Canvas Figurative Paintings

17th century old master painting "Silenus feasting", likely studio of Sir Anthony Van Dyck Born in Antwerp in 1599, Anthony Van Dyck entered the studio of Rubens (1577 - 1640) at the age of nineteen. Quickly, the master perceives the talents of the young prodigy and makes him his first assistant. Van Dyck, for his part, has a particular admiration for the man whose name is known throughout Europe. In 1619, he was inspired by a drunken Silenus by Rubens, produced one or two years earlier for a composition on the eponymous theme. This work, now in the Dresden Museum, appears to be the first version of our painting. That work has an illustrious provenance; it was recorded in the private collection of Leopold Wilhelm (Archduke of Austria) in 1662, in 1722 it was bought by the famous German painter Antoine Pesne for the King of Saxony in Dresden (Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden - Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden, inventory number 1017). From 1945 until 1955 it was on display at the Pushkin Museum in Moskou, after having been taken by Russia after the Second World War. It was then returned to the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden where it is still on display. Our painting is of a fine quality and has been painted by a skilled and confident hand. It displays some slight variations in the composition when compared to the original; the legs of Silenus are smoother and less hairy, more humanoid than satyresque. There might also be a pentimento visible at the level of the legs where one observes traces of hair on and under the material. This area can be compared to that of a canvas by Van Dyck kept in Brussels, of a still drunk Silenus whose animal legs are formally treated in the same way as the ones in our composition. Furthermore, the skirt of the figure to the far left has a purplish-red colour in our work, whereas in the first version it appears to be white. There also appear to be differences in the sky, firstly the clouds are shaped slightly different, the sky in our painting has a more vivid colour and there is also a golden hue of a sunset visible to the far left. This treatment of the background appears close to that of a Saint Rosalie, now kept at the Metropolitan Museum in New York and dated 1625, which might offer a reference for dating our painting. In the evanescent aspect, as non finito of its figures, it is interesting to compare our Silenus to a Saint Sebastian, conserved in the Escorial Museum in Madrid. Also, the theme remains rather curious. According to Barnes and Porter, Rubens, like Van Dyck after him, was partly inspired by Book XI of Ovid's Metamorphoses, but a second literary or pictorial source remains unknown (1). For the original composition, Stephan Maaser, art historian, establishes a correspondence between the position of Silenus, referring to that of a Christ at the moment of the Lamentation or the Descent from the Cross (2); the female characters on the left and the male on the right refer more to Mary Magdalene and Saint John than to the Phrygians or the members of a bacchanalian procession. Finally, note that Silenus is not usually a faun. The success of the composition at the time of its public reception and its engraving by Franciscus van der Steen really contributed to the dissemination of the work. At the same time, it testifies to the intense activity of the painter and his studio in Antwerp, before he left to work at the English court. About Silenus: In greek mythology, Silenus was the tutor and foster-father of the wine god Dionysos, who was entrusted to his care by Hermes after his birth from the thigh of Zeus. The young god was raised by Silenus and nursed by the Nysiad nymphs in a cave on Mount Nysa. Silenus was, in essence, the spirit of the treading dance of the wine-press, his name being derived from the words seiô, "to move to and fro," and lênos, "the wine-trough." Once, when Dionysos was travelling through Phrygia, Seilenos became lost and was captured by King Midas. The king treated him hospitably and as a reward Dionysos granted him his golden touch. The artists biography: Born in Antwerp on 22 March 1599, Anthony van Dyck was the seventh child of Frans van Dyck, a wealthy silk merchant, and Maria Cuypers, who was renowned for her embroidery skills. In 1609, when he was ten years old, his parents apprenticed the precocious youth to Hendrik van Balen (1575-1632), a painter of small cabinet pictures and dean of the city's Saint Luke's Guild. Although the length of Van Dyck's stay with Van Balen is not known, it probably lasted three to four years. Van Dyck registered as a master in the Antwerp Saint Luke's Guild on 11 February 1618, by which time he was already in demand as a portrait painter (see the NGA painting, Portrait of a Flemish Lady...

