Fabric Paintings

English School, 18th/ 19th century Portrait of Sir Wolstan Dixie, 4th Baronet *see notes below on sitter oil painting on canvas, unframed 50 x 40 inches condition: the painting is in very satisfactory condition without any damage, tears or punctures to the canvas. It is very original and would benefit from a clean ideally, slight scuffing to the edges of canvas. provenance: private collection, Leicestershire, England * The sitter is Sir Wolstan Dixie (4th Baronet, born 1700). Although the family came from a yeoman family of Huntingdonshire, his ancestor, also Sir Wolstan, made a fortune in the City as a merchant, and served as Lord Mayor of London in 1585-6, Sir Wolstan (the 1st Baronet) acquired the manor of Market Bosworth in west Leicestershire and in 1592, having no children...

Studio of Sir Peter Lely Dutch, (1618-1680) Portrait of a Lady Oil on canvas Image size: 29.25 inches x 24.25 inches Size including frame: 37...

Flowers - Oil on canvas cm.70x90, Luigi Degli Espositi, Italy, 2002 Gold leaf gilded wooden frame available on request

VENICE - Italian landscape oil on canvas oval painting cm.30x60 by Giancarlo Gorini, Italy 2002. Gold gilded wooden frame available o...

Still life - Francesca Strino Italia 2005 - Oil on canvas cm.60x60 Francesca Strino, a Neapolitan painter, realises this still life with great pictorial realism. The painter has her ...

Allegorical Scene - Giovanni Faliero Italia 2009 - Oil on canvas cm. 90x110. Gold leaf gilded wooden frame available on request This beautiful oil on canvas is the personal reinterpretation of the magnificent painting “Bacchant playing the Cymbals” by Jean-Simon Berthélemy, a French painter of the 18th century. Here we admire a mythological scene showing a naked bacchant playing cymbals next to a wooded stream, with a small sleeping faun...

NAPLES - Oil on oval canvas cm.30x50 by Ettore Ferrante, Italy 2003. Gold leaf gilded wooden frame cm.48x68 available on request Ettore Ferrante is a refined and excellent landscape ...

Sebastàn de Llanos Valdès (circa 1605-1677) testa di santo martire Olio su tela, cm 50,5x72,5 Non vi sono dubbi in merito all’autografia del dipinto che spetta a Sebastian de Llanos y Valdes (1616-1677), come testimonia l’ iscrizione frammentaria posta nel margine inferiore destro della composizione. Il pittore spagnolo fu allievo di Herrera il Vecchio (1576-1656), poliedrico artista suo conterraneo, abile oltre che nel dipingere anche nella lavorazione del bronzo e nel campo della medaglistica. Nella famosa bottega dell’ Herrera, cui viene attribuito il ruolo di fondatore della famosa Scuola di Siviglia, gravitarono anche il tredicenne Velasquez, che vi rimase per un intero ano, e Ignacio de Riarte. Nel nostro dipinto raffigurante la testa...

Still life - Salvatore Marinelli Italia 2007 - Oil on canvas cm. 50x100 Salvatore Marinelli's painting is a still life with black and white grapes, peaches, melon, a basket of pomegranates and figs. Objects and light are intensely studied and are painted with wonderful tenderness with variety of fruits. Marinelli is inspired by one of the many works by Adriaen Coorte...

Still life - Oil on canvas cm.100x150, Antonio Jannone, Italy, 2003. Frame available on request.

GENGIS KAN - Maximilian Ciccone - Italia - Oil on canvas cm.210x120. In this majestic oil on canvas painting the Artist Ciccone portray the Mongol leader and ruler Genghis Khan...

Peters was born in Freshwater, Isle of Wight, the son of Matthew Peters (born at Belfast, 1711), a civil engineer and member of the Royal Dublin Society; by Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of George Younge of Dublin. The family moved from England to Dublin when Peters was young, where his father "advised on the improvement of loughs and rivers for navigation" and published two treatises on the subject. Peters received his artistic training from Robert West in Dublin; in 1756 and 1758 he received prizes from the first School of Design in Dublin. In 1759, he was sent by the Dublin Society to London to become a student of Thomas Hudson and won a premium from the Society of Arts. The group also paid for him to travel to Italy to study art from 1761 to 1765. On 23 September 1762 he was elected to the Accademia del Disegno in Florence. Peters returned to England in 1765 and exhibited works at the Society of Artists from 1766 to 1769. Beginning in 1769, Peters exhibited works at the Royal Academy. In 1771 he was elected an associate and in 1777 an academician. He returned to Italy in 1771 and stayed until 1775. He also probably traveled to Paris in 1783–84, where he met Léopold Boilly, Antoine Vestier, and was influenced by the work of Jean-Baptiste Greuze. On 27 February 1769, Peters became a freemason, and he was made the grand portrait painter of the Freemasons and the first provincial grand master of Lincolnshire in 1792. In 1785, he exhibited portraits of the Duke of Manchester...

