18th Century and Earlier Paintings

This exquisite and exceedingly rare early 18th-century Russian Staurotek icon depicts The Crucifixion of Christ with an assemblage of saints, together with a 19th-century copper-cast...

John Rathbone (1750-1807) View at Tivoli Signed lower right Oil on Canvas Canvas size - 18 x 24 in Framed size - 24 x 30 in John Rathbone was born in Cheshire in 1750 and worked as ...

A moody pair of oil on canvas paintings of birds in lush landscapes. Frames later.

Sir Henry Raeburn (1756-1823) James Sinclair, 12th Earl of Caithness (1766-1823) Oil on Canvas 30 X 25 inches Unframed 37 X 32 inches framed Sir Henry Raeburn FRSE RA RSA (4 March 1756 – 8 July 1823) was a Scottish portrait painter and Scotland's first significant portrait painter since the Union to remain based in Scotland. He served as Portrait Painter to King George IV in Scotland. Raeburn was born the son of a manufacturer in Stockbridge, on the Water of Leith: a former village now within the city of Edinburgh. He had an older brother, born in 1744, called William Raeburn. His ancestors were believed to have been soldiers, and may have taken the name "Raeburn" from a hill farm in Annandale, held by Sir Walter Scott's family. Orphaned, he was supported by William and placed in Heriot's Hospital, where he received an education. At the age of fifteen he was apprenticed to the goldsmith James Gilliland of Edinburgh, and various pieces of jewellery, mourning rings and the like, adorned with minute drawings on ivory by his hand, still exist. Soon he took to the production of carefully finished portrait miniatures; meeting with success and patronage, he extended his practice to oil painting, at which he was self-taught. Gilliland watched the progress of his pupil with interest, and introduced him to David Martin, who had been the favourite assistant of Allan Ramsay the Latter, and was now the leading portrait painter in Edinburgh. Raeburn was especially aided by the loan of portraits to copy. Soon he had gained sufficient skill to make him decide to devote himself exclusively to painting. George Chalmers (1776; Dunfermline Town Hall) is his earliest known portrait. In his early twenties, Raeburn was asked to paint the portrait of a young lady he had noticed when he was sketching from nature in the fields. Ann was the daughter of Peter Edgar of Bridgelands, and widow of Count James Leslie of Deanhaugh. Fascinated by the handsome and intellectual young artist, she became his wife within a month, bringing him an ample fortune. The acquisition of wealth did not affect his enthusiasm or his industry, but spurred him on to acquire a thorough knowledge of his craft. It was usual for artists to visit Italy, and Raeburn set off with his wife. In London he was kindly received by Sir Joshua Reynolds, the president of the Royal Academy, who advised him on what to study in Rome, especially recommending the works of Michelangelo, and gave Raeburn letters of introduction for Italy. In Rome he met his fellow Scot Gavin Hamilton, Pompeo Girolamo Batoni and Byers, an antique dealer whose advice proved particularly useful, especially the recommendation that "he should never copy an object from memory, but, from the principal figure to the minutest accessory, have it placed before him." After two years of study in Italy he returned to Edinburgh in 1787, and began a successful career as a portrait painter. In that year he executed a seated portrait of the second Lord President Dundas. Examples of his earlier portraiture include a bust of Mrs Johnstone of Baldovie and a three-quarter-length of Dr James Hutton: works which, if somewhat timid and tentative in handling and not as confident as his later work, nevertheless have delicacy and character. The portraits of John Clerk, Lord Eldin, and of Principal Hill of St Andrews belong to a later period. Raeburn was fortunate in the time in which he practised portraiture. Sir Walter Scott, Hugh Blair, Henry Mackenzie, Lord Woodhouselee, William Robertson, John Home, Robert