Pierre Louis De La Rive (1753 Geneva - 1817 Geneva). Two countrywomen with a donkey. Oil on canvas, mounted, 27 x 20 cm (visible size), 37 x 31 (frame), monogrammed "P.R." at lower right. About the artwork De La Rive has taken the typical scenes of Dutch landscape genre paintings...

French School, Rococo period original Likely to be a preparatory sketch for a larger piece. oil painting on canvas laid on board, framed framed: 1...

Italian master (17th century) - The garden of the sorceress Falerina (from "Orlando in love"). 97 x 130 cm without frame, 111 x 144 cm with frame. Oil on canvas, in carved and gild...

Guglielmo Caccia said the Moncalvo (Montabone, 1568 - Moncalvo, 1625) Saint Francis of Assisi comforted by an angel Oil on canvas, cm 96 x 73 - (wi...

Circle of Bernardo Castello (1557-1629) The Holy Family with Saint John the Baptist 1600-1615 circa Oil on canvas in gilded frame Measures in cm: 84 x 63 cm (104 x 84 cm including frame) Measures in inch: 33.07 x 24.80 in (40,95 x 33,08 in including the frame) One of the most widespread iconographies in Italian painting from the Renaissance onwards, that of the Holy Family, is set in a sober and at the same time elegant interior, as the presence of the gold-edged green curtain that closes the space like a backdrop states. Whether it takes place in the intimacy of the house in Nazareth, as in the painting presented here, or it is placed outdoors, the scene includes the presence in the role of protagonists of the Madonna and Child Jesus, flanked by the protective figure of Joseph, always held a slightly aloof. In some cases, including ours, the Child is in dialogue with the little John the Baptist, thus alluding to the role played by the latter in the history of salvation, as the gesture of Jesus explicitly indicates in our canvas, who blesses the one who will be destined to baptize him in the waters of the Jordan. The 'room' dimensions, the calm religious intonation that pervades the representation, underlined by the very evident presence of the haloes, attest that the painting was conceived for the private devotion of its client and probably intended for a bedroom or for the walls of a small home chapel. The cleaning carried out in recent times allows you to appreciate the bright and lively chromatic range, orchestrated on the refined harmony between the shades of the Virgin's robes - blue and carmine red - and the bright green of the curtain that forms the backdrop to the scene. A particularly delicate pictorial drafting, well appreciated in the soft rendering of the faces and limbs of the two children - observe, for example, the suffused chiaroscuro transitions of the face of Jesus - is combined with a sensitive and tender description of the 'affects', allowing us to place this painting in the context of the painting of the Catholic Counter-Reformation and of the principles of verisimilitude and naturalness advocated by it in reaction to the expressive licenses and formal abstractions of the Mannerist figurative culture derived from Michelangelo's lesson. The return to a sober and juxtaposed pictorial language and simplified compositional schemes, often inspired by the early sixteenth century examples of Raphael and Andrea del Sarto, which we also recognize in our Holy Family, characterizes the work of numerous artists scattered throughout the various centers of the Peninsula , from the Bologna of the Carracci, to the Tuscany of Santi di Tito, to the Marche of Federico Barocci, up to Rome, Naples and Milan, where Camillo Procaccini and Guglielmo Caccia...

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

Christian Reder (Leipzig 1656 - Rome 1729) - The departure of the soldiers from the fort. 57.5 x 108.5 cm without frame, 89 x 122 cm with frame. Antique oil painting on canvas, in ...

Italian School, circa 1700's Classical figures in landscape oil on canvas, framed framed: 36 x 32 inches canvas: 30 x 25 inches provenance: private collection, UK condition: very goo...

The Triumph Of Galatea, 17th Century Attributed to Charles Le Brun (1619-1690) Large 117th Century French Old Master portrait of The Triumph Of Galatea, oil...

Portrait Of Philadelphia, 17th Century Probably Philadelphia Carey Of Aske Hall, Richmond, North Yorkshire, English Courier & Lady In Waiting to Princess Elizabeth Studio Of Sir Pe...

Circle Wouwerman, Horseman by a Tent, Riders Playing Cards (?), Old Master Dutch Art, Travellers or Riders resting by a tent and gambling

Mexican 18 century virgin of Guadalupe . Oil on canvas.

