Henri Joseph Dillens

Henri Joseph Dillens, Ghent 1812 – 1872 Brussels, Small Boys Playing War Games

1857

Van Belleghem Jos Beernem 1894 – 1970 Veurne Belgian Painter 'A Portrait of a Fisherman' Signature: Signed bottom right Medium: Oil on canvas...

Georges Croegaert Antwerp 1848 – 1923 Paris Belgian – French Painter 'Cardinal in His Thoughts' Signature: signed lower right and placed ‘Georges Croegaert Paris’ Medium: oil on pa...

Literary Origins of Angelica The subject of this painting is Angelica, a princess from the epic chivalric romances of the Italian Renaissance. She first appears in Matteo Maria Boiardo’s Orlando Innamorato (1483) and reappears famously in Ludovico Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso (1532). In these poems – part of the Matter of France cycle of Charlemagne and his paladins – Angelica’s extraordinary beauty ensnares many knights, including Orlando (Roland) and his cousin Rinaldo, sparking rivalries and adventures. Ariosto’s narrative particularly highlights Angelica’s tumultuous journey: at one point she is stripped and chained to a rock as a sacrifice to a sea monster (a scene mirroring the myth of Andromeda) before being dramatically rescued by the valiant knight Ruggiero on his winged horse. Ultimately, however, Angelica chooses her own destiny. She falls in love with a humble Saracen soldier, Medoro, whom she nurses back to health, and she returns with him to her far-off Asian kingdom – an affair that drives the heartbroken Orlando to madness. This independent resolution (marrying outside the circle of Christian knights) made Angelica an emblem of feminine agency and romantic idealism in Renaissance literature. Her story remained popular in art and literature through the centuries, symbolizing the allure and elusiveness of love. Kronberg’s Portrayal and Composition In Julius Kronberg...

Colin Poole's "Queen's Departure" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a dark haired feminine figure in a beaded headdress with clouds swirling in the background.