Pictures at an Exhibition - Animals Abounding Quiz

Answer: Rembrandt Bugatti

The baboon in this exhibition is one of the most expensive statues by Rembrandt Bugatti. It was sold in 2006 for more than 2,5 million dollars.
Rembrandt Bugatti (1884-1914) produced dozens of statues of wild life: lions, panthers, elephants, antelopes, leopards, horses, dogs, pelicans... He used to sit for hours in the Antwerp zoo, observing one single animal species. Then he went to his workshop, made a first impression in clay, and used this model to create a bronze cast.
Rembrandt was the younger brother of Ettore Bugatti, the designer of the eponymous French sports cars. One of Rembrandt's elephant figurines was used as the logo for Ettore's cars.
Mario Maserati was brother to the five brothers founding the Maserati car manufacture: Carlo, Bindo, Alfieri, Ettore and Ernesto. Rumour has it that Mario designed the logo for the car company (a trident).
Alfredo Ferrari's brother Enzo founded the eponymous sports car manufacture in Maranello.
Antonio Lamborghini was the father of Ferruccio, who founded the eponymous manufacture of agricultural vehicles and sports cars.

Answer: Salvador Dali

Salvador Dali (1904-1989) was one of the most famous surrealist artists. You'll find this particular painting in Madrid, in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum.
Dali is best known for melting clocks, elephants on elongated thin paws (such as the one rendered here in the background), and burning giraffes. But he made several more accessible creations, among them the Lobster telephone (a phone with the hand piece in the form of a cooked lobster).
Some other Dali paintings that might interest you are "The Persistence of Memory" (melting clocks), "The Temptation of Saint Anthony", or even the less known "Eggs on the Plate without the Plate".

Answer: Maurits Cornelius Escher

Escher (1898-1972) is the artist we're looking for. Escher's best known works are either metamorphoses such as "Sky and Water", or renderings of buildings with changing perspectives (so that, for instance, a man can walk upstairs, take four right angles and arrive at his starting point without ever moving downstairs). Escher was also inspired by the Möbius strip.
Dick Bruna (born 1927) is best known for his children's books series "Miffy" (in Dutch: "Nijntje"), with illustrations by the author himself.
Rietveld (1888-1964) was a Dutch furniture designer and architect. His most recognisable work is the "Red and Blue Chair".
Mondrian (1872-1944) was a Dutch painter, best known for his works with sharply aligned rectangles painted in one of the primary colours.

Answer: Cat

Frans Snyders (1579-1657) was trained by Pieter Brueghel the Elder. Later Snyders worked regularly in Rubens' workshop. Snyders was one of the first artists specialising in adequate rendering of animals (live or dead).
The painting above apparently bears a wrong title. It's in fact a still life with lobster, poultry and fruit, whilst the crab mentioned in the title can't be found anywhere. You'll find a cooked lobster on a plate, some bunches of grapes (white and blue grapes), a platter with strawberries, raspberries and currants, and a plucked turkey. But to see the turkey, you'll have to be very quick - for a tabby cat reaches already out a paw to that delicious turkey...
The red herrings (so to say) are not likely to be interested in devouring a turkey.

Answer: Yes

Rubens (1577-1640) was one of the leading Baroque painters in Antwerp. He and his workshop created over 2,000 paintings, of which several have gained worldwide acclaim.
"Adam and Eve" was an early work by Rubens, painted in 1597. Adam and Eve are standing nude in a garden (while two branches of nearby trees or bushes cover their most intimate body parts). Adam waves a finger at Eve, whilst Eve conceals something (perhaps an apple) in her hand. Above Eve's head, a snake is coiled around the tree - but you'll have to look very hard for this snake, which is almost the same colour as the tree bark. On the sky above, you'll find two birds flying away - they're too far away to distinguish the species. Between the principal characters, we can see a pond with at least two birds (probably a heron and a stork, and maybe one or two ducks, but it's only a small detail on the painting). On the shore of the pond, there is a shape that might be some sort of monkey. But, what is most peculiar, a brown rabbit is sitting at Eve's feet. There's also a parrot on the far left of the painting, above Adam's elbow.
Art critics have explained the rabbit as a sign of fecundity and the monkey as a sign of depravity. But the stork (traditional symbol for parental love) and the parrot (at that time symbol for eloquence) don't convey their usual meaning in the painting.

Answer: Dog

Typically, hunting portraits show us the hunter with his animal aide(s). So a hunting portrait shows us some man with his dog and / or his horse. Usually this portrait renders the hunter and his animal companion(s) before the start of the hunt.
The stag, boar or fox are typical prey for a hunting party. If these animals are depicted, it is in a painting of the moment supreme of a hunting party.
In each of the paintings I've mentioned in this question, a different dog appears. I would identify Don Fernando's dog as a Great Dane, King Philip's dog as a German shepherd (though this one is very hard to recognise), and Prince Baltasar Carlos' dog as a Saint Bernard. If you can ascertain one or more of these breeds on the paintings, please inform me.
Velazquez (1599-1660) is best known for his painting "Las Meninas", a portrait of the Infanta Margarita with some of her servants. This painting also shows a dog, namely a mastiff.

