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18th Century Art

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Period: 18th Century
Euripides, Ancient Greek, C18th Grand Tour Classical antique engraving print
Located in Melbourne, Victoria
'Euripide Poeta Tragico' (Euripides, Tragic Poet) Copper-line engraving by Nicola Billy after Giovanni Domenico Campiglia. Plate number top right corner of image. Giovanni Domenico...
Category

Renaissance 18th Century Art

Materials

Engraving

Donde va Mama from Los Caprichos - Etching by Francisco Goya - 1799
Located in Roma, IT
Donde va Mama from Los Caprichos is an original artwork realized by the artist Francisco Goya and published for the first time in 1799. Etching and aqua...
Category

Modern 18th Century Art

Materials

Etching, Aquatint

Earl Waldegrave coat of arms
Located in Middletown, NY
London: c 1750. Steel engraving on cream wove paper, 5 3/8 x 6 3/8 inches (sheet) (142 x 162 mm), margins trimmed inside the platemark. Scattered handling wear, creasing and edge nic...
Category

English School 18th Century Art

Materials

Engraving, Etching

Landscape - Drawing by Jan Peter Verdussen - 1745 ca
Located in Roma, IT
Landscape is a beautiful drawing in pencil and watercolor on paper realized by Jan Peter Verdussen in 1745 ca. In good condition, excpet for some foxing on the right. The artwork r...
Category

Old Masters 18th Century Art

Materials

Watercolor, Pencil

Letter B - Etching by Luigi Vanvitelli - 18th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Letter B is an Etching realized by Luigi Vanvitelli. The etching belongs to the print suite “Antiquities of Herculaneum Exposed” (original title: “Le Antichità di Ercolano Esposte”)...
Category

Old Masters 18th Century Art

Materials

Etching

Portrait Woman Knapton Paint Oil on canvas 18th Century Old master English Art
Located in Riva del Garda, IT
George Knapton (London 1698 - 1778), attributable Portrait of a young aristocratic maiden sitting by a fountain in a garden in the company of a lamb Oil on canvas (127 x 102 cm - Fr...
Category

Old Masters 18th Century Art

Materials

Oil

View of the Ancient Structure built by Tarquinius Superbus called the Bel Lido
Located in Fairlawn, OH
View of the Ancient Structure built by Tarquinius Superbus called the Bel Lido, and like others built by Marcus Agrippa in the time of Augustus when he cleaned all the sewers leading...
Category

Old Masters 18th Century Art

Materials

Etching

Veduta della Spelonca, detta il Bergantino - Etching by G. B. Piranesi - 1762
Located in Roma, IT
Veduta della Spelonca, detta il Bergantino is an original etching realized by G. B. Piranesi in 1762. Image Dimensions: 43 x 63 cm Very good condition. Ref. Ficacci., p.442
Category

18th Century Art

Materials

Etching

Le Daim - Etching by Buvée l'Américain - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Le Daim is an artwork realized  by  Buvée l'Américain in 1771.   Etching B./W. print  on ivory paper. The artwork belongs to the suite "Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière...
Category

Modern 18th Century Art

Materials

Etching

Family Devotion with Cherubs 18th Century Old Master Oil Painting after Rubens
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Family Devotion with Cherubs French School, 18th century after the earlier work by Sir Peter Paul Rubens oil on canvas, unframed Canvas : 29 x 24 inches Provenance: private collectio...
Category

Old Masters 18th Century Art

Materials

Oil

Painting Young man lighting a pipe 18th century
Located in Milan, IT
Oil on Canvas. The painting offers a half-length portrait of a young man in deshabillé who is lighting his pipe by drawing fire with a stick from the candle placed in front of him o...
Category

Other Art Style 18th Century Art

Materials

Oil

Antonio Bellucci (Venetian master) - Early 18th century figure painting - Diana
Located in Varmo, IT
Antonio Bellucci (Venice 1654 - Soligo 1726) - Diana and Endymion. 122 x 152 cm without frame, 142 x 172 cm with frame. Oil on canvas, in a carved a...
Category

