16th Century Figurative Paintings

Without frame. Expertise by Prof. Antonio Vannugli A brightly lit gash opens up in the middle of the sky; within it appears the figure of the Virgin with the Child and beside her a...

The Battle of the Novogorodians with the Suzdalians 16th century Size 50.5 x 47.5 x 3 cm. The icon is located in the Russian Federation. There is an expert opinion from leading R...

Dimensions: 41 x 32 cm without frame - 47 x 55.5 cm with frame Antique box frame made of solid wood and walnut burl. Publications: unpublished The painting by Bernardino Detti (14...

Formerly Canesso Collection, Paris. Publications: Bozzetti, modelletti, sketches: dalla collezione di Giorgio Baratti (From the Giorgio Baratti Collection) curated by Anna Orlando, ...

Oil on Board. Flemish school of the 16th century. The work bears a plaque at the base attributing it to Lambert Van Noort (1520 -1571), justified by the proximity to his painterly ma...

The painting features the enthroned Madonna and Child, two praying angels, and Saints Nicholas of Tolentino, Augustine, Luke the Evangelist, and Monica, below an elegant canopy. The ...

Incredible triptych from the end of 15 century.

Saint Jerome in the desert Cercle of Lambert Van Noort (1520-1571, Antwerp) Antwerp School, mid-16th century Oil on oak panel. Dimensions: panel h. 69 cm (27.16 in), l. 52.5 cm (20.6...

The painting, of which the subject is Saint Catherine from Alexandria with the breaking wheel used for her martyrdom, can be attributed to the mannerist artist of Emilia Romagna region Luca Longhi...

Cristofano Rustici called il Rusticone was an artist active in Siena between the 16th and 17th century, son of Lorenzo Brazzi called il Rustico (Siena 1521-1572). Even if his artistic training started in the family workshop, he was mostly very influenced by the Flemish artist Bernhard van Rantwijk, who was also living in the Tuscan town at the same time. The subject of the four paintings are the Cardinal Virtues...

Oil on Board. Central-Italian school of the second half of the 1500s. The sacred scene of the Annunciation sees the two protagonist figures placed in the foreground in an interior th...

Olio su tela. Il modello deriva da un'incisione di Marcantonio Raimondi su disegno di Raffaello, appositamente realizzato per l'opera grafica, e derivato da un dipinto posto nella Stanza della Segnatura (1513-1515) nei Musei Vaticani. Questo modello fu ripreso e variato successivamente sia in opere dipinte che in altre incisioni, in particolare in quella di Raphael Sadeler del 1589, attualmente presso il gabinetto dei Disegni e delle Stampe dell'Accademia Carrara di Bergamo: il dipinto qui proposto difatti mostra le stesse modifiche apportate rispetto all'originale raffaellesco. Al centro della scena mitologica immersa in un paesaggio naturale, si trovano le tre dee che si contendevano il titolo di più bella: Giunone con il pavone...

The painting represents Clelia crossing the Tiber. Clelia was a Roman heroine, who was given as a hostage, together with other girls, to the Etruscan king Porsenna during the peace n...

Provenance: Private Collection, South America Antonio Tempesta began his career in Florence, working on the decoration of the Palazzo Vecchio under the direction of Giorgio Vasari. He was a pupil first of Santi di Tito...

Virgin and Child Workshop of Pieter Coecke Van Aelst (Aelst, 1502- Brussels, 1550) 16th century Oil on oak panel Dimensions: panel: h. 71.5cm, W. 48.5 cm (28.15 in x 19.09 in) Later ...

Madonna and Child with Saint John the Baptist and angels Circle of Joos Van Cleve (1485 – 1541) 16th century Antwerp school Oil on oak panel Dimensions: h. 32 cm (13 in.), w. 28.5 cm...

