Old Master painting: Greek mythology 19th C miniature copy of work in the Louvre

1879

In German, there is a word called "Sommefrische" , meaning summer freshness, which describes this painting perfectly. Looking at this Swiss mountain and lake is like a perfect, restf...

A stunning copy of the Northern Renaissance masterpiece "Maddalena Dolente" by Quentin Matsys (1466-1530) which is in the collection of the Gemäldegalerie Berlin. Beautifully execut...

I try not to buy too many views of Paris, as I am aware that not all of you are as attached to the the city as I am. However, this bright, dynamic and fun view of the Seine and its b...

A majestic miniature painting by Victor Mongodin. Painted with extraordinary detail, it depicts a pretty young lady writing a letter in her boudoir. Mongodin clearly delights in painting fabrics... the silk of her skirt, the cotton of her camisole, as well as the luxurious velvets of the curtains and drapery. And then there is the mystery: who is she writing to? Born in Vire in Normandy in 1819, Victor Mongodin had studied with de Rudder. Working in the French Capital...

Study of a dog Oil on paper laid down on panel, 17.5 x 25.5 cm Provenance Private collection, the Netherlands Note: We are grateful to Mr Fred Meijer for his attribution to Ludolf de Jongh Ludolf de Jongh was the son of a shoemaker. When his father moved to Rotterdam, the young Ludolf decided to learn art rather than shoemaking and became a pupil of Cornelis Saftleven. Later he studied under Anthony Palamedes in Delft and still later with Jan van Bijlert in Utrecht. In 1635 he travelled to France with Francis Bacon. Seven years later, in 1642, he returned to the Netherlands when he heard that his mother had fallen ill. He set up a shop in Rotterdam, and his earliest signed paintings date from that year. According to Houbraken, his travels had caused him to speak French so fluently, that his parents had to learn French in order to speak with him. De Jongh’s work shows a strong influence from the Utrecht school of Caravaggio admirers, especially Jacob Duck...

Attributed to Francis Swaine (British, 1725–1782) Naval Engagement at Sea, 18th century Oil on panel In this evocative seascape, a cluster of ships—flags raised, cannons fired—conve...

Provenance: Dr. James Henry Lancashire, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts, by 1925; probably by descent to: Private Collection, Cumberland Foreside, Maine, until 2018 This unpublished panel is a characteristic work of the Master of the Apollo and Daphne Legend, an anonymous Florentine painter in the circle of Bartolommeo di Giovanni, Domenico Ghirlandaio, and Sandro Botticelli. The artistic personality of the Master of the Apollo and Daphne Legend was independently recognized by Everett Fahy and Federico Zeri at roughly the same moment in time. Fahy originally dubbed this artist the Master of the Ryerson Panels but later adopted Zeri’s name for the artist, which derives from his eponymous works from the Samuel H. Kress collection (Figs. 1-2). Fahy posited that the artist was most likely a pupil of Ghirlandaio active from roughly 1480 to 1510, and that he may be identifiable with one of Ghirlandaio’s documented pupils to whom no works have been securely attributed, such as Niccolò Cieco, Jacopo dell’Indaco, or Baldino Baldinetti. The present painting was first attributed to this master by Everett Fahy in 1989, who became aware of its existence only after publishing his definitive studies on the artist. The surviving body of work by the Master of the Apollo and Daphne Legend is largely composed of series of panels treating the same theme. In addition to the works illustrating the legend of Apollo and Daphne, there are also series on the themes of Susanna and the Elders and the story of Saint Joseph, among others. The subject of the present panel is drawn from Genesis 24, the story of Isaac. It is possible that our painting relates to another work by the artist depicting the Sacrifice of Isaac formerly in the collection of E. A. McGuire in Dublin, Ireland (Fig. 3), and that these two panels were originally part of a decorative scheme based on the story of Isaac. Although the Master’s paintings of this type have traditionally been considered painted fronts of wedding chests, known as cassoni, the scale of these paintings and the fact that they are often part of a series indicates that they are more likely spalliera panels—paintings set into furniture or the wainscoting of a room. The biblical episode depicted in this painting centers on the theme of marriage, which suggests that this work was likely commissioned for the domestic interior of a newly married couple. The Master has transcribed into paint even the minute details of this Old Testament story, in which Abraham sends a servant to travel by camel to the land of his father and seek out a wife for his son Isaac. The servant is here shown at the well...

The Musical Contest between Apollo and Marsyas, by Peter Sion (Antwerp, 1624-1695) Signed in the lower right corner P. Sion 17th century Antwerp School Oil on copper, dim. h. 53 cm, ...