Baroque 18th Century Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Buttercup Flowers: A Besler 18th Century Hand-colored Botanical Engraving
Located in Alamo, CA
This is a hand-colored copper plate engraving depicting Ranunculus (Persian Buttercup) flowers from Basilius Besler's landmark work, Hortus Eystettensis (Garden at Eichstatt), first published in 1613 in Eichstatt, Germany near Nuremberg and later in 1640 and 1713. This beautiful colorful engraving is printed on thick laid chain-linked paper. There is latin text on the verso. There are central horizontal creases and two small holes on the right and another in the left lower corner. It is otherwise in excellent condition. Basilius Besler (1561–1629) was an apothecary and botanist. He was curator of the Willibaldsburg Castle garden of Johann Konrad von Gemmingen, prince bishop...
Category

Academic 18th Century Art

Materials

Engraving

Peacock Butterfly, Moth & Botanical: An 18th C. Hand-colored M. Harris Engraving
Located in Alamo, CA
This is a rare, original first edition hand-colored engraving of Peacock Butterflies and Water Betony Moths depicted in their natural botanical environment, which is plate 8 from Mos...
Category

18th Century Art

Materials

Engraving

El Vergonzoso (Plate 54) (Los Caprichos Series)
Located in London, GB
Francisco Jose Goya Y Lucientes El Vergonzoso (Plate 54) (Los Caprichos Series) 1799 Etching with aquatint 31.5 x 20.5 cms (12.4 x 8.1 ins)
Category

18th Century Art

Materials

Etching

British East Indiaman Ship Returning from a Voyage to the East
Located in Milford, NH
A large marine painting probably depicting a British East Indiaman ship returning from a voyage to the East, attributed to British artist Francis Holman ...
Category

18th Century Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Saint Nazarius & Celsus (350AD) after Bartolomeo Montagna (1450-1523)
Located in Blackwater, GB
Saint Nazarius & Celsus (350AD), 18th Century Diptych Of The Christian Knights & Martyrs after lost work by Bartolomeo Montagna (1450-1523) Large 18th Century Italian Old Master de...
Category

18th Century Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

'The Death of Hercules' from 'The Temple of the Muses' — 18th Century Engraving
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Bernard Picart, 'The Death of Hercules' from 'The Temple of the Muses', engraving, 1730. Signed in the plate, lower left. Titled in French, English, German, and Dutch. A superb, rich...
Category

Baroque 18th Century Art

Materials

Engraving

View of the Capitoline Hill - Etching by G. B. Piranesi - 1775
Located in Roma, IT
View of the Capitoline Hill is an original etching realized by the italian artist Giovanni Battista Piranesi in 1775. Very precious and rare lifetime impression. Roman edition. II ...
Category

18th Century Art

Materials

Etching

Rococo Pastoral Landscape, Figures, Oxen and Sheep Circle of Saverio Della Gatta
Located in Cotignac, FR
Late 18th or early 19th century oil on canvas Rococo idylic pastoral scene. Though not signed the painting is of very fine quality and is presented in a plain gilt wood frame. This...
Category

Rococo 18th Century Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Painting 18th Century Vanitas Still Life Skull Religion Esotericism Occult
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Vanitas 18th century French School Oil on canvas Old frame gilded with gold leaves Dim canvas : 73 X 60 cm Dim frame : 93 X 80 cm Certificate of authenticity
Category

