Pairs, couples and better halves in paintings

Pairs, couples and better halves in paintings

Faces of love — affectionate and ferocious, monogamous and

polyamorous, fleeting and timeless.

Artists have long rendered wild acts of desire in their work to capture

the mind-altering, body-melting effects of love. Whether forged in stone

or suspended in a snapshot, lovers smolder throughout art history.

THOMAS, Jan Portraits of Leopold I and Margarita Teresa in theatrical costume

Leopold I. was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and Croatia, King of Bohemia and King of Serbia. In 1666, he married Margarita Teresa of Austria, daughter of King Philip IV of Spain, who was both his niece and his first cousin.

She was the blonde princess depicted in Diego Velázquez' masterpiece Las Meninas. The wonderful series of Velazquez portraits of this lovely Spanish princess at various stages of her childhood were sent from the court of Madrid to Leopold as he waited in Vienna for his fiancee to grow up. This beautiful girl, the representation of merry childhood, was married at fifteen.

THOMAS, Jan Emperor Leopold I in theater costume, in full figure (Leopold I as Acis in the play "La Galatea“)1667Color on copper, 33.3 × 24.2 cmKunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

THOMAS, Jan Infanta Margaret Theresa, Empress, in theater dress1667Color on copper, 33,3 x 24,2 cmKunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

THOMAS, Jan Emperor Leopold I in theater costume, in full figure (Leopold I as Acis in the play "La Galatea“)1667Color on copper, 33.3 × 24.2 cmKunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Despite the age difference, Leopold I's unattractive appearance and Margaret's apparent goitre (a change of the thyroid gland), according to contemporaries they had a happy marriage. The Empress always called her husband "Uncle" (de: Onkel), and he called her "Gretl".

THOMAS, Jan Emperor Leopold I in theater costume, in full figure (Leopold I as Acis in the play "La Galatea“) (detail)1667Color on copper, 33.3 × 24.2 cmKunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna



THOMAS, Jan Infanta Margaret Theresa, Empress, in theater dress1667Color on copper, 33,3 x 24,2 cmKunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Even after her marriage, Margaret kept her Spanish customs and ways. She did not speak German, and the arrogance of her native retinue led to a strong anti-Spanish sentiment among the imperial court. The courtiers openly expressed the hope that the weak Empress would soon die and thus give Leopold I the opportunity of a second marriage.

THOMAS, Jan Infanta Margaret Theresa, Empress, in theater dress (detail)1667Color on copper, 33,3 x 24,2 cmKunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna



RUBENS, Peter PaulAnsegisus and St. Bega

Begga was married to Ansegisel, with whom she had a child, Pepin II of Herstal. As is the case with many Mafiosi wives, Begga too had to mourn the killing of her husband.

Making good use of her free time as a widow, Begga founded a monastery at Andenne in 691.

RUBENS, Peter PaulAnsegisus and St. Bega1612-1615 Oil on canvas, 94 × 76 cmKunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

RUBENS, Peter PaulAnsegisus and St. Bega (detail)1612-1615 Oil on canvas, 94 × 76 cmKunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

The original Rubens is titled "Ansegisus (Ansegiesel) and Begga" which would make it a husband and wife portrait.




REMBRANDT Harmenszoon van RijnThe Jewish Bride

Rembrandt’s masterpiece is loving in its every brushstroke. About his young couple we know very little – who they were, whether she was a bride, whether they were actually Jewish – but this image goes beyond portraiture in any case. Their faces are radiant with adoration. Their gestures are beautiful: his hand gently placed on her breast, hers tenderly covering it …

… while she doesn’t seem to mind it much, we can’t help but feel awkward by the whole hand on the clothed breast thing that’s happening here. Maybe it’s the fact that they both seem so lost in thought? Or maybe it’s because this was originally believed to be a painting of a father giving his daughter a necklace on her wedding day.

REMBRANDT Harmenszoon van RijnThe Jewish Bridec. 1665Oil on canvas, 122 x 167 cmRijksmuseum, Amsterdam

REMBRANDT Harmenszoon van RijnThe Jewish Bride (detail)c. 1665Oil on canvas, 122 x 167 cmRijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Love is patient, love is kind: this is the visual embodiment of those great verses from Corinthians so often read at weddings.



HEINTZ, Joseph the Elder Zeus and Callisto

Jupiter loves: Callisto

The subject is taken from Ovid's Metamorphoses. One day the god Jupiter saw the beautiful Callisto and fell in love with her. Knowing that Diana had warned Callisto about men and gods, Jupiter pretended he was the goddess Diana.

Awoke the maid, and spoke in gentle tones and kissed her many times, and strained her in his arms,….but when his ardent love was known to her, she struggled to escape from his embrace:

ah, how could she, a tender maid, resist almighty Jove?…

HEINTZ, Joseph the Elder Zeus and Callisto 1605-1609 Copperplate, 40 x 31 cm Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

HEINTZ, Joseph the Elder Zeus and Callisto (detail)1605-1609 Copperplate, 40 x 31 cm Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna



CRANACH, Lucas the ElderThe Ill-Matched Couple

An old man in search of amorous adventures has drawn the young lady close to him and his desire blinded him to the fact that the young woman is only interested in the content of his purse, into which she is furtively delving as he caresses her.

