Canvas Figurative Paintings

Antonio Mercurio Amorosi (Comunanza 1660 - 1738) Portrait of a little girl with cat Oil on canvas, cm. 42 x 31.5 – with frame cm. 56 x 44 Shaped, carved and gilded wooden cassetta fr...

Giulio Benso (Genoa, 1592 - 1668) Nineteenth-century shaped and gilded wooden frame The marvellous canvas, a masterpiece by Giulio Benso, a 17th-century Genoese painter, depicts the...

River Landscape with Bystanders is an original old master artwork realized by Artist of 18th Century. Mixed colored oil painting on canvas. The painting is approachable to traditio...

The splendour of the tragic sea Francesco Guardi and maritime painting in Venetian art No Venetian painter was a stranger to the sea. After all, Venice was not only one of the most prominent ports of the Mediterranean, but indeed a city literally submerged in the ocean from time to time. Curiously however, the famous Venetian school of painting showed little interest in maritime motifs, favouring scenes from the iconic architecture of the city rather than seascapes. That is why this painting is a particularly interesting window into not only the painter Francesco Guardi himself – but to the significance of the element of water in art history, in absence as well as in the centre of attention. Whether it be calm, sunny days with stunning views of the palaces alongside the canals of Venice or – more rarely – stormy shipwrecking tragedies at sea, water as a unifying element is integral to the works of painter Francesco Guardi (1712–1793). During his lifetime, Venetian art saw many of its greatest triumphs with names like Tiepolo or Canaletto gaining international recognition and firmly establishing Venice as one of the most vibrant artistic communities of Europe. While the city itself already in the 18th century was something of an early tourist spot where aristocrats and high society visited on their grand tour or travels, the artists too contributed to the fame and their work spread the image of Venice as the city of romance and leisure to an international audience, many of whom could never visit in person. Still today, the iconic image of Venice with its whimsical array of palaces, churches and other historic buildings is much influenced by these artists, many of whom have stood the test of time like very well and remain some of the most beloved in all of art history. It was not primarily subtility, intellectual meanings or moral ideals that the Venetian art tried to capture; instead it was the sheer vibrancy of life and the fast-paced city with crumbling palaces and festive people that made this atmosphere so special. Of course, Venice could count painters in most genres among its residents, from portraiture to religious motifs, history painting and much else. Still, it is the Vedutas and views of the city that seems to have etched itself into our memory more than anything else, not least in the tradition of Canaletto who was perhaps the undisputed master of all Venetian painters. Born into his profession, Francesco lived and breathed painting all his life. His father, the painter Domenico Guardi (1678–1716) died when Francesco was just a small child, yet both he and his brothers Niccolò and Gian Antonio continued in their fathers’ footsteps. The Guardi family belonged to the nobility and originated from the mountainous area of Trentino, not far from the Alps. The brothers worked together on more challenging commissions and supported each other in the manner typical of family workshops or networks of artists. Their sister Maria Cecilia married no other than the artist Giovanni Battista Tiepolo himself, linking the family to the most renowned Venetian name of the time. During almost a decade, Guardi worked in the studio of Michele Giovanni Marieschi, sometimes simply known as Michiel, a painted similar in both style and motif. Canaletto is, however, the artist Guardi is most often compared to since they shared a mutual fascination for depicting the architecture and cityscape of Venice. During the course of his career, Guardi tried his hand in many different genres. He was as swift in painting landscapes, Vedutas of Venice, sacred motifs, interiors and architectural compositions as he was in a number of other motifs. His style is typical of the Venetian school but also distinct and personal once we look a little closer. There is an absolute certainty in the composition, the choice of which sometimes feels like that of a carefully calculated photograph – yet it is also very painterly, in the best sense of the word: fluid, bold, sensitive and full of character. The brushwork is rapid, intense, seemingly careless and extraordinarily minute at the same time; fresh and planned in a very enjoyable mixture. His interiors often capture the breath-taking spacious glamour of the palaces and all their exquisite decor. He usually constructed the motif through remarkably simple, almost spontaneous yet intuitively precise strokes and shapes. The result was a festive, high-spirited atmospheric quality, far away from the sterile and exact likeness that other painters fell victim to when trying to copy Canaletto. The painting here has nothing of the city of Venice in it. On the contrary, we seem to be transported far away into the solitary ocean, with no architecture, nothing to hold on to – only the roaring sea and the dangerous cliffs upon which the ships are just moments away from being crushed upon. It is a maritime composition evoking both Flemish and Italian precursors, in the proud tradition of maritime painting that for centuries formed a crucial part of our visual culture. This genre of painting is today curiously overlooked, compared to how esteemed and meaningful it was when our relationship to the sea was far more natural than it is today. When both people and goods travelled by water, and many nations and cities – Venice among them – depended entirely on sea fare, the existential connection to the ocean was much more natural and integrated into the imagination. The schools and traditions of maritime art are as manifold as there are countries connected to the sea, and all reflect the need to process the dangers and wonders of the ocean. It could symbolize opportunity, the exciting prospects of a new countries and adventures, prospering trade, beautiful scenery as well as war and tragedy, loss of life, danger and doom. To say that water is ambivalent in nature is an understatement, and these many layers were something that artists explored in the most wondrous ways. Perhaps it takes a bit more time for the modern eye to identify the different nuances and qualities of historic maritime paintings, they may on first impression seem hard to differentiate from each other. But when allowing these motifs to unfold and tell stories of the sea in both fiction and reality – or somewhere in between – we are awarded with an understanding of how the oceans truly built our world. In Guardi’s interpretation, we see an almost theatrically arranged shipwrecking scene. No less than five ships are depicted right in the moment of utter disaster. Caught in a violent storm, the waves have driven them to a shore of sharp cliffs and if not swallowed by the waves, crushing against the cliffs seems to be the only outcome. The large wooden ships are impressively decorated with elaborate sculpture, and in fact relics already during Guardi’s lifetime. They are in fact typical of Dutch and Flemish 17th century ships, giving us a clue to where he got the inspiration from. Guardi must have seen examples of Flemish maritime art, that made him curious about these particular motifs. One is reminded of Flemish painters like Willem van de Velde and Ludolf Backhuysen, and this very painting has indeed been mistakenly attributed to Matthieu van Plattenberg...

