Stories
The history, symbols and painters behind the art we restore.
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Flowers in a Blue Vase
Some of the yellow flowers in this Van Gogh are no longer the colour he painted them. -
Goddess Lakshmi
Raja Ravi Varma painted Lakshmi as a living woman on a lotus, and India has pictured her that way ever since. -
Green River Cliffs, Wyoming
Moran's first sight of the American West was not Yellowstone but a wall of striped cliffs above a railway town. -
Krishna Entreating Radha
Radha won't look up, and the Lord of All is on his knees. -
Krishna's Embassy to Duryodhana
Krishna walks into a hostile court to plead for peace, and stops a drawn sword with one hand. -
Radha and Krishna
A shy Radha offers Krishna a lotus beneath a sacred banyan in Ravi Varma's tender 1901 painting. -
Rama Threatens the Ocean God Varuna
Rama stands on a storm-lashed rock, bow in hand, as the ocean god rises from the waves to beg him for calm. -
Saraswati
Raja Ravi Varma painted Saraswati as a serene woman in white, playing the veena by the water. -
Shakuntala Removing a Thorn from Her Foot
She pretends a thorn has pricked her foot, only to steal one last look at the king she has just fallen for. -
Still Life with Grapes
One bunch of red grapes, tied with a ribbon, hangs against a green wall as if you could pluck it. -
The Starry Night
A sleeping village, a flame-like cypress and a sky that refuses to keep still. -
Victorian Bouquet
A bouquet no single season could grow, painted by a German immigrant who later vanished without trace. -
Yashoda and Krishna
Yashoda pauses at her milking as the infant Krishna comes to claim his share.