Early 18th Century Art

Giustino Menescardi (Milan, Italy, c. 1720 - Venice, Italy, after 1779) Title: Ascent of Calvary Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: without frame 47 x 36 cm - with frame 57 x 43 cm Shaped and gilded wooden cassetta frame Publications: Bozzetti, modelletti, sketches: dalla collezione di Giorgio Baratti...

Pieter van der Aa (1659 - 1733), after David Loggan (1634 - 1692) King's College, Cambridge Engraving 12 x 16 cm An eighteenth-century view King's College, Cambridge, engraved by Pi...

Pieter van der Aa (1659 - 1733), after David Loggan (1634 - 1692) St Catharine's College, Cambridge Engraving 12 x 16 cm An eighteenth-century view of St Catharine's College, Cambri...

Pair of rare Botanical Hand Colored Engravings about 1737-1745 Beautifully framed French hand painted mat, in gold leaf frame each print measure 9.5x14.5 Johann Wilhelm Weinmann (1...

A miniature English School portrait of two children holding a loving embrace. Well presented in a charming bird's-eye maple frame with internal gilt slip and glazing. Unsigned. On pa...

Giovanni Cassana received his earliest training from his father and his brother who was then a well-known portrait painter and from Jacob van de Kerkhoven, an acclaimed Flemish anima...

Holy Baptism, Oil painting on canvas by an unknown artist About the artwork: Bible Scene, Early 18th Century, Florentine School TECHNIQUE: oil pai...

Two oil on panel Old Master landscape paintings by Johannes Jakob Hartmann (Bohemian, 1680-1730) Bohemia, early 18th Century Panel: Height 73c...

Artist: Samuel and Nathaniel Buck (English, 1696-1779) and (?-1759/1774) Title: "Torksey Hall" (Plate 179) and "Newark Castle" (Plate 226) Portfolio: Buck's Antiquities or Venerable ...

Portrait of a lady, three-quarter length, wearing a blue silk gown, seated in a classical interior, with her daughter in a pink gown standing beside her holding a sprig of blossom. T...

Portrait of a Lady English School, 18th century oil on canvas, unframed canvas : 31 x 25 inches provenance: private collection, UK condition: good and sound condition

Silver was the material of choice for both ecclesiastical and domestic vessels in the New World, not only for its status as a precious metal, but also because of its abundance and du...

Painting, oil on canvas, measuring 92 x 75 cm without frame and 102 x 87 cm with frame depicting a nobleman of the French school of the first half of the 18th century. In its formal...

Francesco Lavagna (active in Naples in the mid-18th century) Title: Pair of Flower Vases Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: without frame 98 x 36 cm each - with frame 112 x 50 cm each...

Painting oil on canvas measuring 92 x 75 cm without frame and 102 x 87 cm with frame depicting a rich lady of the French school of the first half of the 18th century. In its formal ...

Pieter van der Aa (1659-1733), after David Loggan (1634–1692) Magdalen College, Oxford Engraving 12 x 16 cm A magnificent eighteenth-century view of Magdalen, engraved by Pieter van...

Follower of Zacharias Wagener (1614-1688) Tamanuâguasû (Giant Anteater) On Italian 17th or 18th-century paper, H. 28 x W. 43.5 cm ​The present painting is a copy after Wagener’s painting of the anteater, Tamanduá-bandeira, which is illustrated in his “Thier Buch”, with 109 drawings of Brazilian fish, birds and mammals, published in Amsterdam c. 1641, in German. ​ Zacharias Wagener, or Wagenaer in Dutch, (Dresden 1614 – Amsterdam 1668) was a real adventurer who became Opperhoofd on Deshima and Governor of the Cape of Good Hope in the service of the VOC. During the Thirty-Year War in Germany Wagener tried his luck in Amsterdam where he worked for the map-maker Willem Blaeu. In 1634 he joined the WIC and left for Dutch Brazil where he worked as writer and painter, together with Frans Post...

Interesante oleo sobre tabla de San Antonio de padua realizado en el siglo xviii Es de escuela Mexicana El estado es bueno Medidas de la obra: ...

