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Outstanding among the collection of Italian Primitives is this work (1310–11) by Sienese master Duccio di Buoninsegna (c.1278–1319). The painting’s lifelike quality reveals Duccio’s interest in accuracy and looks forward to the Renaissance.

This self-portrait (c.1643) by Rembrandt (1606–69) is one of more than 60 such works by the great Dutch artist. It reveals Rembrandt’s view of himself as isolated genius.

Vittore Carpaccio (c.1460– 1525) is an important representative of the Venetian school. This intriguing work (1510) shows a courtly knight amid symbolic and animals and plants.

Dutch artist Salomon van Ruysdael’s (1600–70) evocative seascape (c.1650) is one of the finest examples of the genre, for its effortless mastery of colour and perspective.

This devotional painting (c.1450) by Dutch artist Petrus Christus (c.1410–72), was inspired by an Old Testament metaphor in which God brings the dry tree (the chosen people) to life. The “A”s hanging from the tree stand for Ave Maria and were meditational.

This haunting work (c.1828) is by the influential American artist, Thomas Cole, founder of the Hudson River School. Cole idealized the untramelled American landscape as a new Garden of Eden.

This witty still life (c.1728) in the Dutch style is by French artist, Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin (1699–1779). Its companion piece, Still Life with Cat and Fish , is in Room 27.

The subject of this painting (c.1515) by Raphael (1484–1520), one of the great artists of the High Renaissance, is thought to be Alessandro de Medici , nephew of Pope Clement VII. This haughty youth later became a tyrant and was murdered by his cousin in 1537.

Distorted figures, swirling lines and bold colours are typical of the Mannerist style which El Greco (1541– 1614) mastered in Venice, where he was influenced by Titian and Tintoretto, both masters of the High Renaissance. This intensely spiritual painting (c.1567–1577) reveals the Cretan artist’s development following his move to Toledo, Spain, in 1577.

This sublime portrait (1488) by Florentine painter Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449–94), was the last Baron Thyssen’s favourite. It was commissioned to celebrate the marriage of Giovanna degli Albizzi to Lorenzo Tornabuoni – a union of two powerful families. Tragically, Giovanna died in childbirth shortly afterwards.