17th Century Paintings

Flemish school, 17th century Orpheus and the animals Oil on canvas, 146,5 x 217 cm Provenance: South German private collection. On an impressive, room-filling format, this painting depicts "Orpheus and the Animals." The harp-playing Orpheus sits centrally in front of a tree whose trunk bifurcates above his head. This central tree frames with its crown the scenery towards the horizon and at the same time offers through branches the possibility for many birds to find space. The left half of the picture is characterized by a seascape, at the edge of which the ruins of a castle can be seen deep in the background. This seascape, framed by mountains on the horizon, is the only area where sky can be seen. On this side, waterfowl such as storks, swans and ducks can be seen. In the right half, the viewer looks into a deep European forest. On this right side, more land animals can be found, such as deer, rabbits and lions, among others. Orpheus wears opulent red and gold trimmed clothing, under his blue breastplate we see a white shirt. His feet are adorned by elaborate sandals. His head is surrounded by a radiant laurel wreath ("poeta laureatus"). The young man is clearly identifiable as the singer and poet of Greek mythology, Orpheus, by his harp, the laurel wreath and the animals surrounding him. Orpheus was one of the Argonauts who, under Jason, was searching for the Golden Fleece. He sang so beautifully that he even conquered the angry sea and enemies by the magic of his lyre. During the journey, Orpheus is said to have drowned out even the sirens with his singing. It is said that he was the greatest of all poets and charmed people, animals, stones and trees with his singing. In total, 51 birds and 37 different species are depicted in the painting. The animals are mostly depicted in great detail and, except for a few, can be identified. Mainly European species of animals are shown. Exceptions are the ostrich-like nandu peeking out from behind the deer, as well as the large parrot on the upper left, and the two lions. Similar is the case for the large animal directly behind Orpheus on the right. The shape of the head suggests an arctic fox from the polar regions, even though the body is much too large. The arctic fox was first described in 1555 by Olaus Magnus. However, it could also be a depiction of a brown or black bear. An unusual detail is the animal, which is relatively isolated in the right background and looks to the left. It is not clearly identifiable, but it shows certain similarities with the Australian kangaroo. This was first described by Vespucci in 1500 and further by Francisco Pelsaert in 1629. If it is indeed a kangaroo, this would be one of the earliest surviving pictorial representations. In this painting, Orpheus is accompanied by a small monkey playing a viola da gamba. This is an iconographic peculiarity. In general, this painting has some peculiarities compared to other paintings with "Orpheus and the animals". The central positioning of Orpheus is quite common, but he usually holds a lyre and is dressed in an antique style, but not as opulently. The choice of animals is also remarkable: European animals in particular are seen, hardly any exotic features, such as camels or elephants. The two lions in the right foreground are a quotation from Peter Paul Rubens and his depiction of "Daniel in the Lion's Den", which was realized in an engraving. The present painting can be classified as belonging to the Flemish School of the 17th century on the basis of its painterly and compositional conception. From the circle of Jan Brueghel the Younger are numerous representations of this Orpheus - theme, which take it as an opportunity to show as many exotic animals. There are also echoes of Spanish painters such as Juan de Arellano...

Franz Werner Von Tamm known as Monsieur Daparait (Hamburg 1658-Vienna 1754) Attributed to Still life of fruit with lizard Oil on canvas, 58 x 74 cm. Framed 76 x 92 cm. This magnifi...

