Skip to main content

European Decorative Art

133
811
to
78
419
366
811
811
811
94
88
33
24
17
15
15
6
6
5
5
3
2
1
1
1
656
2,339
3,827
1,677
1,365
721
244
56
180
148
91
342
348
298
139
90
Height
to
Width
to
253
210
206
131
95
264
239
221
147
19
13
13
9
8
Period: Early 20th Century
Place of Origin: European
Charming Pair of English Antique Garden Oil Paintings
Located in Port Chester, NY
Would be very pretty oil in old frame, sweet for a girl's room. Nicely done, very pretty flowers. Charming in the shabby chic manner. Measurement below is for the larger painting. T...
Category

Early 20th Century European Decorative Art

Materials

Canvas, Paint, Wood

Early 20th Century Swedish Oil on Canvas Painting by Albert Hoffsten '1887-1927'
By Albert Hoffsten
Located in London, GB
Charming circa 1920s framed oil painting of a gentleman wearing a shirt, tie and waistcoat beneath a blue jacket smoking a large pipe. He has an almost scholarly look and was painte...
Category

Early 20th Century Other European Decorative Art

Materials

Paint, Wood

Large Original Vintage Map of Italy, circa 1920
Located in St Annes, Lancashire
Great map of Italy. Original color. Good condition. Published by Alexander Gross. Unframed.
Category

1920s Vintage European Decorative Art

Materials

Paper

Large Original Vintage Map of Japan, circa 1920
Located in St Annes, Lancashire
Great map of Japan Original color. Good condition Published by Alexander Gross Unframed.
Category

1920s Vintage European Decorative Art

Materials

Paper

Museum Quality, Italian Pietra Dura, Semi-Precious, Still Life Stones Painting
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This is an amazing work in semi precious stones in Hardstones or Pietra Dura work. This is a Museum quality work. Framed measures 21 x 24 inches. In back has a partial detail of ston...
Category

Early 20th Century Neoclassical European Decorative Art

Materials

Precious Stone

Porcelain Oyster Plate with Seaweeds Limoges, circa 1900
By Limoges
Located in Austin, TX
French porcelain oyster plate with seaweeds Limoges, circa 1900.    
Category

Early 1900s Aesthetic Movement Antique European Decorative Art

Materials

Porcelain

Large Original Vintage Map of South Africa, circa 1920
Located in St Annes, Lancashire
Great map of South Africa Original color. Good condition / repair to a minor edge tear middle bottom Published by Alexander Gross Unframed. ...
Category

