Portrait Alchemist Flemish school 17th Century Paint Oil on table Old master

1600-1650

Flemish Mannerist painter Early 17th century Portrait of Hermes Trismegistus (Egyptian alchemist who lived in the 13th century BC) Oil on panel 41 x 33 cm In antique frame 51 x 43 cm The work belongs to a series of three paintings, together with portraits of the alchemists Geber and Morieno Romano The painting depicts an alchemist, an ancient figure who has always been shrouded in fascination and mystery due to his perfect blend of science and esotericism, who sought to achieve omniscience, or the highest level of knowledge in all fields of learning. Among the great goals of alchemy was the search for the elixir of eternal life or the transformation of base metals into gold, a practice that was believed to be achievable through the “philosopher's stone”. The alchemist, with his secret practices and knowledge, is therefore a figure described as straddling the line between scholar and magician, capable of extraordinary transformations, well represented here by a Flemish Mannerist painter active between the 16th and 17th centuries. In our case, it is, in particular, the portrait of Hermes Trismegistus, a legendary figure from the Hellenistic age, sometimes considered a deity (identified by the Greeks with the Egyptian god Thoth) and sometimes a man, considered the founder of alchemy and the master of all occult sciences, as well as of the philosophical current known as Hermeticism. Venerated as a master of wisdom, he is believed to be the author of the “Corpus Hermeticum”, a collection of writings, mainly in Greek, containing philosophical, theological and magical teachings, considered to originate from ancient wisdom. The alchemist holds an unrolled parchment in his hand, on which we can read the phrase “quod est superius est sicut quod inferius et quod inferius est sicut quod est superius”, taken from the Emerald Tablet...

Carlo Ceresa (San Giovanni Bianco 1609 - Bergamo 1679) attributable Full-length portrait of Giacomo Pesenti Oil on canvas (206 x 121 cm - in frame 212 x 133 cm.) This fascinating portrait, portraying a full-length gentleman and datable to the 17th century, illustrates the stylistic and compositional details typical of the pictorial production of the Lombardy area, Bergamo in particular. This reference is reflected in elements such as the natural light, the sober and austere setting and, above all, the subtle psychological characterisation of the face. We are inclined to identify the hand of portrait painter Carlo Ceresa, one of the most illustrious Bergamasque figure painters of the 17th century, capable of developing a style of intense realism and acute psychological investigation. In his works, and our portrait perfectly reflects his canons, an extraordinary naturalistic imprint, great realism and remarkable essentiality are evident. Those traits of severity, moral rigour and austerity typical of his portraiture find a perfect balance here: never courtly or rhetorical, his portraits are profoundly linked to the concept of counter-reform. Immortalising the main personalities of the time, he established himself as a point of reference for the Bergamasque aristocracy, from the Vertova to the Pesenti to the Secco Suardo. The subject of the portrait is Giacomo Pesenti, here immortalised life-size in a rigorous black suit, his left hand resting on a table, on which is placed the necessities for writing and a manuscript, and his right hand, with a sealed ring on his little finger, abandoned along his side while he holds his gloves. He wears a suit of incredible rigour, dressed as befits a man of his high social standing, while the sharp light focuses on his face, with an intensity that seems to be accentuated by the reflection of the white collar, with its sharp profile. For Ceresa, it is not the richness of the garment that gives value to the person portrayed, it is the need to give feeling and bring out the character of the person, and this he succeeds in marvellously, aided by his ability to capture the essence of the person and return it to us in painting through the face and light used as a strong expressive element. In fact, the image highlights that 'counter-reformed' composure typical of the portraiture of painters active in this area and era, adhering to a verism...

Lombard painter of the 17th century Portrait of a Knight in Armour Oil on canvas 81 x 70 cm./ Framed 93 x 82 A handsome gentleman in armour, immortalised in an authoritative and pr...

Antonio Alberti (1603 - 1649) Portrait of Cardinal Antonio Marcello Barberini (Florence 1569 – Rome 1646) Inscription on the bottom: F.M D.D ANTONIUS BARBERINUS ROM. O. CAP. S.R.E. ...

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This mid-17th-century bust-length Flemish school portrait depicts the Dutch Catholic bishop Cornelius Janssen (1585-1638). Painted when into his later years, this intriguing historic...

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