This superb Italian 17th century Old Master animal oil painting is attributed to Baroque artist Giovanni Agostino Cassana. Painted circa 1650 the composition is of two rabbits, a guinea pig and a dove in an interior. The two rabbits, one brown one grey are in the immediate foreground, head to head eating something and the dove is standing to their right. The brown and white guinea pig is sitting above and behind them. As the background is dark the animals really stand out and there is superb detail in their respective fur and feathers. This is a charming Italian Old Master animal oil painting and an excellent example of Cassana's work. Provenance. Scottish estate. Condition. Oil on canvas, 24 inches by 20 inches and in good condition. Frame. Housed in a ebonised frame, 32 inches by 28 inches, in good condition. Giovanni Agostino Cassana (c.1658 – 6 May 1720) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. He was a son of Giovanni Francesco Cassana and an elder brother of Niccolò and Giovanni Battista. He was born at Venice, and was initially instructed by his father. In 1670 he worked at the court of Ferdinando de' Medici in Florence and travelled regularly between the two cities, but spent at least the years 1718–1720 in Genoa, where he later died. He painted portraits with some success, but preferred painting animals in the style of Antonio Maria Vasallo, Benedetto Castiglione, and Joannes Fyt, a style which he learned from Jacques van de Kerckhove...

Mythological Figures in Woodland Glade Dutch School, late 17th century oil on wood panel, unframed panel: 11 x 9 inches provenance: private collection, UK condition: minor surface sc...

Adriaen de Gryef (Leiden 1657 - Brussels 1722) Signed ‘A Gryeff f’(ecit) - centre left Peasant in the courtyard with still life of animals and fruit Oil on canvas Dimensions (cm): ...

Giovanni Giacomo Sementi (Bologna, Italy, 1580 - Rome, Italy, 1636) - Pier Francesco Cittadini (Milan, Italy, 1616 - Bologna, Italy, 1681) Danae Oil on canvas, without frame 119 x 179 cm, with frame 140 x 200 x 12 cm, weight 35 kg Expertise by Professor Giancarlo Sestieri Publications: Carne - la materia dello spirito, exhibition catalogue curated by Father Alessio Geretti, project of the scientific catalogue curated by Father Alessio Geretti, Nicole Pravisani and Giulia Toffoletti, (21 May - 22 October 2023), Illegio, Casa delle Esposizioni, pp. 56-59; Body, Love and Feelings - Works of Ancient Masters from the 16th to the 19th century. In the paintings of Giorgio Baratti private collection, Milan, exhibition catalogue curated by Alessandro Marchi, (27 July - 18 September 2011), San Marino - Historical Centre, pp. 38-39; Giorgio Baratti Collezione. Selezione di opere d’arte antica (Giorgio Baratti Collection. Selection of ancient works of art), curated by Professor Giancarlo Sestieri and with the participation of Professor Andrea Emiliani, Grafiche Veneziane, Venezia 2011, pp. 22-23. It is a gentle and graceful Danae the one portrayed by Giovanni Giacomo Sementi. A painting in which the Milanese painter Pier Francesco Cittadini also collaborated by painting the golden basin filled with flowers to the left of the scene. The work shows various pictorial influences; from the Bolognese Emilian style, to that of Ludovico Carracci (1555 - 1619) and Guido Reni (1575 - 1642), to the Baroque and Roman style. The work features an elegant red drapery which serves as the background to the entire scene, but the real protagonist is the young woman with long red hair who is lying on a bed covered by a white sheet. The girl is naked except for a lapis lazuli blue mantle...

Guardian Angel Italian School, 17th century Oil painting on copper, framed Framed size: 12 x 10.5 inches Fine quality early Italian Old Master oil on copper panel, dating to the 17t...

A very fine Italian 17th century oval oil on canvas "Head of Christ Crowned with Thorns" Circle of Pierre Mignard (French, 1612-1695) within...

A rare pair of three-quarter length 'marriage' portraits by one of the foremost dutch portrait painters of the 17th century, Nicolaes Maes (Dordrecht 1634-1693 Amsterdam). The gentleman signed middle left 'Maes 1679'. Oil on canvas in dutch style ebonised frames. Dimensions 58 x 47.5cms each. The gentleman is shown in a landscape at dusk, leaning against a stone capital, wearing a white chemise decorated with lace, a black coat and a brown silk cloak draped across his body. The lady is elegantly dressed in an ivory silk gown decorated with jewels on the neckline and shoulders, the contrasting sleeves in gold fabric, with a rose pink silk cloak draped over her shoulder and bodice. She wears a pearl necklace and earrings with her fair hair worn up with ringlets falling down onto her chest in the fashionable style of the day. She stands with one hand touching a lock of her hair as she rests her arm on the bowl of a stone water drinking fountain...

