Sir Edwin Landseer

Study of a Pig

1834

Provenance: The Marchesi Strozzi, Palazzo Strozzi, Florence Sale, Christie’s, London, May 20, 1993, lot 315, as by Carl Borromaus Andreas Ruthart...

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...

This classic English school 12 x 16 in. Oil on Canvas framed painting features a pet Spaniel and cat resting on a desk in a home study environment. The dog is seated, its body facing the right side of the painting while its head is facing the viewer at the picture plane. The Spaniel has a long haired black and white patterned coat. Its long ears are black and curly and face is mostly black with an area of white fur on its head and a strip of the white down the nose and into the chin. The stomach and legs/paws are mainly white, while his back and tail are both black, although its full body is not visible. The domestic cat is depicted sleeping to the right of the dog, both positioned on a green desk. The cat is sleeping horizontally with the composition, its head on the left and its curled up body and tail on the right. The cat has mainly grey fur with patches of white on its nose, neck and the one leg and one paw that is visible to the viewer. The edge of the green desk, closest to the picture plane, meets with the bottom edge of the work and the left edge of the green table is only partially visible as the further half is cut off by the left side of the canvas. The desk is an olive green color and takes up the foreground of the piece. On the desk next to the cat is just a small corner of a singular document that reads "Young America" and then below that a couple of flourishes/ ornamental lines and the date, "1872." Behind the document, on the desk, are five standing books and two stacked books. The books appear to be up against the back wall that is depicted in the work, next to a hung landscape painting. The largest standing book's title is "Natural History," a greenish/blue hardback book with a maroon red strip where the title and author's name is on the book's spine. A smaller book standing on the right of "Natural History" is a copy of "Robinson Crusoe," a darker green hardback with a strip of silver for title and author upon the spine. To the left of "Natural History" is an untitled book and to the left is a copy of "Arabian Nights," a tan hardback with red/orange at the title and author's name. To the left of "Arabian Nights" is another untitled book. The two books laid on the desk, on the right side of the standing books, are both tan/light brown books...

Fairs have played a central role in the city of Chester for nearly a millennium and can be traced back to 1092, when Earl Hugh I granted Chester Abbey all the tolls, rents, and issue...