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 ...

COUNTRY SCENE - Oil on canvas cm.30x24 by Jean Philipe Moreno, Italy 2002. Frame available on request from our workshop. The painting by Jean Philipe Moreno depicts a bucolic scene. Moreno is inspired by the paintings of the Neapolitan School of the 1800s and in particular by the Neapolitan painter Filippo Palizzi...

Dominicus van der Smissen Early 18th Century Portrait of Conrad Friedrich Hurlebusch Oil on canvas Image size: 20½ x 16¼ inches Period gilt frame This is a portrait of Conrad Friedrich Hurlebusch, composer, Kapellmeister and organist, whom Van der Smissen most probably portrayed during his stay in Hamburg, Brunswick or Amsterdam. The identification is based on the reproduction of the portrait which was engraved by Pieter Anthony Wakkerdak (1740- 1774). Van der Smissen has reduced the face of the sitters to an egg-shaped oval in three-quarter view, applying diminution to one half of the figure’s torso, which is farther away from the viewer. This partial side view, with the head turned to look at the viewer over the shoulder, creates spatial depth and brings the figure to life by avoiding the stiffness of a frontal depiction. Because the artist chose to highlight the figure from above, a distinct shadow is cast under the tip of the nose, in the shape of a triangle. This is an often recurring and almost ‘signature’-like feature in Van der Smissen’s oeuvre. Hurlebusch's garments are of a very high quality and serve to reflect the sitter’s wealth, status and elegance. During this period, gentlemen often shaved their heads in order to facilitate the wearing of a wig, which wouldbe worn with a suit. Here Hurlebusch has been depicted in a luxurious turban-like cap lined with lynx fur, a highly fashionable and expensive material at the time. Over his shirt, he wears a velvet fur-lined gown adorned with decorative clasps fashioned from silver braid. The elegant informality of his appearance can be seen in his unbuttoned shirt and the unfastened black ribbon hanging from his button hole, which has been artfully arranged into a fluttering drape by the portraitist. The Sitter Hurlebusch was born in Brunswick, Germany. He received the first instructions in his field from his father Heinrich Lorenz Hurlebusch, who was also a musician. As an organ virtuoso, he toured Europe, visiting Vienna, Munich and Italy. From 1723 to 1725 he was Kapellmeister in Stockholm; later he became Kapellmeister in Bayreuth and Brunswick, and lived in Hamburg from 1727 to 1742, where he had contact with fellow composers Johann Mattheson and Georg Philipp Telemann. He made his living composing, performing and teaching. In 1735 and 1736, he is believed to have visited Johann Sebastian Bach in Leipzig, who promoted Hurlebusch’s compositions as the local seller...

Henry Pether, late 18th-century Moonlight lake Landscape. Born into a family of artists, Henry was the son of Abraham Pether (1756-1812), a talented la...

Portrait of a Young Gentleman, Pieter Van Der Dvssen c.1664 Jan van Haensbergen (1642–1705) This charming portrait is an excellent example of late 17th century child portraiture and is from one of the most prolific periods in art history – the Dutch Golden Age. A vast number of artists produced work to fulfil the demands and tastes of a broad Dutch society, and many cities in the Netherlands developed into distinct artistic centres, characterised by style and specialities of subject. The quality of our portrait is similar to the works of the highly specialised ‘fijnschilders’, who were working in Leiden at the time; these artists executed meticulous small-scale paintings. As with the artist’s other works of children, Haensbergen painstakingly recorded many details including a fine depiction of the face, and the surface effects of the materials and the pearl clasps. The young sitter is Walther Bernt Pieter Van der Dussen. He was born into a wealthy noble Catholic family in Delft in 1654. In this portrait he would be around ten years of age, dating the work to circa 1664, which is also the year before the artist’s marriage to Johanna van Heusden. The Van der Dussen family were great patrons of the arts and commissioned a number of major works from eminent artists in Delft & Amsterdam. Van der Dussen died in 1716. The wooded setting, the lamb, and the “picturesque” or “Roman” dress...

