16th Century Art

This 18.75" x 15.75" framed, woodblock print was produced by German Renaissance artist, Albrecht Dürer, circa 1511. The 5.75" x 4.63" print floats on white mat board and is presented...

This beautiful late 16th-century Italian oil on leather depicts a lady wearing an exquisite hair ensemble consisting of pearls and rubies set in gold. It’s an exceptionally rare piec...

This historic mid-16th-century, half-length, South German School oil on panel depicts a gentleman wearing a fur-trimmed coat and black cap, while holding a small glass and, what appe...

This striking devotional image, painted by a follower of Jan Gossaert, represents one of the most influential compositions of the Northern Renaissance: Christ on the Cold Stone, or C...

Scipione Pulzone, called Il Gaetano (Gaeta 1544 - Rome 1598) Holy Family with the Young St John The Baptist and St Elizabeth Oil on canvas A Royal Coat of Arms lower left Canvas size...

Zeno Veronese (or Zeno from Verona) (Verona, 1484 - Salò (Bs) after 1542-before 1554) San Sebastiano and San Cristoforo Oils on canvases, 173 x 55 cm This pendant of works h...

This is a framed 16th century hand-colored copperplate map of northern Italy entitled "Veronae Urbis Territorium a Bernardo Bragnolo Descriptium" by Abraham Ortelius from his atlas "Theatrum Orbis Terrarum", which was the first modern atlas of the world, with the first volume published in 1570. This map was part of a subsequent volume, published in Antwerp in 1584. It was based on an earlier map by Bernardo Brognoli. This beautiful map of northern Italy is focussed on Verona and its environs, including Mantua. Lake Garda and the South Tyrol mountains are prominently depicted. There is a very large striking cartouche in the upper left and a decorative distance scale in the lower right. This striking hand-colored map of northern Italy is presented in a gold-colored wood frame and an olive green-colored mat. It is glazed with UV conservation glass. All mounting materials used are archival. The frame measures 21.5" high by 28" wide by 0.75" deep. There is a central vertical fold, as issued, with slight separation of the lower portion of the fold. There are faint spots in the upper and right margins, but the map is otherwise in very good condition. Abraham Ortelius (also known as Ortels, Orthellius, and Wortels) (1527-1598) was a Dutch cartographer, geographer, and cosmographer. He began his career as a map colorist. In 1547 he entered the Antwerp guild of St Luke as an "illuminator of maps". He had an affinity for business from an early age and most of his journeys before 1560, were for business. He was a dealer in antiques, coins, maps, and books. 
His business income allowed him to acquire an extensive collection of medals, coins, and antiques, as well as a large library of books...

Wonderful black and white aquatint showing an antique view of Munchen, capital of Bavaria. From the collection by Braun G. and Hogenberg F., "Civitates Orbis Terrarum", Cologne, T. ...

Italian painter (16th century) - Christ mocked. 18 x 28 cm. Antique oil painting on canvas glued on board, without frame (not signed). Condition report: Good state of conservation...

Braun G. and Hogenberg F., Brema, from the collection "Civitates Orbis Terrarum", Cologne, T. Graminaeus, 1572-1617. Image dimensions: 10.5 x 23.5 cm. Dimensions: 15 x 26 cm. Very f...

Portrait Of Lorenzo Suarez, 5th Count Of Corona, 16th Century School of Antonis Mor (1517-1577) Large Spanish School Old Master portrait of Lorenzo Suarez, Count of Corona, oil on ...

Madonna and Child Workshop of Andrea del Sarto, pseudonym of Andrea d'Agnolo di Francesco (Florence 1486 - 1530) Attributable to Jacopo di Giovanni di Francesco, known as Jacone (...

Pen and brownish black ink on grayish-cream laid paper, 6 1/2 x 8 inches (165 x 175 mm), irregular hexagonal sheet with margins. Some archival repairs along the top sheet edge, scatt...

The Finding of Baby Moses Fontainebleau School, circa 1580's period oil painting on thick wood (walnut wood) panel, framed framed: 32.5 x 27 inches wood: 25 x 30 inches provenance: p...

