5 Paintings by the Old Masters

Painted in 1533 during Henry VIII's break with Rome, Holbein's portrait conceals political and religious tension. A broken lute string symbolizes discord, while an anamorphic skull at the base requires an oblique angle to decode.

Draped in opulent furs and silks, two French envoys lean on a shelf of brass sundials and celestial globes. At their feet on the patterned floor, a strange smear warps into a grinning memento mori.

Created around 1485 for the Medici family, this work broke new ground by depicting a non-religious, mythological female nude on canvas rather than wood panel. It uses alabaster powder to give colors a luminous finish.

Venus stands in the center of a giant seashell, her auburn tresses dancing in the breeze. On the left, two zephyrs blow her towards shore, while a female attendant on the right waits to cover her with a floral robe.

Completed in 1642, its famous dark title is actually a misnomer caused by darkened varnish; cleaning revealed a daytime scene. Trimmed in 1715 to fit a new wall, parts of the canvas were permanently lost.

Captain Banninck Cocq, dressed in black with a red sash, strides forward beside his lieutenant. Around them, eighteen militia members load muskets, beat a drum, and raise a banner, while a young girl with a dead rooster hangs in the background.

Painted in 1563, Bruegel based the architecture on the Roman Colosseum, which he studied during his trip to Rome. The structural arches are shown tilted toward the center, revealing the building's doomed engineering.

The mythical tower, a red-brick behemoth, pierces the swirling clouds, casting long shadows across the seaport below. Thousands of miniature laborers haul white limestone blocks up spiraling ramps, bustling like ants around a fragile giant.

Painted around 1665, this work is not a portrait but a tronie—a Dutch character study. Vermeer used the rarest ultramarine pigment made from ground lapis lazuli for her turban, an extravagance that often left him in debt.

Turning over a shadowed shoulder against pure darkness, she meets our gaze. A drop of bright white paint gives life to the oversized pearl resting against her soft jawline.