After David Loggan (1634 - 1692) Christ's College, Cambridge Engraving 40 x 46 cm An eighteenth-century view of Clare College, Cambridge, engraved by David Loggan, the noted engrave...

Four plates from The Wondrous Transformation of Caterpillars and their Strange Diet of Flowers. “Wolfsmelk Rupsen;" “Wolfsmilch, Raupe und Schmetterling" Amsterdam: JF Bernard, 1730. Each an engraving with hand coloring in watercolor and gouache printed on one sheet of watermarked Honig cream laid paper, each measures 6 1/4 x 5 inches (157 x 121 mm), sheet measures 20 5/8 x 14 inches (522 x 355 mm), full margins. With handling creases in the lower right sheet quadrant, as well as minor, loose cockling, otherwise in very good condition. The colors are superb with exceptionally fresh and bright saturation. Engraved between 1679 and 1683, printed 1730. Plates included: CXLI, CXLII, CXIII & CXLIV. MARIA SIBYLLA MERIAN was one of the most highly respected entomologists of the 17th century, and remains today one of the field's most significant figures. A German-born naturalist and scientific illustrator, she reared herself on the study of caterpillars, and made tremendous contributions to the knowledge of the life cycles of numerous species. Until her detailed and careful study of the process of metamorphosis it was thought that insects were "born of mud," through spontaneous generation. Trained as a miniature painter by her stepfather, she published her first book of illustrations in 1675, at the age of 28. In 1679, Merian published the first volume of the two-volume series on caterpillars, The Wondrous Transformation of Caterpillars and their Strange Diet of Flowers; the second volume followed in 1683. Each volume contained 50 plates that she engraved and etched. In 1699, Merian traveled to Dutch Guiana...

Finísimo óleo sobre cobre de la Virgen con el Niño, de mediados del siglo XVIII. Seguramente es Escuela Flamenca, gran calidad, va con un marco de madera y estuco dorado del siglo X...

Provenance: Sotheby’s December 5th 2006, Lot 388 Bout was a Flemish painter, draughtsman and etcher. He is known mainly for his landscapes, city, coast and country views and archite...

This small landscape shows a hunting scene: two riders are chasing a stag with their dogs at the edge of a forest. Signed by Peter von Bemmel, it is typical of the production of this...

Four plates from The Wondrous Transformation of Caterpillars and their Strange Diet of Flowers. “Wolfsmelk Rupsen;" “Wolfsmilch, Raupe und Schmetterling" Amsterdam: J F Bernard, 1730. Each an engraving with hand coloring in watercolor and gouache printed on one sheet of watermarked Honig cream laid paper, each measures 6 1/4 x 5 inches (157 x 121 mm), sheet measures 20 5/8 x 14 inches (522 x 355 mm), full margins. With handling creases in the lower right sheet quadrant, as well as minor, loose cockling, otherwise in very good condition. The colors are superb with exceptionally fresh and bright saturation. Engraved between 1679 and 1683, printed 1730. Plates included: CI; CII; CIII & CIV. MARIA SIBYLLA MERIAN was one of the most highly respected entomologists of the 17th century, and remains today one of the field's most significant figures. A German-born naturalist and scientific illustrator, she reared herself on the study of caterpillars, and made tremendous contributions to the knowledge of the life cycles of numerous species. Until her detailed and careful study of the process of metamorphosis it was thought that insects were "born of mud," through spontaneous generation. Trained as a miniature painter by her stepfather, she published her first book of illustrations in 1675, at the age of 28. In 1679, Merian published the first volume of the two-volume series on caterpillars, The Wondrous Transformation of Caterpillars and their Strange Diet of Flowers; the second volume followed in 1683. Each volume contained 50 plates that she engraved and etched. In 1699, Merian traveled to Dutch Guiana...

Reproduction from a collection of drawings by Flemish and Dutch masters of the XV-XVII Centuries preserved in the Albertina Collection in Vienna, Austria. Published by Campbell Dodgs...