Artist: Lambrecht Hopfer (German, Active c. 1525-1550) Title: "The Crucifixion (Christ on the Cross)" Portfolio: (after) The Engraved Passion *Issued unsigned, though monogram signed by Hopfer in the plate (printed signature) lower right Circa: 1530 (second state of three, published c. 1690) Medium: Original Etching on laid paper Limited edition: Unknown Printer: The Hopfer family, Augsburg, Germany; (David Funck, Nuremberg, Germany) Publisher: The Hopfer family, Augsburg, Germany; (David Funck, Nuremberg, Germany) Reference: Bartsch No. VIII.527.12; Hollstein No. 12.II Framing: Recently framed, the sheet is floated over, and top-matted with a 100% cotton fabric rag mat from Holland in a wood moulding and Museum glass Framed size: 14.88" x 13.88" Sheet size: 5.5" x 3.63" Condition: Trimmed to platemark. A few tiny professional repairs: at elbow of Jesus's right arm and the inside thigh of Jesus. Some light skinning upper right corner and lower right area. It is otherwise a strong impression in good condition Very rare Notes: Provenance: private collection - Green Bay, WI; acquired from Sotheby's, New York, NY in c. 2015. The artist Lambrecht Hopfer's printed monogram signature "LH" lower right. The printer/publisher David Funck's (plate) number "182" lower right. This etching is after Albrecht Dürer’s 1511 engraving "The Crucifixion (Christ on the Cross)", ("Dürer-Katalog" - Meder No. 13, page 73). Printed in black from an iron plate. The image depicts Christ on the cross at center, the Virgin at left, two Maries behind her, St. John standing at right, a Roman solider behind him. It is after the eleventh plate of Dürer's sixteen plates from his 1507-1513 "The Engraved Passion" series, ("Dürer-Katalog" - Meder No. 3-18, page 70-74). "The print was originally designed without the number engraved in the lower margin (First state: Lambrecht Hopfer, c. 1530). The Hopfers' descendant David Funck (Nuremberg, 1642–1705) acquired over two hundred of their original iron plates, engraved numbers into them, and re-printed them around 1686-1700. The "182" indicates that "The Crucifixion" was the 182nd print in Funck’s series (Second state: David Funck, c. 1686-1700). About a century later, 92 of these plates were acquired by Carl Wilhelm Silberberg in Frankfurt and printed for the third and final time in the book "Opera Hopferiana", of which "The Crucifixion" was the 90th print (Third state: Carl Wilhelm Silberberg for "Opera Hopferiana", 1802)". - Elizabeth Upper, Cambridge University Library, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK Biography: Lambrecht (Lambert) Hopfer (Active c. 1525-1550) was a German Old Masters printmaker. He was the brother of Hieronymus Hopfer (Active c. 1520-1530) and son of Daniel Hopfer...

This remarkable late 16th-century fragment depicts Saint Magí, the patron saint of Tarragona, and Saint Mauro, a Benedictine monk. Produced in around 1580, on the cusp of the Anglo-S...

The Judgement of Paris Fontainebleau School, circa 1580 *see notes below oil painting on canvas, framed framed: 30 x 40 inches canvas: 27 x 37 inches Provenance: private collection, ...

Antique painting depicting the Face of Christ as Salvator Mundi Flemish painter, 16th-17th century Oil on copper 22 x 18 cm./ framed 42 x ...

This remarkable late 16th-century fragment depicts Saint Madrona, the Patron Saint of Barcelona, Spain, holding a 15th-century carrack and the martyr’s palm frond. She stands before ...

This is a framed 16th century map and city view of Canterbury, England entitled "Cantuarbury" by Braun & Hogenburg, from their famous landmark atlas of city views 'Civitates Orbis Terrarum' (Atlas of the Cities of the World), which was first published in Cologne, Germany in 1572. The map of Canterbury was first published in 1588. It depicts a detailed birdseye view of the completely walled and fortified city of Canterbury, with its cathedral the most prominent feature. The coat of arms of England, Canterbury, and the Archbishop of Canterbury are included. This beautifully hand-colored map is presented in a gold-colored wood frame with a beaded inner trim and a paprika-colored mat that highlights details in the map. The frame measures 18.75" high by 22.25" wide by 0.875" deep. There is a central vertical fold, as issued. The map is in excellent condition. Braun and Hogenberg's 'The Civitates Orbis Terrarum' was the second atlas of maps ever published and the first atlas of cities and towns of the world. It is one of the most important books published in the 16th century. Most of the maps in the atlas were engraved by Franz Hogenberg and the text, with its descriptions of the history and additional factual information of the cities, was written by a team of writers and edited by Georg Braun. The work contained 546 bird-eye views and map views of cities and towns from all over the world. It gave graphic representation of the main features of the illustrated cities and towns, including the buildings and streets. Although the ordinary buildings are stylized, the principal buildings are reproduced from actual drawings created on location. The principal landmarks and streets can still be recognized today. In addition, the maps often include the heraldic arms of the city, the nature of the surrounding countryside, the important rivers, streams and harbors, even depicting stone bridges, wooden pontoons, flat-bottomed ferries, ships and working boats, wharves and jetties, as well as land-based activities, including horsemen, pedestrians, wagons, coaches, and palanquins. Small vignettes are often included which illustrate the trade, occupations and habits of the local inhabitants, such as agriculture, paper-making and textiles, as well as local forms of punishment, such as gibbets, wheels, floggings etc. Large figures dressed in their local costume are often presented out of proportion in the foreground. The aim of the authors was to give as much information as possible in a pleasing visual form. They succeeded in creating maps that were both informative and decorative works of art. The atlas is a wonderful glimpse of life in medieval Europe. Georg Braun (1541-1622) was German Catholic...