This painting is added to the corpus of Jans Frans Van Bloemen by an expertise of professor Giancarlo Sestrieri. The Van Bloemen were a family of painter. Jans, born in Antwerp, prob...

Portrait of Johann Quantz (1697-1773), flautist and composer, wearing a blue velvet coat, waistcoat and breeches, standing in a garden landscape with ...

Matteo Bonechi (Florence 1669 - Florence 1756) Presentation of Jesus Oil on canvas, cm. 75 x 49 – with frame cm. 89,5 x 65 Shaped, carved and gilded wooden box frame Expertise: Sandro Bellesi Publications: Bozzetti, modelletti, sketches: dalla collezione di Giorgio Baratti (From the Giorgio Baratti Collection) curated by Anna Orlando, Agnese Marengo and Annalisa Scarpa, Genova, 2022, pp. 20, 21. The present painting is a very interesting testimony of the creative process of Matteo Bonechi, one of the leading artists on the Tuscan art scene in the early 18th century. The canvas in question is in fact the last preparatory model made by Bonechi before he executed an altarpiece for the church of San Filippo Neri in Cortona in 1716. The scene presented here is that of the Presentation of Jesus, when, forty days after his birth, the child is ransomed through an offering in the temple and placed in the hands of Simeon, who prophesies his future: the coming of the Messiah...

Oil on canvas Image size: 22 x 33 1/2 inches (56 x 85 cm) This is a half portrait of two choir boys wearing white ruffs at their necks, looking down as the...

French School, Portrait of a Young Lady, perhaps an actress Oval Louis XIV sculpted and gilded frame French Art, Roccoco Art The oval portrait of a young woman measures 61 by 50,5 cm canvas sight size and its 18th century oak carved and gilded frame...

