Genre
Reading & Writing
A figure with a book or a pen turns a picture inward. The reader by a window and the scholar at a desk are quiet scenes of attention, and the Dutch made them a genre: the letter half-read, the ledger open, the moment of private thought caught from across the room.
Key artists
Works
Young Girl Reading
The Repentant Magdalen
The Contest for the Bouquet: The Family of Robert Gordon in Their New York Dining-Room
Domestic Scene
The Saithwaite Family
Allegory of the Catholic Faith
Portrait of Marianne Dorothy Harland (1759–1785), Later Mrs. William Dalrymple
The Nymph of Fontainebleau
Lady Williams and Child
Femme Lisant
Annunciation
Family Group
Saint Paul and a Group of Worshippers
A Cosey Corner
Vanitas Still Life with the Spinario
Matilda Stoughton de Jaudenes
Still Life with a Skull and a Writing Quill
Portrait of an Olivetan Monk
Madonna and Child
Watson Van Benthuysen II and Thomas Van Benthuysen
L'Arlésienne
The Starbird Children
The Experts
Syndics of the Drapers' Guild
Saint Ildefonso
Cutting the Stone
Princess Elizabeth (1596–1662), Later Queen of Bohemia
Virgin and Child
Self-Portrait with a Harp
An Allegory
Madonna and Child Enthroned with Two Angels
The Calling of Saint Matthew
Portrait of a Venetian Gentleman
An Old Lady with a Book
The Banker's Table
Self-Portrait
Mary Magdalene
Paradiesgärtlein
Mrs. Sylvanus Bourne
Woman Reading
Allegory of Music
Vanitas Still Life
Comtesse de la Châtre (Marie Charlotte Louise Perrette Aglaé Bontemps, 1762–1848)
Saint Alcuin
Judith at the Banquet of Holofernes
The Reader
John Haviland
宋/明? 佚名 仿王齊翰 挑耳圖 卷|Library Scene
Saint Geneviève
Jean with Blue Book and Apple
A Woman Seated at a Window
Portrait of a Man, Possibly Jean de Langeac (died 1541), Bishop of Limoges
Vanits still life
Portrait of a Man in a Tall Hat
Saint Lucretia
Saint Jerome Reading
The Blue Envelope
Brother Gregorio Belo of Vicenza
Philip Slade
Esther Boardman
Roundel with Saint Lambrecht of Maastricht
Samuel Mifflin
Vanitas still life
Cupid (Eros) Carves the Bow
Saint Jerome
Vanitas still life
Hearing
Portrait of a Woman Holding a Book
Saints John the Evangelist and Lawrence
Story of Golden Locks
Portrait of Benjamin Franklin
Saint Bartholomew
Virgin and Child
南宋 佚名 舊傳五代周文矩 琉璃堂人物圖 卷|Scholars of the Liuli Hall
Still Life
Saint Romuald
Boy of the Crossfield Family (Possibly Richard Crossfield)
Portrait of a Young Man
Saint Anthony of Padua
Sarah Ogden Gustin
Cupid Making His Arch
Familien Waagepetersen
Portrait of Aernout van Beeftingh, his Wife Jacoba Maria Boon and their Children
Portrait of William Duguid
明 郭詡 稱書圖 軸|Weighing Books
Saint Francis
Saint Matthias
Young Man Holding a Book
John and Louisa Stock
Untitled
Master Rees Goring Thomas
Portrait of a Man
An Interesting Story (Miss Ray)
Kate Roselie Dodge
Vanitas Still Life
Lady in Blue
Portrait of a Lady
The Sibyl
Portrait of a Lady
Temptation of St. Anthony
A Child Visiting his Grandparents on a Sunday
Magdalen with the Smoking Flame
Portrait of Mrs. Crofts
Vanitas Still Life with a Candlestick, Musical Instruments, Dutch Books, a Writing Set, an Astrological and a Terrestial Globe and an Hourglass, All on a Draped Table
Kitchen Interior with a Girl Reading
Allegory of Sight and Smell
Portrait of Louis of France
Reading aloud
The Regents of the Leper's house in Amsterdam in 1649
Old Woman Saying Grace, Known as ‘The Prayer without End’
The Waning Honeymoon
The Antiquary
The Sciences and Arts
Saint John the Baptist and Saint Catherine Altar Piece
