Under the Blossom that Hangs on the Bough, John Willian Godward, oil on canvas, 24 x 32 in. (61 x 81 cm). Link is to file page on Wikimedia Commons, original is in a private collection.

Neo-Classical Victorian painter John William Godward was known for his portrayals of beautifully dressed women lounging amid idyllic classical architecture, much in a similar vein to Lawrence Alma-Tadema.

Here the model is surrounded by blossoms, both in the tree overhead and the irises in the foreground. I like the little touches of fallen blossoms at the base of the structure under the urn.

The model is possibly well knwn English model Lily Pettigrew, and looks to me like the same woman in Gadward’s beautiful painting In Realms of Fancy.

Waterfall in Summer Mountains, Nakabayashi Chikuto, hanging scroll, ink and color on silk, 50 x 17 inches (126 x 43 cm), in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

19th century (Edo period) Japanese artist Nakabayashi Chikuto paints a beautifully subtle and evocative mountain scene with a strong, eye-leading composition.

My eye goes to the crest of the mountain, follows the verdant landscape down through the mist and cascades with the waterfall, leading me to the small lone figure sitting on a bridge in apparent contemplation of nature.

The small size of the figure in relation to the grandure of the scene emphasizes our role as part of the natural world.

Andries Stilte as a Standard Bearer, Johannes Cornelisz Verspronck, oil on canvas, 41 x 31 in. (104 x 79 cm), in the collection of the National Gallery of Art, DC, which has both a zoomable and downloadable version of the image.

I hadn’t heard of 17th century Dutch painter Johannes Verspronk until I came across this painting while browsing the National Gallery site.

The portrait grabbed my attention with its striking persence and dimenaionality, the latter largely accompished by the extended elbow and the overall value structure, which thrusts the figure forward into the light out of the dark background..

Meticulous attention is paind to the uniform, a symbol of the subject’s rank and position in the malitia. Though some of the elements, like the feathers, are handled quite economically.