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...

A splendid Flemish painting from the second half of the 17th century. Oil on canvas artwork depicting a rare biblical scene, the baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch by Saint Philip. A hi...

The Hunting Party Attributed to Dirk Maes (1659-1717) Dutch. Figures in a Classical Landscape, Watercolour and wash on paper, Mounted, unframed image 6.75" x 9.75" (17.1 x 24.7cm)...

The Knight is an original oil painting on canvas realized during the XVII century by an anonymous artist. Provenance: Pecci-Blunt collection. Good condition...

A finely painted portrait of Man aged 55 years. Signed, Inscribed and Dated with old Dutch family provenance. He weighs a large white millstone ruff and a black silk tunic.

Le misure senza la cornice in legno intagliata e dorata sono 97 x 72 cm. Il compianto su Cristo morto è uno dei temi più diffusi dell'arte cristiano cattolica, dove il corpo stesso ...

The Annunciation Circle of Paolo De Matteis (Piano Vetrale, 1662 - Naples, 1728) oil painting on canvas (106 x 90 cm - with frame 118 x 103 cm.) The work,...

Jacques Waben (Alkmaar ca. 1575-1641/1642 Hoorn) Signed in the bottom centre and dated ‘J. Waben f./1620’. The Announcement to the Shepherds Oil on oak panel 103 x 63 cm in frame 107 x 67 Provenance: Vienna Palais Dorotheum Old master painting 10.12.2015 (lot 143) This is a spectacular depiction of the theme of the annunciation to the shepherds, set in a nocturnal atmosphere dense with photos but refined, the episode of the birth of Jesus reported in the Gospel according to Luke (Lu 2:8-15), in which an angel announces the birth of Christ to a group of shepherds. We see the scene just as described in the Gospel passage that sets the event at night where the shepherds, intent on watching over their flock, were startled by the sudden appearance of an angel of astonishing beauty who we see here radiating a powerful golden light, while at his side a multitude of other angels from the heavenly army sing praises to God. After exhorting them not to be afraid, he informed them that a saviour, the Messiah, had been born in Bethlehem, whom they would find wrapped in swaddling clothes in a manger, cared for by the Virgin and St Joseph. The annunciation to the shepherds was the most depicted night scene in Flemish painting from the 15th century...

Artist/ School: Italian School, 17th century, circle of Salvator Rosa (1615-1673) Title: Waterfalls in a Landscape Medium: oil painting on canvas, unframed Size: canvas: 20 x 24....

Already in the collection of Emperor Rudolf II in the first decade of the 17th century this composition was famous. The original is by Parmigianino and Rudolf's court painter Joseph Heintz...

River Boat Landscape, 17th Century Jan Jozefsz VAN GOYEN (1596-1656) Large 17th century Dutch landscape of figures boating on the river, oil on canvas. Excellent quality and condit...

This painting by Carlo Francesco Nuvolone, the great Lombard master of the mid-seventeenth century, is striking for its dazzling composition and the brilliant colors of Christ's tuni...

"The Fortune Teller" is an original oil painting on canvas by Abraham Willemsens, Maitre aux Beguins (Master of the Hats). It depicts a fortune tell...

Pietro Della Vecchia (Venice, Italy, 1603 - Vicenza, Italy, 1678) Title: The Alchemists Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: without frame 73 x 97 cm – with frame 90.4 x 114.3 x 6 cm ...

Pontefract Castle, 17th Century after the engraving by Joris Hoefnagel (1542-1601) Large 17th Century view of Pontefract Castle, West Yorkshire, oil on canvas taken from the 16th C...