Old Masters 18th Century Art

Materials

Oil

Portrait of a Lady with a Blue Bow - British 18thC art Old Master oil painting
Located in London, GB
This superb British 18th century Old Master portrait oil painting is attributed to Matthew William Peters. Painted circa 1780 it is a fine half length portrait of a woman gazing to her left. She has a lovely blue bow and sash on her dress. The sympathetic detail in her face is sublime. A really wonderful 18th century Old Master portrait. Matthew William Peters was known for his late 18th century portraits which had both the influence of Sir Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough. Provenance. Lincolnshire estate. Condition. Oil on canvas 30 inches by 25 inches unframed and in good condition. Has has restoration. Frame. Housed in an ornate gilt carved swept period frame, 40 inches by 35 inches framed and in good condition. Matthew William Peters (1742-1814) was an English portrait and genre painter who later became an Anglican clergyman and chaplain to George IV. He became known as "William" when he started signing his works as "W. Peters". Peters was born in Freshwater, Isle of Wight, the son of Matthew Peters (born at Belfast, 1711), a civil engineer and member of the Royal Dublin Society; by Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of George Younge of Dublin. The family moved from England to Dublin when Peters was young. Peters received his artistic training from Robert West in Dublin; in 1756 and 1758 he received prizes from the first School of Design in Dublin. In 1759, he was sent by the Dublin Society to London to become a student of Thomas Hudson and won a premium from the Society of Arts. The group also paid for him to travel to Italy to study art from 1761 to 1765. On 23 September 1762 he was elected to the Accademia del Disegno in Florence. Peters returned to England in 1765 and exhibited works at the Society of Artists from 1766 to 1769. Beginning in 1769, Peters exhibited works at the Royal Academy. In 1771 he was elected an associate and in 1777 an academician. He returned to Italy in 1771 and stayed until 1775. He also probably traveled to Paris in 1783–84, where he met Léopold Boilly, Antoine Vestier, and was influenced by the work of Jean-Baptiste Greuze. On 27 February 1769, Peters became a freemason, and he was made the grand portrait painter of the Freemasons and the first provincial grand master of Lincolnshire in 1792. In 1785, he exhibited portraits of the Duke of Manchester and Lord Petre as Grand Master at the Royal Academy exhibition. According to Robin Simon's article in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, no British contemporary had such an Italian manner of painting as Peters, reflecting the old masters he copied. Many of Peters' works were erotic and although these works did not damage his career, according to Simon, Peters later regretted these when he became an ordained clergyman in 1781. He served as the Royal Academy's chaplain from 1784 to 1788, at which time he resigned to become chaplain to the Prince of Wales. In 1784, Peters was awarded the living of Scalford, Leicestershire by Charles Manners, 4th Duke of Rutland. In 1788, the Dowager Duchess gave him the living at Knipton, at which time he also obtained that at Woolsthorpe. These livings were near to Belvoir Castle...
Category

Old Masters 18th Century Art

Materials

Oil

Crucifixion: 18th Century Etching by Conrad Metz after Daniele da Volterra
Located in Alamo, CA
"Crucifixion" is an etching and aquatint, printed in brown ink by Conrad M. Metz after a painting by Daniele da Volterra. It was published in London in 1789 in 'Imitations Of Ancient...
Category

Old Masters 18th Century Art

Materials

Etching, Aquatint

St. George Dragon Raphael Sanzio Paint Oil on canvas 17/18th Century Old master
Located in Riva del Garda, IT
St. George Defeats the Dragon Follower of Raphael Sanzio (Urbino, 1483 - Rome, 1520), 17th-18th century Oil on oval canvas 124 x 95 cm./ in frame 148 x 118 cm. The painting evocati...
Category

Old Masters 18th Century Art

Materials

Oil

Hare coursing outside a country house with hounds Oil British 18th Century
Located in London, GB
Thomas Burford (British, c. 1710-1779) Hare coursing outside a country house Oil on canvas Property of a gentleman From the collection of Peter Roe Dimensions: (Frame) 12.5 in. (H)...
Category

English School 18th Century Art

Materials

Oil

Portrait of a Gentleman
Located in New York, NY
Circle of Jacques-Louis David (French, 18th Century) Provenance: Private Collection, Buenos Aires Exhibited: “Art of Collecting,” Flint Institute of Art, Flint, Michigan, 23 November 2018 – 6 January 2019. This vibrant portrait of young man was traditionally considered a work by Jacques-Louis David, whose style it recalls, but to whom it cannot be convincingly attributed. Rather, it would appear to be by a painter in his immediate following—an artist likely working in France in the first decade of the nineteenth century. Several names have been proposed as the portrait’s author: François Gérard, Louis Hersent, Anne-Louis Girodet (Fig. 1), Theodore Gericault, and Jean-Baptiste Wicar, among others. Some have thought the artist Italian, and have proposed Andrea Appiani, Gaspare Landi...
Category

Old Masters 18th Century Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Flowering Cotton Plant: 18th Century Hand-colored Weinmann Botanical Engraving
Located in Alamo, CA
This striking hand-colored botanical mezzotint and line engraving is entitled "Gnaphalium, Gossypium (Cotton Plant)". It is plate 551 in Johann Weinmann's monumental publication "Phy...
Category

Naturalistic 18th Century Art

Materials

Engraving, Mezzotint

Portrait Of General John Churchill, Duke Of Marlborough The Battle Of Ramillies
By John Vanderbank
Located in Blackwater, GB
Portrait Of General John Churchill, The Duke Of Marlborough At The Battle Of Ramillies, 1706 by JOHN VANDERBANK THE YOUNGER (1694-1739) Large early 18...
Category

18th Century Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Depicting the annunciation of the shepherds
Located in San Francisco, CA
Continental school Oil on canvas Depicting the annunciation of the shepherds 18th/19th century No visible signature Realigned/restored 26.5 x 30.5
Category