This vigorous drawing has long been attributed to Polidoro da Caravaggio: The Abduction of the Sabine Women is one of the scenes that Polidoro depicted between 1525 and 1527 on the façade of the Milesi Palazzo in Rome. However, the proximity to another drawing inspired by this same façade, kept at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, and to other drawings inspired by Polidoro kept at the Musée du Louvre, leads us to propose an attribution to Biagio Pupini, a Bolognese artist whose life remains barely known, despite the abundant number of drawings attributed to him. 1. Biagio Pupini, a Bolognese artist in the light of the Roman Renaissance The early life of Biagio Pupini, an important figure of the first half of the Cinquecento in Bologna - Vasari mentions him several times - is still poorly known. Neither his date of birth (probably around 1490-1495) nor his training are known. He is said to have been a pupil of Francesco Francia (1450 - 1517) and his name appears for the first time in 1511 in a contract with the painter Bagnacavallo (c. 1484 - 1542) for the frescoes of a church in Faenza. He then collaborated with Girolamo da Carpi, at San Michele in Bosco and at the villa of Belriguardo. He must have gone to Rome for the first time with Bagnacavallo between 1511 and 1519. There he discovered the art of Raphael, with whom he might have worked, and that of Polidoro da Caravaggio. This first visit, and those that followed, were the occasion for an intense study of ancient and modern art, as illustrated by his abundant graphic production. Polidoro da Caravaggio had a particular influence on the technique adopted by Pupini. Executed on coloured paper, his drawings generally combine pen, brown ink and wash with abundant highlights of white gouache, as in the drawing presented here. 2. The Abduction of the Sabine Women Our drawing is an adaptation of a fresco painted between 1525 and 1527 by Polidoro da Caravaggio on the façade of the Milesi Palace in Rome. These painted façades were very famous from the moment they were painted and inspired many artists during their stay in Rome. These frescoes are now very deteriorated and difficult to see, as the palace is in a rather narrow street. The episode of the abduction of the Sabine women (which appears in the centre of the photo above) is a historical theme that goes back to the origins of Rome and is recounted both by Titus Livius (Ab Urbe condita I,13), by Ovid (Fasti III, 199-228) and by Plutarch (II, Romulus 14-19). After killing his twin brother Romus, Romulus populates the city of Rome by opening it up to refugees and brigands and finds himself with an excess of men. Because of their reputation, none of the inhabitants of the neighbouring cities want to give them their daughters in marriage. The Romans then decide to invite their Sabine neighbours to a great feast during which they slaughter the Sabines and kidnap their daughters. The engraving made by Giovanni Battista Gallestruzzi (1618 - 1677) around 1656-1658 gives us a good understanding of the Polidoro fresco, allowing us to see how Biagio Pupini reworked the scene to extract this dynamic group. With a remarkable economy of means, Biagio Pupini takes over the left-hand side of the fresco and depicts in a very dense space two main groups, each consisting of a Roman and a Sabine, completed by a group of three soldiers in the background (which seems to differ quite significantly from Polidoro's composition). The balance of the drawing is based on a very strongly structured composition. The drawing is organised around a median vertical axis, which runs along both the elbow of the kidnapped Sabine on the left and the foot of her captor, and the two main diagonals, reinforced by four secondary diagonals. This diamond-shaped structure creates an extremely dynamic space, in which centripetal movements (the legs of the Sabine on the right, the arm of the soldier on the back at the top right) and centrifugal movements (the arm of the kidnapper on the left and the legs of the Sabine he is carrying away, the arm of the Sabine on the right) oppose each other, giving the drawing the appearance of a whirlpool around a central point of support situated slightly to the left of the navel of the kidnapper on the right. 3. Polidoro da Caravaggio, and the decorations of Roman palaces Polidoro da Caravaggio was a paradoxical artist who entered Raphael's (1483 - 1520) workshop at a very young age, when he oversaw the Lodges in the Vatican. Most of his Roman work, which was the peak of his career, has disappeared, as he specialised in facade painting, and yet these paintings, which are eminently visible in urban spaces, have influenced generations of artists who copied them abundantly during their visits to Rome. Polidoro Caldara was born in Caravaggio around 1495-1500 (the birthplace of Michelangelo Merisi, known as Caravaggio, who was born there in 1571), some forty kilometres east of Milan. According to Vasari, he arrived as a mason on the Vatican's construction site and joined Raphael's workshop around 1517 (at the age of eighteen according to Vasari). This integration would have allowed Polidoro to work not only on the frescoes of the Lodges, but also on some of the frescoes of the Chambers, as well as on the flat of Cardinal Bibiena in the Vatican. After Raphael's death in 1520, Polidoro worked first with Perin del Vaga before joining forces with Maturino of Florence (1490 - 1528), whom he had also known in Raphael's workshop. Together they specialised in the painting of palace façades. They were to produce some forty façades decorated with grisaille paintings imitating antique bas-reliefs. The Sack of Rome in 1527, during which his friend Maturino was killed, led Polidoro to flee first to Naples (where he had already stayed in 1523), then to Messina. It was while he was preparing his return to the peninsula that he was murdered by one of his assistants, Tonno Calabrese, in 1543. In his Vite, Vasari celebrated Polidoro as the greatest façade decorator of his time, noting that "there is no flat, palace, garden or villa in Rome that does not contain a work by Polidoro". Polidoro's facade decorations, most of which have disappeared as they were displayed in the open air, constitute the most important lost chapter of Roman art of the Cinquecento. The few surviving drawings of the painter can, however, give an idea of the original appearance of his murals and show that he was an artist of remarkable and highly original genius. 4. The façade of the Milesi Palace Giovanni Antonio Milesi, who commissioned this palace, located not far from the Tiber, north of Piazza Navona, was a native of the Bergamo area, like Polidoro, with whom he maintained close friendly ties. Executed in the last years before the Sack of Rome, around 1526-1527, the decoration of Palazzo Milesi is considered Polidoro's greatest decorative success. An engraving by Ernesto Maccari made at the end of the nineteenth century allows us to understand the general balance of this façade, which was still well preserved at the time. The frescoes were not entirely monochrome, but alternated elements in chiaroscuro simulating marble bas-reliefs and those in ochre simulating bronze and gold vases...

