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| Dosso Dossi Portrait of a man wearing a black beret ca. 1530 oil on canvas Nationalmuseum, Stockholm |
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| attributed to Agnolo Bronzino Portrait of Isabella de' Medici before 1572 oil on panel Nationalmuseum, Stockholm |
"The young Isabella Romola de' Medici was a daughter of the mighty duke Cosimo. Agnolo Bronzino was employed at the Medici court and made countless portraits of its members. Isabella was depicted many times, as a child, as a young lady, and as a grown woman. Bronzino never had the opportunity to paint her in old age, both because he died too soon, and because she herself died young – at the hands of a jealous husband. According to legend, Isabella still haunts the Villa di Cerreto Guidi outside Florence, where she was murdered."
– adapted from curator's notes at Nationalmuseum, Stockholm
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| Nicolas Neufchatel Portrait of a Sculptor, possibly Johan Gregor van der Schardt ca. 1573 oil on panel Nationalmuseum, Stockholm |
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| Ambrosius Benson The Magdalen Reading before 1550 oil on panel Nationalmuseum, Stockholm |
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| Lucas Cranach the Elder Portrait of Martin Luther 1527 oil on panel Nationalmuseum, Stockholm |
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| Lucas Cranach the Elder Portrait of Katharina von Bora, wife of Martin Luther ca. 1527 oil on panel Nationalmuseum, Stockholm |
"The important day had arrived. All Wittenberg was in a flutter of festive excitement, and many fervent prayers ascended heavenward. In the convent a distinguished company sat at table with Dr. Martin, at whose side Katharine, in wordless bliss, heard what the guests had to say in praise of the newly-wedded pair."
"She was as one in a dream. She felt as though she were lifted from the condition of a servant to that of a queen, for he who sat beside her was a king indeed in the realms of thought; his sovereignty being attested alike by the praise of his friends and by the deadly hatred of his foes. And she, the humble maiden, was henceforth to stand nearer to this great man than the most intimate of his friends – nearer than Melanchthon, or Kranach, than Buegenhagen or Jonas. She pressed her hand to her heart to still its beating, and the prayer rose from her soul: "Lord, help me, lest I grow proud. Keep me humble always."
– from Katharine von Bora, Dr. Martin Luther's Wife: A Picture from Life by Armin Stein, translated by E.A. Endlich (Philadelphia: G.W. Frederick, 1890)
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| Garofalo God the Father blessing the Earth before 1559 oil on panel Nationalmuseum, Stockholm |
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| Cornelis Cornelisz Kunst Study of draped model before 1544 oil on panel Nationalmuseum, Stockholm |
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| Anonymous artist Portrait of red-bearded man ca. 1550-1600 oil on canvas Nationalmuseum, Stockholm |
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| Hans Baldung Mercury before 1545 oil on panel Nationalmuseum, Stockholm |
My Seal-Ring
Mercury has cast aside
The sign of intellectual pride,
Freely offers thee the soul:
Art thou noble to receive?
Canst thou give or take the whole,
Nobly promise and believe?
Then thou wholly human art,
A spotless, radiant, ruby heart,
And the golden chain of love
Has bound thee to the realm above.
– Margaret Fuller (1810-1850)
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| Pietro Perugino St Sebastian before 1524 oil on panel, transferred to canvas Nationalmuseum, Stockholm |
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| Lucas Cranach the Elder Lucretia 1528 oil on panel Nationalmuseum, Stockholm |
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| Lucas Cranach the Elder Venus and Cupid before 1553 oil on panel Nationalmuseum, Stockholm |
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| Giovanni Bellini Dead Christ before 1516 oil on panel Nationalmuseum, Stockholm |