This portrait is extremely important in the reconstruction of the corpus and of the life of the artist thanks to a significant inscription on the back of the canvas that says “Ritrat...

Giuseppe Bonito (Castellammare di Stabia, 1707 - Naples 1789) The Painter's Studio or Allegory of Painting Oil on canvas, cm.40,5 x 64 - with frame cm....

Circle of Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, called Guercino (Italian, 1591 – 1666) An annunciation Oil on canvas 30 x 45 in. (76.2 x 114.4 cm.)

Jacob Ochtervelt (Workshop) The Grape Seller There are two known versions of this subject. This is a reduced variant of Ochtervelt's signed and dat...

Willem Muys was a Dutch, 18th-century painter of history pieces, portraits and cabinet pieces. Above all, he appears to have been active as a painter of ‘wallpaper’. Until the mid-18th century, ‘wallpaper’ was not painted on paper but on coarsely woven linen. Wealthy citizens had their mansions or country estates adorned with ‘wallpaper’ with landscapes, exotic birds or chinoiseries. Willem Muys mainly painted ‘wallpaper’, which means that few of his works have been preserved. They are hardly represented in public collections. The works of his sons, Nicolaas en Robbert, both painters, are a little less rare. The painting with Rebecca and Eliezer...

James Thornhill (1674-1735) Oil on canvas 12 x 14 inches; 16 ½ x 18 ½ in. Inc. frame The subject matter and inclusion of herms on both sides shows the influence of Louis...

A very nice painting of a Holy Family, oil on canvas.

French 18th century old master portrait of a majestic and elegant lady. The aristocratic lady gazes at the viewer with a kind and enigmatic smile and twinkling eyes. In comparison w...

Giovan Battista Beinaschi (Fossano, 1636 - Naples 1688) Saint Bartholomew Oil on canvas, cm. 96 x 71,5 – with frame cm. 108 x 86 Shaped and gilded ...

Pietro Bardellino (Naples, 1731 – Naples, 1806) Mary Magdalene Oil on canvas, cm. 75 x 60 – with frame cm. 97 x 82 Antique shaped and carved wooden frame Publications: unpublished T...

Domenico Maria Canuti (Bologna 1626 - 1684) Toilet of Venus with Cupids and Satyrs Oil on canvas, cm. 79x98 - with frame cm. 102x121 Original gilded wo...

Pair Of 18th Century Cherubs Playing With Bow And Arrow oil paintings. After Francois Boucher (1703-1770) Boucher is known for his idyllic and voluptuou...

Simone Cantarini (Pesaro 1612 - Verona 1648) Adoration of the Magi Oil on paper applied to canvas, cm. 16,5 x 24 – with frame cm. 22 x 29 Antique sh...

18th Century European Portrait of a Child Saint John the Baptist Oil on Canvas 19 x 14 1/4 inches This lovely and sensitively painting has been examined by a professional restorer w...

Outstanding early 18th century English portrait of James Bellevue. The portrait was always believed to be the work of Sir Godfrey Kneller who was known to have painted James Bellevu...

Juan Alfonso Abril (active in the 17th century in Valladolid) Head of Saint Paul Oil on canvas, cm. 48,5 x 62 - with frame cm. 63 x 76,5 Shaped wooden f...

Giuseppe Assereto (Genova - 1626 ca – Genova 1656/57) Portrait of an elderly woman, possible portrait of Maddalena Massone, wife of Gioacchino Assereto Oil on canvas, cm. 65,5 x 51,5...

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...

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...

In 2001 the German art historian Art historian and Raphael Expert, Prof. Jürg Meyer zur Capellen, published the painting "Die Heilige Familie" in a monographic article, ascribing the present work to the Venetian painter Giovanni Battista Pittoni (1687 -Venice - 1767). (Newspaper "Weltkunst", October 2001, No 12, p. 1850 f. ill.) He describes it as a typical work by this artist. Pittoni was one of the most influential and successful artists of the Venetian Settecento. He was a pupil of the Veronese Master Giovanni Balestra (1666-1740). His style is influenced by Sebastiano Ricci (1659-1734) and Giambattista Tiepolo (1696-1770). Giovanni Battista Pittoni was already successful at a young age and soon lead his own workshop. He created large-scale hitoria paintings, as well as large, religious altarpieces. In addition to Venetian and Upper Italian patrons, Pittoni also had many interested parties from Europe. His work is accordingly scattered in many different museums and private collections today. Pittoni - like other painter colleagues of his time - repeated his own compositions both by hand and with the help of his workshop. He repeatedly incorporated details into other pictures and contexts. Prof. Meyer zur Capellen noted the very good condition of the present work and the high quality of the paint with fine graduations and the vivid brushstrokes. Provenance: The panting has not been on the art market for at least 300 years. In the year 2000 the work was donated by the Münster-based, Noble Family Ketteler zu Harkotten to a private collection in Westphalia. Most probably the canon Nikolaus Hermann von Ketteler zu Harkotten bought the piece in Venice in 1750 together with the altarpiece of the Clemens Church in Münster. On the reverse of the work is a fideicommissum number by Ketteler zu Harkotten. As it belonged to the family commission, the painting was inalienable until 1919, when the corresponding law was repealed, and after that time it remained in the family's possession without interruption. Pittoni's only direct relationship to Münster is the commission for the high altar painting of the Baroque St. Clemens Church. It can be assumed that then canon von Ketteler saw this painting in the artist's workshop during his stay in Venice and acquired it for himself. This would also explain the discrepancy in dating. (ca. 1735/1750). However, it is also possible that the painting originated in the possession of Ferdinand von Plettenberg...

Peter Paul Rubens (circle of) An Apostle circular 15.15 inches (38.5 cm) oil on canvas Provenance: Bukowskis Auctions, lot 725149, as "Peter Paul Rubens, circle of".

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...

In this painting, Gabriel de Saint-Aubin, the great chronicler of the reign of Louis XV, takes us to the annual parade of the Swiss Guards at the Plaine de...

The scene is dominated by the cross-on which the shiny white and very well defined body of Jesus is nailed to-depicted with a peculiar lateral perspective. The left side is occupied ...

Already in the collection of Emperor Rudolf II in the first decade of the 17th century this composition was famous. The original is by Parmigianino and Rudolf's court painter Joseph Heintz...

A FEAST OF THE GODS WITH VENUS AND BACCHUS Collections: With Appleby Brothers, London, June 1957; Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox, London, 1961; John and Eileen Harris, acquired from the above, to 2015. Literature: Jacob Simon and Ellis Hillman, English Baroque Sketches: The Painted Interior in the Age of Thornhill, 1974, cat. no.12 (as by Louis Laguerre); Elizabeth Einberg (ed.), Manners and Morals: Hogarth and British Painting, 1700-1760, exh. cat., London (Tate Gallery), 1987, cat. no.10 (as by Louis Laguerre); Tabitha Barber and Tim Bachelor, British Baroque: Power and Illusion, exh. cat., London (Tate Britain), 2020. Exhibited: Twickenham, Marble Hill House, English Baroque Sketches: The Painted Interior in the Age of Thornhill, 1974, no.12 (as by Louis Laguerre); London, Tate Gallery, Manners and Morals: Hogarth and British Painting, 1700-1760, 1987, no.10 (as by Louis Laguerre); London, Tate Britain, British Baroque: Power and Illusion, cat. no 92, 2020. CUPID AND PSYCHE BEFORE JUPITER Collections: With Appleby Brothers, London, June 1957; Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox, London, 1961; Anthony Hobson, acquired from the above, to 2015. These recently re-united paintings are the most ambitious surviving baroque ceiling sketches made in Britain in the early eighteenth century. From the Restoration until the rise of Palladianism in the 1720s decorative history painting formed the preeminent artistic discipline in Britain. It was a field dominated by Continental artists including the Italian Antonio Verrio and the Frenchmen Louis Laguerre and Louis Chéron...

Holy Baptism, Oil painting on canvas by an unknown artist About the artwork: Bible Scene, Early 18th Century, Florentine School TECHNIQUE: oil pai...

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...

Remembering the magic of everyday life moments in the art of David Teniers: The art of David Teniers the Younger (1610–1690) coincided with the heyday of the Flemish Baroque and captured a great variety of motifs of his time. In this painting of a seemingly simple peasant scene lies keys to understanding both the imaginative mind of Teniers as well as why this time period produced some of the most iconic works in all of art history.  As indicated by the name, Teniers was more or less born into his profession. As the son of David Teniers the elder, himself a painter who studied under Rubens, the younger David received training in art from a very young age and had no less than three brothers who also became painters. Because of his father’s frequent financial failures that even at times saw him imprisoned, David the younger helped to rescue the family from ruin through painting copies of old masters. Essentially, the young Teniers was confronted with painting as both a passion and creative expression as well as a necessity during difficult times, an experience that would shape much of his capacity and sensitivity in his coming life. Despite the hardships, the talent and determination of Teniers was recognized and quickly expanded his possibilities. He had already spent time in France and possibly also England when he was hired by his father’s former teacher Rubens to help with a prestigious commission with mythological paintings, now considered lost, for Philip IV the king Spain. In 1644–54 Teniers was appointed dean of the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke, manifesting his esteemed position within the artistic community. A few years afterwards he took an important step when relocating to Brussels, where Teniers yet again found new career opportunities that would prove to be very successful. As the keeper of the collections of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm, a role similar to what we now refer to as an art advisor, Teniers purchased hundreds of important artworks that manifested the prominent status of the Archduke’s collection while at the same time providing an unusual access to inspiration and knowledge for Teniers himself. Since he kept on painting during the same time, his creative scope must have seemed almost bewildering in the great variety of images and stories that he surrounded himself with.  Regardless of how glamorous and culturally stimulating the career of Teniers was, he was as open to the charm and existential importance of everyday life as he was to works of great masters and luxurious collectibles. In his impressive repertoire of genres with everything from exquisite royal portraits, interiors, landscapes and history paintings he always added something new and inventive, highlighting the possibilities of art and importance of an experimental and intuitive mind. It is difficult to single out one aspect or genre to summarize his legacy, since it lies much more in the broad virtuosity across many motifs, although he is particularly remembered for farm scenes and meticulously depicted interiors where other paintings and artworks are captured with an astonishing precision. However, the fact that he is still today one of the most known and celebrated names of the Dutch Golden Age is a proof to the magic of his work, which continues to spark dialogue and wonder in the contemporary viewer of his works. The farm boy in the field in this painting, which likely dates to the mature part of his career, is a wonderful entry into the mind of Teniers. In the tightly cropped motif, we see him standing right in the middle of the busy harvest when men, women and everyone capable were sent out in the field to collect the crop that formed the very core of their diet and survival. In the background we see a fresh blue sky interspersed with skillfully painted clouds, some trees reaching their autumnal colours and in the far distance the glimpse of a small church and village. The presence of a church in a landscape, so typical of Dutch art, served both a symbolic and visual function as a representation of faith while at the same time defining scale and distance. In the field, the work is in full action with the farmers spread out in various positions, all in the midst of hard and sweaty labour. While they are portrayed as having nothing else than the work on their mind, our farm boy seems to have his attention directed elsewhere. Standing there with his white, half open shirt, flowy curls and strong, sturdy body; his gaze is directed away, out of the picture and the scythes in his hands. He looks almost smirking, expressed with tremendous subtlety in the slight smile of his lips and big eyes, being just in the middle of losing focus on the work. What is it that steals his attention? What has he seen, or realized, or felt – to break him free of the arduous task of harvesting, if but for a moment? Here starts the wondering and the questions that are the hallmark of a great piece of art. Instead of explicitly locking in the motif in overly clear symbolism Teniers has chosen an open ended, subtle yet striking moment for us to consider. While it of course can be related to numerous other farm scene depictions of this time, and clever usages of gazes and real-life scenes to underscore various moral or symbolic meanings, the painting can be much more of a contemplation than an explanation or illustration. The ordinary nature and understated yet emotionally textured composition of the motif gives greater space for our own reactions and thoughts. Has he seen a pretty farm girl just passing by? Is he fed up with the farm life, joyously dreaming away for a minute, imagining another future? Or is he simply in need of distraction, looking away and ready for anything that can steal his attention? One quality that never seem to have escaped Teniers was that of curiosity. During all of his career he constantly investigated, expanded and experimented with not only the style and technique of painting, but with the vision of art itself. Being credited with more or less introducing farm motifs for a broader audience not only tells us of his ability to understand the demand for different motifs, but the sensitivity to transform seemingly ordinary parts of life into deep aesthetic experiences, far beyond their expected reach. The farm boy in this painting is, of course, exactly that. But with the help of one smirk the entire picture is charged with a different energy, awakening many contrasts and relationships between the calm landscape, the hard work and his own breach of effectivity, holding sharp scythes while thinking or seeing something else. It is no wonder Teniers chose to work with farm scenes as a way of investigating these intricate and delicate plays on expectations and surprises, clarity and ambivalence. It invites us to an appreciation of human everyday life that connects us with the people of 17th century...