Self-portrait of the Artist in his Studio
Girl of the Bangs-Phelps Family
Woman Reading
Christ Blessing
Oleanders
Portrait of a man
Portrait of Jacob Hendricksz van Swieten (1558-1626)
The Saints Cosmas and Damian with their Brothers before the Proconsul Lysias
Three Regentesses and the ‘House Mother’ of the Amsterdam Lepers’ Asylum
Annunciation to the Virgin
Penitent Magdalene
Adolf, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, Declines the Offer to Accede to the Danish Throne. Copy after C. W. Eckersberg
Allegory of the Arts and Sciences
The Luncheon
Landscape with St Jerome
Rubens painting ‘The Allegory of Peace’
The judgement of Paris
Fray Diego de Deza y Tavera arzobispo de Sevilla
Pedro de Alcántara Álvarez de Toledo y Salm Salm, XIII duque del Infantado
Penitent Magdalene
Madonna with the Fish
Saint Catherine
Death and the Miser (outer doors); St. Nicolas with donor and St. Godelieve with donor (inner doors)
Still Life with Books
A Young Woman with a Book
Portrait of Marie Jeanette de Lange
Young Woman with a Book
Christ in Glory
View from the Artist's Window
musical party
Roundel with Saint John the Baptist
明/清 佚名 倣宋徽宗 明皇訓儲圖摹本 卷|Copy of Tang Ming Huang Instructing the Prince
Den gamle mand ved spedelyset
Antiphonary
Family Portrait
Las postrimerías de Fernando III el Santo
Madonna of the Catholic Monarchs
The Virgin and Child between Saint Anthony of Padua and Saint Roch
The Virgin Nursing the Child
Rest on the Flight into Egypt
Saint Jerome in His Study
Man writing by an easel
Still Life with Books
The holy family at night
Lærerinde og elev
Old Woman Reading
Saint Catherine
Penitent Magdalen
San Jerónimo, Santa Margarita y San Francisco
Annunciation
Carlos y Ubaldo en las islas Afortunadas
Charles V at Yuste
Armida ante Godofredo de Bouillon
Penitent Mary Magdalene
Establishment of the French Academy of Sciences and of Paris Observatory
Vanitas still life
Mars, surrounded by the Arts and Sciences, conquers Ignorance
Good and Evil
The Death of the Venerable Odón de Novara
Standing Young Man at the Window in his Study Reading, known as"The Student"
Antes de continuar el retrato
Self-portrait
The Annunciation
Trompe-l'œil of a Table in a Mess with Paintings, a Hurdy-Gurdy, Books and Other Objects
Josefa Manzanedo e Intentas de Mitjans, Second Marchioness of Manzanedo
Pope Alexander III Consecrates Anthelm of Chignin as Bishop of Belley
The Temptations of Saint Anthony Abbot
The Coronation of the Virgin
Saint Catherine
Emblem of Death
Monkeys in the school
Saint John the Evangelist in Patmos
Landuino Dies in Jail
Urban II Deliberates with Saint Bruno
Cardinal Luis María de Borbón y Vallabriga
Altarpiece of the Annunciation
Musician Angels Appear to Saint Hugo of Lincoln
The crucified Christ appears to Saint Teresa of Avila
Old Woman Meditating
Portrait of Johan Fraser
The Story Book
The Vision of Zacharias in the Temple
The Annunciation
An Old Woman Reading, Probably the Prophetess Hannah
Marie-Joséphine-Louise de Savoie, Countess of Provence
The Lincoln Children
Frequently asked questions
What is Reading & Writing?
Reading & Writing is a motif in painting. A figure with a book or a pen turns a picture inward.
How many Reading & Writing works does Artifact World Gallery have?
Artifact World Gallery holds 586 public-domain Reading & Writing works, all free to view and download.
Who are the key Reading & Writing artists?
Key Reading & Writing artists in the collection include Titian, Jean Baptiste Camille Corot and Lorenzo Lotto.