The 100 best paintings in New York: The Frick Collection

Rank: 96

This painting is a classic example of Chardin’s almost architectural compositions that depict objects from everyday middle-class life. He eschewed the pervading Rococo style of his time in favor of simplicity and humble directness. This work permeates with spirituality and subtle meaning rather than spelling out grand religious narratives.—Jennifer Coates

Photograph: Michael Bodycomb

Rank: 80

This panel illustrating the life of Christ was part of a large altarpiece in Siena called The Maesta. The kingdoms of the world offered by the Devil are diminutive compared to the oversize figures. Known for his complex compositions and soft handling of flesh, Duccio is considered the father of Sienese painting and by extension Western Art.—Jennifer Coates 

Photograph: Michael Bodycomb

Rank: 73

Medici court painter Bronzino captured this young nobleman in the elegant Mannerist style, easily seen in the figure’s gracefully elongated fingers and small head. The carefully rendered details capture the fashion of the day, yet Bronzino leaves nary a trace of his brushstrokes in the illusionistic folds of fabric.—Heather Corcoran

Photograph: Michael Bodycomb

Rank: 65

The Northern Renaissance artist was new to London when he befriended the powerful More. In his portrayal of the scholar and statesman, Holbein captures his subject’s gravitas, while delighting the eye with illusionistic details, like the sumptuous red-velvet of his sleeve.—Heather Corcoran

Photograph: Michael Bodycomb

Rank: 58

This enveloping room of Fragonard’s paintings about love is furnished and decorated in the Rococo style. In this cycle, he chronicles the pursuit of the object of desire through courtship, to marriage, to remembrance of earlier intensity. Bystanders within the paintings such as sculptures and animals reinforce his message and enhance the emotional thrust.—Jennifer Coates

Photograph: Michael Bodycomb

Rank: 3

The Comtesse d’Haussonville, granddaughter of French intellectual Madame de Staël, was a woman (and a writer) with a deep sense of her own sensuality. Leaning suggestively in a corner of her boudoir, she appears almost surprised that the artist has burst into her chambers. In reality, Ingres spent more than three years capturing 
the intriguing expression.—Drew Toal

Photograph: Michael Bodycomb

Rank: 2

While today Bellini is popularly known for the prosecco-based cocktail he inspired, the artist’s more important legacy is as a heavyhitting painter of Renaissance Italy. One of the most treasured Renaissance paintings residing in the U.S. is St. Francis in the Desert, in which the subject, an animal-friendly friar, is shown in the wilderness, bearing the stigmata. The landscape is filled with Franciscan symbolism and a supernatural light.—Drew Toal

Photograph: Michael Bodycomb