River landscape with popular life scene Oil painting on canvas 62 x 98 Framed 74 x 110 cm. We present this vast and harmonious composition, where a characteristic river landscape acts as a stage for an exquisite extract of popular life, set in a small village on the edge of a lush stream. The painting, which presents characters unequivocally linked to the Flemish culture of the second half of the 17th century, shows iconographic and stylistic correspondences, in particular, with the successful production of Adrien Frans Boudewijns (1644-1711) and Pieter Bout (1658- 1719). Aside from the figure of duck hunter...

Artist: English School, early 1800's, circle of John Constable (British 1776-1837) Title: The Woodland Path Medium: oil on canvas, framed Size: 12 x 22 inches Picture: 9 x 18 inches Provence: from a private collection in East Anglia...

Portrait of Young Gentleman, Lord George Douglas, in an Arcadian Landscape c.1710 Attributed to Charles D'Agar (1669-1723) Depicted with bow in hand and situated against an Arcadian...

Marcantonio Bassetti (Verona 1586-1630) Ritratto di uomo di legge Olio su tela, cm 38x27,5; con cornice cm 59,5x48,5 Le caratteristiche pittoriche della persona ritratta sembrano rin...

A fascinating portrait dating from circa 1695-1700 with wonderful provenance: it belonged to the British industrialist Leonard Pelham Lee (1903–1980) and hung in his manor house in W...

Dutch School, 18th Century Merry making at an encampment Oil on canvas 30.1/8 x 46 in. (76.8 x 116.8 cm.)

View of Capri - Francesco D'Angiolo Italia 2004 - Oil on canvas cm. 60x80 Gold leaf gilded wooden frame available on request.

Land Battle - Antonio Savisio Italia 2006 - Oil on canvas diam. cm. 30 Gold leaf gilded and laquered wooden frame cm. 47x47 Maestro Antonio Savisio drew inspiration from the master...

Land Battle - Antonio Savisio Italia 2006 - Oil on canvas diam. cm. 30 Gold leaf gilded and laquered wooden frame cm. 47x47 Maestro Antonio Savisio drew inspiration from the masterp...

Commodo - Maximilian Ciccone - Italia - Oil on canvas, portrait of Roman Emperor Commodo.Mis. cm. 210x120-

Landscape - Mario Locatelli Italia 2004 - Oil on canvas cm.60x90 Gold leaf gilded wooden frame available on request Mario Locatelli’s painting depicts a rural scene, of an authentic ...

Artist/ School: English School, circa 1740's Title: Portrait of a Lady, traditionally identified as 'Anne of Chesterfield'. Medium: oil painting on canvas, framed Size: painting: ...

CHILD - Oil on canvas cm.70x50, Tonino Manna, Italy 2002 Frame available on request from our workshop. in this wonderful painting we admire a girl in a white dress who takes care of ...

Evangelista Schiano (attr.) (active in the 18th century) Saint Gennaro Oil on canvas, cm. 102 x 74 - with frame 126,5 x 100 cm. 19th century carved, sculpted and gilded wooden frame ...

Portrait of a lady wearing a white gown with a red cloak, pearls in her hair and draped over one shoullder, standing beside a classical urn with a basket of flowers, c.1765. The portrait is believed to be a companion portrait of a John (1741-1816) or James (1751-1807) Durno which is housed in an identical frame. The sitter is possibly either the wife of John who was Janes Byres of Stonywood or John and James's sister Elizabeth. (James never married). The Durno family were based around the Aberdeen area of Scotland and John was an advocate in the area and then later a customs official in Jamaica. James was a successful timber merchant, spending time in the Baltic before being made His Majesty's Consul in Memel, Prussia. The portrait is likely to have been painted before Tilly travelled to India in 1768, when John, Jane and Elizabeth would have been in their twenties. We are gtrateful to Mark Beattie for sharing his family knowlege and research on the portrait. Provenance: With W. C. Beattie in the mid 19th century, and by descent through the family Private collection, Kent With thanks to Hugh Belsey who has confirmed this to be the work of Tilly Kettle from photographs. Tilly Kettle (1735-1786) was born in London, the third of six children by Henry Kettle (c.1704-c.1773), a coach painter, and his wife Ann. He attended William Shipley...

