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Greatest works of art of Western civilization by Thomas Hoving

"One early morning of an exceptionally beautiful day I got the idea of retracing every step of my life as an art expert – from 1951 – and writing down the works of art that had bowled me over visually and emotionally, the ones that after years I could describe down to the tiniest details, as if standing in front of them." – Thomas Hoving, introduction to Greatest Works of art of Western civilization, Artisan [New York: 1997]

1.
?
Resurrection
by Piero Della Francesca (Pinacoteca Comunale, Sansepolcro)
 
2.
?
Bed
by Robert Rauschenberg (Museum of Modern Art, NY)
 
3.
?
Zeus or Poseidon
by artist unknown (National Archaeological Museum, Athens)
 
4.
?
The Return of the Prodigal Son
by Rembrandt Van Rijn (The Hermitage, St. Petersburg)
 
5.
?
Apocalypse Tapestries
by Nicolas Bataille, Hennequin de Bruges (Musee des Tapisseries, Chateau d'Angers, France)
 
6.
?
The Rose
by Jay Defeo (Whitney Museum of American Art, NY)
 
7.
?
Calvary
by Andrea Mantegna (Museum du Louvre, Paris)
 
8.
?
Alphabet
by Master E.S. (Bavarian National Museum, Munich)
 
9.
?
The Luncheon of the Boating Party
by Pierre-Auguste Renoir (Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.)
 
10.
?
Sleep and Death Lifting the Body of Sarpedon
by Euphronios (Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY)
 
11.
?
Portinari Altarpiece
by Hugo van der Goes (Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence)
 
12.
?
Marriage a la Mode
by William Hogarth (National Gallery, London)
 
13.
?
The Gates of Paradise
by Lorenzo Ghiberti (Baptistery, Florence)
 
14.
?
The Starry Night
by Vincent van Gogh (MoMA, NYC)
 
15.
?
The Persistence of Memory
by Salvador Dali (MoMA, NYC)
 
16.
?
The Sistine Madonna
by Raphael (Gemaldegalerie, Dresden)
 
17.
?
A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (Seurat)
by Georges Seurat (Art Institute of Chicago)
 
18.
?
Queen Nofretiti
by artist unknown (Agyptisches Museum, Berlin)
 
19.
?
The Pulpit in the Cathedral of Pisa
by Nicola Pisano (Baptistery, Pisa)
 
20.
?
The Cypress Plates
by artist unknown (Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY)
 
21.
?
Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?
by Paul Gauguin (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
 
22.
?
The Bohemian Madonna
by artist unknown (National Museum of Prague)
 
24.
?
The Blue Boy
by Thomas Gainsborough (Huntington Library, San Marino, CA)
 
25.
?
The Book of Kells
by artists unknown (Trinity College, Dublin)
 
26.
?
David
by Michelangelo (Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence)
 
27.
?
The Gates of Hell
by Auguste Rodin (Musee d'Orsay, Paris)
 
28.
?
Woman with an Ermine
by Leonardo da Vinci (Czartoryski Museum, Krakow)
 
29.
?
Blue Poles
by Jackson Pollock (National Gallery of Australia, Canberra)
 
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Created by Dodgerj on Jun 01, 2008.