Unknown

Very Large Antique French Classical Romantic Oil Painting Ancient Ruin Landscape

19th century

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 ...

European School, 19th century View of boats on water and buildings oil on board, framed framed: 16 x 22 inches board: 11.5 x 17.5 inches private collecti...

Lucas Cranach the Elder and Studio 1472-1553 German Moses and the Pillar of Cloud Oil on panel Moses and the Pillar of Cloud is a bold and evocative composition that showcases the signature intense color and intricate detail of Lucas Cranach the Elder’s celebrated oeuvre. The remarkable 16th-century oil on panel by Lucas Cranach and his studio captures the narrative moment when Moses leads the Israelites out of Egypt and encounters God manifested through a large pillar of cloud. Moses stands at the precipice of a bridge and turns back to soldiers helping to lead the group of Israelites who huddle closely together. Cranach depicts Moses with his traditional iconography, rendering the rays of light on his head which came to be interpreted as "horns" in the translation of the Bible. Using his traditional walking staff, Moses gestures toward the pillar, seemingly acknowledging that God will protect the group as they cross the bridge to the other side, leaving exile and entering a promised land. In a nod to Cranach’s Germanic locale, he renders the figures and setting in a manner that feels decisively more akin to European aesthetics than those of the Red Sea. Soldiers wear elaborate, gothic suits of armor that recall the livery of Northern European guardsmen. The terrain appears more like a European forest giving way to a sweeping valley than the arid landscape the Israelites trekked through on their journey across the Red Sea. Though still clearly recounting a story from the Old Testament, Cranach renders the cast of characters and setting in an earthly, familiar manner. This aesthetic shift speaks to Cranach’s own changing beliefs as he found himself at the center of the Protestant Reformation. After first gaining recognition in 1505 as the official painter of Frederick the Wise, Cranach established a thriving painting and print studio in Wittenberg, Germany. Cranach was renowned for his court portraits and genre paintings and was also well known for his association with the famous protestant reformer Martin Luther, then under the protection of Frederick the Wise. As Wittenberg became a bastion of new religious thought, Cranach soon befriended Luther and played an active role in creating the printed materials that proliferated throughout the Reformation...

This lovely Dutch Old Master oil painting is attributed to artist Pieter Wouwerman. Painted circa 1660 it is figurative landscape with horseback travellers and their dogs in the foreground with ruins on their right. Beyond is a river and hilly landscape, all in the fading light of approaching dusk. There are some superb details making this an excellent Dutch Golden Age oil painting. Provenance: Devonshire estate. Condition. Oil on canvas, 24 inches by 20 inches and in good condition. Frame. Housed in a complementary gilt frame, 31 inches by 27 inches and in good condition. Pieter Wouwerman (1623-1682) was a Dutch Golden Age landscape painter. He was born in Haarlem. According to Arnold Houbraken, a biographer of artists from the Dutch Golden Age, Pieter Wouwerman was the brother of the landscape painters Jan and Philips Wouwerman, who, like his more famous brother, made a living selling Italianate landscapes in the manner of Pieter van Laer...