Bartholomäus Spranger (Antwerp, 1546 - Prague, 1611) Workshop/circle of Adoration of the Shepherds Oil on canvas 114 x 90 cm. Framed 126 x 101 cm. The proposed painting, illustrati...

A rare & important Italian Renaissance tempera on parchment painting, Giuseppe Cesari Il Cavalier d'Arpino (Giuseppe Cesari, 1568-1640), the painting c...

Resurrection of Christ Attributed to the Master of the Prodigal Son / Jan Mandyn (1500-1560) Oil on panel, 73 x 56 cm (without frame), 81 x 63 cm (with frame) The work was exa...

Peintre actif à Rome au XVIe siècle - entourage de Scipione Pulzone (Gaeta 1550 - Rome 1598) La Pietà (Christ mort soutenu par la Madone) huile sur t...

Saint Michael the Archangel victorious over the Devil Tuscany - 16th century Oil on canvas 68 x 52 cm. - In frame 97 x 78 cm. Of great character is this interesting St. Michael the...

School of Antonio Allegri, known as Correggio (Correggio c. 1489 - 1534) Attributable to Pomponio Allegri (Correggio, 1522 - Parma, 1593) Madonna and Child, Two Angels and John the B...

STUDIO OF RAFFAELLO SANZIO, called RAPHAEL (Urbino 1483 – Rome 1520) Title The Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist Medium Pen and brown ink, brown wash, over black ch...

Portrait of an Elizabethan Gentleman in a Black Doublet c.1595 Manner of Hieronimo Custodis (died c.1593) Oil on copper Unsigned This exquisite oil on copper portrait, painted around 430 years ago, is a splendid survival from the Elizabethan era - the golden age in England’s history, when Queen Elizabeth I was on the throne. It is a time that is sandwiched between two golden ages of English renaissance culture, the reigns of Henry VIII and Charles I. This period produced a style of painting quite unlike that anywhere else in Europe and one that deserves serious assessment. Just a couple of years after our portrait was painted, English painting developed on another course, driven mainly by the artists Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger and Isaac Oliver; they depicted a new mood that was pervading Elizabethan and Jacobean society, which was that of romantic melancholy. Elizabethan painting...

Sacred Conversation: Madonna with child with St. John with idealized landscape background with mountains. Early XVI century. Oil on wooden panel of Venetian conifers. Marco Bello, attributed. (Venezia, 1470 - 1523, Udine), pupil and follower of Giovanni Bellini. Venetian school. Madonna with child with St. John with idealized landscape background with mountains. Dimentions: 57cm x 68cm x 6cm Beautiful late Renaissance frame...

Italian painter (16th century) - Ascent to Calvary. 18 x 28 cm. Antique oil painting on panel, without frame (not signed). Condition report: Good state of conservation of the pain...

Frans Pourbus (Bruges, 1545 - Antwerp, 1581) circle Portrait of a gentleman in Renaissance dress with a black doublet and ruff Late 16th century Oil on canvas 46 x 32 cm. - 65 x 53...