This exquisite portrait, presented by Titan Fine Art, belongs to a type of portrait known as ‘Les Belle Romanes’. Voet is perhaps best remembered for his series of them – a great set of portraits...

Circle of Sir Godfrey Kneller Dutch, (1646-1723) Portrait of a Lady in an Ermine Trimmed Cloak Oil on canvas Image size: 26.5 inches x 22.5 inches Size including frame: 33.5 inches x 29.5 inches A well-executed half-length portrait of a lady painted in a feigned oval, circle of Sir Godfrey Kneller. The use of a feigned oval was a device used in portraiture to give a sense of depth and add an intimacy to the painting, drawing your attention to the sitter. The subject, posed without her wig in the undressed fashion of the day, wears a blue ermine trimmed blue cloak over a white silk robe...

Portrait of a young girl, full-length, wearing a blue silk gown, standing on a terrace beside a classical urn holding a branch with blossom. Attributed to John Riley...

Gaspare Diziani (Belluno, 1689 - Venice, 17 August 1767) Gilded, carved and sculpted wooden cassetta frame Expertise: Ugo Ruggeri The narration of our...

Felice Torelli (Verona 1667 - Bologna 1748) Hagar and the Angel Oil on canvas, 41 x 116 cm without frame - 52,5 x 127 cm with frame Original shaped and ...

Seguace di Peter Paul Rubens, Due teste di apostoli Metà del XVII secolo, Olio su tela, cm 47,5x61 Il dipinto raffigura due teste di anziani ed è collocabile in ambito fiammingo. Potrebbe trattarsi del ritratto di due sapienti dell’ antichità , e in particolare di due filosofi caratterizzati da atteggiamenti opposti: quello di sinistra con lo sguardo verso terra, potrebbe ricordare Aristotele; quello di destra, con lo sguardo rivolto verso il cielo, il suo maestro Platone. In alternativa va presa in considerazione l’ ipotesi, forse più probabile, che si tratti di uno studio su due teste di apostoli che trovano posto nella zona inferiore dell’ assunzione della Vergine. // Follower of Peter Paul Rubens, Two Heads of Apostles Mid 17th century, Oil on canvas, 47.5x61 cm The painting depicts two heads of elderly people and can be placed in the Flemish context. It could be the portrait of two scholars of antiquity, and in particular of two philosophers...

A painting of Sappho by Ettore Forti Italian, c.1900 Frame: Height 85cm, width 38cm, depth 2.5cm Canvas: Height 73cm, with 26.5cm, depth 2.5cm This excellent portrait painting depic...

Portrait of a lady by Dutch Golden Age painter Nicolaes Maes (1634-1693). Half-length, within a feigned oval, the lady wears a pearl necklace and earrings, an ivory silk gown adorned...

Nicolò Zafuri (circle of) (documented in Candia between 1487 and 1500, died before 10 July 1501) Madonna with Child oil on panel, cm. 49 x 40 This precious panel depicting the Mado...

Juan Sánchez Cotán (1560 - 1627) was one of the most important still life painters in Spain and beyond. He developed a certain type of still life with a ...

Circle of John Riley British, (1646-1691) Portrait of a Gentleman Oil on canvas Image size: 29 inches x 24 inches Size including frame: 36 inches x 31 inch...

George Knapton 1698-1778 Portrait of a Girl Oil on canvas Image size: 20 x 18 inches Original giltwood frame This beautiful half length portrait  of a young woman, turned to left, gazing at the spectator, wearing a pink, white lace-embroidered, dress, in her hair a pink bonnet trimmed with lace to match her dress. The depiction of a young girl epitomises child portraiture of the late eighteenth century, in which painters such as William Beechey, Joshua Reynolds, Thomas Gainsborough had begun to discover and express the true character of children, in contrast to the stiff, miniature-adults of previous generations. The Artist Knapton was born in Lymington, one of four sons of James Knapton. He was apprenticed to Jonathan Richardson from 1715 to 1722, and in 1720 was a founding subscriber to the academy of St. Martin's Lane established by Louis Chéron...

