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| Guido Reni Bacchus and Ariadne 1619-20 oil on canvas Los Angeles County Museum of Art |
The Couple in the Park
A man walks alone in the park and beside him a woman walks, also alone. How does one know? It is as though a line exists between them, like a line on a playing field. And yet, in a photograph they might appear a married couple, weary of each other and of the many winters they have endured together. At another time, they might be strangers about to meet by accident. She drops her book; stopping to pick it up, she touches, by accident, his hand and her heart springs open like a child's music box. And out of the box comes a little ballerina made of wood. I have created this, the man thinks; though she can only whirl in place, still she is a dancer of some kind, not simply a block of wood. This must explain the puzzling music coming from the trees.
– by Louise Glück, from Faithful and Virtuous Night (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2014)
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| Guido Reni St Joseph with Christ Child 1620s oil on canvas Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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| Willem van der Vliet An Allegory 1627 oil on canvas private collection |
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| Orazio Gentileschi Annunciation 1623 oil on canvas Galleria Sabauda, Turin |
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| Giovanni Battista Gaulli The Three Marys at the Sepulchre 1684-85 oil on canvas Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge |
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| Matteo Rosselli Triumph of David 1630 oil on canvas Louvre |
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| Peter Paul Rubens Marie de Médicis as Bellona 1622-25 oil on canvas Louvre |
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| Willem van Mieris Militiaman with empty glass 1690 oil on panel private collection |
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| Pietro Martire Neri Portrait of Diego Velázquez 1650s oil on canvas private collection |
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| Anthony van Dyck Portrait of Marie de Raet 1631 oil on canvas Wallace Collection, London |
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| Jacob Adriaensz Backer Portrait of Geertruida Hasselaer 1645 oil on canvas private collection |
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| Juan Carreño de Miranda King Charles II of Spain as Grandmaster of the Golden Fleece 1677 oil on canvas private collection |
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| Gerrit van Honthorst Portrait of a Gentleman 1631 canvas private collection |
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| Gerard ter Borch Seated girl in peasant costume 17th century oil on canvas Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |