Jan Van Beers Art

‘Young Beauty holding a Red Rose’ by Étienne Adolphe Piot (1831-1910). The painting is signed by the artist and hangs in a fine quality gold metal leaf frame. Academy Fine Paintings...

Gustave Jaquet Jacquet was born on 25th May 1846 in Paris. He was a pupil of Bouguereau and for his debut at the Paris Salon in 1865, he exhibited 'The Reverie' which was very much i...

Etching on cream wove paper. 6 5/16 x 3 3/4 inches (159 x 94 mm), full margin. Signed in pencil lower center margin, from the edition of 111. A well inked impression with a minor cre...

This mid-18th-century half-length German portrait depicts a middle-aged aristocrat wearing armour and a wig. Despite his heavily-clad appearance, it’s likely that this rather noncha...

Slade School Late 19th Century Portrait of a Mary Hardy (nee Sulman) Oil on panel Image size: 8 x 7 inches Contemporary frame Provenance Lady Town (Grandda...

18th Century French School Portrait of an Actress Oil on canvas 30 x 23 inches 36 x 30 inches, framed

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...

This fine late 17th-century Flemish portrait depicts a distinguished gentleman wearing a justaucorps, black cloak, white shirt, vest, leather gloves, and breeches. He’s carrying a wi...

A small colorful and interesting profile portrait of a blond woman dressed in a red dress and wearing lots of jewelry also on her head scarf. Signed but unfortunately not identified...

Well painted late 19th-century German genre painting. Often painted in the Munich area of Germany these highly desirable antique paintings are always of the finest quality. This is...

In 1607, the Delft city council decided to commission a portrait of Stadholder Maurits of Nassau for the town hall, with Michiel van Mierevelt as the chosen artist due to the passing...

Antique portrait painting of two woman having an art lesson by Swiss artist, Louis Patru (1871-1905). This is an unusual painting from an artist who only enjoyed a short life. Two ...