18th Century Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

The Arch of Constantine and the Colosseum
Located in Fairlawn, OH
The Arch of Constantine and the Colosseum Vedute dell' Arco di Costantino, e dell' Anfiteatro Flavio il Colosseo From: "Vedute di Roma" (Roman Views), part II An early Paris edition,...
Category

Old Masters 18th Century Art

Materials

Etching

Goddess - Etching by Filippo Morghen - 18th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Goddess from "Antiquities of Herculaneum" is an etching on paper realized by Filippo Morghen in the 18th Century. Signed on the plate. Good conditions with some foxing and folding ...
Category

Old Masters 18th Century Art

Materials

Etching

The Death of Coresus
By Jean-Baptiste Greuze
Located in Paris, Île-de-France
JEAN-BAPTISTE GREUZE (Tournus 1725 - 1805 Paris) The Death of Coresus, circa 1750 Pen and brown ink, black ink tips, gray wash on black chalk, 455 x 385 cm Bears on the reverse in ...
Category

Old Masters 18th Century Art

Materials

Ink, Watercolor

1800’s French Rococo Oil Portrait of Young Girl Pink Bow Blue Dress to restore
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
French School, Rococo period original Likely to be a preparatory sketch for a larger piece. oil painting on canvas laid on board, framed framed: 1...
Category

Rococo 18th Century Art

Materials

Canvas

Academy Study of a Seated Male Figure Seen from the Back
By Charles Joseph Natoire
Located in Paris, Île-de-France
Attributed to Charles-Joseph NATOIRE (Nîmes 1700 – 1777 Gandolfo) Academy Study of a Seated Male Figure Seen from the Back (Youthful study executed around the 1720s–1730s, likely du...
Category

Old Masters 18th Century Art

Materials

Chalk

OBSEQUIO á el MAESTRO (‘A gift for the master’)
Located in Santa Monica, CA
FRANCISCO de GOYA y LUCIENTES (1746 -1828) OBSEQUIO á el MAESTRO (‘A gift for the master’) Plate 47 from the 1st edition of Los Caprichos (Blas, ...
Category

Old Masters 18th Century Art

Materials

Etching, Aquatint

Butterflies & Moths in a Landscape: 18th C. Hand-colored Engraving by M. Harris
Located in Alamo, CA
This is a rare, original first edition hand-colored engraving depicting the natural history of butterflies and moths, which is plate 10 from Moses Harris' publication "The Aurelian: ...
Category

18th Century Art

Materials

Engraving

Duomo of Milan with Pesants- Oil Painting - 18th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Duomo of Milan with peasants is a modern artwork realized by an Italian Artist in 18th century. Mixed colored oil on canvas 40x33cm with frame included. Good conditions.
Category

Modern 18th Century Art

Materials

Oil

Le Coq - Etching by Louis Legrand - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Le Coq is an etching realized in 1771 by Louis Legrand (1723-1807). Titled and Signed on the plate. The artwork Belongs to the suite "Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière a...
Category

Modern 18th Century Art

Materials

Etching

Banana Plant: An 18th Century Hand-colored Botanical Engraving by J. Weinmann
Located in Alamo, CA
This is an original antique colored botanical mezzotint and line engraving of banana plants, which is finished with hand-coloring. It is entitled "Banana 2. Mauze, Baradis-feigen", p...
Category

Naturalistic 18th Century Art

Materials

Engraving, Mezzotint

Festival Procession Of A Daimyo - Original Woodblock Print
Located in Soquel, CA
Procession Of A Daimyo - Original Woodblock Print Original woodblock print depicting the procession of a Daimyo. Ten Japanese soldiers are seen as they aid in transporting the Daimy...
Category

Edo 18th Century Art

Materials

Ink, Wood Panel, Rice Paper

Long-billed Curlew Bird: Original 1st Edition Audubon Hand Colored Lithograph
Located in Alamo, CA
An original rare and extremely collectible first edition John James Audubon hand colored lithograph entitled "Long-billed Curlew", No. 71, Plate 355, from Audubon's "Birds of America. It was lithographed, printed and colored by J. T. Bowen and published in Philadelphia between 1840-1844. It depicts a male and a female Long-billed Curlew standing on a grassy mound with water and the city of Charleston...
Category