Portrait of Sultan Isa Çelebi (died 1403),identity inscribed in Latin. Portrait of Sultan Murad III (1546–1595), identity inscribed in Latin. The present paintings refer to the works attributed to a follower of Paolo Veronese in the Bayerische Staatsgemälde Sammlungen , Würzburg . The paintings are comparable and complementary to a set of 6 Turkish rulers sold in 2022 for 1,5 M. by Sothebys. Located at the crossroads of East and West, the Ottoman Empire absorbed a diverse range of influences, including Chinese, European, and Persian, to produce a distinctive and coherent artistic language throughout a range of decorative arts. Ottoman expansion into Eastern Europe and subsequent access to the silver mines of the Balkans between the 14th and 16th C. led to a rich and skilled tradition of Ottoman silverware, tiles, dishes, and other ceramic objects. From the 16th to 19th C. the production of decorative arts continued to flourish with the introduction of both rococo and baroque elements signalling an increasingly open attitude to all things European. The production of Orientalist paintings is rich in topographical landscapes of Istanbul, genre scenes, and portraits of Ottoman notables. Europe’s fascination with its powerful, Muslim neighbours inspired a wave of accounts and paintings of the Ottoman world. The taking of Constantinople in 1453 by the young Mehmet II ('The Conqueror’) not only sparked this interest, but the young Sultan himself, who invited European painters to his court, further fuelled this fashion. The period following his reign saw relations between the Republic of Venice and its powerful neighbour reach a state of relative calm, initiating a period of exchange and trade. The present portraits of the Sultans, depicted in three-quarter view and wearing a large turban and richly embroidered cloak...

Circle of Amico Aspertini Oil on panel, 59x31 cm. Provenance: Asta Pandolfini 8 marzo 2023 lot. 47. He was born in Bologna to a family of painters (including Giovanni Antonio Asperti...

Sacred Conversation: Madonna with child with St. John with idealized landscape background with mountains. Early XVI century. Oil on wooden panel of Venetian conifers. Marco Bello, attributed. (Venezia, 1470 - 1523, Udine), pupil and follower of Giovanni Bellini. Venetian school. Madonna with child with St. John with idealized landscape background with mountains. Dimentions: 57cm x 68cm x 6cm Beautiful late Renaissance frame...

Rest of the Holy Family during the Flight into Egypt Workshop of Pieter Coecke Van Aelst (1502-1550) 16th century Flemish school Oil on oak panel, Dimensions : panel: h. 34.25 in., ...

Oil on oak panel Image size: 20 1/2 x 23 1/2 inches (52 x 60 cm) Hand made frame Herri Met de Bles, also known as Henri Blès, Herri de Dinant and Herry de ...

The painting represents the meeting of Jesus Christ with Saint Peter. Late 16th - early 17th century. Technique: oil on canvas. Antique wooden frame...

Lucas Cranach the Elder and Studio 1472-1553 German Moses and the Pillar of Cloud Oil on panel Moses and the Pillar of Cloud is a bold and evocative composition that showcases the signature intense color and intricate detail of Lucas Cranach the Elder’s celebrated oeuvre. The remarkable 16th-century oil on panel by Lucas Cranach and his studio captures the narrative moment when Moses leads the Israelites out of Egypt and encounters God manifested through a large pillar of cloud. Moses stands at the precipice of a bridge and turns back to soldiers helping to lead the group of Israelites who huddle closely together. Cranach depicts Moses with his traditional iconography, rendering the rays of light on his head which came to be interpreted as "horns" in the translation of the Bible. Using his traditional walking staff, Moses gestures toward the pillar, seemingly acknowledging that God will protect the group as they cross the bridge to the other side, leaving exile and entering a promised land. In a nod to Cranach’s Germanic locale, he renders the figures and setting in a manner that feels decisively more akin to European aesthetics than those of the Red Sea. Soldiers wear elaborate, gothic suits of armor that recall the livery of Northern European guardsmen. The terrain appears more like a European forest giving way to a sweeping valley than the arid landscape the Israelites trekked through on their journey across the Red Sea. Though still clearly recounting a story from the Old Testament, Cranach renders the cast of characters and setting in an earthly, familiar manner. This aesthetic shift speaks to Cranach’s own changing beliefs as he found himself at the center of the Protestant Reformation. After first gaining recognition in 1505 as the official painter of Frederick the Wise, Cranach established a thriving painting and print studio in Wittenberg, Germany. Cranach was renowned for his court portraits and genre paintings and was also well known for his association with the famous protestant reformer Martin Luther, then under the protection of Frederick the Wise. As Wittenberg became a bastion of new religious thought, Cranach soon befriended Luther and played an active role in creating the printed materials that proliferated throughout the Reformation...

Oil on panel of 16 century . Master of the Luna’s. Certificated by Isabel de Mateo who is the most important expert in the Spanish artist of 16 century.

