Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 4

French Painter 18th Century
Skull with Sacred Writings and Tablets of the Law - Tempera on Cardboard

18th Century

About the Item

Skull with Sacred Writings and Tablets of the Law is a superb and colorful tempera on cardboard, realized in 1766 by an anonymous artist of the French School of XVIII century. On the back of the frame, there is an antique cardboard label comìng from the original assembly with the written in black ink that points out the author: "Peint (...) M.lle Becquey de Viliers à Paris 1766". In excellent conditions, including a modern wooden frame, cm 25 x 26.5. There are deep religious meanings behind this composition with a skull leaning on books and surrounded by Sacred Writings, Tablets of Law, an hourglass, a crucifix, and some compasses. The theme of the vanitas, the fleetingness of time are the elements unify the composition. It is amusing to read the hand-written and perfectly readbles religious warnings or the preys under the skull!
  • Creator:
    French Painter 18th Century
  • Creation Year:
    18th Century
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 9.77 in (24.8 cm)Width: 10.48 in (26.6 cm)Depth: 0.48 in (1.2 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    Insurance may be requested by customers as additional service, contact us for more information.
  • Gallery Location:
    Roma, IT
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: M-1011751stDibs: LU65034194452
More From This SellerView All
  • Christian Charity - Tempera by the circle of Bernardo Strozzi - 1630s
    By Bernardo Strozzi
    Located in Roma, IT
    Christian Charity is an original Old Master Painting realized in the first half of the XVII Century, most probably in the 1630s, by one of the pupils of the Italian artist Bernardo Strozzi...
    Category

    1630s Old Masters Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Tempera, Canvas

  • Martyrdom of Saint Stephen- Painting attr. to Vincent Adriaenssen- 17th Century
    Located in Roma, IT
    Landscape with martyrdom of Saint Stephen is an old master artwork realized in 17th century. Mixed colored oil painting on canvas. Includes coeval gilded frame cm. 148x196. The artwork is attributed to Vincent Adriaenssen called il Manciola (Antwerp, 1595 - Roma, 1675) Among the painters who worked in the first half of the seventeenth century it is possible to indicate only the Neapolitan Scipione Compagno (1624-1680) as the author of scenes of martyrs set within a landscape or a view such as, for example, the Martyrdom of Saint Stefano recently hesitated at the Ansorena in Madrid on June 16, 2021. It should be noted, however, that the landscape represented in the painting examined here, characterized by luxuriant vegetation, meticulously represented "in the Flemish style", shows differences with the typical settings of the paintings di Compagno, characterized above all by urban views, visionary architectures or rather arid vegetation. Even the refined figures, so elongated and lanky, represented in our painting, in particular the group of knights in the foreground on the right, are not reflected in the production of the Neapolitan painter. These elements, to which we add the depiction of the Eternal Father amidst the clouds and the detail of the dog in profile in the foreground, instead recall a painter mainly known as a battle soldier, but who was also the author of many works depicting episodes from ancient Rome set within luxuriant landscapes, or rather Vincent Adriaenssen known as Manciola, a painter from Antwerp whose figure has been shed light thanks to recent studies. The group of horsemen represented to the right of the examined painting is, in fact, comparable with other groups on horseback present in numerous works by Manciola such as, for example, in the Triumph of Caesar (Rome, Babuino, 23-03-2010; formerly Florence, Collection Privata, 2006), while similar elongated and somewhat lanky figures, dressed in red, yellow, blue and white, can be found in the three paintings conserved at the Cassa di Risparmio di Pesaro, which in the past were erroneously attributed to the Umbrian painter Francesco Allegrini...
    Category

    17th Century Old Masters Landscape Paintings

    Materials

    Oil

  • Saint Veronica
    By (After) Simone Pignoni
    Located in Roma, IT
    18th c. Italian school Santa Veronica, after Simone Pignoni. Period copy by an unknown hand of the original oil painting by Pignoni. The original Pignoni painting was conserved in the Church of S. Eusebio in Cegliolo (Cortona) and now in the permanent collection of the Musée Fabre in Montpellier, France. In the Musée des Beaux-Arts of Marseille, there is another period copy by an unknown hand, considered of lesser quality than the current example. Simone Pignoni (Florence, 1611-1698), one of the most important exponents of the Florentine School, was characterized by a soft touch. His formation with Francesco Furini...
    Category

