It is an overcast afternoon, and the sun is slowly fading from the sky… ❄️ Figures trudge along a tree-lined road, the snow halting their progress to a snail’s pace. Wavy brown cart tracks snake into the distance, drawing our eye towards the horizon, where distant buildings seem to dissolve in the mist. The snow and fog mask the fact that this is a thoroughly modern suburb, where the road is lined with houses that had been built quite recently. ‘Snow Scene at Argenteuil’ is one of 18 Argenteuil canvases that Claude Monet painted in the winter of 1874/5. The palette is almost monochromatic, the whites, blues and greys warmed with pink tones. Occasional touches of stronger colour distributed across the canvas serve to bind the composition together. Monet would have brushed in the ground and sky before defining the tree branches and the cart tracks with spare calligraphic strokes. The paint on the road in the foreground is thicker than elsewhere in the picture, perhaps because Monet was trying to suggest the physical presence of deep snow. Did you know this beautiful snowscape was bequeathed to the Gallery for generations of visitors to enjoy? 🔗 Click the link in our bio to learn more about legacy giving and what a gift in your Will could achieve. #ArtHistory #LegacyGiving #NationalGallery

This is the earliest surviving work by the innovative Tuscan painter, ✨Piero della Francesca ✨ Piero was the first artist to write a treatise on perspective, ‘De prospectiva pingendi’, using mathematics to explain how to paint objects in proportion so that they appear in the painting as they are seen in real life. In his painting, ‘The Baptism of Christ’, Piero used mathematical principles to order his simple design, creating a visually harmonious image, and set it within a landscape familiar to its original viewers, uniting them personally with this moment in the history of Christianity. Christ stands in a shallow, winding stream as John the Baptist pours a small bowl of water over his head. Three angels in colourful robes witness the event and the Holy Ghost, shown here as a dove flying over Christ’s head and towards us, descended upon him. The figures, carefully placed behind one another and gradually getting smaller, lead us into the painting, as does the river that winds away from us. In this way, Piero emphasised the depth of the landscape and the harmony of the figures within it. Enter the National Gallery Imaginarium and take a closer look at Piero’s astonishing painting from the comfort of your own home, or wherever you are. 🔗 Click the link in our bio to launch the experience. #ArtHistory #NationalGallery