Fergusson, and Dugald Stewart were resident in Edinburgh, and were all painted by Raeburn. Mature works include his own portrait and that of the Rev. Sir Henry Moncrieff Wellwood, a bust of Dr Wardrop of Torbane Hill, two full-lengths of Adam Rolland of Gask, the remarkable paintings of Lord Newton and Dr Alexander Adam in the National Gallery of Scotland, and that of William Macdonald of St Martin's. Apart from himself, Raeburn painted only two artists, one of whom was Sir Francis Leggatt Chantrey, the most important and famous British sculptor of the first half of the 19th century. It has recently been revealed that Raeburn and Chantrey were close friends and that Raeburn took exceptional care over the execution of his portrait of the sculptor, one of the painter's mature bust-length masterpieces. It was commonly believed that Raeburn was less successful in painting female portraits, but the exquisite full-length of his wife, the smaller likeness of Mrs R. Scott Moncrieff in the National Gallery of Scotland, and that of Mrs Robert Bell, and others, argue against this. Raeburn spent his life in Edinburgh, rarely visiting London, and then only for brief periods, thus preserving his individuality. Although he, personally, may have lost advantages resulting from closer association with the leaders of English art, and from contact with a wider public, Scottish art gained much from his disinclination to leave his native land. He became the acknowledged chief of the school which was growing up in Scotland during the early 19th century, and his example and influence at a critical period were of major importance. So varied were his other interests that sitters used to say of him, "You would never take him for a painter till he seizes the brush and palette." In 1812 he was elected president of the Society of Artists in Edinburgh; and in 1814 associate, and in the following year full member, of the Royal Scottish Academy. On 29 August 1822 he was knighted by George IV and appointed His Majesty's limner for Scotland at the Earl of Hopetoun house. He died in Edinburgh. Raeburn had all the essential qualities of a popular and successful portrait painter. He was able to produce a telling and forcible likeness; his work is distinguished by powerful characterisation, stark realism, dramatic and unusual lighting effects, and swift and broad handling of the most resolute sort. David Wilkie recorded that, while travelling in Spain and studying the works of Diego Velázquez, the brushwork reminded him constantly of the "square touch" of Raeburn. Scottish physician and writer John Brown wrote that Raeburn "never fails in giving a likeness at once vivid, unmistakable and pleasing. He paints the truth, and he paints it with love". Raeburn has been described as a "famously intuitive"portrait painter. He was unusual amongst many of his contemporaries, such as Reynolds, in the extent of his philosophy of painting directly from life; he made no preliminary sketches. This attitude partly explains the often coarse modelling and clashing colour combinations he employed, in contrast to the more refined style of Thomas Gainsborough and Reynolds. However these qualities and those mentioned above anticipate many of the later developments in painting of the 19th century from romanticism to Impressionism. Sir Henry Raeburn died in St Bernard's House (17 St Bernards Crescent), Stockbridge, Edinburgh. He is buried in St. Cuthbert's churchyard against the east wall (the monument erected by Raeburn in advance) but also has a secondary memorial in the Church of St John the Evangelist, Edinburgh. James Sinclair, 12th Earl of Caithness was born at Barrogill Castle (Castle of Mey) on 31 May 1766. He was the son of Sir John Sinclair of Mey, Baronet who he succeeded in the baronetcy in 1774. He succeeded as 12th earl of Caithness in 1789. He was lord-lieutenant of the county of Caithness and lieutenant-colonel of the Ross-shire militia. He married at Thurso Castle on 2 January 1784 Jane, second daughter of Alexander Campbell...