Circle of Jan van Huchtenburg Landscape Scene with a Soldiers Camp Oil on Canvas, 41 x 55 cm Soldier Camp Life Scene together with a wonderful golden Frame

French School, circa 1720's circle of Nicolas Lancret (1690-1743) oil painting on canvas 15 x 23 inches provenance: private collection, UK Fine depic...

Provenance: Santambrogio Antichità, Milan; sold, 2007 to: Filippo Pernisa, Milan; by whom sold, 2010, to: Private Collection, Melide, Switzerland De Primi Fine Art, Lugano, Switzerland; from whom acquired, 2011 by: Private Collection, Connecticut (2011-present) Literature: Ferdinando Arisi, “Ancora sui dipinti giovanili del Panini,” Strenna Piacentina (Piacenza, 2009): pp. 48, 57, 65, fig. 31, as by Panini Ferdinando Arisi, “Panini o Ghisolfi o Carlieri? A proposito dei dipinti giovanili,” Strenna Piacentina, (Piacenza, 2010), pp. 100, 105, 116, fig. 101, as an early work by Panini, a variant of Panini’s painting in the Museo Cristiano, Esztergom, Hungary. This architectural capriccio is one of the earliest paintings by Giovanni Paolo Panini, the preeminent painter of vedute and capricci in 18th-century Rome. The attribution to Panini has been endorsed by Ferdinando Arisi, and a recent cleaning of the painting revealed the artist’s signature in the lower right. Like many of his fellow painters working in Rome during his day, Panini was not a native of the Eternal City. He first trained as a painter and stage designer in his hometown of Piacenza and moved to Rome at the age of 20 in November 1711 to study figure painting. Panini joined the workshop of Benedetto Luti (1666-1724) and from 1712 was living on the Piazza Farnese. Panini, like many before and after him, was spellbound by Rome and its classical past. He remained in the city for the rest of his career, specializing in depicting Rome’s most important monuments, as well as creating picturesque scenes like this one that evoked the city’s ancient splendor. The 18th century art historian Lione Pascoli, who likely knew Panini personally, records in his 1730 biography of the artist that when Panini came to Rome, he was already “an excellent master and a distinguished painter of perspective, landscape, and architecture.” Panini’s earliest works from this period still show the evidence of his artistic formation in Piacenza, especially the influence of the view painter Giovanni Ghisolfi (1623-1683). However, they were also clearly shaped by his contact in Rome with the architectural capricci of Alberto Carlieri...

The 39-year-old gentleman had himself portrayed as an aristocrat in an idyllic landscape. At the time, parks and forests were environments associated with the lands and pastimes of t...

Jan Van Huchtenburg Battle of Peterwardein, 1716 Oil on canvas, 45 x 64 cm monogrammed "HB" n 1670 he settled at Haarlem, where he married Elisabeth Mommes. It seems he practised and kept a dealers...

