George Washington, portrait by Gilbert Stuart

Public Domain Photo: Portrait of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart, an oil on canvas painting of dimention 73.5 cm x 61.1 cm. Full resolution of the photo:‎ 920x1101 pixels and size: 115 KB.

This portrait of the first President of the United States, George Washington (22 February 1732 to 14 December 1799), is based on the incomplete Antheneum portrait by the American portraitist Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828) completed by Rembrandt Peale (1778-1860). The image was taken from the copy maintained by the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown.

Peter Paul Rubens: Hélène Fourment in a fur wrap

PD Image: Hélène Fourment in a fur wrap (also known as Het Pelsken, Das Pelzchen, and Porträt der Hélène Fourment), oil on wood painting (1638) by the Flemish Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), dimensions 176 cm x 83 cm, located at The Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, Austria.

Hélène Fourment, the woman in the above portrait, inspired the voluptuous figures in several paintings of Sir Peter Paul Rubens from the 1630s; paintings such as ‘The Feast of Venus’ (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna), ‘The Three Graces’ (Prado, Madrid), and ‘The Judgment of Paris’ (Prado, Madrid) in which viewers recognized Hélène Fourment in the figure of Venus. In the portrait above she even partially modeled after the classical sculptures of the Venus Pudica, such as The Venus de' Medici or Medici Venus. The 16-year-old Hélène Fourment was Rubens’ wife whom the 53-year-old painter married in 1630, four years after the death of his first wife.

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Portraits of fornarina Margherita Luti by Raphael

PD Image: La fornarina (1518-1519), also known as The Portrait of a Young Woman, oil on wood painting by the Italian High Renaissance master Raphael, dimensions 85 cm x 60 cm (33 in x 24 in) located at Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica in Palazzo Barberini, Rome.
The woman portrayed in this painting is traditionally identified as the fornarina (daughter of a baker) Margherita Luti, Raphael's Roman mistress, depicted in an oriental style. Click and enlarge the photo so that you can read the signature of the artist, RAPHAEL URBINAS on the narrow band on her left arm. The same artist’s model Margherita Luti appears in another portrait by Raphael, La Velata.

PD Image: La Velata, or La Donna Velata (The woman with a veil or The Veiled Woman) by Raphael (1514-1515), oil on canvas, dimensions 82 by 61 cm (32 by 24 inches), located at Palatine Gallery, Palazzo Pitti, Florence, Italy. La Velata is considered one of the most famous portraits by Raphael.

Jean-Léon Gérôme, self-portrait

Image: Jean-Léon Gérôme, self-portrait (1886), oil on canvas, dimensions 40.6 cm x 30.5 cm, currently located at Aberdeen Art Gallery, Aberdeen, Scotland.

Jean-Léon Gérôme (May 11, 1824 to January 10, 1904) was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as Academicism. The range of his oeuvre included historical painting, Greek mythology, Orientalism, portraits and other subjects, bringing the Academic painting tradition to an artistic climax.