Circle of Sir Peter Lely

17th Century portrait oil painting of a lady

C1670

Circle of Michael Dahl Swedish, (1659-1743) Portrait of a Lady Oil on canvas Image size: 29 inches x 24 inches Size including frame: 36 inches x 31 inches A fine half-length portra...

Circle of Willem Wissing Dutch, (1656-1687) Portrait of a Gentleman Oil on canvas Image size: 29 inches x 24.5 inches Size including frame: 35 inches x...

Follower of Enoch Seeman the Younger German, (1694-1744) Portrait of Gilbert Sympkin Oil on canvas Image size: 29.25 inches x 24.5 inches Size including frame: 38 inches x 33.25 inches A fine three quarter length portrait of a gentleman traditionally identified as Gilbert Simpkin (Sympkin), follower of Enoch Seeman the younger, C1720. The portrait is set in a feigned sculptured oval cartouche, a device used to give a sense of depth. The sitter is depicted wearing a fashionable blue jacket and matching waistcoat with a white chemise and lace jabot. He wears a powdered wig in the fashionable style of the day and is posed holding his hat under his left arm with the fingers of his right hand stretched out. At court, long fingers signified wealth, culture and intelligence. The painting has clearly been executed by an artist of great ability who has been influenced by Enoch Seeman the younger. Gilbert Simpkin (Sympkin) was born in London on 24 August 1683, the son of John Simpkin and Susannah Butler. His grandfather was also called Gilbert Simpkin. He entered Oxford University in 1700 where he studied at St John’s College. In 1702, he became a student of Middle Temple, which at the time was one of the world’s most important centres of legal education. He later settled in Plymouth and then Bristol. He died in Bristol on 15 May, 1744 and was buried at Bristol Cathedral. He remained unmarried and the portrait may well have been commissioned to commemorate when he was first Called to the Bar or perhaps had established his own practice. Enoch Seeman or Seemann the younger was born in Danzig, Germany now Gdansk, Poland in 1694. His father was Enoch Seeman Senior, an artist of Flemish origin and his brothers Isaac, Noah and Abraham also became artists. He came to London with his father and brothers around 1704 and established himself as a portrait artist. From 1717 he became painter to the Royal court painting...

Circle of Robert Byng British, (1666-1720) Girl with Orange Oil on canvas Image size: 29 inches x 24 inches Size including frame: 36 inches x 31 inc...

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...

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...

Circle of Jacques-Louis David (French, 18th Century) Provenance: Private Collection, Buenos Aires Exhibited: “Art of Collecting,” Flint Institute of Art, Flint, Michigan, 23 November 2018 – 6 January 2019. This vibrant portrait of young man was traditionally considered a work by Jacques-Louis David, whose style it recalls, but to whom it cannot be convincingly attributed. Rather, it would appear to be by a painter in his immediate following—an artist likely working in France in the first decade of the nineteenth century. Several names have been proposed as the portrait’s author: François Gérard, Louis Hersent, Anne-Louis Girodet (Fig. 1), Theodore Gericault, and Jean-Baptiste Wicar, among others. Some have thought the artist Italian, and have proposed Andrea Appiani, Gaspare Landi...

Provenance: Torres Family Collection, Asunción, Paraguay, ca. 1967-2017 While the genre of portraiture flourished in the New World, very few examples of early Spanish colonial portraits have survived to the present day. This remarkable painting is a rare example of female portraiture, depicting a member of the highest echelons of society in Cuzco during the last quarter of the 17th century. Its most distinctive feature is the false beauty mark (called a chiqueador) that the sitter wears on her left temple. Chiqueadores served both a cosmetic and medicinal function. In addition to beautifying their wearers, these silk or velvet pouches often contained medicinal herbs thought to cure headaches. This painting depicts an unidentified lady from the Creole elite in Cuzco. Her formal posture and black costume are both typical of the established conventions of period portraiture and in line with the severe fashion of the Spanish court under the reign of Charles II, which remained current until the 18th century. She is shown in three-quarter profile, her long braids tied with soft pink bows and decorated with quatrefoil flowers, likely made of silver. Her facial features are idealized and rendered with great subtly, particularly in the rosy cheeks. While this portrait lacks the conventional coat of arms or cartouche that identifies the sitter, her high status is made clear by the wealth of jewels and luxury materials present in the painting. She is placed in an interior, set off against the red velvet curtain tied in the middle with a knot on her right, and the table covered with gold-trimmed red velvet cloth at the left. The sitter wears a four-tier pearl necklace with a knot in the center with matching three-tiered pearl bracelets and a cross-shaped earing with three increasingly large pearls. She also has several gold and silver rings on both hands—one holds a pair of silver gloves with red lining and the other is posed on a golden metal box, possibly a jewelry box. The materials of her costume are also of the highest quality, particularly the white lace trim of her wide neckline and circular cuffs. The historical moment in which this painting was produced was particularly rich in commissions of this kind. Following his arrival in Cuzco from Spain in the early 1670’s, bishop Manuel de Mollinedo y Angulo actively promoted the emergence of a distinctive regional school of painting in the city. Additionally, with the increase of wealth and economic prosperity in the New World, portraits quickly became a way for the growing elite class to celebrate their place in society and to preserve their memory. Portraits like this one would have been prominently displayed in a family’s home, perhaps in a dynastic portrait gallery. We are grateful to Professor Luis Eduardo Wuffarden for his assistance cataloguing this painting on the basis of high-resolution images. He has written that “the sober palette of the canvas, the quality of the pigments, the degree of aging, and the craquelure pattern on the painting layer confirm it to be an authentic and representative work of the Cuzco school of painting...

“Timete Deum et date Illi honorem quia venit hora iudicii Eius” (Fear the Lord and honour Him, for the hour of His judgement has come): the passage from John's Apocalypse (chapter 14...

Dimensions: 41 x 32 cm without frame - 47 x 55.5 cm with frame Antique box frame made of solid wood and walnut burl. Publications: unpublished The painting by Bernardino Detti (14...

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...

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...