Oil on panel. Flemish 17 century. Louis de Caullery

This vigorous drawing is clearly inspired by the numerous compositions on the Ecce Homo theme which were produced by Titian and his workshop at the painter's maturity. However, the number of characters and their expressionist treatment, the many variations to Titian's paintings reveal a drawing made by an original artist, perhaps of foreign origin, belonging to the peripheral circle of the "Titian solar system”, as described by the art historian Enrico Maria del Pozzolo. 1. Titian, the leading artist of 16th century Venetian painting and his botteghe Tiziano Vecelli (or Vecellio), known as Titian, was born between 1489 and 1490 in Pieve di Cadore in the Veneto region of Italy into a wealthy family of soldiers and lawyers. At the age of 15, he joined the studio of Giovanni Bellini, where he became friend with Giorgione, ten years his senior. Giorgione introduced him to a new pictorial style in which forms are defined by colour and pictorial substance, freeing himself from the meticulous underlying drawings characteristic of Bellini's painting. Titian became the official painter of the Republic of Venice upon Bellini's death in 1516. In 1518, the completion of his Assumption for the church of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari in Venice established his reputation as the leading painter of the Venetian school: throughout his career, Titian had a considerable impact on other artists of his time, whether they were direct collaborators, occasional contributors, or other artists under his influence. Considered one of the greatest portraitists of his time, his fame spread throughout Europe and he became the official painter of the greatest European families: the Gonzagas, the Farneses (Alessandro Farnese, of whom he executed several portraits, was elected pope in 1534 under the name of Paul III), the Habsburgs (he went to Augsburg in 1548 to paint the portrait of Charles V and King Philip II of Spain, his successor, later became the artist's main patron). As Titian almost reached the age of 90 years, he saw during his lifetime the death of many of his loved ones (his wife Cecilia, his brother Francesco and his son Orazio). A pathetic feeling appears in his late artworks, such as his famous Pieta, his last work intended to decorate his tomb which remained unfinished. Titian's success was also based on the establishment of a large and versatile workshop, which, alongside the traditional assistance in the production of certain paintings, ensured the publication of numerous woodcuts, allowing the master's works to be widely distributed. Long ignored by art historians, the individual stories of these various collaborators, the organisation of this workshop and the interactions of the collaborators with the master are at the heart of contemporary studies on the artist. 2. A complex composition with expressionist overtones Executed with great virtuosity in black chalk, the composition of our drawing is complex, even slightly confused and probably reflects several phases of execution, if not several hands. The scene is organised around the characters of Christ and an executioner wearing a Phrygian cap. Christ is presented at mid-body, slightly at an angle, his torso bare, his shoulders draped in a cloak, his hands clasped together and probably bound. His head, as if weighed down by the crown of thorns, is slightly bent forward. The eyes and mouth are hollowed out by the black chalk to better express his sorrow. The man wearing a Phrygian cap holds a whip in his right hand, while his left hand, barely outlined, seems to be pulling aside Christ's tunic as if he were about to scourge him. Two other men, who may have been added at a later stage, occupy the space between the executioner and Christ. One is depicted in profile, while the one behind Christ appears to be wearing a military helmet. In an indistinct gesture, his left arm is raised as if to strike Christ. Slightly behind Jesus on his left side, appears a bearded old man wearing a turban. With his left arm raised, he holds out the palm of his hand in a gesture of amazement. His face is finely executed and contrasts with the hand depicted in a rather crude manner. This character may also have been added at a later stage, as he does not fit in perfectly behind the group formed by Jesus and his executioner. This frieze is completed in the left foreground by two additional figures depicted in three-quarter view. Soberly sketched but with great fluidity, only their heads emerge, as if Christ and his executioners were situated on a pedestal above a large crowd. Finally, on the right-hand side of the composition, a second helmeted soldier is depicted. His musculature can be seen under his armour while he stares intently at Christ. He is smaller than the other figures, even though he appears in the front row, revealing a certain clumsiness on the part of the artist. 3. Ecce Homo, one of Titian’s favourite subjects in his twilight years In 1543, Titian tackled the theme of the Ecce Homo in a masterly composition now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. Christ is presented by Pilate, dressed in an antique costume, at the top of a staircase, in a large, highly architectural setting animated by a crowd of characters. The title of the painting refers to a passage from the Gospel of St John (19, 1-5): “Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they slapped him in the face. Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!” From the 1540s onwards, Titian and his workshop repeatedly depicted the Christ of Sorrows for their principal patrons. In these paintings, Titian returned to the half-body format that he had practically abandoned since 1520 and refocused the composition (compared to the large 1543 Ecce Homo) on the figure of Christ, who is depicted alone or accompanied by a few figures. With his eyes lowered and his head slightly bowed, Titian's Christ seems calmly resigned to his fate. Powerless and submissive, he arouses deep pathos from the viewer. The tondo in the Louvre Museum shows Christ in a position very similar to that of our drawing, a position that will be found in most of Titian's Ecce Homo. To his right stands a helmeted soldier who seems to be baring his shoulder and to his left a servant of Pilate wearing a Phrygian cap. These two figures are reminiscent of the soldier in the lower right corner and the executioner in the left most part of our drawing. Various versions were executed by Titian and his workshop until the late 1560s, and the version that seems closest to the right-hand side of our drawing is the one in the Prado Museum. Although of uneven quality, it is interesting to note the gesture of Pilate's hand, holding out the palm of his left hand towards the viewer, as if to distance himself from the decision that the crowd will make. Recent X-rays of the painting have shown that the executioner on the right, depicted from behind, was originally depicted in profile (as in our drawing), and that the other two figures (Pilate on the left of Christ and a servant wearing a Phrygian cap on his right) were added later. The painting was then organised around the diagonal that crosses the canvas from left to right, emphasised by the light coming from the window, and centred on the exchange of glances between Christ and the executioner on his left. The profile of the old man in the foreground on the left could be inspired by that of the elderly Titian as it appears repeatedly in the painter's late artworks, such as the Madonna of Mercy in the Palatine Gallery. 4. A deeply original drawing, at the risk of confusion We saw in the last paragraph the various borrowings from Titian's depictions of the Ecce Homo that can be found in this drawing: the position of Christ, the presence of executioners wearing Phrygian caps and of helmeted soldiers, one of whom is looking at Christ in a position that evokes the repentance visible with X-ray in the Madrid painting...