Naturalistic 18th Century Art

Materials

Lithograph

18th Century by Francesco Zuccarelli Landscape with River and Waterfall
Located in Milano, Lombardia
Francesco Zuccarelli (Pitigliano, Italy, 1702 - Florence, Italy, 1788) Title: Landscape with River and Waterfall Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: without frame 55 x 78.5 cm - with frame 70 x 93 cm Expertise by Professor Giancarlo Sestieri Publications: Giorgio Baratti Collezione. Selezione di opere d’arte antica (Giorgio Baratti Collection. Selection of ancient works of art), curated by Professor Giancarlo Sestieri with the participation of Professor Andrea Emiliani, Grafiche Veneziane, Venezia 2011, pp...
Category

Old Masters 18th Century Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Cream-coloured Plover, 18th century bird engraving by John Latham
Located in Melbourne, Victoria
Copper-line engraving. 1781. From John Latham's 'General Synopsis of Birds' 1781-1785, and its Supplements. Plate number top left. Laid paper. John Latham was the leading English or...
Category

Naturalistic 18th Century Art

Materials

Engraving

Adoration of the Shepherds
By Peter Paul Rubens
Located in New York, NY
Adoration of the Shepherds after Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577-1640), engraved by Pierre-Franois Basan (French, 1723-1797), engraving, c. 1750, in black on ivory laid paper, 282 x 200 mm., with small margins. In very good condition. A fine proof impression, before letters. A draft printing of letters is visible, lower left, below image: “P P Rubens inv.”; lower right: “F. Basan excudit”. Basan’s engraving after Rubens may be modeled after another engraving of the Adoration after Rubens by Theodor Galle (1571-1633), which appeared as an illustration to the 1618 reprint of 1616 edition of “Missale Romanum...
Category

Old Masters 18th Century Art

Materials

Engraving

Newstead in Nottinghamshire. Paul Sandby C18th landscape engraving
Located in Melbourne, Victoria
'Newstead in Nottinghamshire, the Seat of Lord Byron' Engraving by Thomas Malton after Paul Sandby (1731-1809). From Paul Sandby's 'The Virtuosi's Museum, Containing Select Views i...
Category

Naturalistic 18th Century Art

Materials

Engraving

The Flight into Egypt: Altered from Seghers, Etching by Rembrandt van Rijn
Located in Long Island City, NY
Rembrandt van Rijn, After by Amand Durand, Dutch (1606 - 1669) - The Flight into Egypt: Altered from Seghers, Year: Of Original 1653, Medium: Etching, Image Size: 8.5 x 11 inches, S...
Category

18th Century Art

Materials

Etching

Caernarfon Castle, Wales. Paul Sandby C18th landscape engraving
Located in Melbourne, Victoria
'Caernarvon Castle' Engraving by William Watts (1752-1851) after Paul Sandby (1731-1809). From Paul Sandby's 'The Virtuosi's Museum, Containing Select Views in England, Scotland, ...
Category

Naturalistic 18th Century Art

Materials

Engraving

Portrait of Frances, Viscountess Scudamore in a Silver Dress & Blue Cloak
Located in London, GB
Portrait of Frances, Viscountess Scudamore in a Silver Dress and Blue Cloak c.1709-1719 By Charles Jervas (1675-1739) This elegant and graceful portrait, presented by Titan Fine Ar...
Category

Old Masters 18th Century Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

18th Century Oil on Canvas Biblical Italian Painting Judith and Holofernes
Located in Vicoforte, IT
Wonderful Italian painting from the first half of the 18th century. Oil on canvas artwork depicting a fascinating biblical story, the beheading of the Babylonian leader Holofernes by...
Category

18th Century Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Greyhound
Located in Columbia, MO
Greyhound 1773-1802 Engraving 14 x 10 inches Framed: 24 x 21 inches
Category

Naturalistic 18th Century Art

Materials

Engraving

Fisherfolk unloading the days catch
By John Thomas Serres
Located in Stoke, Hampshire
John Thomas Serres (1759-1825) Fisherfolk unloading the days catch Oil on canvas Canvas Size - 17 x 25 in Framed Size - 22 x 30 in John Thomas Serres, a luminary in the realm of mar...
Category

Old Masters 18th Century Art

Materials

Oil

Self Portrait in a Velvet Cap with Plume, Etching on Somerset paper
Located in Long Island City, NY
Rembrandt van Rijn, After by Amand Durand, Dutch (1606 - 1669) - Self Portrait in a Velvet Cap with Plume, Year: Of Original 1638, Medium: Etching on Somerset paper, Image Size: 5 x...
Category