Nicolas de Largillierre painted Elisabeth Marguerite in oil on canvas. A larger version of this work was offered by Sotheby's for $500,000 and is now in a French Museum - Palais ...

Original Oil on Canvas, probably of Dutch School, of the mid-18th Century. Wood Lable attributing the work to E. Williams Senior. Small restoration, otherwise very good condition.

Thomas Willeboirts Bosschaert Pan plays to the dance of the putti Thomas Willeboirts Bosschaert (1614 Bergen op Zoom - 1654 Antwerp) Pan plays to the dance of the putti Oil sketch Oil on canvas, 35 x 51 cm Provenance: Belgian private collection, ca. 1980 to 2020. The oil sketch shows a flute-playing man with dark curls sitting at the left edge of the picture in a recess draped with cloth. In the lower left corner, a fallen bowl with leaking water can be seen. The right half of the picture shows a circle of five dancing putti, whereby the left putti can be recognized as a satyr due to the goat legs. The background is dominated by a dark mountain landscape. In the sky a rising or setting sun can be guessed. It is possible that the flute player represents Bacchus, the god of wine and ecstasy. This fits with the flute as a symbol of celebration, as well as the bowl of water, which could refer to Bacchus' mother, Lethe. Lethe is a river in the underworld, which at the same time symbolizes "oblivion". Thus, the spilling water bowl is not only a reference to this river, but it also symbolizes "oblivion". Moreover, Bacchus is usually depicted with satyrs in his retinue, which would explain the putto with goat legs. However, the interpretation of the flute player as the god Pan would be possible. He is usually shown with his flute and associated with dance. Moreover, he is native to the mountainous landscape of Arcadia. The present work is an oil sketch, i.e. a preparatory study. This is suggested by the partly unfinished parts, as well as the structure of the picture. Some parts are already almost completely laid out, such as the flute player, while others, for example the horizon and also the figures of the putti, are only sketched in outline. The painting can be attributed to the Baroque painter Thomas Willeboirts Bosschaert. This attribution was also confirmed by Prof. Hans Vlieghe. Bosschaert lived and worked in Antwerp with Peter Paul Rubens and Anthonis van Dyck, among others. He studied with Gerard Seghers...

Religious Painting, depicting Madonna and the Child, surrounded by Angels by the Circle of Carlo Maratta (Maratti). This painting is wonderful example of...

Market scene is an oil on canvas realized in the first half of 18th Century by Pietro Domenico Olivero (1679-1755). Original oil painting on canvas. On the lower margin of the fr...

As the Dutch painter Philips Wouwerman often did, this artist painted travellers stopping at an inn or a farm. One of the men got off his horse to urinate against the facade of the building. The motif of a peeing man was far from an exception in Dutch genre paintings...

Attributed to William Marlow (English, 1740-1813) Elegant Figures alongside the River Wye 1790 131 x 152 cm, inc. frame This quiet bucolic scene shows figur...

Landscape with figures is an original oil on canvas realized in the XVIII Century by a Venetian School Master. Original oil painting on Canvas. The painting represents a beautiful...

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...

18th century, antique painting, oil on canvas, old master. Mother with child. Relined canvas. Stretcher frame also renewed. Artist unknown.

Exhibited: London, Royal Academy, 1800, no. 93 What was happening in British history painting in around 1800? In recent discussions of the emergence of a British School of history painting following the foundation of the Royal Academy in 1768, this is a question which is rarely posed and one which is not easily answered. Examination of surviving Royal Academy exhibition catalogues reveals a profusion of artists’ names and titles, few of which remain immediately recognizable, whilst endeavours to explain the impact of exhibition culture on painting - such as the 2001 Courtauld show Art on the Line - have tended to focus on the first and second generation of Royal Academician, rather than young or aspiring artists in the early nineteenth century. This makes the discovery and identification of the work under discussion of exceptional importance in making sense of currents in English painting around 1800. Executed by Edward Dayes...

