El Greco, born in Crete with the name Domenikos Theotokopolous, only arrived in Spain in 1577, when he was 36. Nonetheless, he established himself as an important painter in Renaissance Spain, with a unique style that both imbued other traditions and had iconoclastic touches. His work is largely known for its angular figures, dark color palette, and thick black outlines on many shapes.

Gilbert Stuart was one of the first well known American born artists, living through the American revolution. Stuart painted portraits of almost all the important figures in the Revolutionary War, creating the established portraits of the early leaders of the American republic. Stuart's work was clear and realistic owing a great deal to the neo-classicalism and realism popular in Europe in his time.

Anthony van Dyck was born in the Netherlands in 1599, but moved to Italy to study art in 1621 and became the official court painter in London in 1632. Van Dyck performed the normal function of a court painter by painting portraits of the royal family and associated people, but in a beautiful style. Van Dyck also made interesting compositional choices, such as his portrait of King Charles with three different profiles of the monarch in one painting.

Both of these paintings are images of a Spanish Royal Family, set some one hundred and fifty years apart. They are connected by more than location, however, as Diego Velázquez' Las Meninas (1656), shown in Figure 1, was such a famous and influential painting that Francisco de Goya intentionally modeled his 1801 painting Charles IV of Spain and His Family, shown in Figure 2, on the earlier work. Each painting shows the Royal Family of Spain in a relaxed and somewhat informal pose in a natural setting.

Figure 1: Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez (1656)

Figure 2: Charles IV of Spain and His Family Francisco de Goya (1801)

Philip IV ruled Spain and its territories and colonies when it was the largest power on the globe, during the seventeenth century. Philip IV wished to present himself as a magnificent figure, and he hired the best painter in Spain, Diego Velazquez. Velazquez's portraits of the royal family and its attendants conveyed their wealth and prestige, along with an inner psychology that made Velazquez one of the masters of Baroque painting.

The Marie de Medici Cycle was a series of twenty four paintings dedicated to, and depicting, the life of the Queen of France, Marie de Medici. Commissioned in 1621, and completed within three years, the massive project was given to the Flemish painter Peter Paul Reubens, who had already done portraits of many of the queen's relatives. Reubens' many portraits and canvases in the cycle are one of the landmarks of Baroque painting.

Diego Velazquez's Las Meninas is one of the most well-respected paintings in history, with artists as diverse as Thomas Gainsborough, Édouard Manet, and Pablo Picasso citing it as a major influence. Velazquez's painting is borne out of his role as court painter to the Spanish King Philip IV, as the King's daughter is the main subject, but she is shown with various attendants and even the painter himself. Remarkably for his time, the subjects are shown in full humanity and the brushstrokes are relatively impressionistic.

Caravaggio was a significant transitional figure between the Mannerist style and the Baroque style, despite having a career that only lasted from 1592 to 1610. Caravaggio used dramatic changes between light and dark, known as "chiaroscuro," to highlight emotional moments and painted with vivid color. In Caravaggio's two paintings of The Supper at Emmaus, he uses these techniques to highlight the surprise of Jesus' disciples when the risen Christ reveals himself to them on the road to Emmaus.

The Dutch Golden Age refers to the era of the mid-seventeenth century when the Dutch Republic had its most clout in trade, foreign affairs, and culture, especially in the realm of visual art. The great Dutch masters of the time include Johannes Vermeer, Frans Hals, Jan Steen, and Rembrandt van Rijn, who all produced striking portraits, landscapes, and history paintings with vivid colors and remarkable use of light. Not popular among these painters were images of saints, as the Netherlands had become mostly Protestant and Calvinist.

The Spanish victory at Breda was a rare success for Spanish troops over the Dutch in the Eighty Years' War. The moment was commemorated by the court painter to King Philip IV, Diego Velazquez. The life-size painting shows the Dutch surrender, which glorifies the Spanish troops and shows the Spaniards as both victorious and magnanimous. This painting also serves as a prime example of Velazquez' great skill with color and composition.