An Allegory Of War, 17th Century Workshop Of Carlo CIGNANI (1628-1719) Large 17th Century Italian Old Master Allegory Of War, oil on canvas from the workshop of Carlo Cignani. Excellent quality and condition scene of armed putti fighting among each other to take the top mantle as they combat for power. Unique work exceptionally well executed and typical of the artists work from the period. Presented in a hand carved antique carved gilt...

Study for a Man, perhaps Italian School , Follower of Caracci. Old Master Painting. In a Golden Frame, 52 x 46 cm.

Felice Boselli (Piacenza 1650 - Parma 1732) - Shepherd with flock and game. 155 x 112 cm without frame, 170 x 126 cm with frame. Oil on canvas, in a faux marble lacquered wooden frame. The painting has stylistic affinities with "Game with children playing with a dog" (Parma, Galleria Nazionale) and with the pair of paintings "Old man and girl...

Oil on canvas Image size: 12 3/4 x 9 1/2 inches (32.5 x 24.25 cm) Here, we see a sleeping putti lying underneath a set of trees, holding a ribbon. The text that can be seen on the scroll is from the Song of Solomon, chapter five, verse two; ' I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night'. This work was created after a well-known painting by the Spanish artist Alonso Cano...

17th century Flemish old Master painting The present painting is truly a little jewel with its vibrant colours and skilful brushwork. It depicts the Baptism of Christ, a depiction of a tale filled with hope and positivity, it is a very fine example of Malo's talent. We would like to thank Anna Orlando for her assistance in cataloguing this painting. A copy of her entry on this painting will be given to the buyer. She writes about the present painting: The painting illustrated here, unpublished, refers to Vincenzo (Vincent) Malò, a Flemish artist active in Italy and in particular in Genoa in the first half of the seventeenth century, by now well known. The critics who started studying him in the sixties of the last century recognized the initial confusion of our painter with Vincenzo Alemanno (1595-1675); many documents subsequently traced both in the Genoese and Roman archives have partially specified his biographical details, but certainly his identity. Son of a certain Nicola, Vincent trained in Antwerp with David Teniers the Elder and then with Rubens, he was intermittently enrolled in the painters' guild, between 1623 and 1634. It is unlikely that he first arrived in Genoa in 1625 , when the city was at war against the Savoys, and it is entirely probable that his stay in Italy fell between 1634 and the year of his death, documented in Rome in 1644. It were about ten fertile years, also thanks to the lessons from Rubens who had taught him to paint speedily...

Pair of Battle Scenes is an oil painting realized by an italian artist in 18th century. 110x85 cm each. Framed. Good conditions.

Attributed/Close circle: Jan Miel (Flemish, 1599- 1663) A Hunting Party resting by Ruins • Oil on canvas, relined, ca. 52 x 70 cm • Later Frame, ca. 70 x 8...

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...

Pair of Gallant scenes is a pair of artworks realized by the French School in 18th Century. Oil on canvas. It Includes 2 ancient gilded frames. Scen...

Giulio Carpioni was most likely born in Venice in 1613 and trained under the artist Alessandro Varotari known as Il Padovanino. After travelling to Rome early in his career he sett...

Portrait of Johann Theodor of Bavaria (1703-1763) by Joseph Vivien Johann Theodor of Bavaria (* September 3, 1703 in Munich; † January 27, 1763 in Lièg...

The composition repeats that of a large altarpiece designed by Annibale Carracci for the church of San Francesco a Ripa, Rome (now in the Louvre, Par...

Circle of Maratta, Maria and Child, in a Roman 18th century hand carved and gilded wooden frame, uncut Images of the Virgin and Child were for centuries the most common subject for Christian religious...

Hendrick Bloemaert An Allegory of Justitia protecting Innocence from Calumny, Treachery and Deceit signed and dated 'HBloemaert fc. 1638' (HB linked, lower right, on the pedestal) oil on canvas 85.5 x 110.3 cm Provenance H. Hoogers, Nijmegen, 7 June 1816, lot 6, as Cornelis Bloemaert. J. Brolsma, Ede, 1957. with Baer, The Hague, 1960. Collection Hirschberg, The Hague. Anonymous sale; Heerlen, 10 April 1962, lot 121 (as measuring 68 x 108 cm.) Sale of Christie's Amsterdam: Tuesday, November 25, 2014 [Lot 00045] Old Masters, 19th Century and Impressionist Art Literature Marcel Roethlisberger, Abraham Bloemaert...

