Christian Wilhelm Dietrich

Le Musicien Galant

Extraordinary in its beauty and rarity, this early 16th-century German painting of an illuminated manuscript showcases a masterful trompe l’oeil effect. Unequivocally among the finest of only 17 known works of its kind, the oil on panel is both rare and captivating. With illusory pages that appear to leap from the panel, this virtuosic painting of a hand-colored book suspended into space is exceptional. Created more than four centuries ago, the composition evokes a strong sense of realism. Executed by a masterful Northern Renaissance artist of the German school, the illuminated manuscript pictured shows the astonishing splendor of the historical books of the period. Sumptuously decorated with scrolling floral motifs in the margins, the manuscript appears before a deep black background, heightening the trompe l’oeil illusion of depth through its strong contrast and the naturalistic shadows falling across the fluttering pages. It has been said that of the 17 known versions of this composition, ours stands alone in its precision in both perspective and the play of light and shadow. The visible folios feature choral arrangements and other texts, indicating the pictured manuscript likely served a role in the celebration of church services. In fact, other examples of manuscript paintings...

Still life with books and pears is an artwork with frame, realized by an unknown artist of mid-20th Century. Oil on panel. 36 x 51 cm ; 56 x 70 cm with framed. Good conditions

Still Life with bottles and books is an artwork with frame, realized by an unknown artist of mid-20th Century. Oil on panel. 36 x 51 cm ; 56 x 70 cm with framed. Good condtions

Yvonne Melchers' "Last Rose Buds From My Garden" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts two fully blossomed pink roses that compliment their green leaves in a glass vase with a plain white background. Artist Yvonne Melchers showcases her mastery of light and form in her sumptuously detailed paintings of subjects both intimate and universal. Whether painting a scene from her beloved North Sea Shore, the portrait of a strong but vulnerable young man dressed for the historical Siena Palio round, or the rumpled sheets and textures of a Venice hotel room, Melchers infuses each with a glow that speaks of the real and the ethereal. Precise technical skills join a rich historical palette and striking compositions in paintings that leave an indelible impression. (2019, Alessandro Tomassetti...

Yvonne Melchers' "Camelias From My Garden II" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts two fully blossomed pink camellias that compliment their green leaves in a glass pitcher with a plain white background. Artist Yvonne Melchers showcases her mastery of light and form in her sumptuously detailed paintings of subjects both intimate and universal. Whether painting a scene from her beloved North Sea Shore, the portrait of a strong but vulnerable young man dressed for the historical Siena Palio round, or the rumpled sheets and textures of a Venice hotel room, Melchers infuses each with a glow that speaks of the real and the ethereal. Precise technical skills join a rich historical palette and striking compositions in paintings that leave an indelible impression. (2019, Alessandro...

Still Life is a superb original oil painting on panel, realized by the Italian artist Vincenzino Volò, best-known as Vincenzino dei Fiori (Rémondans, 1620-Milan, 1671) around 1640-1660. Original Title: Natura morta di fiori entro vasi biansati (Still life of Bouquet in two-handled vases). On the back of the panel, two labels are glued "da Milano", "A Piacenza", ("from Milan" "to Piacenza"). The labels indicate a transfer of the artwork, perhaps in the first half of the twentieth century, from Piacenza to Milan. While instead the style and technique make us understand the artwork was commissioned or created in the Milan of Federico Borromeo, archbishop of Milan from1595 to 1630. The author of the painting can be identified in the person of Vincenzo Volò, a talented artist who fell into oblivion, recently rediscovered and appreciated. Founder of the Vincenzini family, he was born in Franche-Comté in 1620 (in the past its birth was erroneously fixed to 1606). In the mid-forties of the seventeenth century he arrived to Milan, and held a leading artistic role: he was the founder of a family workshop that imposed his style and strongly influenced Milanese collecting with his still lifes and influenced generations and generations of painters. Vincenzino also was the first painter of still life to work on the Bella Island for Vitaliano VI Borromeo and collaborated with well-known figure painters such as Francesco Cairo, Scaramuccia, Nuvolone and Fumagalli. As regards the style, the archaic tendency of Lombard painting of still life from the early decades of the seventeenth century is clearly evident, looking at primitivism and the happy schematization of the composition of the artwork. The dating of this artwork could be fixed around the first half of the seventeenth century because it is confirmed by the type of support, a wooden panel, always used by Vincenzino. As for the subject, Volò generally painted bouquets of flowers in two-handled vases placed on transversal planes seen from the front. It is possible to compare this work with other Dei Fiori's artworks: the pair of Flower Vases...