Oil on panel. Flemish 17 century. Louis de Caullery, auction house provenance, sold like Louis de Caullery.

Flemish School, believed to be from the 16th century according to previous owner. Oil on panel depicting Saint Jerome seated in his study with various instruments and symbols around ...

Inscribed, reverse: Fr Brina Provenance: Private Collection, New Jersey. Francesco Brina was one of the “Studiolo” painters, responsible for the panel of Neptune and Amphitrite in F...

This art piece is a Florentine Renaissance period fresco of late 1500 hand painted with egg tempera representing the temptation of Adam and Eve, this pivotal moment in the history of genesis is framed in an oval scrolled cartouche and flanked by architectural pillars featured as two sculptural male and female caryatids holding the entablature of the palazzo. This antique Italian old master...

Triptych Of The Crucifixion, 19th Century after PIETRO PERUGINO (1446-1523) Large circa 19th Century Umbrian School Old Master triptych of the Crucif...

A rare & important Italian Renaissance tempera on parchment painting, Giuseppe Cesari Il Cavalier d'Arpino (Giuseppe Cesari, 1568-1640), the painting c...

Old Master Drawing by the Circle of Lambert Lombard. Drawing/ Study of a Man in Renaissance Style, later signed "F. Floris". Study of a Man Lombard li...

This painting (in an excellent state of conservation and of fine executive workmanship, attests to the enormous luck of Raphael's inventions in the years following his death: in fact...

Panel depicting the Holy Family with San Giovannino. At the center of the scene is the Virgin, with a red tunic and a blue cloak edged with gold embroidery,...

Italian Renaissance Angels Making Music - 16th Century Renaissance Fresco Fragment - Lombardy Italy A detached Renaissance Fresco dating to the ea...

Giacomo used to paint with his brother Giulio, identifying their works with the monogram «I I». The strong influence of his father, Francesco, is undeniable in all his works, althoug...

German school from XVIth century Saint Acharius et saint Camomus, circa 1500 Oil on panel Unsigned On wooden panel size 85 x 54 cm (c. 33 x 21 in) Provenance : Private collection, ...

Francesco Vanni is one of the last representatives of the long Sienese pictorial tradition. In this masterly composition in pen and ink wash, he presents the Virgin of the Rosary, holding the Child Jesus on her lap, surrounded on her right by Saint Dominic and on her left by Saint Catherine of Siena. The presence of these two emblematic saints of the Dominican order is a reminder of the devotion of this order to the Rosary. 1. Francesco Vanni, a Sienese painter of the Counter-Reformation Francesco Vanni was the most important Sienese painter of the late sixteenth century and a key Italian Counter-Reformation painter. He developed a very specific style, inspired not by Florentine models but rather by the Roman, Bolognese and Marche schools, and in particular by the work of his contemporary Federico Barocci (Urbino 1535 - 1612), despite the two artists never meeting. Francesco Vanni was born in Siena around 1563-1564. His father died in 1567 and his mother remarried Arcangelo Salimbeni (1536 - 1579), then one of Siena’s leading painters. His half-brother Ventura Salembini (1568 - 1613) also became a well-known painter. He continued his apprenticeship in Bologna and Rome, where he joined the painter Giovanni de Vecchi’s (1536 - 1614) studio, where he was greatly influenced, like other Tuscan painters of the time, by the art of Federico Barocci. He devoted himself mainly to religious painting, following the canons of the Counter-Reformation. Travelling between Siena, Rome, Bologna and Parma, in 1604, he settled in Siena, where he ended his life. Vanni was also an important member of the Confraternity of the Sacro Chiodo, renowned for its demanding religious practices. His legacy also includes some important engraved work. 2. Description of the artwork The Virgin is depicted enthroned in majesty, slightly taller than the other figures that she dominates from her pedestal. Her wide robe with marked folds evokes Renaissance statuary. She is crowned by two angels in the sky. These two angels are a reminder of the custom of adding angels to crown 13th century icons which was frequent at Vanni’s time. The Child Jesus is standing on the Virgin’s right knee. With her left hand she holds out a rosary to Catherine of Siena, identifiable by a branch of lily in her hand. In a symmetrical gesture, the Child Jesus also holds out a rosary to St Dominic. Two of St Dominic’s attributes are to be found at the foot of the Virgin: a book and a branch of lilies. Vanni gives particularly delicate treatment to St. Dominic's long and slender hands. The two outstretched rosaries form the link between the heavenly register of the Virgin and the Child Jesus and the earthly register of the two Dominicans who are not crowned with a halo. This and the fact they are followed by a large crowd, indicates that they are both represented as part of the multitude of the living called to pray to the Rosary. According to the classical iconographic tradition, it would be plausible to consider that the figure looking at the viewer on the extreme left of the drawing could be a self-portrait of the painter. Francesco Vanni's face is known to us from a self-portrait kept in the Pinacoteca Nazionale in Siena. The squaring of the drawing suggests that it was used for a larger-scale altarpiece, probably for a church dedicated to St Dominic or for a Dominican convent. As of today, we have not identified the painting for which this drawing served as a preparatory modello. The Madonna of the Rosary in the Cathedral of Pitigliano (painted by Francesco Vanni in 1609) differs quite significantly from our drawing by the addition of Pope Pius V, and the inclusion of St. Dominic and St. Catherine in the celestial register. We believe that our drawing predates this painting because of its more symmetrical composition, and less Baroque influence. The presence of Saint Catherine of Siena, particularly venerated in his native town, to which Francesco Vanni returned frequently from 1590 onwards, leads us to propose a date of around 1590 - 1600 for this drawing. 3. The Rosary and the Dominican Order In order to clarify the iconographic meaning of this artwork, it is worth recalling the role of Saint Dominic in the spread of the Rosary prayer. Dominic Nuñez de Guzman was born around 1170 in Caleruega (near Burgos) in Spain and died in 1221 in Bologna, Italy. He was the founder of the order of friar preachers, commonly known as the Dominicans. He was canonised by the Church in 1234 and has since been celebrated under the name of Saint Dominic. After three days of prayer in the forest of Bouconne, near Toulouse, Dominic is said to have received the Rosary as a means of converting the Cathar population. The Dominicans subsequently made a special effort to promote this form of meditative prayer. Pope Pius V, a Dominican, included the feast of the Rosary (on October 7th) in the liturgical calendar in 1571. Rosary prayer has evolved over the centuries and traditionally consists of the recitation of three rosaries (four since St John Paul II). Each rosary consists of five tens of "Hail Mary...