Scipione Pulzone, called Il Gaetano (Gaeta 1544 - Rome 1598) - workshop of Portrait of Bianca Cappello (Venice, 1548 - 1587) Grand Duchess of Tuscany, second wife of Francesco I de 'Medici Second half of the 16th century oil on canvas, cm. 70 x 56 cm., Framed 103 x 87 cm. The proposed painting illustrates the portrait of Bianca Cappello (Venice, 1548 - 1587), a noblewoman of Venetian origins, second wife of the Grand Duke of Tuscany Francesco I de 'Medici, whose expressive power is wisely highlighted by the composite cut of light three quarters, with the head and gaze directed at the observer. The beam of light coming from her right brings out the volumes of her face plastically and lingers on her features, highlighted by the large white lace ruff that surrounds his neck and by the details of her precious clothing. Bianca wears a dark red dress, perhaps a zimarra, embroidered in gold with a plunging neckline and a raised collar of the shirt curled in a ruff and also edged with precious lace, embroidered with the motif of the Florentine lily.   The favorite jewels of the noblewoman were pearls: we see them on a choker that adorns the neckline, in the earrings and again in the hairstyle, which sees the hair gathered at the nape of the neck and adorned with a string of small black pearls and embellished with a clasp. It is a high-quality painting that can be confined to the workshop of the painter Scipione Pulzone called Gaetano, representing at best a pictorial genre, that of portraiture, in which the master excelled. This attribution would be confirmed by comparisons with the numerous portraits that Pulzone dedicated to the Medici family. Our painting, in particular, could represent one of the versions that the workshop has replicated, at the request of the numerous art collectors who wish to have a portrait of one of the most influential personalities of the Florentine scene. The characters drawn by Pulzone were icons of incomparable elegance: noblewomen, knights and religious lent their faces to the eye of the artist who was able to grasp every meticulous detail with his superb technique. A photographic wealth and surprising material attention that trace the pictorial prototypes of Flemish inspiration, in particular of Antonis Mor...

Agnolo di Cosimo, known as 'il Bronzino' (Monticelli of Florence, 1503 – Florence, 1572) The Holy Family with San Giovannino Oil on table (120 x 90cm. - I...

Jacopo da Empoli (Florence, Italy, 1551 – 1640) Title: Temperance Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: without frame 101.5 x 75.7 cm – with frame 140 x 115.3 x 10.50 cm Expertise by Al...

The Virgin and Christ with the Young Saint John the Baptist attributed to Domenico Bartolomeo Ubaldini, known as Domenico Puligo (1492–1527) The attribution to Domenico Puligo was c...

Gillis Mostaert Hulst 1534 – 1598 Antwerp Flemish Painter 'Adoration of the Shepherds' Medium: oil on panel Dimensions: image size 38,5 x 46,5 cm, frame size 54 x 62 cm Provenance...

Luis de Morales, called 'El Divino' (Badajoz 1509 - 1586) workshop of La Pietà with Saint John Oil on panel (82 x 65 cm /In frame 109 x 92 cm) STATE OF CONSERVATION: The panel is in good condition, with restorations and cracks clearly visible from the pictures. Gilded and lacquered wooden frame, in good condition. We present this intense Pietà executed on wood panel, the work of a painter of the late Spanish Renaissance who drew on the celebrated iconographic model created by Luis de Morales, known as El Divino (Badajoz 1509-1586), a subject reproposed by the artist and then by his flourishing workshop in numerous versions. This is an extraordinary work, in which the author demonstrates incredible realism and emotional depth in his portrayal of the Madonna and Christ, accompanied by Saint John the Evangelist. In an extremely devout Spain, Luis de Morales counts himself as one of the painters most interested in the dramatic aspects of Christ's life, from his painful Passion journey to his death. This devotional subject, the Pieta, so frequent in Christian art, is renewed in Morales' art with enormous expressive force; it is not for nothing that the artist was nicknamed the Divine, and not only for the creation of a devotional iconography in line with the spirituality of the time, but also for the intrinsic intensity of his religious paintings. The depiction, to great dramatic effect, shows Christ, immediately after being deposed from the cross, gently welcomed into the arms of the Virgin. The intense maternal compassion is also evident in the expression on her face, which, always aware of her son's fate, exudes suffering, melancholy but also serene resignation. Christ, abandoned in his mother's embrace, shows an emaciated and sorrowful face, made even more ghostly by his half-open mouth. The tree of the cross looms over the figures, emphasised by an evocative dark, completely monochrome background, to which the three figures are contrasted with strong lighting. Evident in Morales' painting is the devotional slant typical of Counter-Reformation painting, accentuated by a style that recalls both Italian painting for its research and chiaroscuro effects, and Flemish and German painting for its strongly accentuated dramatic tones. The work shows a strong physical and psychological characterisation of the characters, rendered by the marked chiaroscuro effects and the plastic construction of the figures, also using a sfumato technique, which show the primary influence of Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Sebastiano del Piombo. On the other hand, his Flemish training is evident in the anatomical modelling and treatment of the folds of the Virgin's dress, which retain the sharpness of the Nordic painting tradition. We can mention, among the most beautiful versions similar to our composition: - Fig.1 Luis de Morales (c. 1520-1586), La Piedad, c. 1568, Óleo sobre tabla 72 x 50 cm.
Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao - Fig.2 Luis de Morales, La Piedad, c. 1560, Óleo sobre tabla 126 x 98 cm.
Real Academia de Bellas - Fig.3 Luis de Morales, La Piedad, 1565 - 1570, Oil on panel 42 x 30 cm.
Museo del Prado - Fig.4 Luis de Morales, Triptych of the Pietà St John and St Mary Magdalene...