1920s Edwardian Vintage European Decorative Art

Materials

Paper

After Raffaello Sanzio 1483-1520 Raphael La Madonna della Seggiola Oil on Canvas
By (after) Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino)
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A Fine Italian 19th Century Oil Painting on Canvas "La Madonna della Seggiola" after Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino 1483-1520). The circular painted canvas depicting a seated Madonna holding an infant Jesus Christ next to a child Saint John the Baptist, all within a massive carved gilt wood and gesso frame, which is identical to the frame on Raphael's original artwork. This painting is a 19th Century copy of Raphael's Madonna della Seggiola painted in 1514 and currently exhibited and part of the permanent collection at the Palazzo Pitti, Galleria Palatina, Florence, Italy. The bodies of the Virgin, Christ, and the boy Baptist fill the whole picture. The tender, natural looking embrace of the Mother and Child, and the harmonious grouping of the figures in the round, have made this one of Raphael's most popular Madonnas. The isolated chair leg is reminiscent of papal furniture, which has led to the assumption that Leo X himself commissioned the painting. A retailer's label reads " Fred K/ Keer's Sons - Framers and Fine Art Dealers - 917 Broad St. Newark, N.J." - Another label from the gilder reads "Carlo Bartolini - Doratore e Verniciatori - Via Maggio 1924 - Firenze". Circa: 1890-1900. Subject: Religious painting Canvas diameter: 28 inches (71.1 cm) Frame height: 54 inches (137.2 cm) Frame width: 42 1/2 inches (108 cm) Frame depth: 5 1/2 inches (14 cm) Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (Italian, March 28 or April 6, 1483 - April 6, 1520), known as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur. Together with Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, he forms the traditional trinity of great masters of that period. Raphael was enormously productive, running an unusually large workshop and, despite his death at 37, leaving a large body of work. Many of his works are found in the Vatican Palace, where the frescoed Raphael Rooms were the central, and the largest, work of his career. The best known work is The School of Athens in the Vatican Stanza della Segnatura. After his early years in Rome much of his work was executed by his workshop from his drawings, with considerable loss of quality. He was extremely influential in his lifetime, though outside Rome his work was mostly known from his collaborative printmaking. After his death, the influence of his great rival Michelangelo was more widespread until the 18th and 19th centuries, when Raphael's more serene and harmonious qualities were again regarded as the highest models. His career falls naturally into three phases and three styles, first described by Giorgio Vasari: his early years in Umbria, then a period of about four years (1504–1508) absorbing the artistic traditions of Florence, followed by his last hectic and triumphant twelve years in Rome, working for two Popes and their close associates. Raphael was born in the small but artistically significant central Italian city of Urbino in the Marche region, where his father Giovanni Santi was court painter to the Duke. The reputation of the court had been established by Federico III da Montefeltro, a highly successful condottiere who had been created Duke of Urbino by the Pope - Urbino formed part of the Papal States - and who died the year before Raphael was born. The emphasis of Federico's court was rather more literary than artistic, but Giovanni Santi was a poet of sorts as well as a painter, and had written a rhymed chronicle of the life of Federico, and both wrote the texts and produced the decor for masque-like court entertainments. His poem to Federico shows him as keen to show awareness of the most advanced North Italian painters, and Early Netherlandish artists as well. In the very small court of Urbino he was probably more integrated into the central circle of the ruling family than most court painters. Federico was succeeded by his son Guidobaldo da Montefeltro, who married Elisabetta Gonzaga, daughter of the ruler of Mantua, the most brilliant of the smaller Italian courts for both music and the visual arts. Under them, the court continued as a centre for literary culture. Growing up in the circle of this small court gave Raphael the excellent manners and social skills stressed by Vasari. Court life in Urbino at just after this period was to become set as the model of the virtues of the Italian humanist court through Baldassare Castiglione's depiction of it in his classic work The Book of the Courtier, published in 1528. Castiglione moved to Urbino in 1504, when Raphael was no longer based there but frequently visited, and they became good friends. He became close to other regular visitors to the court: Pietro Bibbiena and Pietro Bembo, both later cardinals, were already becoming well known as writers, and would be in Rome during Raphael's period there. Raphael mixed easily in the highest circles throughout his life, one of the factors that tended to give a misleading impression of effortlessness to his career. He did not receive a full humanistic education however; it is unclear how easily he read Latin. Early Life and Works His mother Màgia died in 1491 when Raphael was eight, followed on August 1, 1494 by his father, who had already remarried. Raphael was thus orphaned at eleven; his formal guardian became his only paternal uncle Bartolomeo, a priest, who subsequently engaged in litigation with his stepmother. He probably continued to live with his stepmother when not staying as an apprentice with a master. He had already shown talent, according to Vasari, who says that Raphael had been "a great help to his father". A self-portrait drawing from his teenage years shows his precocity. His father's workshop continued and, probably together with his stepmother, Raphael evidently played a part in managing it from a very early age. In Urbino, he came into contact with the works of Paolo Uccello, previously the court painter (d. 1475), and Luca Signorelli, who until 1498 was based in nearby Città di Castello. According to Vasari, his father placed him in the workshop of the Umbrian master Pietro Perugino as an apprentice "despite the tears of his mother". The evidence of an apprenticeship comes only from Vasari and another source, and has been disputed—eight was very early for an apprenticeship to begin. An alternative theory is that he received at least some training from Timoteo Viti, who acted as court painter in Urbino from 1495.Most modern historians agree that Raphael at least worked as an assistant to Perugino from around 1500; the influence of Perugino on Raphael's early work is very clear: "probably no other pupil of genius has ever absorbed so much of his master's teaching as Raphael did", according to Wölfflin. Vasari wrote that it was impossible to distinguish between their hands at this period, but many modern art historians claim to do better and detect his hand in specific areas of works by Perugino or his workshop. Apart from stylistic closeness, their techniques are very similar as well, for example having paint applied thickly, using an oil varnish medium, in shadows and darker garments, but very thinly on flesh areas. An excess of resin in the varnish often causes cracking of areas of paint in the works of both masters. The Perugino workshop was active in both Perugia and Florence, perhaps maintaining two permanent branches. Raphael is described as a "master", that is to say fully trained, in December 1500. His first documented work was the Baronci altarpiece for the church of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino in Città di Castello, a town halfway between Perugia and Urbino. Evangelista da Pian di Meleto, who had worked for his father, was also named in the commission. It was commissioned in 1500 and finished in 1501; now only some cut sections and a preparatory drawing remain. In the following years he painted works for other churches there, including the Mond Crucifixion (about 1503) and the Brera Wedding of the Virgin (1504), and for Perugia, such as the Oddi Altarpiece. He very probably also visited Florence in this period. These are large works, some in fresco, where Raphael confidently marshals his compositions in the somewhat static style of Perugino. He also painted many small and exquisite cabinet paintings in these years, probably mostly for the connoisseurs in the Urbino court, like the Three Graces and St. Michael, and he began to paint Madonnas and portraits. In 1502 he went to Siena at the invitation of another pupil of Perugino, Pinturicchio, "being a friend of Raphael and knowing him to be a draughtsman of the highest quality" to help with the cartoons, and very likely the designs, for a fresco series in the Piccolomini Library in Siena Cathedral. He was evidently already much in demand even at this early stage in his career. Influence of Florence Raphael led a "nomadic" life, working in various centres in Northern Italy, but spent a good deal of time in Florence, perhaps from about 1504. Although there is traditional reference to a "Florentine period...
Category