The painting and the preparatory drawing are offered together. Provenance Private collection, Germany, Trier, c. 1980- 2013 Saint John the Baptist Brown ink and wash over red chalk on oatmeal paper 31 x 20.5 cm Inscribed: „Ferrau Fenzonio da Faenza invt. esque … imp. da Fran. Villamena …“. bears the collector's mark of Henry Scipio Reitlinger (1882-1950; Lugt 2274a) on a tiny label glued to the verso On the reverse is a partial drawing of a Pieta, pricked for transfer. Provenance New York, Doyle, 14. October 2015, No. 6 The painting and the preparatory drawing resemble the composition of an engraving after Ferraù Fenzoni by Francesco Villamena. Drawing, engraving and painting are almost identical, except for minor differences. Even the measurements nearly correspond: painting (32 x 25,5 cm), drawing (30 x 20,5 cm), engraving (31,1 x 23,5 cm). Dr. Guiseppe Scavizzi confirmed the attribution of the present panting to Fenzoni and he dates it to c. 1590. The inscription on the drawing reads “Ferrau Fenzonio da Faenza invt. esque. . . imp. da Fran: Villamena . . .”. The engraving’s inscription also lists place and date “Ferra Fensionius inventor/F. Villamoena sculpsit Rome/Aspectu fruitur… antra puer/cum Privilegio… 1613”. Interestingly, the engraving is not mirrored as it is in most printing processes. Painting, drawing and engraving are not reversed but the same. It is remarkable to note that there are further paintings by Fenzoni which were engraved in the same order and not reverted. They also show strong parallels regarding the compositions and the measurements (see for example “Deposition of Christ” ). Ferraù Fenzoni was an Italian painter mainly active in Todi. He is also called Il Faenzone after his birthplace (Faenza). He apprenticed in Rome during the papacy of Gregory XIII and contributed to numerous fresco cycles under pope Sixtus V, such as the Loggia della Benedizioni in the Lateran Palace, the frescoes on the walls and vaults of the Scala Santa of the adjacent Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano, and the decoration in the Sistine library. His expressive canvases straddle the styles of Mannerism and Baroque. In 1594, he moved to Todi. A “Last Judgement” by him is housed in the cathedral of Todi. He returned to Faenza in 1599, where he decorated chapels in the cathedral from 1612 to 1616. In 1622, he completed a “Deposition”, now in the local Pinacoteca. In 1640, Fenzoni was named “cavaliere dello speron d’oro” by Cardinal Colonna and, on 25th April 1634, he was nominated vicar and “castellano of Granarolo”. Fenzoni‘s style is characterized by a mixture of the Mannerism of the Northern Netherlands and the Italian Baroque. Saint John the Baptist, Old Master, 17th Century, By Fenzoni, Religious Scene, Rome Art...

Provenance: with Leo Blumenreich and Julius Böhler, Munich, 1924 Dr. Frederic Goldstein Oppenheimer (1881-1963), San Antonio, Texas; by whom given to: Abraham M. Adler, New York, un...

Provenance: Palazzo Pisani at San Stefano, Venice Mrs. F. Craighead (possibly Mrs. Fay Stinson Craighead, Evansville, Indiana) Sale, Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, 7 June 1978, lot 310, as Bonifazio Veronese Daniel M. Friedenberg, New York, until 2011; and by descent to: Russell Friedenberg, until 2014 Literature: Giuseppe Pavanello, Gli Inventari di Pietro Edwards nella Biblioteca del Seminario Patriarcale di Venezia, Venice 2006, pp. 132, 140, as no. 10 in Pietro Edwards’ inventory of the Palazzo Pisani: “Giuseppe che fugge dalla moglie di Pitifarre” by Bonifacio Veronese. Philip Cottrell and Peter Humfrey, Bonifacio de’ Pitati, (forthcoming), cat. no. 166h. Antonio Palma is the least well-known member of the illustrious Palma family of Venetian painters of the 16th century. He was the nephew of Jacopo Palma—Palma il Vecchio—and upon his uncle’s death in 1528, he began to work with Palma Vecchio’s principal student and the inheritor of the elder artist’s studio, Bonifazio de’ Pitati (Bonifazio Veronese). Antonio worked with Bonifazio as his principal assistant and right-hand man until Bonifazio’s death in 1553, after which he continued his independent career. He married a niece of his master, and their second son, Jacopo, born in 1648, would achieve fame as Palma il Giovane...