18th Century Art

Materials

Etching

Castle and Town of Tanlay, French architecture, mid 17th century engraving
Located in Melbourne, Victoria
'Prosp du Chasteau et Bourg de Tanlay' Copper-line engraving by Matthaeus Merian. From 'Topographia Galliae', a fine series of engravings of 17th-century French landscapes, garden...
Category

Rococo 18th Century Art

Materials

Engraving

17th-18th Century By Matteo Bonechi Marine Triumph Oil on Canvas
Located in Milano, Lombardia
Matteo Bonechi (Florence, Italy, 1669 - 1756) Title: Triumph Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: without frame 65 x 80 cm - with frame 85 x 100 cm Expertise by Professor Sandro Belles...
Category

Old Masters 18th Century Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Old Master Wooded Landscape - Irish 1830 art woodland oil painting
By James Arthur O'Connor
Located in London, GB
A delightful large oil on canvas of a wooded landscape which dates to circa 1830 and is attributed to Irish artist James Arthur O’Connor. A superb painting and an excellent example o...
Category

Old Masters 18th Century Art

Materials

Oil

Landscape - Original Pencil Drawing by J. P. Verdussen - Mid-18th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Landscape is an original drawing in pencil on ivory-colored paper realized by Jan Peter Verdussen. The artwork has some folds rips and foxings and is repaired on the middle line. T...
Category

Modern 18th Century Art

Materials

Pencil

Joseph Highmore Portrait of a lady, 18th century
By Joseph Highmore
Located in York, GB
Portrait of a lady, traditionally identified as Grace Loftus,of Beverley hall yorkshire.Three-quarter-length, before a window. Dressed in blue and wearing a white bonnet. The paintin...
Category

Old Masters 18th Century Art

Materials

Oil

Carcere ascura
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Carcere ascura Etching, 1743 Signed in the plate bottom left corner From: Prima Parte, 1743 Second edition: 1750-1778 Watermark: R 37-39 A lifetime impression printed during Piranesi’s life, before the plates are moved to Paris by his sons in the 1790’s This image foretells Piranesi's famous set, Carceri (Prisons) which is his next creative effort. Condition: Horizontal crease midway in the sheet associated with the manufacture of the paper. Visible watermark verso Small printer crease in the bottom right below the caption plate. Image size: 14 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches Reference: Robison 3 iii/VI Piranesi In Rome: Prima Parte di Architetture e Prospettive "Although Piranesi studied architecture in Venice, he never was able to find work in the field other than a few jobs involving remodeling in Rome. While Piranesi was struggling to support his architectural endeavors upon his arrival in Rome in 1740, he spent a short period of time in the studio of master painter Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696-1770) in addition to his apprenticeship with Giuseppe Vasi. The first production of Piranesi’s early years in Rome and a culmination of his training under Vasi, Tiepolo, and his uncle, was the Prima Parte di Architetture e Prospettive (1743). The Prima Parte was a collection of twelve etchings of imaginary temples, palaces, ruins, and a prison. During this time, Piranesi was still developing the unique style of etching he is known for today, and as such the Prima Parte differs significantly in technique compared to later works. In the Frontispiece of the Prima Parte, Piranesi’s lines are definite and exact with very little flow to them, designed in the form of traditional etching. The detail is immaculate, and yet perspective of the piece is oddly simple and familiar to the viewer. Piranesi’s technique employs miniscule markings and lines, intricately woven together to create a stippling effect. The Prima Parte, described as “rigid” by art historian Jonathan Scott, came to be seen as a stark contrast to his later sketches, which were much lighter and freer. Influenced by the style of Tiepolo, which epitomized the lightness and brightness of the Rococo period, Piranesi adopted some of the more painterly techniques of the masters he apprenticed under. Piranesi made the medium of etching appear as though it was a sketch or a painting, hence a “freer” and more fluid design in his later works. For example, the frontispiece of the Prima Parte read as an etching to Piranesi’s audience, but in his later vedute, the style of etching almost appears to be made of brushstrokes. Moreover, at the same time Piranesi was working on the Prima Parte, he aided the artist Giambattista Nolli. There is a small section of Nolli’s map...
Category

Old Masters 18th Century Art

Materials

Etching

Black Stork, "Ciconia Nigra": An 18th Century Hand-colored Frisch Engraving
Located in Alamo, CA
This is a rare 18th Century hand-colored copperplate engraving entitled "Ciconia Nigra" (Black Stork) by Johann Leonhard Frisch is plate 197 fro...
Category