Oil on Canvas. Tuscan school of the seventeenth century. According to Christian tradition, St. Veronica was, the "pious woman" who, seeing the passion of Jesus carrying the cross and...

Examining with interest this "Sacred Scene" from the end of the 1500s/beginning of the 17th century (oil painting on canvas, 32 x 26 cm without frame and 40 x 33 cm with frame) representing the Madonna supporting the Infant Jesus on her knees, S. Giovannino with the lamb of god, I can say that it is a Cremona school close...

Ancient painting depicting Jesus with the Commissioner's son (Alternative reading: St. Joseph with the Child, or the 'Paternity') Giovan Battista Salvi known as "the Sassoferrato" (1609 - 1685) circle / follower Oil painting on canvas 76 x 59 cm. -With frame in the shape of a small temple, not coeval 99 x 84 cm. The interesting canvas that we are pleased to offer you recalls the iconographic model of classic paternity, which traditionally sees Saint Joseph holding the sleeping baby Jesus...

This superb Dutch Old Master marine oil painting is attributed to the circle of Jacob de Heusch. Painted circa 1690 the setting is an Italian coast with fish...

An engraving by Jerónimo Wierix after Marten de Vos's Saint Michael the Archangel (Iglesia de San Miguel, Córdoba) may have been a source f...

Circle or Follower of David Teniers, Peasant in a Tavern Inn, drinking and smoking. Oil on canvas, Framed: 39 x 47 cm. Typical Flemish Baroque Interior...

Luca Giordano (Naples, 1634 - 1705) workshop of Psychostasy of the Archangel Michael, or the Weighing of Souls (probable preparatory sketch) Oil on canvas 58 x 43 cm. Framed 73 x 6...

Paolo De Matteis (Piano del Cilento, 1662 - Naples, 1728) attributed/ workshop Triumph of the Trinity with Our Lady, Saint Joseph, Saint John the Baptist, Saint Ignatius, Saint Fran...

The Madonna & Christ Child Italian, 17th century oil on wood panel, unframed board: 9.5 x 7.5 inches provenance: private collection, Paris condition: very good and sound condition fo...

This elegant portrait, presented by Titan Fine Art, depicts a beautiful young lady seated in a wooded area, resting one arm on a rock, before a landscape and a warm evening sky. She is wearing a white smock under russet-coloured silks, loosely held in place by an immense black diamond clasp on the sleeve, and her body is enveloped in a voluptuous swag of azure silk; the costly fabrics and jewels reveal that the sitter was a paragon of a wealthy and privileged society that she belonged to. Much of the attractiveness of this portrait resides in its graceful composition and the beauty of the youthful sitter. The flowing water in the left margin of the picture and the shell that she holds are compositional devises often used at the time to allude to her potential as wife and mother, recalling Proverbs, Chapter 5, Verse 18: “Let thye fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of thye youth”. Symbolism was a key component to many works of this period and contemporary viewers would have deciphered them immediately. Such images exude a sense of status and Augustan decorum, and were highly influential in transmitting these values into the first half of the eighteenth century. Held in a good quality and condition gilded antique frame. Herman Verelst was from a great dynasty of painters, with many members achieving great success. Specialising in portraits and still life paintings, he was one of the legions of foreign-born artists working in England at the time. Today, many of his pictures are given to other artists or are simply relegated to that term “circle of” which is a great disservice because he had an ability to render faces and drapery on par with some of the best artists at the time. Herman’s work is quite distinctive in the way he rendered faces and this particular pose was a favourite. His faces were portrayed with great skill often using the sfumato technique which gave them a very smooth feel to the skin with no hard lines, and many known works by him show that he could also render drapery with great affect. Our painting was painted in the 1690’s. His father, Pieter Hermansz Verelst...

Saint George A follower of Giovanni Battista Cima, known as Cima da CONEGLIANO (Conegliano c. 1449 - Conegliano c. 1517) Oil on canvas 126 x 49 cm. Framed 143 x 65 cm. The painting...

Baroque Landscape with Figures French School, 17th century oil on canvas, framed Framed: 29.5 x 23.5 inches Canvas : 25.5 x 19 inches Provenance: private collection, France Condition...

Ornate Classical Fruit Still Life Italian School, 17th century oil on canvas, unframed canvas: 22 x 27 inches provenance: private collection, UK condition: very good and sound condi...

Hendrick van Balen (Antwerp 1575 - 1632) workshop Possible Jan van Balen (Antwerp 1611 - 1654) Madonna and Child with Three Angels Oil on panel 65 x 50 cm....

Gérard de Lairesse (Liège 1641 - Amsterdam 1711), attributed Circumcision of Christ Oil on canvas, 120 x 102 cm., In frame 138 x 119 cm. The p...

Diana The Huntress and her Cherubs Northern European artist, circa 1680's period oil on canvas, unframed canvas: 20 x 60.5 inches provenance: private collection, UK condition: some p...

Oil on Canvas. North Italian school of the 17th century. The large painting presents as its subject a well-known Old Testament theme, the wealth of King Solomon, recounted in the Fir...

Flemish painter 17th-18th century Construction of the Tower of Babel Oil on canvas 51 x 64 cm Framed 66 x 78 cm If there is a subject in art that has been taken up several times t...

Roman ruins is an original old master artwork realized realized by a follower of the artist Giovanni Paolo Panini and attributed to Francis Harding (1730-1766). Mixed colored oil on canvas. Includes frame. The work is a replica of Panini's canvas made around 1740, made known by Ferdinando Arisi in his 1986 monograph (Cat.456) as belonging to the Galleria Taccani in Milan and recently reappeared on the London market...

This painting is dated 1969 and signed by the artist Saint-Lou. The painting depicts three musicians with flowing hair, playing the clarinet, trumpet, and accordion. The stylistic a...

Jusepe de Ribera (Xàtiva 1591 - Naples 1652) circle of - San Giuseppe. 108 x 80 cm without frame, 123 x 95 cm with frame. Antique oil painting on canvas, in a carved and gilded woo...

Miss Ada Gossett, circa 1673, half-length in a landscape at dusk, wearing an amber silk gown adorned with a gold trimmed gauze shawl and fine jewels, wearing a pearl necklace, her fa...

Giovanni Battista Spinelli (Chieti, Italy, 1613 - Ortona, Italy, 1647) Title: Jacob's dream Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: without frame 98 x 135 cm - with frame 108 x 145 cm Expertise by Professor Nicola Spinosa Publications: From Sacro to Profano. The Giorgio...

Circle of Bernardo Castello (1557-1629) The Holy Family with Saint John the Baptist 1600-1615 circa Oil on canvas in gilded frame Measures in cm: 84 x 63 cm (104 x 84 cm including frame) Measures in inch: 33.07 x 24.80 in (40,95 x 33,08 in including the frame) One of the most widespread iconographies in Italian painting from the Renaissance onwards, that of the Holy Family, is set in a sober and at the same time elegant interior, as the presence of the gold-edged green curtain that closes the space like a backdrop states. Whether it takes place in the intimacy of the house in Nazareth, as in the painting presented here, or it is placed outdoors, the scene includes the presence in the role of protagonists of the Madonna and Child Jesus, flanked by the protective figure of Joseph, always held a slightly aloof. In some cases, including ours, the Child is in dialogue with the little John the Baptist, thus alluding to the role played by the latter in the history of salvation, as the gesture of Jesus explicitly indicates in our canvas, who blesses the one who will be destined to baptize him in the waters of the Jordan. The 'room' dimensions, the calm religious intonation that pervades the representation, underlined by the very evident presence of the haloes, attest that the painting was conceived for the private devotion of its client and probably intended for a bedroom or for the walls of a small home chapel. The cleaning carried out in recent times allows you to appreciate the bright and lively chromatic range, orchestrated on the refined harmony between the shades of the Virgin's robes - blue and carmine red - and the bright green of the curtain that forms the backdrop to the scene. A particularly delicate pictorial drafting, well appreciated in the soft rendering of the faces and limbs of the two children - observe, for example, the suffused chiaroscuro transitions of the face of Jesus - is combined with a sensitive and tender description of the 'affects', allowing us to place this painting in the context of the painting of the Catholic Counter-Reformation and of the principles of verisimilitude and naturalness advocated by it in reaction to the expressive licenses and formal abstractions of the Mannerist figurative culture derived from Michelangelo's lesson. The return to a sober and juxtaposed pictorial language and simplified compositional schemes, often inspired by the early sixteenth century examples of Raphael and Andrea del Sarto, which we also recognize in our Holy Family, characterizes the work of numerous artists scattered throughout the various centers of the Peninsula , from the Bologna of the Carracci, to the Tuscany of Santi di Tito, to the Marche of Federico Barocci, up to Rome, Naples and Milan, where Camillo Procaccini and Guglielmo Caccia...

