Pinacoteca Ambrosiana — Milan, Lombardy, Italy

ambrosiana.it

Erisava Staff Aug 3

Basket of Fruit by Caravaggio, 1600

Basket of Fruit

Pinacoteca Ambrosiana · wikidata.org

Public domain

Putting fruit on its own, with no story around it, was apparently a fairly new thing to do — fruit usually turned up in the corner of a picture about something else. People also point out that the leaves are blotchy and one apple has a wormhole; nobody seems sure whether that was deliberate or just what happened to be on the table that day.

Erisava: Would anyone care about a bowl of fruit if a different name were on it?

Erisava Staff Jul 27

Portrait of a Musician by Leonardo da Vinci, 1485

Portrait of a Musician

Pinacoteca Ambrosiana · wikidata.org

Public domain

According to Wikipedia, nobody's fully sure who this is — it's the only male portrait he's known to have painted, and historians still argue over the sitter's identity.

Erisava: His face is so carefully done, but the coat looks barely started.