King Portrait Clementi Paint Oil on canvas Old master 18th Century Italian

1710-1760

Hyacinthe Rigaud (Perpignan 1659 - Paris 1743) School of Portrait of a gentleman in armour: Joseph Jean Raymond de Lasbordes, Officer of the “Régiment des Landes” (infantry regime...

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...

A circa 1725 oil on canvas portrait of Louis George Simpert, as Hereditary Prince, the future Margrave of Baden-Baden (Deutsch: Ludwig Georg Simpert, Markgraf von Baden-Baden) portrayed one-quarter length in powdered wig and wearing ceremonial armor and crimson sash newly fitted in a period molded giltwood frame with bead-and-reel inner border from the Eli Wilner collection. Canvas measures 24.5" x 19.25". A related, but later portrait of circa 1735, attributed to the same unknown painter, is held in the collection of Lichtenthal Abbey, Baden-Baden. Biography: Louis George or Ludwig Georg Simpert, Margrave of Baden-Baden, born June 7, 1702 at Ettlingen Palace was the son of Louis William, Margrave of Baden-Baden and his wife, Princess Sibylle of Saxe-Lauenburg. Hereditary Prince of Baden-Baden from birth, at the death of his father in 1707, he succeeded as Margrave of Baden-Baden at the age of four. As such, his mother was regent of Baden-Baden until he reached his majority on 22 October 1727 at the age of 25. He married Maria Anna of Schwarzenberg April 8, 1721 at Český Krumlov Castle. The couple were the parents of four children, of whom only one survived infancy. After the death of the first Maria Anna in 1755, he married the Princess Maria Anna Josepha of Bavaria on July 10, 1755; the daughter of Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor and his Austrian wife Archduchess Maria Amalia. The second marriage remained childless. Due to his passion for hunting instead of military service, he became known as "Jägerlouis", "hunter Louis", a play on his father's nickname of Türkenlouis ("Turk Louis") due to his famous heroics against the Turkish army at the Siege of Vienna...

A Large Important old master Italian 18th century oil painting portrait of a man in armour holding a helmut in his hand Impressive size 35.5 Inches ( 90cm) high and 28 Inches (71cm)...