Follower of Dirck van Berghen (Dutch School, 17th Century) Pastoral Landscape with a Shepherdess and Livestock Oil on canvas, framed in a French Empire period gilt frame canvas dimen...

Oil on Canvas. Central Italian school of the 17th century. The painting recalls in pictorial style the production of Angelo Caroselli (1585-1652), a Roman Baroque artist who was a pa...

Landscape with martyrdom of Saint Stephen is an old master artwork realized in 17th century. Mixed colored oil painting on canvas. Includes coeval gilded frame cm. 148x196. The artwork is attributed to Vincent Adriaenssen called il Manciola (Antwerp, 1595 - Roma, 1675) Among the painters who worked in the first half of the seventeenth century it is possible to indicate only the Neapolitan Scipione Compagno (1624-1680) as the author of scenes of martyrs set within a landscape or a view such as, for example, the Martyrdom of Saint Stefano recently hesitated at the Ansorena in Madrid on June 16, 2021. It should be noted, however, that the landscape represented in the painting examined here, characterized by luxuriant vegetation, meticulously represented "in the Flemish style", shows differences with the typical settings of the paintings di Compagno, characterized above all by urban views, visionary architectures or rather arid vegetation. Even the refined figures, so elongated and lanky, represented in our painting, in particular the group of knights in the foreground on the right, are not reflected in the production of the Neapolitan painter. These elements, to which we add the depiction of the Eternal Father amidst the clouds and the detail of the dog in profile in the foreground, instead recall a painter mainly known as a battle soldier, but who was also the author of many works depicting episodes from ancient Rome set within luxuriant landscapes, or rather Vincent Adriaenssen known as Manciola, a painter from Antwerp whose figure has been shed light thanks to recent studies. The group of horsemen represented to the right of the examined painting is, in fact, comparable with other groups on horseback present in numerous works by Manciola such as, for example, in the Triumph of Caesar (Rome, Babuino, 23-03-2010; formerly Florence, Collection Privata, 2006), while similar elongated and somewhat lanky figures, dressed in red, yellow, blue and white, can be found in the three paintings conserved at the Cassa di Risparmio di Pesaro, which in the past were erroneously attributed to the Umbrian painter Francesco Allegrini...

Antonio Tibaldi (Rome, c. 1635 - post 1675) Workshop of Still Life with Armour, Curtains and Sculpture Oil on canvas 53 x 77 cm. - in frame 65 x 89 cm. Beautifully scenic painting ...

Christ surrounded by angels in the desert Circle of Pietro da Cortona, born as Pietro Berrettini (Cortona 1597 - Rome 1669) Oils on canvas (66 x 50 cm. - in frame 80 x 64 cm.) The ...

