Nathaniel Hone the Elder Portrait Paintings

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...

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...

Saint Michael Archangel Guido Reni (Bologna 1575 - 1642) Workshop/Follower of 17th-18th century Oil on canvas (104 x 68 cm. - In frame 109 x 68 cm.) This high quality painting is b...

17th-century Genoese School Workshop of Valerio Castello (Genoa, 1624 - Genoa, 1659) Ecce homo Oil on canvas 117 x 99 cm. In frame 138 x 118 cm. The Ecce Homo, the subject of our ...

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...

Fantastic early portrait of a young man and his pug dog. This painting is most likely British, but it could also be from continental Europe. It dates from the late 18th to the early ...

Italian painter (18th century) - Chrono. 90.5 x 106 cm. Antique oil painting on canvas, without frame (not signed). Condition report: Lined canvas. Good state of conservation of t...

English 19th century portrait of a White / Grey hunter in a stable. Charles Towne was born in Wigan in 1763. He was trained as a coach painter, and by ...

Francesco Solimena (Canale di Serino 1657 - Barra 1747) workshop/circle The Allegory of Europe oil on canvas 102 x 76 cm. - with frame: 119 x 92 cm. The work, which can be placed ...

Carlo Dolci (Florence 1616 - 1686) shop Mater Dolorosa, known as Our Lady of the Finger Oil on oval canvas, 29 x 23 cm. In frame 48 x 43 cm. The painting we present to you depicts ...

Hyacinthe RIGAUD (Perpignan 1659 - Paris 1743) School of Portrait of a gentleman in armour: Monsieur Jean Francois Raymond de Lasbordes, Regimental Officer of the Landes, as well ...

Painter active in Rome in the early 17th century Susanna and the Old Men Oil on canvas 76 x 62 cm. with frame 92 x 78 cm. This valuable painting illustrates the piquant episode, ta...