The Starry Night — Van Gogh (1889), MoMA, New York Reproduced so often it has lost its impact in print. In person the impasto texture is extraordinary — the paint builds up several centimetres from the canvas, and the swirling motion reads as almost three-dimensional.
Las Meninas — Velázquez (1656), Museo del Prado, Madrid One of the most analysed paintings in Western art. The king and queen appear only as reflections in a mirror; the painter himself is in the canvas looking out at us. Foucault wrote extensively on its collapse of the normal subject-viewer relationship.
The Birth of Venus — Botticelli (c.1484–86), Uffizi Gallery, Florence Monumental in scale in person (172 × 278 cm). The delicacy of the line rewards close looking — Venus is deliberately not ideally proportioned, which is part of the point.
Girl with a Pearl Earring — Vermeer (c.1665), Mauritshuis, The Hague Smaller than most people expect. The painting is a 'tronie' — a character study, not a portrait of a specific person. The pearl earring may not be a pearl at all; scholars now think it's glass.
The Persistence of Memory — Dalí (1931), MoMA, New York The opposite shock from The Starry Night — this is tiny (24 × 33 cm). The melting watches that have become one of the most recognisable images in art history fit in a shoebox.
Guernica — Picasso (1937), Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid Enormous (349 × 776 cm) and the most political painting on this list. Painted in response to the Nazi bombing of a Basque town, it works as historical document as much as art. The grey, white and black palette was deliberate.
Water Lilies series — Monet (1896–1926), Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris The two oval rooms at the Orangerie were designed by Monet himself as an immersive environment. You step inside the paintings. Nothing else in Paris produces this experience.
The Last Supper — Leonardo da Vinci (1495–98), Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan Access is restricted to 15 minutes and must be booked months in advance. The perspective lines in the ceiling all converge at Christ's right eye. The deterioration is significant, but its presence remains extraordinary.
The Night Watch — Rembrandt (1642), Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam Nearly four metres tall. The militia group is caught in motion rather than posed for a conventional group portrait. The light source, coming from the left, is inexplicably bright.
The Sistine Chapel ceiling — Michelangelo (1508–12), Vatican Museums Not technically a painting you can stand in front of — it's above you, which is part of the experience. Michelangelo painted lying on scaffolding. The detail visible when craning your neck is humbling compared to what you can see in photographs.