Early 1900s Baroque Antique European Decorative Art

Materials

Canvas, Giltwood

Large Original Vintage Map of Spain, circa 1920
Located in St Annes, Lancashire
Great map of Spain Original color. Good condition Published by Alexander Gross Unframed.
Category

1920s Vintage European Decorative Art

Materials

Paper

Set of Six Early 20th Century Hand Painted Catalan Tiles
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Set of early 20th century hand painted Catalan tiles. By Unknown artist and Manufacturer. In original condition, with minor wear consistent of age and...
Category

Early 20th Century Mid-Century Modern European Decorative Art

Materials

Ceramic

Pair of Antique French Framed Floral Oil Paintings
Located in Houston, TX
Pair of antique French framed floral oil paintings. Well executed pair of antique French floral oil paintings on wood in giltwood frames, ci...
Category

Early 20th Century Romantic European Decorative Art

Materials

Wood

20th Century Provencal Landscape Oil Painting by Eugène Colignon
By Eugène Colignon
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
A dark-green, yellow antique French Provencal landscape oil on canvas painting, portraying a sunny day in a small town, most likely in Provence, painted by Eugène Colignon in a handc...
Category

Early 20th Century European Decorative Art

Materials

Canvas, Wood

Art Deco painting "Female Nude", French school of the 1930s
Located in Paris, FR
Art Deco painting in oil on canvas illustrating a young nude woman, pensive, half lying down, in front and the face resting on her right hand. Her skin is clear and she wears a short hairstyle in the fashion of the 30s. A certain light emanates from this work which takes up a classic theme of Western art: the female nude. This Art Deco painting is not signed but can be linked to the work of the French...
Category

Early 20th Century Art Deco European Decorative Art

Materials

Canvas, Giltwood

Majolica Oyster Blue Starfish Plate Digoin, circa 1900
By Digoin & Sarreguemines
Located in Austin, TX
Majolica plate with orange starfish with six wells blue and white surrounded by green seaweeds Digoin ( East of France ), circa 1900.
Category

Early 1900s French Provincial Antique European Decorative Art

Materials

Ceramic

Majolica Oyster Blue Starfish Plate Digoin, circa 1900
By Digoin & Sarreguemines
Located in Austin, TX
Majolica plate with orange starfish with six wells blue and white surrounded by green seaweeds Digoin ( East of France ), circa 1900.
Category