Woodcut on cream laid paper, 7 1/4 x 2 1/2 inches (182 x 63 mm), narrow margins. Laid down to non-archival board with scattered soiling and some adhesive staining. Okumura Masanobu (Japanese 1686 – 13 March 1764) was a Japanese print designer, book publisher, and painter. He also illustrated novelettes and in his early years wrote some fiction. At first his work adhered to the Torii school, but later drifted beyond that. He is a figure in the formative era of ukiyo-e doing early works on actors and bijin-ga ("pictures of beautiful women"). While Masanobu's early life is largely undocumented, he is believed to have been born about 1686, possibly in Edo (modern Tokyo). Edo was a small fishing village when Tokugawa Ieyasu chose it as his administrative capital of the Tokugawa shogunate, and by the early 17th century the city had prospered and its population had grown to half a million. Masanobu appears to have been self-taught painter (though he did study poetry under Tachiba Fukaku); he is not known to have belonged to any artistic school. His early work shows the influence of the Torii school of ukiyo-e painting...

A romantic oil study depicting a couple resting on a woodland floor feeding each other fruit. The scene appears to be a play on the Four Seasons series by François Boucher where the...

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...

This widely referenced pair of paintings is one of Francesco Conti’s most successful productions. Francesco Conti is one of the finest painters of 18th-century Florence. In the shimmering colors typical of his best work, he represents two opposite characters from the Bible: the virtuous Judith, whose courage saves her people by cutting off the head of the invader Holofernes, and the depraved Salome, who under the influence of her mother becomes responsible for the beheading of the prophet John the Baptist. The artist's talent lies in his ability to treat these two macabre subjects with a light touch, presenting us with two attractive women who seem to twirl with glee amidst the severed heads... 1. Francesco Conti, the “Florentine Tiepolo” Francesco Conti is a major painter of the Florentine school of the 18th century; he can even probably be considered, along with Giovanni Domenico Ferretti (1692-1768), as one of the two main painters of the second quarter of the Florentine 18th century. Born in Florence in 1682, Francesco Conti began his apprenticeship in the workshop of Simone Pignoni (1611 - 1698), a disciple of Francesco Furini; he was also influenced by the Venetian Sebastiano Ricci. A protégé of Marquis Riccardi, he accompanied him to Rome between 1699 and 1705, where he frequented Carlo Maratta's studio. He settled permanently in Florence in 1705. Painted exclusively on canvas, the majority of his work consists of religious subjects, altarpieces or private devotional works. It is likely that Conti himself was a devout churchgoer, as evidenced by his affiliation, in the third decade of the eighteenth century, to the Society of the Disciples of Saint-John-the-Baptist, and his entry, at the end of his life, into the fraternity of the Venerable Society of the Holy Trinity. In Florence, Conti worked for the Grand Duchy's major patrons, including the last Medici - in particular Giangastone and Annamaria Luisa, Electress Palatine - and confirmed his role as a reference painter under the Lorraine Regency, as master of the Public Drawing School, which was closely linked to the institute responsible for the manufacture of semi-precious stone mosaics, then located in the Uffizi complex. Matteo Marangoni, an art critic of the early 20th century, praised his "brushwork full of elegance and true spirit of the 18th century", pointing out that Conti was "probably one of the best colorists" of the Florentine school of his time. These two characteristics led the art historian Paolo dal Poggetto to nickname him the "Florentine Tiepolo". 2. Judith and Salome, two biblical characters opposing each other These two paintings form a pair presenting two biblical episodes, which have in common the depiction of a "heroine" carrying the severed head of a man. While the Salome episode might at first appear to be an echo of the Old Testament story of Judith, each character is the exact opposite of the other. Judith, whose story is told in the Book of Judith, is a beautiful young widow from Bethulia who, accompanied by her maid, went into the camp of the invading Assyrians and won the confidence of Holofernes, the general commanding the enemy army. Invited to a great feast on the fourth evening, she took advantage of Holofernes' drunkenness to cut off his head. “She went up to the bedpost near Holofernes’ head, and took down his sword that hung there. She came close to his bed, took hold of the hair of his head, and said, “Give me strength today, O Lord God of Israel!” Then she struck his neck twice with all her might, and cut off his head. Next she rolled his body off the bed and pulled down the canopy from the posts. Soon afterward she went out and gave Holofernes’ head to her maid, who placed it in her food bag...

