Adoration of the Magi, Flanders, 17th Century

The Massacre of the Innocents Carved oak panel Normandy, late 16th century (Collection labels on the back) Measures: 43,5 x 61 cm.  

Cerberus Black painted stone Italy, 17th century Measures: 80 x 69 x 36cm (one head missing) Cerberus, cruel monster, fierce and strange, Through his wide threefold throat barks as a dog Over the multitude immers'd beneath. His eyes glare crimson, black his unctuous beard, His belly large, and claw'd the hands, with which He tears the spirits, flays them, and their limbs Piecemeal disparts (Dante, Inferno, Canto VI). Cerberus figure seated, in his role of ferocious guardian of the underworld; he shows a nervous musculature, an adherent skin which reveals the ribs, long and robust limbs; his heads are broad and the eyes set well apart. Painted in black to amplify his menacing look, the infernal guardian is depicted with his famous attributes, writhing his heads, growling and barking furiously. Cerberus, in Greek mythology, was the monstrous watchdog of the underworld – also known as the “hound of Hades” – preventing the dead from leaving, and making sure that those who entered never left. A child of Typhon and Echidna, he was part of a monstrous family, which included Orthus, the Lernaean Hydra, and the Chimaera as well. Only on three occasions Cerberus was tricked by visitors of Hades: Heracles did it with his strength, Orpheus with his music. In "The Inferno", Dante places Cerberus as the guardian of the third circle of Hell. With his three mouths, Dante saw Cerberus as a beast that was synonymous with the sin of Gluttony. Virgil gets past the monster by throwing mud in his three mouths, temporarily choking him. Very rare are the representations of Cerberus in ancient statuary...

Marble lion white marble France, probably Périgord, 17th century Small marble lion wearing a coat of arms pendant with the engraved date, ...

Italian Memento Mori skull Marble North of Italy, 17th century H 9 x L 7 x P 14 cm At the turn of the 16th century, they were the height of fashi...

Alabaster Golgotha Italy, 17th cenury Alabaster with traces of polychromy 16 x 10 x 9 cm The Golgotha (literally "Place of the Skull ») is a hill on the outskirts of the city o...

A Captive Soldier Gilt Bronze, Lost Wax Italie (Rome), 17th century H 17 x Dia 10 cm H 6 2/3 x Dia 4 inch The 17th century witnessed a flourishing of artistic expression across Eur...

Magnificent and enormous pair of 17th century Italian Baroque period carved giltwood putti wall figures. The pair maintained its original gilding and co...

Pair of 17th century Italian walnut carved caryatids, an antique pair of Baroque hand-carved female figures with a beautiful dark patina. Good age related conditions, both carved panels show original iron hooks in the back, they were probably part of a paneled walls of an opulent antique building...

Beautiful Flemish 17th century oil on canvas painting depicting the adoration of the magi. Vivid color and wonderful quality of pa...

Beautiful old water tank or cistern intended to humidify the home in hot weather. Made of white ceramic in Conimbriga (near Condeixa, Portugal). This impressive hand decorated cist...

Artist active in northern Italy, 17th century Heraldic coat of arms: shield quartered at first and fourth in black with a rampant lion, to the second and third gold eagle Carved...

Beautiful etching representing the classic religious subject of the "Adoration of the Magi" by the Baroque painter and engraver Pietro Testa known as il Lucchesino. The print derives from an oil on canvas of the same name now in Montpelier. Identified by the TPL monogram on the right and the dedication signature. Paolo Bellini in the book "L'opera incisa di Pietro Testa" (The engraving work of Pietro Testa) ,published in 1976 by Neri Pozza in Vicenza, identifies this work as an example of the third state of three since, respect to the second state, the address of Gio Giacomo Rossi is added . In the lower margin there is the dedication in Latin to: Most illustrious and most reverend (cardinal) Gerolamo Bonvisi, Cleric of the Apostolic Chamber, D.D. The star on the left often blushes with the light of evil / Kings live here so that they recognize the Lord, / happy face good star shines benignly./ Petrus Testa Pietro Testa (1611–1650) was an Italian High Baroque artist active in Rome. He is best known as a printmaker and draftsman. He was born in Lucca, and thus is sometimes called il Lucchesino. He moved to Rome early in life. One source states he was ejected from the Cortona studio in 1631, soon after joining the workshop. Others state Testa trained under Pietro Paolini or under Domenichino, for whom he worked under the patronage of Cassiano dal Pozzo. He was friends with Nicolas Poussin and Francesco Mola. Some of his etchings, which often include work in drypoint, have a fantastic quality reminiscent of Jacques Callot, or embellishments of his Genoese contemporary Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione and even presciently suggest William Blake. His Sacrifice of Iphigenia appears to have influenced Tiepolo's rendition at Villa Valmarana Ai Nani in Vicenza. His early prints, from the 1630s, were often religious and were influenced by Federico Barocci...