Early 1900s French Provincial Antique European Decorative Art

Materials

Ceramic

Collection of 9 Early 20th Century Italian Herbiers in Large Paned Window Frame
Located in Birmingham, AL
A beautiful and decorative collection of nine early 20th century Italian herbiers framed in a large painted white nine-pane window frame, each catalogued by hand with the Latin or bo...
Category

Early 1900s Antique European Decorative Art

Materials

Other

Vintage Hand Painted on Wood Advertising Sign for Golf Equipments, 1920s
Located in Casale Monferrato, IT
This vintage sign for collectors is truly special. Made of wood with relief decorations and hand painted. The advertising sign was dedicated to the golf attire and equipment.
Category

1920s Vintage European Decorative Art

Materials

Wood

Rare Arts & Crafts Stained Glass Windows with Two-Tone Geometric Floral Theme
Located in Vancouver, British Columbia
True Arts & Crafts two-tone geometric pair of stained glass windows. Subtle workmanship which exudes simplified elegance. In very good or...
Category

Early 1900s Arts and Crafts Antique European Decorative Art

Materials

Stained Glass

German Majolica Plate with Morning Glory, circa 1900
Located in Austin, TX
German Majolica plate with morning glory on a yellow basket weave and a green border, circa 1900.
Category

Early 1900s Art Nouveau Antique European Decorative Art

Materials

Ceramic, Faience

Antique Hand Crafted Dutch Art Deco Barometer & Thermometer W. Great Details
Located in Lisse, NL
Highly stylish and marvelous design Art Deco wall barometer. This stylish antique from the early 1900s is a dream of anyone with an Art Deco (inspired) interior. This design could...
Category

Early 20th Century Art Deco European Decorative Art

Materials

Metal, Brass, Zinc, Chrome

Enormous Portrait Medallion of Dr Priestly, Bert Bentley, Wedgwood, circa 1925
By Wedgwood
Located in Melbourne, Victoria
Fabulously large and fine example of the work of the well-known decorator Bert Bentley. Very few portrait medallions of this size were made, in all the time that Wedgwood has been making portrait medallions. Priestly's advocacy for free speech and freedom of religion...
Category

Early 20th Century Neoclassical Revival European Decorative Art

Materials

Stoneware

Pair of Early 20th Century Ceramic Barbotine Seashells Wall Hanging Plates
Located in Dallas, TX
This colorful pair of Majolica wall hanging plates was sculpted in France, circa 1920. Perfect for a seaside beach home, these colorful ceramic p...
Category

Early 20th Century European Decorative Art

Materials

Majolica

1 of the 144 Handmade Antique Ceramic Iles by Devres, France, circa 1910s
By Devres
Located in Rijssen, NL
This is a amazing and unique set of 511 antique French handmade ceramic tiles. Manufactured by Devres, circa 1910s. Stylized design. Each patte...
Category

1910s Folk Art Vintage European Decorative Art

Materials

Ceramic

Art Deco Black and White Male Nude Painting by Emil Fiala Vienna, circa 1918
By Emil Fiala
Located in Vienna, AT
The painter Emil Fiala (8.9.1896 Prossnitz - Mähren Czech Republic - Dec. 1960 Vienna) studied at the Viennese Academy by Franz Rumpler, August Eisenmenger, Julius Schmid, Christian ...
Category

Early 20th Century Art Deco European Decorative Art

Materials

Paper

Large Impressionist Oil Painting on Canvas Signed R. Blum
Located in Houston, TX
Large Impressionist oil painting on canvas Signed R. Blum. Beautifully executed antique impressionist oil painting on canvas signed R. Blum. This lovely large oil painting possibly d...
Category

1920s Other Vintage European Decorative Art

Materials

Canvas

French Majolica Plate with Flowers & Butterfly, circa 1900
Located in Austin, TX
French majolica plate with flowers & butterfly, circa 1900.
Category

Early 1900s Rustic Antique European Decorative Art

Materials

Ceramic

Large Original Vintage Map of the South Eastern States Inc. Florida, circa 1920
Located in St Annes, Lancashire
Great map of The South Eastern States Original color. Good condition Published by Alexander Gross Unframed.
Category