Gillis Claeissens Portrait of a Lady, probably "Anne Joigny-de Pamele" Oil on wood, 35,5 x 28 cm Gillis Claeissens has only recently been rediscovered as an important portrait painter of the 16th century. He received his training in the studio of his father, Pieter I Claeissens. Gillis became a freemaster of the St Luke's Guild in Brussels in 1566 and worked at the court of Alexander Farnese in Brussels between 1589 and 1592. Later he was also court painter to the Archdukes Albert and Isabella. After his return to Bruges, he created portraits of high Bruges society. It was only through the Forgotten Masters exhibition in Bruges in 2018 that the work of Gillis Claeissens was rediscovered. The present painting recently turned up in a private collection and was confirmed as a typical work by Claeissens by Mrs Oosterwijk at the Museum Groeninghe in Bruges. Gillis Claeissens or Egidius Claeissens (Bruges, 1526 – Bruges, 17 December 1605) was a Flemish painter of portraits and altarpieces and a member of a prominent family of artists originating in Bruges. It has only been possible to distinguish Gillis Claeissens' work from that of his father and siblings after scholars discovered a contract with the artist for the painting of a tryptich. It was further discovered in 2015 that he artist can be identified with the Monogrammist G.E.C. These discoveries have allowed to recognise Gillis Claeissens as an important portraitist alongside Pieter Pourbus in 16th century Bruges. Portrait Paintung, Old Master, Bruges School, Bruges Painting...

Lady Dormer, Mary Browne c. 1592 oil on panel 35 x 29 inches, unframed; 41 x 34.75 inches, inc. frame Inscribed 'Lady Dormore' Mary married Henry Wriothesley, 2nd Earl of Southampton who gave birth to Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton - one of the great figures in Shakespears"s circle and founder of the Virginia company, developers of Virginia USA. Henry Wriothesley, born 6 October 1573 at Cowdray House, Sussex, was the only son of Henry Wriothesley, 2nd Earl of Southampton, by Mary Browne, the only daughter of Anthony Browne, 1st Viscount Montague, and his first wife, Jane Radcliffe.[5] He had two sisters, Jane, who died before 1573, and Mary (c. 1567 – 1607), who in June 1585 married Thomas Arundell, 1st Baron Arundell of Wardour.[6] After his father's death, Southampton's mother married firstly, on 2 May 1595, as his second wife, Sir Thomas Heneage (d. 17 October 1595), Vice-Chamberlain of the Household, and secondly, between 5 November 1598 and 31 January 1599, Sir William Hervey. She died in November 1607.[7] Early life When his father died on 4 October 1581 Southampton inherited the earldom and landed income valued at £1097 6s per annum. His wardship and marriage were sold by the Queen to her kinsman, Charles, Lord Howard of Effingham, for £1000. According to Akrigg, Howard then "entered into some further agreement, of which no documentation can now be found, which transferred to Lord Burghley personally the custody and marriage of the young Earl, but left Howard holding his lands", and late in 1581 or early in 1582 Southampton, then eight years of age, came to live at Cecil House in the Strand.[8] In October 1585, at age twelve, Southampton entered St John's College, Cambridge,[9] graduating M.A. on 6 June 1589.[10] His name was entered at the Gray's Inn legal society before he left the university, and he was admitted on 29 February 1588.[11] On Southampton's 16th birthday, 6 October 1589, Lord Burghley noted Southampton's age in his diary, and by 1590 Burghley was negotiating with Southampton's grandfather, Anthony Browne, 1st Viscount Montague, and Southampton's mother, Mary, for a marriage between Southampton and Lord Burghley's eldest granddaughter, Elizabeth Vere, daughter of Burghley's daughter, Anne Cecil, and Edward de Vere...

Pieta, 16th Century circle of Quinten MASSYS (1466-1530) Large 16th Century Netherlandish Old Master depiction of the Pieta, oil on oak panel. Large scene of the Virgin mother embracing the body of Christ in her arms. Presented in a large antique arched wooden frame. Stable surface condition and good panel condition/stability for its age. Some overpainting in the veil, hands and background as a result of over cleaning. Similar to the works of painter Van Cleeve...

Attentive observer, may I challenge you to find some unusual elements in this panel painting? One detail has to do with the symbolic use of color, the other with a later adjustment of the image. Indeed! The Blessed Virgin is not dressed in her usual sky blue cloak, which refers to her purity, but in a red robe. During the Late Middle Ages and early Renaissance, the Virgin often wore such a red garment to refer to the Passion of Christ. After all, the blessing Christ child with his orb would shed his blood for the redemption of mankind. The second strange element catches the eye when one looks closer at the little Jesus. It appears that he was originally depicted completely naked, but got on a transparent loincloth over time. In the past there were several times when nudity in art was subject to some form of censorship. For example, the supervision of Christian art was strongly encouraged by the Council of Trent (1545-1563). This assembly was dealing with the inner-ecclesiastical reform of the Roman Catholic Church. One of the important theologians who followed the council’s guidelines was Joannes Molanus (1533-1585). He did not consider the nakedness of the Christ Child to be edifying and pointed out that children could be endangered in this way. He may have been referring to the dangers of paedophilia. During the 19th century, puritanism emerged. A famous example of a moral preacher was Pope Pius IX...