David Finsonius (Veere 1597- Bergen op Zoom 1646/1648) Portrait of a girl with a rose and a red coral necklace With traces of the artist’s signature and annotated AETATIS S.V. 2 1⁄2 Ao 1631 Oil on panel, H. 104.5 x 79.5 cm Provenance: Purchased by Jonkheer Helenus Marius Speelman (1857-1909), Kasteel de Wittenburg; thence by descent The work shows a strong resemblance to a portrait by Finsonius in the North Brabant Museum. This signed and dated "Girl with Basket and Cherries" (Inv. 15529), was painted just a year later, in 1632. Not only are the paintings remarkably similar in overall size and format, in painting style, and in the positioning of the girls in full length in their white lace dresses. They are also connected by the iconographic scheme of the respective coral necklaces, each with a gold memorial medal hanging from it. Although they are of course individuals, the faces are very similar in their depictions of features such as eyes, nose, and lips. This points to the same technique applied by the same painter. Finally, the handwriting is almost the same on the works by Finsonius known so far. About the painter, David Finson named 'Finsonius' (related to the better-known Louis Finson...

Titan Fine Art presents this exquisite oil on panel portrait depicting a handsome young gentleman in an exuberant black damask doublet. The pose, with one hand holding gloves and the other akimbo, was one that was well-established for gentleman of the upper echelons of society by the time this work was painted. The principle governing portraits at this time was the recording and defining in visual terms of the position of a sitter in society. In addition to brilliant and complex symbols of luxury, they often contained many symbolic elements too; the inclusion of gloves was often used in portraits that celebrated a betrothal as in ancient times gloves were used to seal a marriage contract. The extraordinary costume of a black shimmering doublet, the brilliant white reticella ruff, and the cuffs edged with lace were immensely costly… this attire proclaims to every onlooker that this is a superior being. The rendering of the reticella lace ruff is exquisite and the artist has recorded the design that runs through the black damask fabric with meticulous attention to detail. The preservation of this black pigment is remarkable considering the age of the work. Black pigments are especially vulnerable to fade and wear over time partly due to environmental condition but also from unprofessional cleaning. This work is an exquisite example from the period. According to the inscription in the upper right, the gentleman was in his 22nd year of age in 1624. The coat of arms, which is displayed without a crest, may be ‘blazoned’ in the language of heraldry, as: Sable on a Chevron between in chief two Roundels and in base a Billet [or possibly Square] Or three Martlets Sable. In plainer English this means a black (Sable) background, spanned by a gold (Or) chevron, above which are two golden solid circles (Roundels), and below which is a gold rectangle (Billet); on the chevron are three small black birds (Martlets). Martlets are a stylised form of heraldic bird, believed to be based on the swift, which are conventionally drawn with small tufts instead of feet. In Continental Europe it is also conventional for them to be drawn without beaks, as appears to be the case here. The birds in this instance also have a vaguely duck-like appearance. Five families have been identified with very close armorial bearings to the one in our portrait. They are the (van) Houthem’s (of Brabant), the Prévinaire’s (of Flanders and Holland), and the Proveneer’s (of Liège) and it must be noted that the locations of these families also fit with the painting’s Flemish origins. However the French Grenières’s (of Île-de-France) and the Jallot’s (of Normandy) are the next closest matches and plausible matches, as Frans Pourbus had settled in Paris just a few years before our portrait was painted. This painting has been assessed by a professional conservator prior to going on sale, and as thus, it can be hung and enjoyed immediately. Frans Pourbus the Younger...

Equestrian portrait of Louis XIV, Workshop of René-Antoine Houasse, (Paris, c. 1645 - Paris, 1710) Late 17th century French school, c. 1690 Oil on canvas, h. 100 cm, w. 80 cm Importa...

Domenico Maria Canuti (Bologna, Italy, 1626 – 1684) Title: Assumption of the Virgin Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: 138 x 104.5 cm without frame Expertise by Professor Micaela Li...

This charming 17th century Old Master portrait oil painting is attributed to the circle of Swedish born Michael Dahl who lived and work in England for most of his life. Painted circa...