Signed, inscribed and dated, lower right: 'Geo Dawe RA St Petersburgh 1819', also signed with initials, lower centre: 'G D RA'; and signed and inscribed verso: 'Geo Dawe RA Pinxit 1819 St Petersburgh'; Also inscribed on the stretcher by Cornelius Varley with varnishing instructions. Collections: Private collection, UK, 2010 Literature: Galina Andreeva Geniuses of War, Weal and Beauty: George Dawe...

Circle of Sir Peter Lely Dutch, (1618-1680) Portrait of a Lady, traditionally identified as Princess Henrietta Anne Stuart Oil on canvas Image...

STILL LIFE - Oil on canvas cm.60x80 by Salvatore Marinelli, Italy 2002 Frame available on request from our workshop.

Provenance: Selma Herringman, New York, ca. 1955-2013; thence by descent to: Private Collection, New York, 2013-2020 This seventeenth century Spanish still-life of a laden table, known as a bodegón, stands out for its dramatic lighting and for the detailed description of each object. The artist’s confident use of chiaroscuro enables the sliced-open squash in the left foreground to appear as if emerging out of the darkness and projecting towards the viewer. The light source emanates from the upper left, illuminating the array, and its strength is made apparent by the reflections on the pitcher, pot, and the fruit in the basket. Visible brush strokes accentuate the vegetables’ rough surfaces and delicate interiors. Although the painter of this striking work remains unknown, it is a characteristic example of the pioneering Spanish still-lifes of the baroque period, which brought inanimate objects alive on canvas. In our painting, the knife and the large yellow squash boldly protrude off the table. Balancing objects on the edge of a table was a clever way for still-life painters to emphasize the three-dimensionality of the objects depicted, as well a way to lend a sense of drama to an otherwise static image. The knife here teeters on the edge, appearing as if it might fall off the table and out of the painting at any moment. The shape and consistency of the squash at left is brilliantly conveyed through the light brush strokes that define the vegetable’s fleshy and feathery interior. The smaller gourds—gathered together in a pile—are shrouded partly in darkness and stand out for their rugged, bumpy exterior. The stoneware has a brassy glaze, and the earthy tones of the vessels are carefully modulated by their interaction with the light and shadow that falls across them. The artist has cleverly arranged the still-life in a V-shaped composition, with a triangular slice of cheese standing upright, serving as its pinnacle. Independent still-lifes only became an important pictorial genre in the first years of the seventeenth century. In Italy, and particularly through the revolutionary works of Caravaggio, painted objects became carriers of meaning, and their depiction and arrangement the province of serious artistic scrutiny. Caravaggio famously asserted that it was equally difficult to paint a still-life as it was to paint figures, and the elevation of this new art form would have profound consequences to the present day. In Spain Juan Sanchez Cotan...

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...

Giuseppe Antonio Pianca (Agnona di Borgosesia/VC, 1703 - after 1757) oil on canvas, cm. 49 x 57 - with frame cm. 67 x 77 Antique shaped wooden cassetta frame, ebony and gold decora...

Thomas Spencer was a leading sporting and equestrian artist of the period of John Wootton and James Seymour; his art shows a considerable to debt to tha...

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...

Collections: Robert Gallon (1845-1925); Private Collection, UK. Oil on canvas laid down on panel Framed dimensions: 11.5 x 10 inches This highly engaging, previously unpublished portrait by Johan...

Venice - Giancarlo Gorini Italia 2002 - Oil on canvas cm.50x100 Gold leaf gilded wooden frameavailable on request Giancarlo Gorini's canvas is an extraordinary work of Italian lan...

Naples - Ettore Ferrante - Italia 2006 - Oil on canvas cm.30x80. Frame available on request from our workshop. Ettore Ferrante is a refined and excellent view painter of the past. ...

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...

Antique Italian Grand Tour Oil on Canvas painting, "Mary Magdalene," by Achille Leonardi (Italian, 1800-1870), circa 1840. The painting depicting Mary Magdalene looking skyward and in the manner of...

PIETER MULIER KNOWN AS TEMPESTA Haarlem, 1637 - Milan, 1701 Landscape Oil on canvas, cm 49x65 - with frame cm 62x78 Gilded and shaped frame Expertise:...