Naturalistic 18th Century Art

Materials

Engraving

Presumed artist self-portrait
Located in BELEYMAS, FR
Louis-Gabriel BLANCHET (Versailles, 1701 – Rome, 1772) Presumed self-portrait of the artist Oil on canvas H. 73 cm; W. 60 cm Circa 1730 Originally presented in a Restoration period frame with a "Mignard" cartouche, this beautiful painting initially appeared to us as a work from northern Italy. However, it exuded a rather French form of refinement, suggesting that its artist may have assimilated a dual influence from both sides of the Alps. We thank our colleague and friend Philippe Mendès for spontaneously and judiciously "bringing out" the name of Louis-Gabriel Blanchet, a Romanized French portraitist, whose spirit and stylistic characteristics we clearly recognize here. Blanchet's "French" years, before his final departure for Rome in 1728, following his winning of the second Grand Prix for painting after Subleyras in 1727, are extremely poorly documented. His father, Gabriel, was valet to Blouin, himself Louis XIV's first valet at the time. According to Thierry Lefrançois, Blanchet was one of the few students of Nicolas Bertin (1667-1736), whose studio he is said to have joined in the early 1720s. At a baptism on March 24, 1724, where he was godfather, he is mentioned as a painter in the picture store of the Duke of Antin, the director of buildings between 1708 and 1736. At this time, he was probably already married to Jeanne Quément, with whom he had a daughter also named Jeanne, who would marry Nicolas Aviet, the son of a valet in the queen's wardrobe, in Versailles in 1738. When Blanchet arrived in Rome in October 1728, he was accompanied by Subleyras, Trémolières, and Slodtz. He enjoyed the goodwill of Vleughels, the director of the Académie de France, which had been based at the Palazzo Mancini since 1725, even though the latter was not always kind to our resident. From 1732, he was under the protection of the Duke of Saint-Aignan when he took up his post as ambassador to Rome. Along with Slodtz and Subleyras, they formed a trio of friends, joined by Joseph Vernet shortly after his arrival in Rome in 1734. Slodtz and Blanchet, on the occasion of Subleyras's marriage in 1739, were there to attest that their friend was not bound by any marital commitment, and Blanchet was a witness at Vernet's wedding in 1745. It is most likely from these early years in Rome that our portrait of the artist dates, the expression and turn of his face irresistibly reminiscent of a self-portrait. The still relatively youthful features may correspond to Blanchet's thirty-something years, and the fluffy wig was still fashionable at this time. The painting fits well with the depiction of a young painter wanting to display both the beginnings of success and a certain simplicity or restraint. A slight smile expresses a form of assurance in this man with a gentle, sincere gaze and a face radiating a keen sense of wit. We find here the air of intimacy present in almost all of Blanchet's portraits, even those from the 1750s and 1760s, as well as an almost complicity with the viewer. The spirit of the painting is quite close to that of the presumed portrait of Bouchardon (painted around 1730) and the portrait of Pannini, painted in 1736, but it possesses a more natural quality, notably thanks to the absence of decorum. Our work exhibits the characteristics of Blanchet's paintings: elegance, luminosity (especially in the whites), vibrant and refined colors (here, the harmony of the garnet of the garment and the slate blue of the background, whose uniformity is tempered by a very sketched landscape and a grove of greenery), light complexions, rather rosy cheekbones, often full lips, and rather tight framing. According to the Academy's rules, Blanchet's stay should have ended in the spring of 1732, but, for reasons unknown, he remained in the Eternal City until his death, as did his friend Subleyras, with whom he shared accommodation until the late 1730s. The latter regularly called upon him to collaborate on his paintings, such as The Meal at Simon's. Through Saint-Aignan's intervention, Blanchet was employed in the late 1730s by the Stuart princely family, then exiled in Italy. He notably produced copies (now lost) after Liotard of the portraits of Charles Edward and Henry Benedict, the sons of James III Stuart. The latter also commissioned three other portraits (now in the National Portrait Gallery in London), whose more formal character contrasts with the intimate spirit of Blanchet's portraits. Blanchet frequented English painters, such as the landscape painter Richard Wilson, and studied with the Scottish portraitist Katherine Read...
Category

French School 18th Century Art

Materials

Oil, Canvas

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