Answer: Manet

Edouard Manet (1832-1883) was a French Impressionist painter. He had already provoked quite a revolt with his "Luncheon on the Grass" earlier in 1863, but this nude portrait shocked the art critics even more. Nudity was not uncommon in artworks depicting mythical or sometimes even biblical people - remember for instance "Susanna and the Elders" by various Renaissance and Baroque artists.
But the nude woman in Manet's painting "Olympia" can clearly be identified as a prostitute - a profession that should never be alluded to in public (according to the ethical code of the 1860's). Several details refer to Olympia's profession: she's wearing an orchid in her hair, her maid servant is from African descent, and, to make things even worse, there's a black cat at her feet. The black cat was at that time the typical companion of prostitutes.
Manet was probably inspired by the "Venus of Urbino" by Titian and the "Sleeping Venus" by Giorgione, with a nude lady in exactly the same pose. The "Maja Desnuda" by Goya can have had its influence on Manet, too.
Titian (1488-1576), Giorgione (1478-1510) and Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510) were Renaissance painters. All of these have a masterpiece that depicts a nude woman. Titian's and Giorgione's paintings have been mentioned before, and Botticelli has painted a very famous "Birth of Venus".

Answer: Goldfinch

Raphael (born Rafaello Sanzio, 1483-1520) was a prolific painter. He worked in Umbria, in Florence and in Rome, and left us maybe 2,000 paintings, drawings and prints. He is best known for his frescos in the Vatican (including the "School of Athens") and for his numerous Madonnas.
In the painting "Madonna del Cardellino", the little bird caught by John the Baptist is a goldfinch. Because this bird feeds on roses (between the thorns), it reminds the contemporary spectators of the crown of thorns which Christ will carry just before the crucifixion.
The Italian words for magpie, vulture and eagle are gazza, avvoltoio and aquila, respectively. As far as I know, Raphael never painted any of these birds.

Answer: Statue of Marcus Aurelius

All these statues can be found in Rome and were made by Italian artists. However, only one of these was made during the Roman Empire.
The equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius was made by an anonymous artist in 175 AD, when the portrayed Emperor was still living. To conserve it from environmental influences, the original was restored in 1981 and moved to the Capitoline Museums, while a replica stands now on the Piazza del Campidoglio.
Agostino Cornacchini made in 1725 an equestrian statue of Charlemagne. Gianlorenzo Bernini left us in 1670 an equestrian statue of Emperor Constantine. Emilio Gallori sculpted in 1895 an equestrian statue of Giuseppe Garibaldi.
By the way, there is a popular myth that the position of the horse's hooves symbolizes the cause of death of the portrayed rider. If the horse has all hooves on the ground, the rider has died of natural causes. When the horse lifts one hoof, the rider was injured in battle, and when the horse lifts two hooves, the rider was killed in battle.
This particular statue shows us already that we have to discard this urban legend: Marcus Aurelius was sculpted on horseback before his death (of natural causes). By the way, the original shows one lifted hoof, in the replica both front hooves are lifted.
Bernini's statue of Constantine the Great also proves otherwise: while Constantine died of natural causes, Bernini's equestrian statue shows us Constantine riding a rampant horse: the two front hooves are lifted in the air. Cornacchini's statue of Charlemagne also defies the myth: while Charlemagne also died of natural causes, Cornacchini's equestrian statue shows us Charlemagne's mount with two raised hooves (left front and right hind). Of the mentioned equestrian statues, only Garibaldi's statue seems to follow the mythical rule.

Answer: John James Audubon

Audubon was born in Haiti in 1785, and raised in France. To avoid being conscripted for the Napoleonic wars, he was sent to America in 1803, where he anglicized his first names (originally named Jean Jacques). Even during his childhood, Audubon was fascinated by birds. He would take long walks in forested areas, only to observe the birds and explore their nests. His father tried to raise Jean Jacques as a sailor, but to no avail.
For the original "Birds of America", Audubon's drawings were used, and coloured by over fifty assistants. Later editions use lithographic prints.
Audubon died in 1851.
Gustave Doré (1832-1883) was a French etcher and book illustrator. Some books illustrated by Doré are the Bible and Milton's "Paradise Lost".
Hogarth (1697-1764) was a British painter and printmaker. His best known works are "A Harlot's Progress"; "A Rake's Progress" and "Marriage ŕ la Mode".
Beardsley (1872-1898) was a British book illustrator. His style was influenced by the Japanese eroticised Ukiyo-e.