Late 1570s

Originally part of the Louis-Philippe Collection in the Louvre in Paris, this picture was then sold in 1853 to the distinguished collector of Spanish art, Sir William Stirling Maxwell. The direct engagement with the viewer makes this picture quite distinct from the formal portraits usually adopted by the court.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Image © Culture and Sport Glasgow (Museums), The Stirling Maxwell Collection, Pollok House

1618

NG 2180

In early works such as this, Velázquez specialised in everyday life scenes (bodegones) in which still life elements play a prominent role. These pictures often feature the same models, set against dark backdrops and depicted with astounding naturalism.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 100.50 x 119.50 cm (framed: 148.00 x 128.60 x 7.60 cm)
• National Galleries of Scotland

1635-9

In this powerful image, Zurbarán has depicted St Francis of Assisi, founder of the Order of Franciscans in the thirteenth century. As the monk wears a Capuchin habit this may mean that the picture was commissioned by a community of Franciscan Capuchins.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Image © National Gallery

1812 – 14

Arthur Wellesley, 1^st Duke of Wellington (1769 - 1852) led the British forces to victory during the Peninsular War. This portrait was painted in August 1812, after the battle of Salamanca was won. The orders and medals worn by Wellington survive in the collection at Apsley House in London.

• Material: Oil on mahogany
• Image © National Gallery

1828 – 1829

The Defence of Saragossa depicts the climax of the siege of the city by French forces in 1808. The painting forms part of a sequence of works which explores aspects of the Peninsula War and is an outstanding example of Wilkie exploring more ambitious historical subjects.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Image © Royal Collection

1868

Millais never visited Madrid but had opportunities to study Velázquez's work in London and Paris. Although the girl in this picture is English, her hairstyle and rich clothing evoke that of Velázquez's infanta portraits, as does the rich, painterly style.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Image © Royal Academy

1891

One of the most accomplished watercolourists of his generation, Crawhall excelled in depicting animals and birds. In the 1880s he visited Tangier and Spain and became both fascinated and repelled by the spectacle of the bullfight.

• Material: Watercolour
• Image © The Fleming Collection

1892

In this painting Melville demonstrates his brilliant control over the use of colour. In such studies he prepared the paper with Chinese white pigment, mapped out the composition lightly in pencil, and then ‘blocked in' and placed accents of vibrant hues.

• Material: Watercolour on paper
• Image © The Fleming Collection

1937

Though the features of the figure here are based on the artist and photographer Dora Maar, this is not a conventional portrait. Instead it is an icon representing Picasso's view of Spain's suffering during the Civil War and was one of a group of works Picasso created while working on his monumental painting Guernica.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• © Succession Picasso/DACS 2009. Image © Tate, London 2009