1920s Vintage European Decorative Art

Materials

Paper

2 Wall Plates WMF, German, 1909 in Silver Plated, Jugendstil, Art Nouveau
By WMF Württembergische Metallwarenfabrik
Located in Ciudad Autónoma Buenos Aires, C
2 wall plates WMF Style: Jugendstil, Art Nouveau, Liberty year: 1909 Country: Germany Materials: silver plated Several of the WMF objects can be seen in museums. We have specialize...
Category

Early 1900s Greco Roman Antique European Decorative Art

Materials

Art Glass

French Majolica Plate with Flowers & Butterfly, circa 1900
Located in Austin, TX
French majolica plate with flowers & butterfly, circa 1900.
Category

Early 1900s Rustic Antique European Decorative Art

Materials

Ceramic

French Majolica Plate with Flowers & Butterfly, circa 1900
Located in Austin, TX
French majolica plate with flowers & butterfly, circa 1900.
Category

Early 1900s Rustic Antique European Decorative Art

Materials

Ceramic

1 of the 40 Art Deco Glased Relief Tiles by Gilliot Frères, Hemiksem, circa 1920
Located in Rijssen, NL
1 of the 40 amazing set handmade tiles in rich brown green and bright blue colors. Each tile is divided into four faces. Manufactured around 1920 by Gilliot Frères, Hemiksem, Belgium...
Category

1920s Art Deco Vintage European Decorative Art

Materials

Ceramic

Signed Oil on Canvas by French Artist Jean Hubert Gautier
Located in Redding, CT
Signed Oil on Canvas by Jean Hubert Gautier (1872-1930). Nice heavy impasto technique of a classic french riverscape. The composition includes heavy clouds with a basilica in the bac...
Category

Early 20th Century French Provincial European Decorative Art

Materials

Canvas, Wood, Paint

French Majolica Poppies Plate Luneville, circa 1910
By Luneville
Located in Austin, TX
French Majolica poppies plate signed Luneville, circa 1910.
Category

1910s Country Vintage European Decorative Art

Materials

Ceramic, Faience

Large Original Vintage Map of the United Kingdom, circa 1920
Located in St Annes, Lancashire
Great map of The United Kingdom Unframed Original color By John Bartholomew and Co. Edinburgh Geographical Institute Published, circa 1920 Free shipping.    
Category

1920s Vintage European Decorative Art

Materials

Paper

Pair of Antique Fishing Pictures by Douglas Adams
By Douglas Adams
Located in Oxfordshire, GB
Trout & Salmon pictures by Douglas Adams. A pair of coloured fishing engravings by Douglas Adams. Both angling pictures framed in original old frames and titled, Salmon Fishing - A ...
Category

Early 1900s Sporting Art Antique European Decorative Art

Materials

Paper

Large Original Vintage Map of Texas and Adjacent States, circa 1920
Located in St Annes, Lancashire
Great map of Texas and adjacent States Original color. Good condition Published by Alexander Gross Unframed.
Category

1920s Vintage European Decorative Art

Materials

Paper

Large Original Vintage Map of India, circa 1920
Located in St Annes, Lancashire
Great map of India Original color. Good condition / repair to some minor damage just above Sri Lanka. Shown in the last image. Published by Alexander Gross Unframed.
Category

1920s Vintage European Decorative Art

Materials

Paper

Antique English Framed Oil Painting on Wood Panel of Dogs, Circa 1920's
Located in New Orleans, LA
Antique English framed oil painting on wood panel of "dogs in front the family hearth," Circa 1920's. A lovely old painting in Birdseye Maple f...
Category

Early 20th Century European Decorative Art

Materials

Paint, Birdseye Maple

Large Original Vintage Map of British Columbia, Canada, circa 1920
Located in St Annes, Lancashire
Great map of British Columbia Unframed Original color By John Bartholomew and Co. Edinburgh Geographical Institute Published, circa 1920 ...
Category

1920s Vintage European Decorative Art

Materials

Paper

KPM Porcelain Plaque of Mary and Her Child after Madonna of the Chair Painting
By KPM Porcelain
Located in Boston, MA
This is a beautifully painted KPM porcelain plaque after the famous painting of the Madonna of the Chair or Madonna della Sedia by Raphael, which was originally painted 1513-1514. Ma...
Category