This is a hand-colored copper plate engraving depicting flowering "Hyacinthus Comosus Spurius" (Hyacinth), "Hyacinthus Anglicus" (Blue Hyacinth), "Palma ...

Dominicus van der Smissen Early 18th Century Portrait of Conrad Friedrich Hurlebusch Oil on canvas Image size: 20½ x 16¼ inches Period gilt frame This is a portrait of Conrad Friedrich Hurlebusch, composer, Kapellmeister and organist, whom Van der Smissen most probably portrayed during his stay in Hamburg, Brunswick or Amsterdam. The identification is based on the reproduction of the portrait which was engraved by Pieter Anthony Wakkerdak (1740- 1774). Van der Smissen has reduced the face of the sitters to an egg-shaped oval in three-quarter view, applying diminution to one half of the figure’s torso, which is farther away from the viewer. This partial side view, with the head turned to look at the viewer over the shoulder, creates spatial depth and brings the figure to life by avoiding the stiffness of a frontal depiction. Because the artist chose to highlight the figure from above, a distinct shadow is cast under the tip of the nose, in the shape of a triangle. This is an often recurring and almost ‘signature’-like feature in Van der Smissen’s oeuvre. Hurlebusch's garments are of a very high quality and serve to reflect the sitter’s wealth, status and elegance. During this period, gentlemen often shaved their heads in order to facilitate the wearing of a wig, which wouldbe worn with a suit. Here Hurlebusch has been depicted in a luxurious turban-like cap lined with lynx fur, a highly fashionable and expensive material at the time. Over his shirt, he wears a velvet fur-lined gown adorned with decorative clasps fashioned from silver braid. The elegant informality of his appearance can be seen in his unbuttoned shirt and the unfastened black ribbon hanging from his button hole, which has been artfully arranged into a fluttering drape by the portraitist. The Sitter Hurlebusch was born in Brunswick, Germany. He received the first instructions in his field from his father Heinrich Lorenz Hurlebusch, who was also a musician. As an organ virtuoso, he toured Europe, visiting Vienna, Munich and Italy. From 1723 to 1725 he was Kapellmeister in Stockholm; later he became Kapellmeister in Bayreuth and Brunswick, and lived in Hamburg from 1727 to 1742, where he had contact with fellow composers Johann Mattheson and Georg Philipp Telemann. He made his living composing, performing and teaching. In 1735 and 1736, he is believed to have visited Johann Sebastian Bach in Leipzig, who promoted Hurlebusch’s compositions as the local seller...

This is an early 18th century hand-colored copperplate engraving of the anatomy of a Cedar Flower citrus fruit by Johann Christoph Volkhamer, entitled "Cedro di fiore e Sugo doppia (...

Georg Philipp I RUGENDAS (1666-1742) Frederick I of Prussia Red chalk, ink and brown wash on paper 45x42 cm This drawing has been long considered representative of Charles VI. In r...

This is a hand-colored copper plate engraving depicting flowering "Hyosciamus albus and Hyosciamus vulgaris" (Henbane) plants from Basilius Besler's landmark work, Hortus Eystettensi...

A fine prospect image of gardens at Lincoln's Inn, London. A Prospect of Lincoln's Inn; A Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster; The Fountain and Gardens in New Square, Lin...

Christian Reder (Leipzig 1656 - Rome 1729) - The departure of the soldiers from the fort. 57.5 x 108.5 cm without frame, 89 x 122 cm with frame. Antique oil painting on canvas, in ...

This early 18th-century oil painting attributed to Austrian artist, Franz de Paula Ferg (1689-1740), depicts the Commedia dell’Arte performing in a busy Italian village square. Ferg ...

