Enrico Capuano Art

The Great Fire of London in September 1666 was one of the greatest disasters in the city’s history. The City, with its wooden houses crowded together in narrow streets, was a natural fire risk, and predictions that London would burn down became a shocking reality. The fire began in a bakery in Pudding Lane, an area near the Thames teeming with warehouses and shops full of flammable materials, such as timber, oil, coal, pitch and turpentine. Inevitably the fire spread rapidly from this area into the City. Our painting depicts the impact of the fire on those who were caught in it and creates a very dramatic impression of what the fire was like. Closer inspection reveals a scene of chaos and panic with people running out of the gates. It shows Cripplegate in the north of the City, with St Giles without Cripplegate to its left, in flames (on the site of the present day Barbican). The painting probably represents the fire on the night of Tuesday 4 September, when four-fifths of the City was burning at once, including St Paul's Cathedral. Old St Paul’s can be seen to the right of the canvas, the medieval church with its thick stone walls, was considered a place of safety, but the building was covered in wooden scaffolding as it was in the midst of being restored by the then little known architect, Christopher Wren and caught fire. Our painting seems to depict a specific moment on the Tuesday night when the lead on St Paul’s caught fire and, as the diarist John Evelyn described: ‘the stones of Paul’s flew like grenades, the melting lead running down the streets in a stream and the very pavements glowing with the firey redness, so as no horse, nor man, was able to tread on them.’ Although the loss of life was minimal, some accounts record only sixteen perished, the magnitude of the property loss was shocking – some four hundred and thirty acres, about eighty per cent of the City proper was destroyed, including over thirteen thousand houses, eighty-nine churches, and fifty-two Guild Halls. Thousands were homeless and financially ruined. The Great Fire, and the subsequent fire of 1676, which destroyed over six hundred houses south of the Thames, changed the appearance of London forever. The one constructive outcome of the Great Fire was that the plague, which had devastated the population of London since 1665, diminished greatly, due to the mass death of the plague-carrying rats in the blaze. The fire was widely reported in eyewitness accounts, newspapers, letters and diaries. Samuel Pepys recorded climbing the steeple of Barking Church from which he viewed the destroyed City: ‘the saddest sight of desolation that I ever saw.’ There was an official enquiry into the causes of the fire, petitions to the King and Lord Mayor to rebuild, new legislation and building Acts. Naturally, the fire became a dramatic and extremely popular subject for painters and engravers. A group of works relatively closely related to the present picture have been traditionally ascribed to Jan Griffier...

Moses Strikes Water from the Rock Dutch school, XVII century. Workshop of Jacob de Wet (Haarlem, 1610-1675). Technique: Oil on oak wood panel, composed of 3 horizontal panels. In this evocative work, Moses stands in a cave, gathering the Israelites. There was no water to drink or for their cattle. The people were discontented in the desert. But Moses and Aaron listened to the voice of God. With Aaron’s staff, Moses struck the rock, and water gushed forth abundantly, quenching their thirst. Jacob de Wet’s workshop specializes in subjects from the Old and New Testaments. The recognizable rectangular format, simple compositions, and clear narratives define his style. The interplay of light and shadow, reminiscent of Rembrandt, adds timeless allure. The characters’ costumes, with their large hats and turbans...

Provenance: The Marchesi Strozzi, Palazzo Strozzi, Florence Sale, Christie’s, London, May 20, 1993, lot 315, as by Carl Borromaus Andreas Ruthart...

Title: Summer Medium: Oil On Board Painting Size: 9 x 12inches Frame Size: 12 x 15inches Condition: This artwork is in good overall condition for its age. Signature: Signed Artist: ...

Connemara, Near Roundstone Oil on Board 36 x 38 in 91.4 x 96.5 cm Regarded as one of Ireland’s most accomplished fine art painters, Martin Mooney was born in 1960, in Belfast, North...

Ruisdael is regarded as the principal figure among Dutch landscape painters of the second half of the 17th century. His naturalistic compositions and style representing massive forms...

Artist: Francis Swaine (English, 1725-1782) Title: "Dutch Fishing Vessels in Storm" *No signature found Circa: 1770 Medium: Original Oil Painting on wood panel Framing: Framed in a Louis XV style gold moulding Framed size: 10.63" x 12.63" Panel size (irregular margins): 6" x 7.75" Condition: One small restored spot upper left. Cosmetic wear to frame. In otherwise very good condition Notes: Provenance: private collection - London, England; acquired from art dealer Ernest Alden, London, England retaining his original gallery label on verso. Metal plaque inscribed "F. Swaine 1740-1782", (active dates), attached to frame bottom center. Ernest William Alden (1866-1947) was recorded in successive censuses, in 1881 as a picture mounter (card maker), age 14, living at 9 Bloomsbury St, with several other members of his family also given as picture mounters, including his father, James; in 1891 as a picture frame mounter with his father and family at 208 Shaftesbury Avenue; in 1901 as a photographer and picture dealer at 39 King’s Road, Chelsea; and in 1911 again at 39 King’s Road but the census form is damaged. His listing in trade directories, initially as picture mount cutter, changed to picture framemaker from 1904, soon after he set up in the King’s Road. He advertised his large stock of second-hand swept and other frames, claiming to have been established in 1893 (The Year’s Art 1913). Alden died in Chelsea in 1947, leaving effects worth £5,011, with probate granted to his widow Lily Alden and to Marjorie Frances Alden. Two of his younger brothers, Henry Cyril Alden (1871-1939) and James Preston Alden (1876-1960), were also active as picture framemakers. - National Portrait Gallery, London, England. Biography: Francis Swaine (1725–1782) was a British marine painter. He was born in 1725, and christened on 7 October of that year at St Dunstan's, Stepney, London. His parents were named Francis Swaine and Ann Joel. In 1735 the elder Francis Swaine, the marine painter's father, applied in writing to the Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy for employment as a Navy Messenger, in succession to Mr William Wyatt. He mentions that he had served "upwards of twenty eight years" in the Navy, and that his father had died Purser of the Royal Katherine. He mentions also that he had carried out "little labours in drawing", and that he at that time had five small children. The first-born of these children was the Francis Swaine who became the marine painter. The elder Swaine was duly employed as a Navy Messenger. He served for 20 years and died on 10 October 1755, aged 64. Swaine is said to have been influenced by the style of Van de Velde. There is no clear evidence of this alleged influence. The suggestion that Swaine may have been a pupil of Charles Brooking...

Dutch/English artist Abraham Hulk the Younger (1851-1922) is most known for landscapes of the British countryside. This work is one of a pair (the second work is also available by s...

Pair of oval paintings measuring 66 x 89 cm without frame and 90 x 115 cm with coeval frame depicting two gallant moments during a rest from hunting by painter Hendrik Van Limborch (...

Gaspare Diziani (Belluno, 1689 - Venice, 17 August 1767) Gilded, carved and sculpted wooden cassetta frame Expertise: Ugo Ruggeri The narration of our...

A capriccio with the Colosseum in Roma 17th century Italian school Circle of Viviano Codazzi (1604-1670) Oil on canvas Dimensions: h. 35.43 in, w. 51.18 in Modern 17th century style ...

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...