Early 20th Century Renaissance European Decorative Art

Materials

Porcelain

Montague Dawson Racing Six-Metre Yachts
By Montague Dawson
Located in Lymington, Hampshire
Montague Dawson: Racing Six-Metre yachts, goache on paper showing a yacht number 6/18, running before the wind with ‘goosewinged’ sails as she leads three other six-meter yachts. Sig...
Category

1920s Vintage European Decorative Art

Materials

Paint

Antique Zinc Red Hat Maker Trade Sign, France, Early 20th Century
Located in Antwerp, BE
XXL Antique hat maker's trade sign, made in France circa 1900 - 1920. This large sign was used as advertising - eyecatcher on the storefront. A large facade sign - advertising sign in front of the hat shop - hat maker's store - red hat facade sign It's a spectacular XXL red hat - red top hat made of hand- painted and hand-crafted zinc. When you look at the spectacular shape, you see that the brim of the hat is completely curled, so can only be done by an art maker - craftsman. The original metal bracket is no longer with this hat trade sign...
Category

Early 20th Century Folk Art European Decorative Art

Materials

Zinc

Original Oil on Canvas Painting of Two Cows in Pond, Signed and Dated 1912 by Po
Located in Round Top, TX
Original oil on canvas landscape with two cows in pond with lilly pads. Signed and dated P. St. 1912. Artist: Poul Steffensen (b. Bjerringbro 1866, ...
Category

Early 20th Century European Decorative Art

Materials

Canvas, Paint

Antique French Plates for Bonwit Teller & Co. New York, Set of 3
By Bonwit Teller
Located in New York, NY
A very beautiful and rare set of three (s) antique French plates made exclusively for Bonwit Teller New York, circa early-20th century, France. Bo...
Category

Early 20th Century European Decorative Art

Materials

Porcelain

Set of 8 Original Vintage Prints After Cecil Aldin, Dogs and Rabbits, C.1920
By Cecil Aldin
Located in St Annes, Lancashire
Wonderful set of 8 Cecil Aldin prints Lovely colours Published C.1920 Unframed. The measurement given is the paper size of one print Some with minor chips to the edges.
Category

Early 20th Century European Decorative Art

Materials

Paper

Green Ceramic Early 20th Century Wall Plate Attributed to Alka
By Alboth & Kaiser
Located in Doornspijk, NL
This rather eccentric early 20th Century wall plate has a fine matte glaze. At first sight it looks innocent and geometric, but upon further 'research' is becomes clear what the artist wants to show us. On the floor of this green ceramic plate...
Category