[ Bird of Paradise] La Pie de paradise, vue par derriere , No.21, Paris 1801-1806 [Astrapia nigra]. Color-printed engraving with hand-coloring. French botanical and zoological illustrator Jacques Barraband (1767-1809) was known as one of the finest ornithological artists of his time .He is best known for his watercolors and engravings that were commissioned by François LeVaillant, French explorer, naturalist, zoological collector , noted ornithologist and author. Levaillant’s Histoire naturelle des perroquets (1801-05) and his Histoire naturelle des oiseaux de paradis (Birds of Paradise, 1801-06), both of which Barraband contributed to, are still considered some of the most beautiful bird books of all times because of their exceptional scientific accuracy, rich color and detail. The Astrapia nigra is a Bird of Paradise that inhabits the Vogelkop Peninsula of West Papua...

This rare drawing by Nattier is part of a set of preparatory studies executed in 1717 for one of the painter's first commissions, the painting commissioned by Tsar Peter I of Russia ...

Alca Torda (Razorbill) - John Gould lithograph with hand-coloured size 54 cm X 36 cm Good Condition FREE SHIPPING This remarkable ornithology l...

Etching with engraving on cream laid paper with a Garden of Holland or Maid of Dort Pro Patria watermark, 11 x 14 1/4 inches (278 x 361 mm), thread margins. Lettered with the title in a cartouche at the top-center sheet, continuing "a Latere Occidentali Prospeus AD MDCCXXXIX," with numbers over the image at right that correspond to a key 1 to 29, and with publication details: "Georgius Vertue Londini delineavit et Sculpsit anno MDCCXXXIX". Multiple expert repairs, notably a Y-shaped, expert paper tape repair on the verso. Handling creases, toning. All issues are consistent with age. An impression of this work may be viewed in the permanent collection of the British Museum, registration No. 1880,1113.3963. A bird's eye view of the college in Broad Street, London, showing the courtyard, adjoining stable yard to the right, and the buildings at the back. This work was included in Frederick Crace...

"Pianta del Finestrone, Prospetto del finestrone con suoi ornamenti nel mezzo della naue maggiore per fianco nella Basilica di S. Gio. in Laterano" is an architectural engraving of an elevation of monumental windows with their associated columns and ornaments above an entrance to the Basilica of S. Gio. In Laterano in Rome, the Cathedral of the Most Holy Savior and of Saints John the Baptist and the Evangelist in the Lateran, also known as the Papal Archbasilica of Saint John in Lateran. It is the church of the Diocese of Rome which serves as the seat of the Roman Pontiff. The print was engraved by Alessandro Specchi (1668-1729), an engraver and architect, after a design by the Italian architect Francesco...

Original etching. 'Janus' the Roman Two-Faced God of Duality Beginnings and Endings. Signed in plate. Well presented in a white card mount and gilt-effect frame. On paper.

Religious copper-line engraving by CM after Francesco Petrucci after (Paolo Caliari) Veronese. Depicts Saint Benedict and other holy figures. Paolo Vero...

Up for sale is a phenomenal Antique “Dutch School” original oil painting on canvas, depicting a genre scene. "By A. Van Ostade" - written on the back of the canvas (Ostade was a Du...

This 18th century hand-colored copperplate celestial map by Johann Doppelmayr entitled "Phænomena Motuum Irregularium quos Planetar inferiores Venus et M...

A beautiful 18th century nautical scene filled with movement and activity. One etching from the series of 10 lively nautical scenes entitled Seascapes. This image depicts four vesse...

This is an early 18th century hand-colored copperplate engraving of the anatomy of lemons by Johann Christoph Volkhamer, entitled "Limon Peretto" from his publication "Nurmbergische ...

