Northern Song handscroll copy by Emperor Huizong (r. 1100–1126) after the lost Tang original by Zhang Xuan. Ink and color on silk; depicts court women pounding, winding, ironing, and sewing silk in three narrative groups. Boston Museum of Fine Arts collection.

A drawing by Vincent van Gogh from his early Hague period, circa 1882. Executed in ink and wash on paper, the work depicts a canal scene in a realist style influenced by the Hague School, focusing on the stark beauty of the Dutch landscape.

This work is based on the 11th century Anglo-Saxon legend. Lady Godiva, wife of Lord Coventry, in order to relieve the people of heavy taxes, resolutely agreed to her husband’s almost humiliating condition – to ride naked through the city. The picture was fixed at the moment when she stepped out of the palace and was about to step on the white horse. Collier captured the complex look of her moment with delicate brushstrokes: both shyness and fear of the unknown, but also revealing the firmness a

Created in 1916, it comes on the eve of the First World War and the Russian Revolution. By this time in his later years, Repin was living at the “Penates” estate in Kuokkala. The model’s posture in the picture seems relaxed, but in fact, the muscles are tight. With extremely keen observation, Repin captures the tired and introspective expression of the character through delicate pencil lines. This is not only a rigorous study of human anatomy, but also an artist’s deep gaze at the state of an in