    Late 17th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil

  • Two Arcadic Landscapes - J.F. Van Bloemen (follower of) - Oil on Canvas
    By Jan Frans van Bloemen (Orizzonte)
    Located in Roma, IT
    Two Arcadic Landscapes are a couple of original oil paintings by a follower of the Flemish artist, Jan Frans Van Bloemen (1662-1749). These old master's original paintings represen...
    Category

    Early 18th Century Old Masters Landscape Paintings

    Materials

    Oil

  • Hunters by Inn-Door - Original Ink and Watercolor by Dirk Maas (attr.)
    By Dirk Maas
    Located in Roma, IT
    Beautiful watercolor by Dirk Maas, a Dutch Golden Age landscape painter. Provenance: R. Edereimer Print Cabinet, New York (label overleaf). Good conditio...
    Category

    Early 18th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Ink, Watercolor

  • Still Life with Fishes and Oysters - Oil on Canvas - 17th Century
    Located in Roma, IT
    Still life with fishes and oysters is an original oil on canvas realized in the 17th Century by Neapolitan School Master. Impressive in size as well as for its vivid representation o...
    Category

    17th Century Old Masters Still-life Paintings

    Materials

    Oil

You May Also Like
  • The Resurrection of Christ
    Located in New York, NY
    Provenance: with “Mr. Scheer,” Vienna, by July 1918; where acquired by: Jindřich Waldes, Prague, 1918–1941; thence by descent to: Private Collection, New York Literature: Rudolf Kuchynka, “České obrazy tabulové ve Waldesově obrazárně,” Památky archeologické, vol. 31 (1919), pp. 62-64, fig. 5. Jaroslav Pešina, “K datování deskových obrazů ve Waldesově obrazárně,” Ročenka Kruhu pro Pěstování Dějin Umění: za rok (1934), pp. 131-137. Jaroslav Pešina, Pozdně gotické deskové malířství v Čechách, Prague, 1940, pp. 150-151, 220. Patrik Šimon, Jindřich Waldes: sběratel umění, Prague, 2001, pp. 166, 168, footnote 190. Ivo Hlobil, “Tři gotické obrazy ze sbírky Jindřicha Waldese,” Umění, vol. 52, no. 4 (2004), p. 369. Executed sometime in the 1380s or 1390s by a close associate of the Master of the Třeboň Altarpiece, this impressive panel is a rare work created at the royal court in Prague and a significant re-discovery for the corpus of early Bohemian painting. It has emerged from an American collection, descendants of the celebrated Czech industrialist and collector Jindřich Waldes, who died in Havana fleeing Nazi-occupied Europe. The distinctive visual tradition of the Bohemian school first began to take shape in the middle of the fourteenth century after Charles IV—King of Bohemia and later Holy Roman Emperor—established Prague as a major artistic center. The influx of foreign artists and the importation of significant works of art from across Europe had a profound influence on the development of a local pictorial style. Early Italian paintings, especially those by Sienese painters and Tommaso da Modena (who worked at Charles IV’s court), had a considerable impact on the first generation of Bohemian painters. Although this influence is still felt in the brilliant gold ground and the delicate tooling of the present work, the author of this painting appears to be responding more to the paintings of his predecessors in Prague than to foreign influences. This Resurrection of Christ employs a compositional format that was popular throughout the late medieval period but was particularly pervasive in Bohemian painting. Christ is shown sitting atop a pink marble sarcophagus, stepping down onto the ground with one bare foot. He blesses the viewer with his right hand, while in his left he holds a triumphal cross with a fluttering banner, symbolizing his victory over death. Several Roman soldiers doze at the base of the tomb, except for one grotesque figure, who, beginning to wake, shields his eyes from the light and looks on with a face of bewilderment as Christ emerges from his tomb. Christ is wrapped in a striking red robe with a blue interior lining, the colors of which vary subtly in the changing light. He stands out prominently against the gold backdrop, which is interrupted only by the abstractly rendered landscape and trees on either side of him. The soldiers’ armor is rendered in exacting detail, the cool gray of the metal contrasting with the earth tones of the outer garments. The sleeping soldier set within a jumble of armor with neither face nor hands exposed, is covered with what appears to be a shield emblazoned with two flies on a white field, somewhat resembling a cartouche (Fig. 1). This may be a heraldic device of the altarpiece’s patron or it may signify evil, referencing either the Roman soldiers or death, over both of which Christ triumphs. This painting formed part of the collection assembled by the Czech industrialist and founder of the Waldes Koh-i-noor Company, Jindřich Waldes, in the early twentieth century. As a collector he is best remembered for establishing the Waldes Museum in Prague to house his collection of buttons (totaling nearly 70,000 items), as well as for being the primary patron of the modernist painter František Kupka. Waldes was also an avid collector of older art, and he approached his collecting activity with the goal of creating an encyclopedic collection of Czech art from the medieval period through to the then-present day. At the conclusion of two decades of collecting, his inventory counted 2331 paintings and drawings, 4764 prints, and 162 sculptures. This collection, which constituted the Waldesova Obrazárna (Waldes Picture Gallery), was first displayed in Waldes’ home in Prague at 44 Americká Street and later at his newly built Villa Marie at 12 Koperníkova Street. This Resurrection of Christ retains its frame from the Waldes Picture Gallery, including its original plaque “173 / Česky malíř z konce 14 stol.” (“Czech painter from the end of the 14th century”) and Waldes’ collection label on the reverse. The Resurrection of Christ was one of the most significant late medieval panel...
    Category