Pieter Symonsz Potter Dutch 1600 - 1652 Soldier in an Interior Oil on oak panel, red seal to reverse Image size: 15 x 10 3/4 inches Dutch Ebonised frame Bathed in a well lit roo...

Painting, oil on canvas, measuring 92 x 75 cm without frame and 102 x 87 cm with frame depicting a nobleman of the French school of the first half of the 18th century. In its formal...

18th Century European Portrait of a Child Saint John the Baptist Oil on Canvas 19 x 14 1/4 inches This lovely and sensitively painting has been examined by a professional restorer w...

Antique Italian painting from 18th century. Oil artwork on canvas depicting biblical subject Joseph and and Potiphar's Wife of good pictorial hand. Beautiful measure and pleasant fur...

Oil on oak panel Image size: 20 1/2 x 23 1/2 inches (52 x 60 cm) Hand made frame Herri Met de Bles, also known as Henri Blès, Herri de Dinant and Herry de ...

Antique Italian painting from the 18th century. Framework oil on canvas depicting a landscape with figures of good pictorial quality. Nice sized and pleasantly decorated paintinf wit...

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...

Anonymous, 18th century Inspired by a painting by Petrus Staverenus (1610/1612 – 1654-07-28/1664-07-28) from a series of Five Senses 'Taste: A laughing man...

An Allegory Of Motherhood & Charity, 17th Century Huge Italian Old Master Huge circa 1600 Italian Old Master scene of a mother and infants as an al...

Antique Flemish painting from the 18th century. Framework oil on canvas depicting religious subject Holy family of good pictorial quality. Nice sized and pleasantly decorated framewo...

This painting depicts a fascinating allegory of winter, attributed to Francesco Zucchi, an 18th-century Venetian artist. The work depicts an anthropomorphic figure composed of fruits...

LANDSCAPE WITH FLIGHT TO EGYPT, JASPER VAN DER LANEN (ANTWERP, 1585 - 1634) 17TH CENTURY FLEMISH SCHOOL ANTWERP CIRCA 1630 Oil on copper, dimensions: h. 10.23 in, w. 14.96 in Flemish style frame in ebonized wood adorned with wavy moldings and wood veneer. Framed dimensions: h. 17.32 in, w. 21.65 in Provenance: Philips auction...

Gaspar Peeter Verbruggen 1664-1730 Still Life of Fruit in a Wicker Basket with Bird Oil on oak panel Image size: 8 1/4 x 7 1/2 inches (21 x 19 cm) Contemporary Dutch ebonised style f...

Portrait Of Carlota de Hesse-Kassel, 17th Century Dutch School Large 17th Century Dutch old Master portrait of Carlota de Hesse-Kassel. Exc...

Still life Of Flowers In A Classical Urn, 18th Century Dutch School Huge 18th Century Dutch School Old Master Still Life of flowers...

A beautifully detailed late 17th or early 18th century Dutch or Flemish landscape with cows grazing in the water, goats, dogs, and other animals near the water’s edge, under the watchful eye of the herdsmen, on a backdrop of rolling hills and trees. Oil on wood panel, unsigned, and housed in a Rudolph...

Oil Painting circle of Nicolaes Berchem "Off to Market" 1620 - 1683 Highly esteemed Dutch pastoral landscape painter of the Golden age with a large studio and many pupils. Found in m...

This is 2 original oil paintings. Both are beautiful pieces. each lined and with craquelure; Meet by the Farmhouse with a chip in the paint along the left edge and an abrasion along ...

Italian School, 18th century Depicted are the Madonna and Child Jesus, the virgin Mary is holding the Child Jesus lovingly in her arms. The child, lying on a bundle of cloth and with...

Dutch school, follower of Herman van SWANEVELT (1603-1655), Shepherds and their flock on a path, oil on canvas, circa 1700 – good condition Wooden frame Canvas without frame : Height...

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...

Portrait Of Lady Francklin of Bedfordshire, 17th Century Studio of Sir Peter Lely (1618-1680) Fine 17th Century English portrait of Lady Fr...

Orpheus Enchanting The Animals, 17th Century Circle of Cornelis Saftleven (1607-1681) Large 17th Century Dutch Old Master depiction of Orpheus enchanting the animals, oil on panel...

James McDougal Hart (1828-1901) was a prominent American landscape painter and a key figure in the Hudson River School. His landscapes are characterized by their serene and idyllic q...

Christian Schildbach was a very talented artist with his own style. Art painter in Plauen, then court painter in Dresden; around 1706 art painter in Vienna, also active in Bamberg (...

Domenico Maria Canuti (Bologna 1626 - 1684) Title: Toilet of Venus with Cupids and Satyrs Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: without frame 79 x 98 cm - ...

Saint Anthony The Abbot In A Natural Landscape. Flemish School, Late 16th - Early 17th Century Technique: Oil on panel Period: late 16th - Early 17th Century School: Flemish Dimensi...

George Edwards: ""A History of Uncommon Birds"", 1749-1761. A prominent English naturalist and ornithologist, George Edwards (1694 -1773) is best known for his work, ""A Natural His...

Enea Salmeggia known as Talpino (Bergamo, 1565 - 1626), second decade of the 17th century Ecce homo Oil on canvas, 84 x 61 cm Framed, 103 x 77 cm The work presented here depicts ...

