1. Frans Hals, c.1580–1666, The Marriage Portrait of Isaac Massa and Beatrix van der Laen, c. 1622. (Isaac Massa, merchant in Haarlem, 1586–1643; Oil on canvas; 140 x 166.5cm; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; © photo: akg-images)
2. Peter Paul Rubens, 1577–1640, The Four Philosophers, c.1608. (From left: self-portrait of the artist, his brother Philip Rubens, Justus Lipsius, Jan van der Wouwere; Oil on wood; 164 x 139cm; Inv.no. 86; Palazzo Pitti, Palatine Gallery, Florence; © photo: akg-images/Rabatti–Domingie)
3. J.M.W. Turner, 1775–1851, A Disaster at Sea, c. 1835. (This canvas was never exhibited and is probably not quite finished, but it seems to be well on the way to becoming one of Turner’s most powerful statements on the Romantic theme of maritime disaster; Oil on canvas; 171.4 x 220.3 cm; Tate Gallery, London; © photo: akg-images / Erich Lessing)
4. J.M.W. Turner, 1775–1851, The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, 1835. (Oil on canvas; 92 x 123cm; John Howard Mc Fadden Collection, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia; © photo: akg-images)
5. James Ensor, 1860–1949, Scandalized Masks, 1883. (Oil on canvas; 135 x 112cm; Inv. 4190; Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels; © DACS 2010; © photo: J. Geleyns/www.roscan.be)
6. Pablo Picasso, 1881–1973, ‘Ecce Homo’, After Rembrandt from Suite 156, 1970. (Etching and aquatint; plate: 49.5 x 41 cm, sheet: 68.1 x 56.7 cm; Tate Gallery, London; © Succession Picasso/DACS 2010)
7. Picasso At Work, c. 1970. (Hulton Archive; © photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
8. John Virtue, Landscape No. 711, 2003-4. (Acrylic, black ink and shellac on canvas; 350 x 732 cm; © John Virtue)
9. Anselm Kiefer, b.1945, Karfunkelfee, 2009. (Gold paint, cloak, brambles, acrylic, oil, emulsion, ash and shellac on canvas in steel and glass frame; 382 x 576 x 35 cm; © Anselm Kiefer; © photo: Charles Duprat; Courtesy White Cube)
10. Anselm Kiefer, b.1945, Shevirath Ha Kelim, 2009. (Terracotta, acrylic, oil and shellac on canvas; 330 x 760 x 1300 cm; © Anselm Kiefer; © photo: Charles Duprat; Courtesy White Cube)