Rome and Paris in the sixteen hundreds
Italian and French Baroque
Painting from Rome, Bologna, Naples and Paris in the sixteen hundreds, when light itself became the drama. Caravaggio's young musicians crowded round a lute, La Tour's young man having his fortune told while his pocket is picked, Reni's Virgin standing on the moon, Poussin's blind giant walking toward the sunrise, and Claude's Roman countryside turning gold in the evening. Deep shadow, strong colour and a light that always comes from somewhere.
As a puzzle
Demanding in the dark pictures and restful in the light ones. Caravaggio, Guercino and Preti set their figures against deep brown and black, so a good part of the table is shadow you sort by the shape of its edges, while faces, hands and bright cloaks come together quickly. Claude's and Poussin's landscapes are the gentle side, all trees and clear sky. Keep the count low for the dark pictures.
A good size here: 40–200 pieces.
21 pictures, pick one to build
The Musicians Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi), 1597 
Roman Landscape with a Shepherd and Sheep Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione (Il Grechetto), late 1640s 
Still Life with Strawberries French Painter 
Tobias Curing His Father's Blindness Bernardo Strozzi, 1630–35 
The Flight into Egypt Luca Giordano, 1701 
Saints Peter and John Healing the Lame Man Nicolas Poussin, 1655 
The Companions of Rinaldo Nicolas Poussin, ca. 1633 
Pastoral Landscape: The Roman Campagna Claude Lorrain (Claude Gellée), ca. 1639 
The Fortune-Teller Georges de La Tour, probably 1630s 
The Ford Claude Lorrain (Claude Gellée), possibly 1636 
A Classical Landscape Sébastien Bourdon, probably 1660s 
Saint Francis in Ecstasy Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione (Il Grechetto), ca. 1650 
The Annunciation Philippe de Champaigne, ca. 1644 
Samson Captured by the Philistines Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri), 1619 
The Immaculate Conception Guido Reni, 1627 
The Lamentation Domenichino (Domenico Zampieri), 1603 
Pilate Washing His Hands Mattia Preti (Il Cavalier Calabrese), 1663 
Blind Orion Searching for the Rising Sun Nicolas Poussin, 1658 
The Trojan Women Setting Fire to Their Fleet Claude Lorrain (Claude Gellée), ca. 1643 
Saint John the Baptist Preaching Mattia Preti (Il Cavalier Calabrese), ca. 1650 
Allegory of Music Laurent de La Hyre, 1649