Figure Ice Skating In Hyde Park, 18th Century Philip Jakob II DE LOUTHERBOURG (1740-1812) Fine huge 18th century Old Master morning frozen winter landscape of figures skating at Hyde Park, oil on canvas. Stunning large scale superb quality and condition winter scene with figures skating on the frozen water. Though unsigned the style and detail is unmistakably De Loutherbourg with a very similar composition currently held in the UK Government Art Collection (Whitehall & Downing Street...

Procaccini was born in Bologna, but his family moved to Milan when the artist was eleven years old. His artistic education was evidently familial— from his father Ercole and his elder brothers Camillo and Carlo Antonio, all painters—but his career began as a sculptor, and at an early age: his first known commission, a sculpted saint for the Duomo of Milan, came when he was only seventeen years old. Procaccini’s earliest documented painting, the Pietà for the Church of Santa Maria presso San Celso in Milan, was completed by 1604. By this time the artist had made the trip to Parma recorded by his biographers, where he studied Correggio, Mazzola Bedoli, and especially Parmigianino; reflections of their work are apparent throughout Procaccini's career. As Dr. Hugh Brigstocke has recently indicated, the present oil sketch is preparatory for the figure of the angel seen between the heads of the Virgin and St. Charles Borrommeo in Procaccini's altarpiece in the Church of Santa Afra in Brescia (ill. in Il Seicento Lombardo; Catalogo dei dipinti e delle sculture, exh. cat. Milan 1973, no. 98, pl. 113). As such it is the only known oil sketch of Procaccini's that can be directly connected with an extant altarpiece. The finished canvas, The Virgin and Child with Saints Charles Borrommeo and Latino with Angels, remains in the church for which it was painted; it is one of the most significant works of Procaccini's maturity and is generally dated after the artist's trip to Genoa in 1618. The Head of an Angel is an immediate study, no doubt taken from life, but one stylistically suffused with strong echoes of Correggio and Leonardo. Luigi Lanzi, writing of the completed altarpiece in 1796, specifically commented on Procaccini's indebtedness to Correggio (as well as the expressions of the angels) here: “Di Giulio Cesare...

Circle of Jean-Baptiste Francois Pater (French, 1695-1736) Le depart du convoie Oil on canvas 36.1/2 x 39.3/4 in. (92.8 x 101 cm.)

A voluptuous woman lies prone on a divan, bearing her backside and turning her head flirtatiously to the viewer, though averting her eyes slightly, as if to maintain a coy demeanor. Surrounded by lush fabrics of deep blues, the creamy tones of her skin and dressing gown are thrown in sharp contrast, making the figure glow luminously. The whole painting is ordered by folds - of flesh, of fabric, of cushions, of the rug - inviting the viewer's eye to look closely across the topography of the canvas. One of Boucher's cabinet paintings (that is, paintings made for private collectors rather than official exhibition at the Salon), the open eroticism of this work invites a voyeuristic gaze. Although it was created for a private audience, it was later displayed at the Salon of 1767, where the critic Denis Diderot found it shocking and lascivious. Nonetheless, Boucher would later paint another iteration of this reclining pose, this time using Marie-Louise O'Murphy, a favorite mistress of King Louis XV, as his model, suggesting that the provocative composition was a stock figure for Boucher's private commissions. "The Brunette Odalisque" (French: L'Odalisque or l'Odalisque brune) is a painting of c. 1745 by François Boucher, now in the Louvre in Paris. He later produced two other works in the odalisque genre, both known as "The Blonde Odalisque". The present painting is another version of Bouchers painting which differs in minor details. The quality of the paint is very fine and the whole technique and style allows a dating to c. 1750. As Boucher's Painting was very famous there were several copies and versions which were made by his studio. The present painting can be attributed to the close circle of Boucher. The Painting is framed in a golden frame which was built in the Rococo style in c. 1990. Both the title of Boucher's painting and the objects found in the interior fix the subject as an odalisque, a concubine within the harem of the Ottoman sultan. The sumptuous textiles and exotic, decorative objects suggest early traces of Orientalism, although the figure appears European. Odalisque paintings...