CRANACH, Lucas the ElderThe Ill-Matched Couple 1531Tempera on woodAkademie der bildenden Künste, Vienna

CRANACH, Lucas the ElderThe Ill-Matched Couple (detail)1531Tempera on woodAkademie der bildenden Künste, Vienna


This scene has a moralistic bent as it depicts woman as a dangerous creature and a source of sin, humiliation and perdition.


The subject of couples of different ages has a long tradition and was a favourite theme during the Lutheran Reformation. Cranach illustrated it frequently

EYCK, Jan vanPortrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and his Wife

Obviously, many of the artistic choices are attributed to the time period, but to the modern eye the couple has an uneasy air about them — from the man raising his hand in some sort of stoic declaration to the woman stiffly placing her hand on top of her partner’s.

EYCK, Jan vanPortrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and his Wife1434Oil on oak, 82 x 60 cmNational Gallery, London

EYCK, Jan vanPortrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and his Wife (detail)1434Oil on oak, 82 x 60 cmNational Gallery, London

Van Eyck’s painting is chock full of symbolism and has been the subject of many endless art historical debates. This, in combination with the work’s stunning realism, has made critics laud The Arnolfini Portrait as one of the most original and complex paintings in the history of Western art.




RUBENS, Peter PaulThe Artist and His First Wife, Isabella Brant, in the Honeysuckle Bower

Just back from honeymoon, Rubens sits hand-in-hand with his new young wife, Isabella Brant, among the honeysuckle blossom. She smiles her famously sweet smile; he leans back, legs crossed and relaxed. Everything in the garden is flourishing; and these two are secure in each other’s love.

RUBENS, Peter PaulThe Artist and His First Wife, Isabella Brant, in the Honeysuckle Bower1609-10Oil on canvas, 178 x 136,5 cmAlte Pinakothek, Munich

RUBENS, Peter PaulThe Artist and His First Wife, Isabella Brant, in the Honeysuckle Bower (detail)1609-10Oil on canvas, 178 x 136,5 cmAlte Pinakothek, Munich

It is well known that they were perfectly matched. Where so many 17th-century marriage portraits were rigidly formal, the historic record of a contract, this one is fluent, conversational and sensuous.




Frieda KahloThe Love Embrace of the Universe, The Earth, Me Diego and Señor Xólotl

This painting unearths the complexity of Kahlo’s relationship with Diego, and of Kahlo’s view of love in general. Like an evolutionary drawing or family tree, the Aztec Earth Mother Cihuacoatl holds Kahlo, who holds Rivera in return.

The composition emphasizes Kahlo’s independence, but also her frustrating inability to have a child …

… instead, she seems to suggest, she’s fated to nurture a childish husband.

Frieda KahloThe Love Embrace of the Universe, The Earth, Me Diego and Señor Xólotl1949Oil on canvas, 70 x 60.55 cmPrivate collection

Frieda KahloThe Love Embrace of the Universe, The Earth, Me Diego and Señor Xólotl (detail)1949Oil on canvas, 70 x 60.55 cmPrivate collection

Kahlo’s relationship with fellow painter Diego Rivera was nothing short of volatile. Their marriage swung vertiginously between passion, alienation, and anger. But through it all, both regarded their love as deep and essential.



KLIMT, Gustav The Kiss

Bare feet, flowers in their hair: no wonder hippies loved Klimt’s masterpiece and it remains the most famous kiss in painting.

A perfect square of a canvas, a perfect fit of a couple: it is just what young lovers often feel, dovetailed together in their kiss as the world dissolves into a shimmer around them.

KLIMT, Gustav The Kiss 1907 - 1908 Oil on canvas, 180 × 180 cm Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, Vienna

KLIMT, Gustav The Kiss (detail)1907 - 1908 Oil on canvas, 180 × 180 cm Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, Vienna

Wrapped up in each other, the lovers are enfolded in their everlasting kiss. Their love is out of this world and even a little celestial: their heads are haloed in gold leaf. There’s no sense of bodies beneath all this opulence.



REMBRANDT Harmenszoon van RijnThe Return of the Prodigal Son

In the Gospel According to Luke (15: 11-32), Christ relates the parable of the prodigal son. A son asks his father for his inheritance and leaves the parental home, only to fritter away all his wealth. Arriving at last at sickness and poverty, he returns to his father's house.

The old man is blinded by tears as he forgives his son, just as God forgives all those who repent. This whole work is dominated by the idea of the victory of love, goodness and charity.

REMBRANDT Harmenszoon van RijnThe Return of the Prodigal Sonc. 1669Oil on canvas, 262 x 206 cmThe Hermitage, St. Petersburg

REMBRANDT Harmenszoon van RijnThe Return of the Prodigal Son (detail)c. 1669Oil on canvas, 262 x 206 cmThe Hermitage, St. Petersburg


The event is treated as the highest act of human wisdom and spiritual nobility, and it takes place in absolute silence and stillness. The drama and depth of feeling are expressed in the figures of both father and son, with all the emotional precision with which Rembrandt was endowed.



Pairs, couples and better halves in paintings

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Pairs, couples and better halves in paintings