As Florence Ingersoll-Smouse wrote in 1921 in her book devoted to Jean-Baptiste Pater, "a painter of the Fête galante, Pater is interesting both by his intimacy with Watteau, to whom many of his works are still attributed, and by his own value as an artist.” This sanguine, full of life and spontaneity, is typical of the preparatory studies made by the painter to be used later in the composition of his paintings. 1. Jean-Baptiste Pater, pupil and disciple of Antoine Watteau Antoine Pater, Jean-Baptiste's father, belonged to the petty bourgeoisie of Valenciennes where he worked as a merchant-sculptor. His brother Jacques was a local painter who was probably involved in his nephew's training. Born on December 29, 1695, Jean-Baptiste Pater was first trained with Jean-Baptiste Guider, a local painter whose death in 1711 was probably the reason for Jean-Baptiste’s departure alongside Watteau, who was visiting Valenciennes. Watteau's difficult character led to their separation in 1713. Back in Valenciennes, Jean-Baptiste Pater encountered difficulties with the powerful Corporation of Saint-Luke (to which he refused to belong) which forced him to return to Paris in 1718. He reconciled with Watteau shortly before his death (on July 18th 1721), inherited the commissions that Watteau had been unable to fulfil and completed some of his paintings. Pater was accepted by the Académie Royale in 1725 but did not produce his reception painting The soldier’s revels until three years later. Throughout his brief career (he died at the age of forty on July 25th 1736), he mainly had a clientele of amateurs and received only one royal commission, shortly before his death. 2. Description of the drawing and related artworks Pater had adopted his master Watteau's method of composition. His study drawings were carefully glued in a notebook and were used to animate his compositions. His paintings sometimes suffer from a somewhat artificial composition, since the figures seem to be pasted one next to the other. This point has also been made about Watteau’s. The theme of military scenes (which was at the time included in the genre of Fêtes galantes!) was one of Pater’s favourite subjects. Together with the Bathing Women...

Motifs decorative is a black and white etching on paper, realized in 1729 by Bernard Picart.   Signed and dated on plate on the lower margin. The artwork is attached on black passep...

A busy 18th century river scene along Amsterdam's waterfront. One etching from the series of 10 lively nautical scenes entitled Seascapes. This image depicts six vessels, from left ...

Circle of Hendrik Frans van Lint (Antwerp 1684 - Rome 1763) - Apollo and Daphne. 40 x 50 cm. Antique oil painting on canvas, without frame. Condition report: Lined canvas. Good co...

This is an antique engraved view entitled "Fodinae aerariae Falunenfis, qui orientem fpectat, delineatio" (Copper mining in Falun), Sweden in 1705 from "Sueciae Antiquae et Hodiernae"' published in Stockholm by Erik Dahlberg (1625-1703). The engraving was created by Johannes van den Aveelen (1650-1727), who was an accomplished copperplate engraver who emigrated to Sweden to work on Dahlberg's spectacular book, "Sueciae Antiquae et Hodiernae", which was focused on the views and architecture of Sweden, both in the ancient past and at the time of the publication. This engraving depicts a very active 17th century working scene...

Artist: Colen Campbell (Scottish, 1676-1729) Title: "Royal Hospital att Greenwich to the River" (Vol. 1, Plates 86, 87) Portfolio: Vitruvius Britannicus; or The British Architect, Co...

This colorful and detailed 17th century hand-colored copperplate map by Frederick De Wit was published in Amsterdam between 1666 and 1760. The map depicts the Île-de-France, which is one of the ancient provinces of France. Paris is located in the center of the map, with Versailles to the southwest The map extends from Rouen in the west to Reims in the east. The area around Paris, the Véxin Français, was the original domain of the king of France. Other areas were ruled by French feudal lords. For example, the Véxin Normand area was the domain of the Duke of Normandy...

This is an early 18th century hand-colored copperplate engraving of the anatomy of grapefruit by Johann Christoph Volkhamer, entitled "Pompelmus (Grapefruit), Der Herra Sitz und Burg...

A classical chiaroscuro woodcut after Raphael executed by Charles Nicolas Cochin Père (1688-1754) & Vincent Le Sueur (1668-1743) . Printed from two bloc...

Splendid Italian painting from the first half of the 18th century. Oil on canvas artwork depicting a scene of hermit life of Franciscan friars in attitudes of deep prayer. The mystic...