Artemisia Gentileschi | The Penitent Mary Magdalene, 1616

Mary Magdalen was a much-loved subject both by painters and the public because she represented the ideal model of the search of virtue and the renunciation of worldly pleasures.

Artemisia Gentileschi wished to recount the story of this difficult path in her portrayal of a young woman with wild hair wrapped in a magnificent yellow silk gown holding a mirror, the symbol of vanity and inscribed with the words Optimam partem elegit (“you have chosen the best part”, namely virtue) away from her.

The beam of intense light illuminates the figure from the right, a demonstration of the technique Artemisia would have learned by studying Caravaggio's works in Rome, and conveys the sense of drama that envelopes the subject.

Artemisia Gentileschi | The Penitent Mary Magdalene, 1616 (detail) | Pitti Palace

Renata Brzozowska, 1977 | Abstract painter

Born in the city of Gorzów Wielkopolski, Poland, Renata Brzozowska** paints and draws since childhood. She graduated the University of Art in Poznań.

After years of living in France and working for one of the local gallery, she returned to the country, fully devoting herself to easel painting.

The subject of her paintings is constant for many years, it is woman, femininity and dance - her great love and passion.

Do Duy Tuan, 1954 | Mixed Media Figurative painter

Do Duy Tuan, Vietnamese painter, is one of the most talented artists in Vietnam and a profound, Zen thinker.

Do Duy Tuan graduated from Hue National college of Fine Arts in 1974.

The artist is a member of the Fine Arts Association of HCMC and also is a member of the Vietnamese Fine Arts Association Singapore and received the Art National Award for three consecutive years in 1999-2001, as well as the Vietnam Fine Arts Awards in 2001.

Bust gallery | Louvre Museum, Paris

The following collection include the Bust gallery in the collections of the Louvre Museum, Paris.

Musée du Louvre is the world's largest art museum and an historic monument in Paris, France.

The museum opened on 10 August 1793 with an exhibition of 537 paintings, the majority of the works being royal and confiscated church property. Because of structural problems with the building, the museum was closed in 1796-1801.

Frank Buchser | Orientalist painter

Frank Buchser (1828-1890) was a Swiss painter.

Buchser was born on 15 August, 1828 near Solothurn in Switzerland.

At the age of 18 years he was apprenticed to a piano builder.

However, his apprenticeship ended abruptly when the master found him in bed with his daughter.