Substantial, hand carved, solid marble bust of Roman Emperor Vitellius (24-69 C.E.) on a custom, iron base. Likely a 16th century copy of a 2nd century o...

Portrait Of Lucas Cranach The Elder (1472-1553), 16th Century German Renaissance School Large 16th Century German School portrait identified as Lucas Cranach The Elder, oil on canv...

After Raphael Conestabile Madonna 1483 - 1520 Oil on canvas Image size: 8 x 8 inches (20.5 x 20.5 cm) Original ornate hand carved gilt frame Conestabile Madonna Made in compositiona...

Albrecht Dürer 1471-1528 German The Large Horse Dated in the plate on upper margin at center; monogrammed in the plate lower right: AD Meder state e (of...

Old Master Drawing by the Circle of Lambert Lombard. Drawing/ Study of a Man in Renaissance Style, later signed "F. Floris". Study of a Man Lombard li...

Venetian-Cretan master of the early 16th century, icon of Christ the Bridegroom (or Nymphios). Tempera on gold ground on panel. Measure 41 x 29 cm Holy Week, in Eastern tradition an...

This is an engraving of a tomb monument rubbing that has been highlighted with gold color on a dark grey to black background. The rubbing is of a brass plaque on a stone slab. It has...

Engraving on cream laid paper, 8 x 5 3/8 inches (203 x 137 mm), trimmed at the platemark. A fine impression with a Coat of Arms watermark. Second state, after the addition of the Frederick de Witt...

PORTRAIT HEAD OF BEARDED MAN Central Italy, 16th/17th Century marble with traces of polychromy height 39 cm height 15 1/4 in

Bernardino Detti (Pistoia, Italy, 1498 - 1572) Title: Face of Christ Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: without frame 41 x 32 cm - with frame 47 x 55.5 cm Antique box frame made of solid wood and walnut burl. Publications: unpublished The painting by Bernardino Detti (1498 - 1572) depicts the face of Jesus...

Venetian school of the end of the 16th century Circle of Jacopo Negretti, known as Palma the Younger (Venice 1544 - 1628) Saint Jerome Penitent Oil painting on canvas 85 x 64 cm. - In frame 97 x 76 cm. This splendid painting, which offers us an intense representation of San Girolamo...

GIULIO BONASONE (Italian 1500/10-1574) HERCULES FiGHTS ADRAGON center, ACHELOUS CARRYING OFF DEIANEIRA left 1531–76 (Bartsch XV.157.178; Massari 1983, no.230) Engraving. Lettered in roundel held by putto at right: 'Iulio / Bonasone' Sheet 10 5/8 x 16 7/8 inches. Thread margins outside border line. A fair impression. Early annotations lower left verso, as well aa a collectors stamp: Lugt 2773 - A. Freiherr von...