    15th Century and Earlier Old Masters Paintings

    Materials

    Tempera, Panel

  • Circa 1400, Spanish school of 'The Prophet Daniel', tempera on panel with gildin
    Located in Petworth, West Sussex
    Spanish school, circa 1400 The prophet Daniel Tempera on panel with gilding 35.1/4 x 10.5/8 in. (89.5 x 28 cm.) Condition: The painting has been recently stabilised and cleaned up. ...
    Category

    15th Century and Earlier Old Masters Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Tempera, Wood Panel

  • Carlo Grubacs(Venetian master)- Pair of 19th century Venice landscape paintings
    By Carlo Grubacs
    Located in Varmo, IT
    Carlo Grubacs (Perasto 1801 - Venice 1870) - Venice, pair of views of Piazza S. Marco and the Piazzetta towards the Clock Tower. 19 x 24 cm without frame, 25 x 30 cm with frame. An...
    Category

    Mid-19th Century Old Masters Landscape Paintings

    Materials

    Tempera, Paper

  • Baptism of Christ
    Located in New York, NY
    Provenance: Achillito Chiesa, Milan Luigi Albrighi, Florence, by 1 July 1955 with Marcello and Carlo Sestieri, Rome, 1969 Private Collection, Connecticut Exhibited: Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, South Hadley, Massachusetts (on loan, 2012) Literature: Carlo Volpe, “Alcune restituzioni al Maestro dei Santi Quirico e Giulitta,” in Quaderni di Emblema 2: Miscellanea di Bonsanti, Fahy, Francisci, Gardner, Mortari, Sestieri, Volpe, Zeri, Bergamo, 1973, pp. 19-20, fig. 18, as by the Master of Saints Quiricus and Julitta (now identified as Borghese di Piero). This fine predella panel depicting the Baptism...
    Category

    15th Century and Earlier Old Masters Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Tempera, Wood Panel

  • Carlo Grubacs(Venetian master)- Pair of 19th century Venice landscape paintings
    By Carlo Grubacs
    Located in Varmo, IT
    Carlo Grubacs (Perasto 1801 - Venice 1870) - Venice, pair of views of Piazza S. Marco and the Basin towards the Riva degli Schiavoni. 11 x 16 cm without frame, 29.5 x 34.5 cm with f...
    Category

    Mid-19th Century Old Masters Landscape Paintings

    Materials

    Tempera, Paper

  • Russian Icon 16th century The Battle of the Novogorodians with the Suzdalians
    By Russian School
    Located in London, GB
    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...
    Category

    16th Century Old Masters Paintings

    Materials

    Wood, Egg Tempera, Wood Panel

Recently Viewed

View All