Meet the Old Masters
@meettheoldmasters.bsky.social
An art history series visiting medieval and Renaissance Italian painting, from London. Every claim is labelled: RECORD (documented) or LEGEND (tradition). Weekly episodes, with directions to stand in front of the real thing.
A shepherd boy draws a sheep on a rock. A passing master, Cimabue, takes him on. The boy is Giotto.
The source is Vasari; whether it happened, nobody knows. A shepherd who becomes a painter: the story people wanted. That it survived is a record too.
youtu.be/g4SMkeIc9ZY
#MeetTheOldMasters #Giotto
The source is Vasari; whether it happened, nobody knows. A shepherd who becomes a painter: the story people wanted. That it survived is a record too.
youtu.be/g4SMkeIc9ZY
#MeetTheOldMasters #Giotto
September 15, 2026 at 5:46 PM
A shepherd boy draws a sheep on a rock. A passing master, Cimabue, takes him on. The boy is Giotto.
The source is Vasari; whether it happened, nobody knows. A shepherd who becomes a painter: the story people wanted. That it survived is a record too.
youtu.be/g4SMkeIc9ZY
#MeetTheOldMasters #Giotto
The source is Vasari; whether it happened, nobody knows. A shepherd who becomes a painter: the story people wanted. That it survived is a record too.
youtu.be/g4SMkeIc9ZY
#MeetTheOldMasters #Giotto
The Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, renowned for Giotto’s vivid blue frescoes, was commissioned by the banker Enrico Scrovegni.
Behind its beauty lies a dark family shadow: his father, Reginaldo, was an infamous usurer in an era when charging interest was seen as the grave sin of "selling God’s time."
Behind its beauty lies a dark family shadow: his father, Reginaldo, was an infamous usurer in an era when charging interest was seen as the grave sin of "selling God’s time."
September 15, 2026 at 8:59 AM
The Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, renowned for Giotto’s vivid blue frescoes, was commissioned by the banker Enrico Scrovegni.
Behind its beauty lies a dark family shadow: his father, Reginaldo, was an infamous usurer in an era when charging interest was seen as the grave sin of "selling God’s time."
Behind its beauty lies a dark family shadow: his father, Reginaldo, was an infamous usurer in an era when charging interest was seen as the grave sin of "selling God’s time."
Catalogue number one at the National Gallery: Sebastiano del Piombo's Raising of Lazarus.
Its first owner was not a museum but one man, an immigrant marine insurer. The nation's number one came out of a private drawing room.
https://youtu.be/00DDZ_-YpSM
#MeetTheOldMasters #arthistory
Its first owner was not a museum but one man, an immigrant marine insurer. The nation's number one came out of a private drawing room.
https://youtu.be/00DDZ_-YpSM
#MeetTheOldMasters #arthistory
September 14, 2026 at 7:33 PM
Catalogue number one at the National Gallery: Sebastiano del Piombo's Raising of Lazarus.
Its first owner was not a museum but one man, an immigrant marine insurer. The nation's number one came out of a private drawing room.
https://youtu.be/00DDZ_-YpSM
#MeetTheOldMasters #arthistory
Its first owner was not a museum but one man, an immigrant marine insurer. The nation's number one came out of a private drawing room.
https://youtu.be/00DDZ_-YpSM
#MeetTheOldMasters #arthistory
Popped down to the British Museum for the Bayeux Tapestry—a 1,000-year-old, 70m embroidered epic.
Security was relentlessly chanting while giggling: “Shuffle along! What a gorgeous shuffle! So elegant! Brilliant! Thank you!”
Slightly hard to concentrate, but absolutely wonderful nonetheless.
Security was relentlessly chanting while giggling: “Shuffle along! What a gorgeous shuffle! So elegant! Brilliant! Thank you!”
Slightly hard to concentrate, but absolutely wonderful nonetheless.
Corn Pop Dances in Living Room
ALT: Corn Pop Dances in Living Room
static.klipy.com
September 13, 2026 at 8:03 AM
Popped down to the British Museum for the Bayeux Tapestry—a 1,000-year-old, 70m embroidered epic.
Security was relentlessly chanting while giggling: “Shuffle along! What a gorgeous shuffle! So elegant! Brilliant! Thank you!”
Slightly hard to concentrate, but absolutely wonderful nonetheless.
Security was relentlessly chanting while giggling: “Shuffle along! What a gorgeous shuffle! So elegant! Brilliant! Thank you!”
Slightly hard to concentrate, but absolutely wonderful nonetheless.
A battlefield where nobody bleeds, lances in rows so tidy it borders on the absurd. Uccello wasn't painting war; he was showing off perspective.
The record of this episode: his daughter Antonia, one word in a 1491 death register, "pittoressa".
https://youtu.be/NWj0d2DANBc
#MeetTheOldMasters
The record of this episode: his daughter Antonia, one word in a 1491 death register, "pittoressa".
https://youtu.be/NWj0d2DANBc
#MeetTheOldMasters
September 11, 2026 at 5:08 PM
A battlefield where nobody bleeds, lances in rows so tidy it borders on the absurd. Uccello wasn't painting war; he was showing off perspective.
The record of this episode: his daughter Antonia, one word in a 1491 death register, "pittoressa".
https://youtu.be/NWj0d2DANBc
#MeetTheOldMasters
The record of this episode: his daughter Antonia, one word in a 1491 death register, "pittoressa".
https://youtu.be/NWj0d2DANBc
#MeetTheOldMasters
Seven hundred years ago, on a day nobody recorded, European painting suddenly got heavier.
The Virgin used to float in gold. Then she came down and held the weight of a child. Episode 2 meets the two men credited with that: Giotto and Duccio.
https://youtu.be/g4SMkeIc9ZY
#MeetTheOldMasters
The Virgin used to float in gold. Then she came down and held the weight of a child. Episode 2 meets the two men credited with that: Giotto and Duccio.
https://youtu.be/g4SMkeIc9ZY
#MeetTheOldMasters
September 11, 2026 at 5:08 PM
Seven hundred years ago, on a day nobody recorded, European painting suddenly got heavier.
The Virgin used to float in gold. Then she came down and held the weight of a child. Episode 2 meets the two men credited with that: Giotto and Duccio.
https://youtu.be/g4SMkeIc9ZY
#MeetTheOldMasters
The Virgin used to float in gold. Then she came down and held the weight of a child. Episode 2 meets the two men credited with that: Giotto and Duccio.
https://youtu.be/g4SMkeIc9ZY
#MeetTheOldMasters
The nation's first art museum wasn't founded in a palace. It began in one man's drawing room.
In 1824 Parliament bought 38 paintings from a marine insurer for £57,000. Episode 1 walks that story, and the Sainsbury Wing itself.
https://youtu.be/00DDZ_-YpSM
#MeetTheOldMasters #arthistory
In 1824 Parliament bought 38 paintings from a marine insurer for £57,000. Episode 1 walks that story, and the Sainsbury Wing itself.
https://youtu.be/00DDZ_-YpSM
#MeetTheOldMasters #arthistory
September 11, 2026 at 5:08 PM
The nation's first art museum wasn't founded in a palace. It began in one man's drawing room.
In 1824 Parliament bought 38 paintings from a marine insurer for £57,000. Episode 1 walks that story, and the Sainsbury Wing itself.
https://youtu.be/00DDZ_-YpSM
#MeetTheOldMasters #arthistory
In 1824 Parliament bought 38 paintings from a marine insurer for £57,000. Episode 1 walks that story, and the Sainsbury Wing itself.
https://youtu.be/00DDZ_-YpSM
#MeetTheOldMasters #arthistory