Oil painting on canvas. Genoese school of the eighteenth century. Inside a large room with arched windows opening onto the street, a group of friars seated on the ground are sharing ...

Painting, oil on canvas, measuring 55 x 35 cm without frame and 66 x 46 cm with a non-coeval frame, initialled at lower left in an unreadable manner, of the Flemish school. The main...

Antonio Zanchi (Este 1631 - Venice 1722) - Peasant Woman with Tambourine. 95.5 x 69.5 cm without frame, 102.5 x 75.5 cm with frame. Oil on canvas, in carved and gilded wooden frame...

Pietro Longhi (Venice 1701 - Venice 1785) - The Hunter. 60.5 x 50.5 cm without frame, 70.5 x 60.5 cm with frame. Oil on canvas, in a carved and gilded wooden frame (not signed). -...

Portrait Of Julia Copley, 18th Century circle of Sir William Beechey (1753-1859) Large 18th century English School portrait of Julia Copley in her wedding dress, oil on canvas. Exc...

Mythological-themed painting (unframed 35.5 x 28 cm) depicting the episode of Diana and Actaeon from Ovid's Metamorphoses. The goddess is depicted sitting in discreet attire, the bow...

Allegory of summer, personified by Ceres Workshop of Hendrick Van Balen Antwerp School, early 17th century. Oil on copper, Dimensions: h. 52 cm, l. 40cm Antic giltwood frame Framed dimensions: h. 74 cm, l. 60cm Very good condition Our delicately painted work is part of the pictorial tradition that is both allegorical and mythological in vogue in Antwerp, whose leaders are Jan Brueghel the Younger and Hendrick Van Balen. Numerous works emerging from their workshops illustrate mythological subjects, the seasons, the elements, the senses or intertwining the lush landscapes, animals and gods of Olympus. At the heart of a green landscape dominated in its center by a generous apple tree, the beautiful Ceres, partially dressed in a large blue drape, is wearing a crown of ears of wheat, her symbol of the goddess of the earth and harvests. She holds the sickle in her right hand and carries sheaves of wheat. To her right a nymph holds the cornucopia while puttis pick and offer flowers. In the foreground are the summer fruits: figs, cherries, apples and lemons. A squirrel munching on cherries symbolizes toil and foresight, themes that are echoed in the work of the harvesters on the wheat fields in the background. The background is composed of vegetation, on the right a wild rose bush with its branches erect against a tree trunk, in the center of the trees with silvery green foliage. Our painter, a student of Hendrick Van Balen, finds his inspiration in the works of the master such as this nymph in yellow drapery seen from behind, one of the figures which accompanies many of the master's paintings. The elegant gestures, the flesh...The indisputable influence of Jan Brueghel the Younger is revealed in the treatment of trees and flowers, wild roses, tulips as well as in the still life with the squirrel in the foreground. The craze for this type of virtuoso painting where the mythological figures are only a pretext to better illustrate the landscape and plant species surrounding them, then generated orders from all over Europe. Hendrick Van Balen, Flemish painter, born and died in Antwerp (1575-1632). A student of Adam Van Noort, he entered the guild of Saint-Luc in 1593, later trained in Italy and was Van Dyck's first master. He often painted small characters taken from scenes from the Bible or classical mythology, on paintings in which Josse de Momper...

Oil on canvas Image size: 24 x 28 1/2 inches (61 x 73 cm) Contemporary style hand made frame This is an incredibly carefully executed work. On what appears to be a wooden ledge we see a plate of freshwater fish, possibly a roach, a copper pot, a larger terracota pot...

English School, circa 1780’s Circle of George Romney (1734-1802) oil painting on canvas, framed framed: 36 x 30 inches canvas: 30 x 25 inches private collectio...

Follower of Zacharias Wagener (1614-1688) Tamanuâguasû (Giant Anteater) On Italian 17th or 18th-century paper, H. 28 x W. 43.5 cm ​The present painting is a copy after Wagener’s painting of the anteater, Tamanduá-bandeira, which is illustrated in his “Thier Buch”, with 109 drawings of Brazilian fish, birds and mammals, published in Amsterdam c. 1641, in German. ​ Zacharias Wagener, or Wagenaer in Dutch, (Dresden 1614 – Amsterdam 1668) was a real adventurer who became Opperhoofd on Deshima and Governor of the Cape of Good Hope in the service of the VOC. During the Thirty-Year War in Germany Wagener tried his luck in Amsterdam where he worked for the map-maker Willem Blaeu. In 1634 he joined the WIC and left for Dutch Brazil where he worked as writer and painter, together with Frans Post...