Workshop of Louis de BOULLOGNE (Paris 1654 – Paris 1733) Moses defending the daughters of Jethro Oil on canvas H. 75 cm; W. 106 cm Produced at the end of the 17th century, this fair...

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

Set of four large 18th century Italian Rococo paintings of the Four Seasons Italian, 18th Century Frames: height 98cm, width 201.5cm, depth 5cm...

Circle of Jean-Antoine Watteau (French, 1684-1721) Freeing a dove Oil on canvas 27.3/4 x 38.1/8 in. (70 x 96.8 cm.) Possible repair to upper right. In overall good order for the age...

John Clostermann (Osnabrück 1660 - 1711 London) Portrait of a boy, maybe Charles Hinde Oil on canvas, 61 x 74,6 cm John Closterman (also Klosterman) was a portrait painter of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. He primarily portrayed English noblemen and European aristocratic families. His father was already an artist and he trained his son. In 1679 he went to Paris and studied with Francois de Troy. In 1681 he was in London and worked for the artist John Riley, whose studio he took over after his death. In 1696 he was invited to the Spanish court...

Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 - 23 February 1792) was a leading 18th-century English portrait painter and President of the Royal Academy from 1769 to 1792. He was born on 16 July...

An important Old Master oil on canvas painting by the Flemish artist, Jan Cossiers, a follower of the style of Caravaggio (1600-1671). Born in Antwerp in 1600, Jan Cossiers was a pupil of his father, the painter Antoon Cossiers (died 1646/1647), and also studied under Cornelis de Vos...

English School, 18th/ 19th century Portrait of Sir Wolstan Dixie, 4th Baronet *see notes below on sitter oil painting on canvas, unframed 50 x 40 inches condition: the painting is in very satisfactory condition without any damage, tears or punctures to the canvas. It is very original and would benefit from a clean ideally, slight scuffing to the edges of canvas. provenance: private collection, Leicestershire, England * The sitter is Sir Wolstan Dixie (4th Baronet, born 1700). Although the family came from a yeoman family of Huntingdonshire, his ancestor, also Sir Wolstan, made a fortune in the City as a merchant, and served as Lord Mayor of London in 1585-6, Sir Wolstan (the 1st Baronet) acquired the manor of Market Bosworth in west Leicestershire and in 1592, having no children...

Still Life with fruits is an original oil on canvas realized in the 16th Century by an Italian School Master. Original oil painting on Canvas. The painting represents a still life...

The Christ Child as Redeemer of the World Oil on Canvas, 69.3 x 49.7 cm Provenance Private Collection, Belgium The present painting is known in different versions. One of them is ...

Sebastàn de Llanos Valdès (circa 1605-1677) testa di santo martire Olio su tela, cm 50,5x72,5 Non vi sono dubbi in merito all’autografia del dipinto che spetta a Sebastian de Llanos y Valdes (1616-1677), come testimonia l’ iscrizione frammentaria posta nel margine inferiore destro della composizione. Il pittore spagnolo fu allievo di Herrera il Vecchio (1576-1656), poliedrico artista suo conterraneo, abile oltre che nel dipingere anche nella lavorazione del bronzo e nel campo della medaglistica. Nella famosa bottega dell’ Herrera, cui viene attribuito il ruolo di fondatore della famosa Scuola di Siviglia, gravitarono anche il tredicenne Velasquez, che vi rimase per un intero ano, e Ignacio de Riarte. Nel nostro dipinto raffigurante la testa...

Henry Pether, late 18th-century Moonlight lake Landscape. Born into a family of artists, Henry was the son of Abraham Pether (1756-1812), a talented la...

Girolamo Troppa (Rocchette, 1636 – Roma, 1710) Cristo deposto alla croce con un angelo, Maria Maddalena e tre angioletti con i simboli della passione. Olio su tela, cm 155x200 con cornice cm 170x230 Il Cristo deposto occupa l’intera composizione dal taglio orizzontale e presenta il corpo con il capo abbandonato all’indietro, ben studiato nei dettagli anatomici dei muscoli e avvolto in fasce di lino. Al tragico evento partecipano tre angioletti con i simboli della Passione, intenti a sorreggere il velo, a raccogliere la corona...

