired by the National Gallery in 2021.

It is acknowledged as one of Thomas Lawrence's (1769-1830) masterpieces and, a sign of the image's enduring popularity, it was the first painting to be reproduced on a British postage stamp in 1967.

Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun | Self-Portrait in a Straw Hat, 1782

"Self-Portrait in a Straw Hat" is a signed copy by the artist of a very popular self portrait that she painted in 1782 and which is now in the collection of the baronne Edmond de Rothschild.

The pose is deliberately modelled on Rubens’s Portrait of Susanna Lunden (?) (also in the National Gallery’s collection), which was formerly, but incorrectly, known as Le Chapeau de Paille (The Straw Hat).

Paul Delaroche | The Execution of Lady Jane Grey, 1833

"I am assured that I shall, for losing of a mortal life, win an immortal life" - Lady Jane Grey, February 1554.

Since its rediscovery in 1973 and first exhibition at the National Gallery two years later, Paul Delaroche’s The Execution of Lady Jane Grey, 1833, has become one of the nation’s best-loved paintings.

For the first time, 'Painting History' examines this iconic masterpiece in the context of Delaroche’s great historical paintings, particularly the poignant scenes from English history which made his reputation.

The exhibition features seven major international loans of paintings by Delaroche including 'The Princes in the Tower', 1830 and 'Young Christian Martyr', 1854-5 (both Louvre), and 'Strafford on his way to Execution', 1835 (private collection).

Titian | The Music Lesson / La lezione di musica, 1535

Artist: Possibly by Titian (Italian High Renaissance painter, 1488/90 -1576)

Full title: The Music Lesson

Date made about: 1535

Medium and support: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 99 x 120 cm

Current location: The National Gallery, London.

This work used to be dated to the early 17th century, but recent cleaning and technical examination have shown that it has much in common with paintings produced by Titian and his workshop in the 1530s.

Botticelli | Venus and Mars, c. 1483

From: The National Gallery, London

Mars, God of War, was one of the lovers of Venus, Goddess of Love. Here Mars is asleep and unarmed, while Venus is awake and alert. The meaning of the picture is that love conquers war, or love conquers all.

This work was probably a piece of bedroom furniture, perhaps a bedhead or piece of wainscoting, most probably the 'spalliera' or backboard from a chest or day bed. The wasps ('vespe' in Italian) at the top right suggest a link with the Vespucci family, though they may be no more than a symbol of the stings of love.