Ippolito Scarsella, known as Lo Scarsellino (Ferrara, around 1550 - 1620) workshop Altarpiece depicting the Madonna and Child, St. James the Greater and the donor in armour Technique: oil on panel Measurements: 93 x 72 cm./with frame 109 x 86 cm. Provenance: Prato, Farsetti, auction of 28.10.2016, lot 261 (link) A majestic Madonna in Glory occupies the upper register of the canvas, seated on a blanket of iridescent clouds surrounded by angels, flanked by a cherub who scatters flowers contained in a cornucopia towards the infant Christ as a sign of abundance, naked and supported with both hands from the mother. In the lower part of the composition stands the figure of San Giacomo Maggiore, one of the twelve apostles, standing on the right side of the altarpiece, represented dressed in a humble tunic; one arm holds the open Gospel book, while the other holds a cross pilgrimage staff. A particular aspect of the table is the presence in the central part, to indicate its importance, of the figure of the donor, kneeling on a cushion, with his hands joined in prayer and his face observing the Virgin in an attitude of devotion, while on the opposite lectern is placed a prayer book; depicted with the features of a young leader in armor, with a sword and a rich iridescent red cloak, elements which, combined with his authoritarian composure, enhance his ennoblement. Unlike the medieval altarpieces, the knight is here included in the space of the painting and has proportionate dimensions to those of the other characters, returning to all intents and purposes in the sacred scene, with a pose that cannot but evoke the detail of the 'Montefeltro altarpiece' made by Piero della Francesca for Federico da Montefeltro, kneeling in front of the sacred group in the guise of a leader. On the right, the view recedes into depth highlighting the background of an urban landscape set on a hill behind which a mountain range stands out, with the peculiarity of the arched aqueduct that runs along the entire landscape. Presumably among these expanses were the donor's own possessions and his hometown. It is a quality table, imbued with the late Mannerist style still resistant in the second half of the 16th century, characterized by a 'sweet and affable religiosity, rendered through a manner of studied simplicity and grace', which highlights the unmistakable stylistic and chromatic connotations of the produced...

This etching reproduction of Las Meninas was produced by the Louvre Museum, meticulously capturing the essence of Velázquez’s most iconic masterpiece. Printed using the calcolgraphie...

Carved wooden sculpture - San Mauro. Italy, 16th century. 54 x 30 x h 110 cm. Entirely in carved and painted wood with traces of polychromy and gilding. - Work registered at the b...

Italian school circa 1560, circle of Bernardino Campi Portrait of a woman with a book Oil on panel H. 78 cm ; L. 57cm

Giacomo Stella (Brescia 1545 - Rome 1630) - Allegory of Time Indicating Truth, Oil painting on canvas, 192 x 74cm. - in golden frame 198 x 81 cm. The work is accompanied by a critic...

Provenance: Bradley Collection. Private Collection, Upperville, Virginia. Literature: Katlijne van der Stighelen and Hans Vlieghe, Rubens: Portraits of Unidentified and Newly Identified Sitters painted in Antwerp, Corpus Rubenianum Ludwig Burchard, vol. 19, pt. 3, London and Turnhout, 2021, under cat. no. 189, p. 161, and fig. 75. This painting had previously been considered to be by an anonymous Tuscan painter of the sixteenth century in the orbit of Agnolo Bronzino. While the painting does in fact demonstrate a striking formal and compositional similarity to Bronzino’s portraits—compare the nearly identical pose of Bronzino’s Portrait of a Young Man in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Fig. 1)—its style is completely foreign to Italian works of the period. That it is painted on an oak panel is further indication of its non-Italian origin. This portrait can in fact be confidently attributed to the Antwerp artist Huybrecht Beuckelaer. Huybrecht, the brother of Joachim Beuckelaer, has only recently been identified as the author of a distinct body of work formerly grouped under the name of the “Monogrammist HB.” In recent studies by Kreidl, Wolters, and Bruyn his remarkable career has been delineated: from its beginnings with Joachim in the workshop of Pieter Aertsen; to his evident travels to Italy where, it has been suggested, he came into contact with Bronzino’s paintings; to his return to Antwerp, where he seems to have assisted Anthonis Mor in painting costume in portraits; to his independent work in Antwerp (where he entered the Guild of Saint Luke in 1579); and, later to his career in England where, known as “Master Hubberd,” he was patronized by the Earl of Leicester. Our painting was recently published by Dr. Katlijne van der Stighelen and Dr. Hans Vlieghe in a volume of the Corpus Rubenianum, in which they write that the painting “has a very Italian air about it and fits convincingly within [Beuckelaer’s] oeuvre.” Stighelen and Vlieghe compare the painting with Peter Paul Ruben’s early Portrait of a Man, Possibly an Architect or Geographer in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in which the sitter holds a compass and wears a similarly styled doublet (Fig. 2). Huybrecht both outlived and travelled further afield than his brother Joachim, who made his career primarily in Antwerp. Whereas Joachim was the main artistic inheritor of their uncle and teacher, Pieter Aertson, working in similar style and format as a specialist in large-scale genre and still-life paintings, Huybrecht clearly specialized as a painter of portraits and was greatly influenced by the foreign artists and works he encountered on his travels. His peripatetic life and his distinctly individual hand undoubtedly contributed to the fact his career and artistic output have only recently been rediscovered and reconstructed. His periods abroad seem to have overlapped with the mature phase of his brother Joachim’s career, who enrolled in the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke much earlier than his brother, establishing himself as an independent painter in 1560. Joachim’s activity was confined to the following decade and half, and his latest work dates from the last year of his life, 1574. Our portrait was likely produced in the late 1560s, a dating supported by the dendrochronological investigation performed by Dr. Peter Klein, which established that it is painted on an oak panel with an earliest felling date of 1558 and with a fabrication date of ca. 1566. This painting presents a portrait of an artist, almost certainly Huybrecht’s self-portrait. The young sitter is confidently posed in a striking patterned white doublet with a wide collar and an abundance of buttons. He stands with his right arm akimbo, his exaggerated hands both a trademark of Huybrecht and his brother Joachim’s art, as well as a possible reference to the “hand of the artist.” The figure peers out of the painting, interacting intimately and directly with the viewer, as we witness him posed in an interior, the tools and results of his craft visible nearby. He holds a square or ruler in his left hand, while a drawing compass...

