Jacques Courtois

Battle scene with cavalry

circa 1660

"As the incarnate of dawn shines in the morning, such a blushed Diane's complexion exposed without veils to the eyes of a mortal" Les Métamorphoses by Ovide Less tragic is our destin...

Louis Felix Amiel 1802-1864. Ecole national superieure des Beaux Arts. This painting signed bottom left is of exceptional quality resembles the playwright Charles Theodore Cogniard t...

Charles Gustave, Baron Wappers (23 August 1803 in Antwerp - 6 December 1874 in Paris) was a Belgian painter, also known by his Flemish name, under which he signed his works, Egidius Karel Gustaaf or Gustaf Wappers. He was introduced to the art of painting at the academy of painting in Antwerp where he was a student of Guillaume Herreyns and Mathieu-Ignace van Brée, his trip to Paris in 1826 allowed him to introduce the Romantic movement, then essentially French, into the future kingdom of Belgium. He was successively made commander of the orders of Leopold and Christ (in Portugal), Grand Cross...

"The Maternity" by Jose Royo oil on board. Oil on board Jose Royo's "The Maternity." Even in its small frame, this powerful painting packs a big punch becau...

An amazing 19th century view of Capitoline Hill Rome before and during the Great Fire of Rome AD64 destroying 2 thirds of the city. This is a rare a...

An exquisite set of a pair of North African orientalist/africanist terracotta sculptures of a man and female conveying water containers. Most likely by Goldsheider, incredibly molded...

Provenance: Possibly Antonio Amici Moretti, Rome, 1690 Roy Clyde Gardner, Union, Mississippi, 1970s until 2004; by whom given to: Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, 2004-2010 Lit...

Old Master An Oil Print after a Painting by Jusepe de Ribera in the Museo del Prado, Spain. This is an early print after the original.

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...

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

Signed and dated "N MAE / 1691" (lower right) Oil on canvas A masterful example of 17th-century Dutch portraiture, this magnificent oil on canvas comes alive with luminous color, dramatic contrast and extraordinary detail. The work was composed by Nicolaes Maes, an artist widely regarded as the most prominent portrait painter of his era in Amsterdam. Fashionably styled, Portrait of a Noble Lady exemplifies the mature style of Maes, executed with the same artistry and attention to detail he imparted on his most important private commissions. This work by Maes comes from the second half of his career and follows in the rich tradition of the great Flemish Baroque painters Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck. Like these artists, Maes excels at not only capturing his subjects with a technical perfection but also their inherent elegance and grace. The sitter is draped in luxurious white and red silks and pearls, underscoring the importance and prosperity of his wealthy clientele. She is placed against a dark backdrop, enabling a striking chiaroscuro effect characteristic of the artist’s portraits. Maes’s immense talent for detail and composition is clearly evident. In both palette and proportion, it embodies the somewhat austere style preferred by the artist, which emphasized a painstaking study of the costumes, hairstyles and accessories of his subjects. Such elaborate and highly detailed costuming in portraiture was a fashionable way to show one's wealth in the 17th century, particularly among the emerging class of wealthy merchants. Similar works by the painter can be found in the Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam), National Gallery (London), National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.), Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) and Philadelphia Museum of Art, among others. Nicolaes Maes was born in Dordrecht in 1634 to a prosperous cloth merchant. Around 1848, he moved to Amsterdam to study under Rembrandt for several years before returning to his native Dordrecht, where he established himself as a painter of genre scenes and portraits. In the 1650s, Maes traveled to Antwerp where he studied the work of Flemish artists such as Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck and Jacob Jordaens...

A 17th century English portrait of a lady by Sir Peter Lely (1618-1680), half-length in a painted feigned oval, wearing a green silk gown with chestnut coloured cloak over one shoulder, her fair hair curled in the fashionable ringlet style of the period. Oil on canvas in an English giltwood 'Lely' frame. We are grateful to Diana Dethloff and Catharine MacLeod (who are currently working on a Lely catalogue raisonné) for their confirmation of Lely as the artist from photograph analysis of this previously unidentified early work. Provenance: Private collection Nottingham until 2021 Mellors and Kirk sale December 2000, lot 1173 The sitter is likely to have been from an upper class or aristocratic family in court circles, who were the main source of Lely`s patronage. The simple composition serves to highlight the beauty of the sitter through portraying her pale decolletage and complexion, set against the gentle gaze of her blue eyes, the soft blush of her cheeks and her full red lips. Peter Lely (1618-1680) was originally of dutch origin and became Principle Painter to the King in 1661, following in the footsteps of Van Dyck who had died in 1641. He dominated the portrait painting scene in England for over 20 years, creating a distinctive 'court look' in his work which had a strong influence on many other artists. He had an extremely successful and popular portrait practice which meant that he soon had to develop production methods that could accommodate the high demand for portraits, and also for copies and versions of them which were given as gifts to family and courtiers. The use of studio assistants was a common practice for busy artists and as with Van Dyck, Lely is known to have used specialist assistants to execute particular parts of his paintings. Artists who worked in Lely`s studio included John Baptist Gaspars who specialised in drapery painting, William Wissing, John Greenhill...