Artscape

The Fighting Temeraire (1839) by William Turner

On Display at West Bow House

What 3 words: swaps.devoured.grocers

TA6 3RH, on the rear wall of the garages of West Bow House

90.7 × 121.6 cm

The painting depicts the 98-gun HMS Temeraire, one of the last second-rate ships of the line to have played a role in the Battle of Trafalgar, being towed up the Thames by a paddle-wheel steam tug in 1838, towards its final berth in Rotherhithe to be broken up for scrap

Sunflowers fourth version (1888) by Vincent van Gogh

On Display at The Post Office

What 3 words: clothed.boards.magnets

92.1 × 73 cm

‘The sunflower is mine’, Van Gogh once declared, and it is clear that the flower had various meanings for him. The different stages in the sunflower’s life cycle shown here, from young bud through to maturity and eventual decay, follow in the vanitastradition of Dutch seventeenth-century flower paintings, which emphasise the transient nature of human actions. The sunflowers were perhaps also intended to be a symbol of friendship and a celebration of the beauty and vitality of nature.

Portrait of Giovanni(?) Arnolfini and his Wife (1434) by Jan van Eyck

On Display at Meads Court

What 3 words: skins.assume.slowly

Side of the community hall TA6 6DE

82.2 × 60 cm

An oil painting on oak panel by the Early Netherlandish painter Jan van Eyck, dated 1434. It is a full-length double portrait, believed to depict the Italian merchant Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini and his wife, presumably in their residence at the Flemish city of Bruges.

Saint Michael triumphant over the Devil (1495) by Joan Bartolomé Bermejo

On display at The old Mecca Bingo building

What 3 words: s///truly.rhino.organ

179.7 × 81.9 cm

A saint clad in shining armour raises his sword to strike a hideous demon beneath his feet. This is the Archangel Michael fighting the devil, as described in the Book of Revelation.

Bacchus and Ariadne (1520-3)  by Titian

On display at Angel Place Shopping Centre

What 3 words: coverings.dressing.roaring

176.5 × 191 cm

Bacchus, god of wine, emerges with his followers from the landscape to the right. Falling in love with Ariadne on first sight, he leaps from his chariot, drawn by two cheetahs, towards her.

The Water Lily Pond (1899) Claude Monet

On display at Purple Spoon cafe YMCA

what 3 words: suave.wisdom.froth

88.3 × 93.1 cm

In 1893 Monet bought a plot of land next to his house in Giverny. He had already planted a colourful flower garden, but now he wanted to create a water garden ‘both for the pleasure of the eye and for the purpose of having subjects to paint’

The Hay Wain (1821) John Constable

On display at The bus stop on Mount Street Bridgwater

what 3 words: brick.converter.speeding

The title, The Hay Wain, refers to the wooden wagon (wain) used for transporting cut and dried meadow grass (hay). The empty wagon is making its way through the shallow water to cross to the meadow on the other side where haymakers are at work.

Self Portrait at the Age of 34 (1661) by Rembrandt

On display on the corner of Court and Fore Streets

What 3 words: roost.haggling.clef

91 × 75 cm

This is one of dozens of self portraits by Rembrandt. We see the artist in confident pose – self-assured, dressed in expensive-looking fur and velvet, his hat laced with jewels.

After the Bath, Woman drying herself (about 1890-1895)  by Edgar Degas

On display at Bridgy Gallery

What 3 words: garlic.nagging.bagpipes

103.5 × 98.5 cm

The ungainly but authentic-looking pose makes it easy to believe that Degas was present in the woman’s room, catching her before she could straighten herself.

Salome receives the Head of John the Baptist (probably about 1630-1632) Caravaggio

On display at Sl-ate Cafe

What 3 words unhappy.oasis.gentlemen

91.5 × 106.7 cm

This is a late work by Caravaggio, probably painted towards the end of his life. He has reduced the story to its essentials, focusing on the human tragedy and conveying the scene’s emotional power through a restricted range of colour, pronounced chiaroscuro and dramatic gesture.

Mr and Mrs Andrews (1750) Thomas Gainsborough

On display at Dunwear House

Westonzoyland Road TA6 5BP

69.8 × 119.4 cm

This portrait of Mr Robert (1725–1806) and Mrs Frances Andrews (about 1732–1780) is the masterpiece of Gainsborough’s early career. It has been described as a ‘triple portrait’ – of Robert Andrews, his wife and his land.

Christina of Denmark, Duchess of Milan (1538) by Hans Holbein

On display at Side of YMCA

What 3 words: rehearsal.gravest.husky

179.1 × 82.6 cm

This elegant young woman is Christina of Denmark, the youngest daughter of King Christian of Denmark. In 1538, King Henry VIII of England was looking for a fourth wife, after the death of Jane Seymour the previous year. As Henry’s official court artist, Holbein was sent to Brussels to capture the 16-year-old Christina’s likeness.

A Young Woman standing at a Virginal 1670 by Johannes Vermeer

On display at Cafe Karma

What 3 words: clouds.cursing.factually

51.7 × 45.2 cm

The young woman at the keyboard holds our eye with a direct gaze. The empty chair suggests she is expecting someone and the large painting of a naked Cupid, the god of erotic love, on the wall behind her may be a signal that she is waiting for her lover.

Venus and Mars (1485) by Sandro Botticelli

On display at Mingle Cafe Bridgwater

What 3 words: assures.stems.fatherly

69.2 × 173.4 cm

Venus, the goddess of love, looks over at her lover Mars. She is alert and dignified, while he – the god of war – is utterly lost in sleep. He doesn‘t even notice the chubby satyr (half child, half goat) blowing a conch shell in his ear.

The Entombment (or Christ being carried to his Tomb) (1500s) by Michelangelo

on Display at Bridgy Gallery

What 3 words: garlic.nagging.bagpipes

161.7 × 149.9 cm

This is one of perhaps only three surviving panel paintings by the great Florentine artist Michelangelo.

An Allegory with Venus and Cupid (1545) by Bronzino

On display at the rear of the Palace Nightclub

What 3 words: sketch.specifies.backed

146.1 × 116.2 cm

Venus, goddess of love, steals an arrow from her son Cupid’s quiver as she kisses him on the lips.

The picture was probably sent to King Francis I of France as a gift from Cosimo I de’ Medici, ruler of Florence, who employed Bronzino as a court painter.

Seaport with the Embarkation of Saint Ursula (1641) by Claude

On Display at Bridgwater Docks

Bowerings Animal Feeds Provender Mill Docks, Bridgwater TA6 3EX

112.9 × 149 cm

According to the legend, Saint Ursula, a Christian princess from Britain or Brittany, made a holy pilgrimage to Rome with 11,000 virgins. Dressed in yellow and holding a flag with a red cross, Ursula watches her companions embark on their return voyage. They carry bows and arrows, weapons that represent their death later in the story.

A Wheatfield, with Cypresses (1889) by Vincent van Gogh

On Display on Fine Memorials building Bridgwater

What 3 words: part.strike.divorcing

72.1 × 90.9 cm

Van Gogh painted several versions of A Wheatfield, with Cypresses during the summer of 1889, while he was a patient in the psychiatric hospital of Saint-Paul de Mausole, in the village of St-Rémy in the south of France.

Surprised! (1891) by Henri Rousseau

On display at Bridgy Gallery