Landscape with Figures is an original Old Master Painting realized in the Second half of the 16th Century and attributed to the French painter Matthijs Bril (Antwerp, 1550 – Rome, 15...

Circle of Ridolfo Ghirlandaio 1483 - 1561 Oil on panel Image size: 20 ½ x 16 ½ inches (52 x 42 cm) Handmade contemporary style gilt frame The lamentation of Christ was one of the most popular scenes depicted in European art from the 11th to the 18th century. Depicting the lamentation or pieta from the Italian word for ‘Pity’ of Christ with Jesus’s mother Mary cradling his body. Christ is depicted nude, wearing only a blueish loincloth around his waist, a horizontal scar marking his rib cage. His head and torso are held upright, and his eyes are closed, his right arm lays to his side as does his left. Standing behind him, is the Virgin Mary, outfitted in her traditional dress of a robe with a white veil. She stands behind Christ and bends slightly, looking looking away from Christ to something that has caught her attention, her right hand holding his shoulder. Her left-hand carefully holds his arm. This work is quite unusual with Mary . This stunning work jumps out with its dark background and strong flesh colours. Ridolfo Ghirlandaio was the son of the eminent painter Domenico Ghirlandaio. Following his father’s death in 1494, when he was just eleven years old, Ridolfo is thought to have continued his training with his uncle Davide, who had taken over the Ghirlandaio workshop. Vasari noted that Ridolfo also studied with Fra Bartolommeo...

A masterful example of Italian Mannerist painting, this exceptional panel was composed by the renowned Florentine painter Domenico Puligo. Alongside Jacopo Pontormo and Rosso Fiorentino, Puligo is remembered as one of the foremost figures of the Mannerist movement that rose to prominence during the 16th century in Florence. This panel of the Virgin Mary with the Christ child and Saint John the Baptist is a characteristic example of his celebrated devotional images, which grace museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), Museo del Prado (Madrid), Palazzo Borghese (Rome), and Palazzo Pitti (Florence), among many others. Puligo’s skill with color is fully demonstrated in the beautifully preserved work. Considering its age, the vibrancy and the sheer range of color is remarkable. The Virgin Mary’s crimson dress...

Inizio XVII secolo. Immacolata concezione. Vergine con il bambino ed il drago. Tecnica: olio su tavoletta di legno. Dipinto della scuola di centro Italia : Toscana o Umbria o March...

Head Portrait of a Man with Beard Flemish/ Dutch School, circa 1580-1620 period circle of Adriaen Thomasz. Key (Dutch, 1544, Antwerp – after 1589) oil on canvas, framed framed: 20 x ...

Oil on canvas Image size: 26 x 37 inches (66 x 94 cm) Period hand carved gilt frame The pictorial arrangement of the Holy Family, with various saints in a landscape, was very popular in sixteenth-century Venice, following the prototype of Giovanni Bellini. Possibly intended for private devotion, this picture is a representative example of the compositional type known as the sacra conversazione...

Marinus van Reymerswaele c.1490 – c.1546 Dutch The Tax Collectors 16th century Oil on wood panel Marinus van Reymerswaele stands among the greatest and most beloved artists of 16th-century Antwerp. Entitled The Tax Collectors, this oil on board original exudes the technical skill and life-like vibrancy for which the artist is renowned. In a quiet interior scene, two men sit at a green table covered in coins, jewels, and empty moneybags. While the man in the red turban...

"Saint Mary Magdalene" D'après Guido RENI (1575-1642) oil painting on canvas, late 20th century from the studio of Dagher, Paris (read notes below), stamped verso canvas: 81 x 69 cm (32 x 27.25 inches) unframed. provenance: the atelier Dagher, Paris Very fine quality large scale oil painting after the 16th century Renaissance painting...

"Venus and Cupid with Dog and Partridge" After Tiziano VECELLIO, dit TITIEN (1488/1490 – 1576) oil painting on canvas, late 20th century from the studio of Dagher, Paris (read notes below), stamped verso canvas: 67 x 93 cm (26.5 x 36.75 inches) unframed. provenance: the atelier Dagher, Paris Very fine quality large scale oil painting after the 16th century Renaissance painting...

"Lucretius" After Paolo Caliari, (1528 – 1588) oil painting on canvas, late 20th century from the studio of Dagher, Paris (read notes below), stamped ve...

"Renaud and Arminde" After François BOUCHER (1703-1770) oil painting on canvas, late 20th century from the studio of Dagher, Paris (read notes below), stamped verso canvas: 92 x 73 cm (36.25 x 28.75 inches) unframed. provenance: the atelier Dagher, Paris Very fine quality large scale oil painting after the 18th century Renaissance painting by François BOUCHER (1703-1770) , "Renaud and Armide". The painting itself dates to the late 20th century and is an original work by the world famous studio in Paris, the "Atelier Dagher". The Atelier Dagher have for 35 years been faithfully painting Old Masters copies and are one of the few artists to be authorised by the Louvre and Orsay Museums in Paris to paint in situ. Mr Amal Dagher, the senior member of the family of painters, is often present in front of his easel in the Louvre Museum to paint in the way of a genuine Great Master painting...