OUTSTANDING MADONNA Bavaria Around 1515/20 Lime wood carved Original, polychrome version Height 60 cm This masterfully carved, full-round Madonna was created around 1515-20 in...

Oil on Canvas. Second half of the 16th century. The painting comes from the historical family collection of Count Castracane, as is documented by the original handwritten paper recei...

Marinus van Reymerswaele c.1490 – c.1546 Dutch The Tax Collectors 16th century Oil on wood panel Marinus van Reymerswaele stands among the greatest and most beloved artists of 16th-century Antwerp. Entitled The Tax Collectors, this oil on board original exudes the technical skill and life-like vibrancy for which the artist is renowned. In a quiet interior scene, two men sit at a green table covered in coins, jewels, and empty moneybags. While the man in the red turban...

This recently rediscovered portrait of Santi di Tito depicts a Florentine senator, with a letter in his hand indicating that the painting was executed in 1574 when the sitter was 66 years old. On the basis of these clues, it is tempting to view it as a portrait of Bartolomeo Panciatichi, who was painted some thirty years before by Bronzino (1503 - 1572). While the treatment of the hands recalls the Florentine tradition of Mannerist portraits, the comparison with Bronzino's portrait illustrates Santi di Tito's search for greater realism, despite the stereotyped composition. 1. Santi di Tito, Counter-Reformation painter and portraitist Santi di Tito was the great painter of the Florentine Counter-Reformation. He proposed a new artistic language that broke away from Mannerism. Little is known about his training in Florence (perhaps alongside Bronzino or Baccio Bandinelli), but this period of training enabled him to join the Company of Saint Luke, the guild of Florentine painters, in 1554. Between 1560 and 1564, Santi di Tito spent time in Rome, where he frequented the workshop of Taddeo Zuccari. This stay had a fundamental influence on his work, thanks to the discovery of the late work of Raphael, but also his encounters with the painters Francesco Salviati and Federico Barocci. Around 1565, Santi di Tito returned to Florence, where he remained until the end of his life, dividing his talents between the creation of important religious paintings and countless portraits. He became one of the city's leading painters, distinguishing himself, in particular, in the creation of large religious compositions in which the spirit of the Counter-Reformation was reflected. In 1568, Santi di Tito became a member of the Confraternity of Saint Thomas Aquinas...

Provenance: with Leo Blumenreich and Julius Böhler, Munich, 1924 Dr. Frederic Goldstein Oppenheimer (1881-1963), San Antonio, Texas; by whom given to: Abraham M. Adler, New York, until 1985; thence by descent to the present owners While old inscriptions on the verso of this panel propose its author to be Hans Holbein and the sitter Sir John More—a lawyer, judge, and the father of Sir Thomas More—this fine portrait has long been recognized to be by a Flemish hand. Max Friedländer gave the painting to Bernard van Orley (1487/1491 – 1541) in 1924, but did not include it in the volume dedicated to the artist in his Early Netherlandish Paintings...