Portrait of Arab Man in Turban French artist, 18th century oil on canvas, framed Framed: 21 x 16.5 inches Canvas : 18.5 x 14 inches Provenance: private collection, France Condition: ...

Unknown artist Prague School Portrait of Emperor Ferdinand I. (1503-1564) 17th century Oil on copper, 21,3 x 16,8 cm Provenance: Private collection, Pennsylvania, until 2016 This work by an unknown artist is a semi-portrait in predominantly brown-green tones. brown-green tones of the emperor Ferdinand I, who was crowned emperor in 1558. Ferdinand I of the Habsburg dynasty, who was crowned emperor in 1558. in a suit of armour lavishly decorated with gold ornaments. The portrait of Ferdinand...

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...

George Edwards: ""A History of Uncommon Birds"", 1749-1761. A prominent English naturalist and ornithologist, George Edwards (1694 -1773) is best known for his work, ""A Natural His...

George Edwards: ""A History of Uncommon Birds"", 1749-1761. A prominent English naturalist and ornithologist, George Edwards (1694 -1773) is best known for his work, ""A Natural His...

The Penitent Magdalene, 18th Century Studio of Pompeo Girolamo Batoni (1708-1787) Huge 18th Century Italian Old Master depiction of the Penit...

Circle of Pieter Harmensz Verelst 1618 - 1678 Portrait of a Young Man Oil on oak panel Image size: 7 ½ x 5 ¾ inches Dutch ripple frame

Oil on Canvas. Southern Italian school of the 17th-18th centuries. The scene , full of characters, sees standing in the center, well-defined in the details of armor, crest, as well a...

Virgen con cáliz. Óleo sobre tabla. Círculo de Alesandro Allori. Siglo XVII. Dimensiones: 71 x 57 cm. Obra antigua de excepcional calidad y emotividad, realizada al óleo sobre tabla...

The Flagellation of Christ, 17th Century Italian School Fine huge 17th Century Italian Old Master depiction of the Flagellation of Christ, oil on canvas. Excellent quality full len...

Giovanni Agostino Cassana Venice, c. 1658 – 1720 Genoa Two Tortoiseshell Guinea-Pigs Oil on canvas 10 1/2 x 12 1/2 inches (26.7 x 31.7 cm) Framed: 16 1/2 x 18 1/2 inches Giovan...

George Edwards: ""A History of Uncommon Birds"", 1749-1761. A prominent English naturalist and ornithologist, George Edwards (1694 -1773) is best known for his work, ""A Natural Hi...

Provenance: Private Collection, Naples Fl, to Andrew Ford Collection, Sarasota, Fl. 2018 Description: Georges Washington was born out of wedlock and held a...

Pedro Nuñez de Villavicendio (Seville, Spain, 1644 - 1700) Title: Portrait of a child Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: without frame 41.5 x 33.5 cm - with frame 52 x 43.5 cm 19th century shaped and gilded wooden frame Expertise by Didier Bodart, art historian A Seville painter of noble origins, Pedro Nuñez de Villavicendio (1644-1700), the author of this pretty child portrait, was a Knight of the Order of St John of Jerusalem. He was a pupil of Murillo and, as a Knight of the Order of Malta, worked with Mattia Preti...

PRICE IS FOR EACH FRAMED PRINT "Sammlung Verschiedenr Auslandischer und Selener Vogel", Nuremberg 1770-1773. Edited by Johann Michael Seligmann (1749 -1776): engravings with origina...

Portrait Of Palatine Matthew III Csák of Trencin (1260-1321) Italian School - Circle of TITIAN Large 16th Century Italian School portrait of a Matthew III Csak Of Trencin, oil on c...

Flemish painting measuring 44 x 30 cm without frame and 53 x 39 cm with frame depicting a landscape with figures, in soft tones and with a strong sense of perspective; elegant, fluid...