Holy Family with Saint Catherine of Alexandria

View Similar Items

Albert Charles Lebourg - Le Route d'Hondouville - Post Impressionist Landscape Oil by Albert Lebourg

Salvatore Travascio - Ricordo di un Bacio - Oil Paint by Salvatore Travascio - 1992

Earl Linderman - Low Down Blues, Large Colorful Modern Oil Painting by Earl Linderman

Gustav Vermehren - The rest

Rinaldo Geleng - Nude - Oil Paint by Rinaldo Geleng - 1970s

André Gisson - Young Girl in Summer, Andre Gisson

Raphael Soyer - Girl with Braided Hair, Raphael Soyer

Lowell Nesbitt - X-Ray Series (with Lily), Lowell Nesbitt - Painting

Marco Fariello - Pasqualina - Oil Paint by Marco Fariello - 2023

Miroslava Vrbová-Štefková - Romeo and Juliet - Oil Paint by Miroslava Vrbová-Štefková - mid-20th Century

Miroslava Vrbová-Štefková - Boheamian Landscape - Oil Paint by Miroslava Vrbová-Štefková - mid-20th Century

Miroslava Vrbová-Štefková - Children Playing in the Park - Oil Paint by Miroslava Vrbová - mid-20th Century

Want more images or videos?

Request additional images or videos from the seller

1 of 6

Prospero Fontana
Holy Family with Saint Catherine of Alexandria

Name: Holy Family with Saint Catherine of Alexandria
Brand: Prospero Fontana
Rating: 5 (3 reviews)

About the Item

Born in Bologna in 1512, Prospero Fontana's early training began in the workshop Innocenzo da Imola, a decidely Raphaelesque follower of Francia. Though his first signed painting was executed in 1545, Fontana's earliest known artistic activity was in Genoa in the late 1520's as an assistant to Perino del Vaga at the Palazzo Doria. Staying with Perino for about six years, Fontana left Genoa in 1534 and returned to Bologna. The 1540's saw Fontana begin to receive important commissions from the religious and literary elites of Bolognese society. Between 1544 and 1548, Fontana executed, in Bologna, a Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist for the church of Santa Maria del Baraccano and the Beata Diana Andalo Professing with Saint Dominic for San Domenico. However, during those years Fontana also went to Rome to work again with Perino del Vaga, this time in the Castel San Angelo, and to Rimini to work with Vasari on multiple altarpieces. In 1550, Giovanni Maria del Monte, a Cardinal from Bologna was elected Pope Julius III. An avid supporter of artists from his birthplace, Pope Julius brought the Bolognese painters Girolamo da Carpi, Jacopo Vignola, Pellegrino Tibaldi and Fontana to work for him in Rome. Fontana quickly became the favored artist of the Pope and thus garnered the most important commissions; including but not limited to, the decoration of the papal apartments, the Villa Giulia, and the family palace of the del Monte in Rome. His workshop in Bologna was also notable for its famous pupils. Ludovico and Agostino Carracci began their training there, Sammachini and Passerotti spent time there as collaborators, and his own daughter, Lavinia Fontana, would become a famous artist in her own right. The present painting, depicting the Holy Family with Saint Catherine of Alexandria, was most likely commissioned for private devotion during Fontana's time in Bologna in the late 1540's to early 1550's. The restrained and symmetrical composition of the work lends itself to quiet contemplation of the Holy Family and Saint Catherine. The Virgin and Joseph gaze down at the Christ Child, while Saint Catherine brings her hands together in prayer. Joseph, to the right of the Virgin, emerges from the shadows and holds a short rod, the symbol of his status as the husband of Mary. The female martyr, on the viewer's left, is identified as Saint Catherine of Alexandria by her crown, an allusion her status as Queen before her conversion to Christianity. Though most often distinguished by her wheel, the instrument of her martyrdom, she is here shown with one of her alternative attributes. Fontana's combination of fluid brushwork, bright tones and beautifully rendered emotion give this work a feeling of deep tenderness and familial intimacy.

Creator:
Prospero Fontana (1512-1597, Italian)
Dimensions:
Height: 21.125 in (53.66 cm)Width: 16.625 in (42.23 cm)
Medium:
Oil,Canvas
Period:
15th Century and Earlier
Condition:
Excellent.
Gallery Location:
New York, NY
Reference Number:
1stDibs: G12060510235

More From This Seller

View All

Madonna and Child with Angels in the Clouds

Located in New York, NY

Provenance: Charles H. and Virginia Baldwin, Claremont, Colorado Springs, Colorado ca. 1907-1934; thence by descent until sold in 1949 to: Charles Blevins Davis, Claremont (renamed Trianon), Colorado Springs 1949 -until gifted in 1952 to: The Poor Sisters of Saint Francis, Trianon, Colorado Springs, 1952 until acquired, 1960, by: John W. Metzger, Trianon, renamed as the Trianon School of Fine Arts, Colorado Springs, 1960-1967; when transferred to: The Metzger Family Foundation, Trianon Art Museum, Denver, 1967 - 2004; thence by descent in the Metzger Family until 2015 Exhibited: Trianon Art Museum, Denver (until 2004) The present work is a spectacular jewel-like canvas by Amigoni, rich in delicate pastel colors, most likely a modello for an altarpiece either lost or never painted. In it the Madonna stands firmly upon a cloud in the heavens, her Child resting on a delicate veil further supported by a cloud, as he gently wraps his arm around his mother’s neck. From above angels prepare to lower flowers and a wreath, while other angels and seraphim surrounding the two joyfully cavort. Dr. Annalisa Scarpa, author of the forthcoming monograph on Jacopo Amigoni...

