Unknown

Religious Subject Oil on Canvas Italy XVII Century

1600s

The painting, done in oil on canvas, depicts the meeting between King David and Abigail, as narrated in the biblical text from the First Book of Samuel (I Samuel 25:1-34). David, left without food in the wilderness with his army, seeks relief from the wealthy Nabal, who contemptuously denies him any help, ungrateful of the benevolence he previously received from the king. Upon hearing the rejection, the ruler intends to take revenge by killing his entire lineage. Abigail, Nabal's beautiful and wise wife, decides to right the wrong and bring David plenty of food and gifts. In the king's presence the woman humbles herself, winning his forgiveness and benevolence. Soon afterwards widowed, she will in fact become his bride. The broad scene depicts the climax of the Old Testament episode, the moment when the woman prostrates herself before David and his servants prepare to deliver the gifts. The biblical event is here a pretext, as is customary in modern-age painting, for staging the colorful description of a sumptuous procession, which can be divided into two parts, almost two wings of a crowd divided specularly: on the left David with his dignitaries and the army; on the other, Abigail's retinue, handmaids, servants leading dromedaries and donkeys laden with food. The crowded group of figures is set in a natural proscenium: above a low horizon, barely hinted at by distant blue mountains, rises on the left side a craggy rocky cliff, the shelter of the army led by the ruler. The 'somatic intonation of the characters, as well as the choice of metallic chromatics and the play of light on the shiny fabrics refer to a clear Flemish matrix, particularly the influence of the frothy and sumptuous painting of Rubens and Van Dyck. As well set forth in the expert report prepared by Professor Giuseppe Sava, the work is to be attributed to Vincent Malò...

The painting features Our Lady holding the Child, who extends his hand toward the wooden cross, the symbol of the future Passion, and St. John. Behind the three figures a rocky mount...

The sermon of the Baptist is set in a large open space, with rich vegetation and wooded glimpses, and on the back, in the distance, you can see the buildings of a city. The scene see...

The painting features the enthroned Madonna and Child, two praying angels, and Saints Nicholas of Tolentino, Augustine, Luke the Evangelist, and Monica, below an elegant canopy. The ...

Oil painting on canvas. Northern Italian school of the seventeenth century. The large canvas derives from an engraving of 1562 by the Venetian Giulio Sanuto, who faithfully reproduce...

The figure of the Magdalene emerges from the darkness, leaning to follow the curve of the stone support; it is depicted vaulted with an interrogative air towards the dark, as if in an attitude of listening, the left hand raised and the other leaning on the "memento mori" very shortened. In front of her a scourge and the jar of ointment. Painted en pendant, Saint John the Baptist is depicted as a young man, with a lamb at his feet, in his hand the processional cross with the banner "exception agnus dei", while with his right hand he draws from the source of water, recalling the episode that will see Jesus Christ baptized. In both paintings the figures stand out in a strong and incisive way thanks to the black that characterizes the slate plate on which they are depicted. Historical-critical analysis: We are faced with two examples of oil painting on stone. The beginnings of this particular technique are to be placed in the first half of the sixteenth century: after some fifteenth-century experiments it is with Sebastiano del Piombo that the genre takes hold in the sixteenth century. There were different types of support used, also linked to their availability: amethyst, marble in various colors, alabaster and blackboard. The reasons underlying this technical choice refer to Renaissance artistic theories: it is no coincidence that the painter who most often experimented with oil painting on marble...

Figurative Abstract French School, signed oil painting on board framed: 21.25 x 30.75 inches canvas: 20.5 x 30 inches The painting is in overall good condition, bar an age related pa...

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Adoration of the shepherds, Cercle of Ambrosius Francken, Early 17th century Antwerp school Oil on oak panel: h. 55 cm, w. 43 cm (21.65 in x 16.93 in) 17th c. ebonized and moulded f...

In "Fate challenge II“ a mountaineer is eagerly climbing a steep rock ledge because she has seen something from a distance that she could not explain and is planning to find out. Alt...

A fine Italian school oil showing three women in conversation. The blonde lady to the left of the canvas can be seen flaunting her new engagement ring with much delight to her two cl...

'Zaporozhian Cossacks Write to the Sultan of Turkey' Continental School, circa 1950's, believed to be after the earlier painting by the Russian artist, Ilya Repin...