A Castle and Drawbridge by a lake with mountains beyond Italian School, 18th century oil painting on canvas: 25 x 29.75 inches condition: relined, restored to a high standard, very ...

French Art Rococo Portrait of a Woman, Young Lady, perhaps an actress

Attributed to Jacques DUMONT aka DUMONT LE ROMAIN (Paris 1701 - 1781) Presumed portrait of Louis-Joseph de Formanoir (?-1732) Oil on canvas H. 91.5 cm; ...

Artist/ School: Italian School, 17th century. Title: A King and Queen before court figures, amidst a classical landscape with Roman columns. Medium: oil painting on canvas, framed ...

Transcendental vision. Oil on canvas, 93x92 cm Juris Zvirbulis was born in 1944 in Riga. 1970 graduated from the Riga Secondary School of Applied Arts decorators department. 1971 Member Artists' Union of the Latvia. In 1971 First solo exhibition in the artistic and historical museum of Tukums in Latvia. In 1974 his illustrations for the A.S. Pushkin's book, "Eugene Onegin" (published Liesma) was awarded at the 7th All-Union competition of books, posters and postcards design (Moscow, USSR). Significant exhibitions: 1976 - First place in the All-Union Exhibition of Young Artists in Moscow 1983 - Solo exhibition at the Museum of Foreign Art (Riga, Latvia) 1988 - personal exhibition at the Pushkin State Museum (Moscow, Russia) Museum bought more than 100 of the artist miniatures to collection. 1989 - Group exhibition "Contemporary Soviet Painters from Riga" Edward Nahamkina Art Gallery (New York, USA) 1990 - Group exhibition at the Astra Gallery (Chicago, USA) 1990 - 1992 - works exhibited in the Harmony Gallery (Paris, France) 1992 - Solo exhibition at Gallery Carre d'Or (Paris, France) 1993 - Solo exhibition at the Gallery of the Riga (Riga, Latvia) 1994 - Exhibition in honor of the 50th anniversary at the Latvian National Art Museum, Exhibition Hall Arsenals (Riga, Latvia) 1997 - Solo exhibition at the Gallery of Riga (Riga, Latvia). In cooperation with IBM Latvia and Modo Paper released exhibition catalog. 1998 - Exhibition of watercolors - miniatures at Gallery "Nocturne", Riga 1999 - personal exhibition at the Pushkin State Museum (Moscow, Russia) 2004 - personal exhibition at gallery "Manss" (Jekabpils, Latvia) 2005 - Group exhibition of Latvian-French festival "Amazing Latvia" (in Bourgoin-Jallieu, France). 2011 - Contemporary Art exhibition-fair at Gallery Birkenfeld ArtVilnius'11 (Vilnius, Lithuania) Group Exhibition-Fair of Lineart Contemporary Art (Ghent, Belgium). Group exhibition at the Art Museum Nerima (Tokyo, Japan) 2012 Released artist album "Retrospective". Solo exhibition "The Battle of Waterloo would have ended differently ... Dedication to Marshal L.N. Davu." At gallery Birkenfelds. The artist works in the following genres and techniques: watercolor, painting, drawing, book illustrations, murals for public interiors in Latvia and abroad. Works in museums and private collections: At the Latvian National Museum of Art, at collection of Artists' Union of Latvia, Russian Ministry of Culture (Moscow, Russia), the Pushkins` State Museum (Russia), Bank of Latvia, Džeinas Vorhīsas Cimerlī Art Museum, Radzhersa, State University of New Jersey, at collection of Norton and Nancy Dodge nonconformist art of the Soviet Union (US), Vitaly Gotlib (Latvia), and Indra Benjamin Wilson...

A fascinating portrait dating from circa 1695-1700 with wonderful provenance: it belonged to the British industrialist Leonard Pelham Lee (1903–1980) and hung in his manor house in W...