Category

18th Century and Earlier Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Jacopo Amigoni
Madonna and Child with Angels in the Clouds

$125,000

Orientale

By Henri Fantin-Latour

Located in New York, NY

Signed, lower right: Fantin Provenance: Gustave Tempelaere (1840–1904), Paris; possibly by descent to his son: Julien Tempelaere (1876–1961) and with F. & J. Tempelaere, Paris, prob...

Category

1890s Romantic Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Paper, Oil

Henri Fantin-Latour
Orientale, 1899

$28,750

Three Angels

By Domenico Piola the Elder

Located in New York, NY

Provenance: Robert L. and Bertina Suida Manning, New York, until 1996 Private Collection, USA One of the leading artists in Genoa during the second half of the seventeenth century, Domenico Piola came from a successful family of artists, renowned for their many illusionistic ceiling programs throughout Genoese churches and palaces. A prolific draughtsman and painter, Domenico oversaw an extremely productive studio. In addition to his collaborations with numerous other artists, Domenico also provided many designs for book illustrations and prints that circulated throughout Europe, earning him international exposure and high acclaim in his own day. As Dr. Anna Orlando has indicated (written communication), the present work is an early work by Piola, datable from the late 1640s. At this time the young artist came strongly under the influence of Castiglione and Valerio Castello, while admiring the works of Giulio Cesare Procaccini. Piola’s works from this period are exuberant and fluid, and the artist’s love of portraying children is evident from the angels and putti that populate both his altarpieces and more intimate paintings. The present work depicts three angels...

Category

17th Century Baroque Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Domenico Piola the Elder
Three Angels

$26,000

Head of Medusa

Located in New York, NY

Provenance: David Davis, Los Angeles, California. Toni Lynn Russo, Los Angeles, California; her estate until 2024. Exhibited: Münchener Glaspalast Jahres Ausstellung, 1902, no. 1071...

Category

19th Century Symbolist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

August Rieper
Head of Medusa, ca. 1902

$45,000

Head of the Virgin

Located in New York, NY

Provenance: Private Collection, Paraguay. This unpublished Head of the Virgin is a new addition to the rich corpus of paintings by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. While the artist freque...

Category

18th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
Head of the Virgin, ca. 1740

$185,000

Ezekiel in the Valley of Dry Bones

By Philip Burne-Jones

Located in New York, NY

Provenance: Christie’s, London, 3 March 1922, lot 46 (with The Tower of Babel); James Nicoll Private Collection Sotheby’s, London, 29 March 1983, lot 157 Private Collection, New Yo...

Category

Late 19th Century Victorian Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Philip Burne-Jones
Ezekiel in the Valley of Dry Bones

$44,500

1890s Post-Impressionist Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Albert Charles Lebourg
Le Route d'Hondouville - Post Impressionist Landscape Oil by Albert Lebourg, c.1890

$25,516

Ricordo di un Bacio - Oil Paint by Salvatore Travascio - 1992

Located in Roma, IT

Ricordo di un Bacio (Memories of a Kiss) is a painting realized by the Italian artist Salvatore Travascio in 1992. It is an oil painting on canvas, the frame is an integral part of...

Category

1990s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Salvatore Travascio
Ricordo di un Bacio - Oil Paint by Salvatore Travascio - 1992, 1992

$1,417

Low Down Blues, Large Colorful Modern Oil Painting by Earl Linderman

Located in Long Island City, NY

Low Down Blues Earl Linderman, American (1931–2023) Date: circa 1989 Oil on canvas, signed lower left and titled on verso Size: 59.5 x 47.5 in. (151.13 x 120.65 cm)

Category

1980s Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Earl Linderman
Low Down Blues, Large Colorful Modern Oil Painting by Earl Linderman, circa 1989

$15,000

The rest

Located in BELEYMAS, FR

Gustav VERMEHREN (Copenhagen 1863 – Copenhagen 1931) Rest Oil on canvas H. 72 cm; W. 79 cm Signed lower right and dated 1911 (twice) Exhibition: 1963, F...

Category

1910s French School Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Gustav Vermehren
The rest, 1911

$17,125

Nude - Oil Paint by Rinaldo Geleng - 1970s

Located in Roma, IT

Nude is a contemporary artwork realized by Rinaldo Geleng (1920-2003) in 1970s Mixed colored oil on canvas. Hand signed on the lower margin. Includes frame: 124 x 104.5 cm

Category

1970s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Rinaldo Geleng
Nude - Oil Paint by Rinaldo Geleng - 1970s, 1970s

$1,063

Young Girl in Summer, Andre Gisson

By André Gisson

Located in Fairfield, CT

Artist: Andre Gisson (1921-2003) Title: Young Girl in Summer Year: circa 1973 Medium: Oil on Canvas Size: 9 x 12 inches Condition: Excellent Inscription: Signed, recto ANDRE GISSON ...

Category