Images

An 1880 oil on canvas, Villas at Villers sur Mer, by Gustave Caillebotte (1848-96) the French impressionist painter. Even in this unlikely scene, Caillebotte manages to include a trademark diagonal. (Private Collection)

An 1873 oil on canvas, Self-portrait with Pith Helmet, by Gustave Caillebotte (1848-96) the French impressionist painter. (Private Collection)

An 1877 oil on canvas, The Nap, by Gustave Caillebotte (1848-96) the French impressionist painter. Here the artist takes his interest in bourgeoise leisure activities to its logical conclusion. (Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, USA)

An 1893 oil on canvas, Orchids, by Gustave Caillebotte (1848-96) the French impressionist painter. Caillebotte was a keen gardener and he cultivated rare flowers in his greenhouse. (Private Collection)

An 1878 oil on canvas, The Orange Trees (aka The Artist's Brother in His Garden) by Gustave Caillebotte (1848-96) the French impressionist painter. The subject here is Martial, the artist's younger brother with whom he later shared a house...

A map illustrating the fragmented political situation in Al-Andalus (the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula) after the collapse of the Umayyad Caliphate of Cordoba in 1031. Known as taifas (from Arabic "party" or "faction"), numerous...

An 1893 oil on canvas, The Garden at Petit-Gennevilliers, by Gustave Caillebotte (1848-96) the French impressionist painter. This house, located near Paris, was the artist's home from 1881. Here Caillebotte indulged his interest in horticulture...

An 1875-77 oil on canvas, The Gardeners, by Gustave Caillebotte (1848-96) the French impressionist painter. The artist was often keen to capture manual labourers and here he fits his figures into a typical composition of diagonals and receding...

Album of Flower Paintings by Iranian artist Fathallah Shirazi, c. 1880. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Persian mirror case with bird-and-flower motif, painting by Ali Ashraf, 1751. Brooklyn Museum.