The painting represents the moment of the death of Lucretia, a Roman noblewoman who was raped by the seventh and last King of Rome-the Etruscan Tarquin the Proud-and committed suicide-in front of her husband and her father-because she couldn’t stand the violence she passed through. According to the legend, this episode caused the rebellion that overthrew the Roman monarchy and led to the transition of Roman government from a kingdom to a republic. The scene is entirely dominated by the figure of the lady, emerging from a dark background in contrast with the brightness of her skin and of the colors of her dress. The torments and agony are intensively expressed by her glance, capable of creating a strong empathizing. The shiny white skin and the pearls (symbol of virginity) in her hair are an allegory of her purity, while the red tablecloth seems predicting the violent end. The painting is characterized by lots of exquisite details (like the richly decorated knob of the knife, the ribbon that tie up the purple curtains...

Erasmus Quellinus The Continence of Scipio Oil on Canvas The painting is included in the Catalogue Raisonné of the artist. The Roman commande...

Artist/ School: English School, circa 1740's Title: Portrait of a Lady, traditionally identified as 'Anne of Chesterfield'. Medium: oil painting on canvas, framed Size: painting: ...

Oil on canvas Image size: 24 x 18 1/2 inches (61 x 47 cm) Gilded wood framed Provenance Estate of Judge Davis Norton and Florence Edelstein. William Bateman was a British Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1721 and 1734. He was made Knight Companion of the Order of the Bath...

Dutch School, 18th Century Merry making at an encampment Oil on canvas 30.1/8 x 46 in. (76.8 x 116.8 cm.)

Sebastiano Mazzoni Andata al calvario Olio su tela, Sec. XVI, cm 130x143; con cornice 167x153x9 Il dipinto rappresenta un episodio della Passione di Cristo cui accennano appena i Van...

Portrait of a nobleman by an unknown artist , titled "Sir" on a London label on verso. A man dressed in dark robes with a white collar looks directly at the viewer. Heavy age toning ...

Francesco Fracanzano (Monopoli 1612-Napoli 1656) Testa di vecchio Olio su tela, cm 66x52,5 La tela presenta la figura di un uomo anziano a mezza figura con lo...

The Market in Piazza del Popolo is a work by the Flemish painter Jacob van Huchtenburg, born in Haarlem and present, in the early 1660s, in Rome, in close contact with his compatriot...

Seguace di Peter Paul Rubens, Due teste di apostoli Metà del XVII secolo, Olio su tela, cm 47,5x61 Il dipinto raffigura due teste di anziani ed è collocabile in ambito fiammingo. Potrebbe trattarsi del ritratto di due sapienti dell’ antichità , e in particolare di due filosofi caratterizzati da atteggiamenti opposti: quello di sinistra con lo sguardo verso terra, potrebbe ricordare Aristotele; quello di destra, con lo sguardo rivolto verso il cielo, il suo maestro Platone. In alternativa va presa in considerazione l’ ipotesi, forse più probabile, che si tratti di uno studio su due teste di apostoli che trovano posto nella zona inferiore dell’ assunzione della Vergine. // Follower of Peter Paul Rubens, Two Heads of Apostles Mid 17th century, Oil on canvas, 47.5x61 cm The painting depicts two heads of elderly people and can be placed in the Flemish context. It could be the portrait of two scholars of antiquity, and in particular of two philosophers...

An engraving by Jerónimo Wierix after Marten de Vos's Saint Michael the Archangel (Iglesia de San Miguel, Córdoba) may have been a source f...

Provenance: Robert L. and Bertina Suida Manning, New York, until 1996 Private Collection, USA One of the leading artists in Genoa during the second half of the seventeenth century, Domenico Piola came from a successful family of artists, renowned for their many illusionistic ceiling programs throughout Genoese churches and palaces. A prolific draughtsman and painter, Domenico oversaw an extremely productive studio. In addition to his collaborations with numerous other artists, Domenico also provided many designs for book illustrations and prints that circulated throughout Europe, earning him international exposure and high acclaim in his own day. As Dr. Anna Orlando has indicated (written communication), the present work is an early work by Piola, datable from the late 1640s. At this time the young artist came strongly under the influence of Castiglione and Valerio Castello, while admiring the works of Giulio Cesare Procaccini. Piola’s works from this period are exuberant and fluid, and the artist’s love of portraying children is evident from the angels and putti that populate both his altarpieces and more intimate paintings. The present work depicts three angels...