Early 20th Century Art Deco European Decorative Art

Materials

Ceramic

After Raffaello Sanzio 1483-1520 Raphael La Madonna della Seggiola Oil on Canvas
By (after) Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino)
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A Fine Italian 19th Century Oil Painting on Canvas "La Madonna della Seggiola" after Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino 1483-1520). The circular painted canvas depicting a seated Madonna holding an infant Jesus Christ next to a child Saint John the Baptist, all within a massive carved two-tone gilt wood, gilt-patinated and gesso frame, which is identical to the frame on Raphael's original artwork. This painting is a 19th Century copy of Raphael's Madonna della Seggiola painted in 1514 and currently exhibited and part of the permanent collection at the Palazzo Pitti, Galleria Palatina, Florence, Italy. The bodies of the Virgin, Christ, and the boy Baptist fill the whole picture. The tender, natural looking embrace of the Mother and Child, and the harmonious grouping of the figures in the round, have made this one of Raphael's most popular Madonnas. The isolated chair leg is reminiscent of papal furniture, which has led to the assumption that Leo X himself commissioned the painting. Circa: 1890-1900. Subject: Religious painting Painting diameter: 28 inches (71.1 cm) Frame height: 55 1/8 inches (140 cm) Frame width: 46 inches (116.8 cm) Frame depth: 5 1/8 inches (13 cm) Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (Italian, March 28 or April 6, 1483 - April 6, 1520), known as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur. Together with Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, he forms the traditional trinity of great masters of that period. Raphael was enormously productive, running an unusually large workshop and, despite his death at 37, leaving a large body of work. Many of his works are found in the Vatican Palace, where the frescoed Raphael Rooms were the central, and the largest, work of his career. The best known work is The School of Athens in the Vatican Stanza della Segnatura. After his early years in Rome much of his work was executed by his workshop from his drawings, with considerable loss of quality. He was extremely influential in his lifetime, though outside Rome his work was mostly known from his collaborative printmaking. After his death, the influence of his great rival Michelangelo was more widespread until the 18th and 19th centuries, when Raphael's more serene and harmonious qualities were again regarded as the highest models. His career falls naturally into three phases and three styles, first described by Giorgio Vasari: his early years in Umbria, then a period of about four years (1504–1508) absorbing the artistic traditions of Florence, followed by his last hectic and triumphant twelve years in Rome, working for two Popes and their close associates. Raphael was born in the small but artistically significant central Italian city of Urbino in the Marche region, where his father Giovanni Santi was court painter to the Duke. The reputation of the court had been established by Federico III da Montefeltro, a highly successful condottiere who had been created Duke of Urbino by the Pope - Urbino formed part of the Papal States - and who died the year before Raphael was born. The emphasis of Federico's court was rather more literary than artistic, but Giovanni Santi was a poet of sorts as well as a painter, and had written a rhymed chronicle of the life of Federico, and both wrote the texts and produced the decor for masque-like court entertainments. His poem to Federico shows him as keen to show awareness of the most advanced North Italian painters, and Early Netherlandish artists as well. In the very small court of Urbino he was probably more integrated into the central circle of the ruling family than most court painters. Federico was succeeded by his son Guidobaldo da Montefeltro, who married Elisabetta Gonzaga, daughter of the ruler of Mantua, the most brilliant of the smaller Italian courts for both music and the visual arts. Under them, the court continued as a centre for literary culture. Growing up in the circle of this small court gave Raphael the excellent manners and social skills stressed by Vasari. Court life in Urbino at just after this period was to become set as the model of the virtues of the Italian humanist court through Baldassare Castiglione's depiction of it in his classic work The Book of the Courtier, published in 1528. Castiglione moved to Urbino in 1504, when Raphael was no longer based there but frequently visited, and they became good friends. He became close to other regular visitors to the court: Pietro Bibbiena and Pietro Bembo, both later cardinals, were already becoming well known as writers, and would be in Rome during Raphael's period there. Raphael mixed easily in the highest circles throughout his life, one of the factors that tended to give a misleading impression of effortlessness to his career. He did not receive a full humanistic education however; it is unclear how easily he read Latin. Early Life and Works His mother Màgia died in 1491 when Raphael was eight, followed on August 1, 1494 by his father, who had already remarried. Raphael was thus orphaned at eleven; his formal guardian became his only paternal uncle Bartolomeo, a priest, who subsequently engaged in litigation with his stepmother. He probably continued to live with his stepmother when not staying as an apprentice with a master. He had already shown talent, according to Vasari, who says that Raphael had been "a great help to his father". A self-portrait drawing from his teenage years shows his precocity. His father's workshop continued and, probably together with his stepmother, Raphael evidently played a part in managing it from a very early age. In Urbino, he came into contact with the works of Paolo Uccello, previously the court painter (d. 1475), and Luca Signorelli, who until 1498 was based in nearby Città di Castello. According to Vasari, his father placed him in the workshop of the Umbrian master Pietro Perugino as an apprentice "despite the tears of his mother". The evidence of an apprenticeship comes only from Vasari and another source, and has been disputed—eight was very early for an apprenticeship to begin. An alternative theory is that he received at least some training from Timoteo Viti, who acted as court painter in Urbino from 1495.Most modern historians agree that Raphael at least worked as an assistant to Perugino from around 1500; the influence of Perugino on Raphael's early work is very clear: "probably no other pupil of genius has ever absorbed so much of his master's teaching as Raphael did", according to Wölfflin. Vasari wrote that it was impossible to distinguish between their hands at this period, but many modern art historians claim to do better and detect his hand in specific areas of works by Perugino or his workshop. Apart from stylistic closeness, their techniques are very similar as well, for example having paint applied thickly, using an oil varnish medium, in shadows and darker garments, but very thinly on flesh areas. An excess of resin in the varnish often causes cracking of areas of paint in the works of both masters. The Perugino workshop was active in both Perugia and Florence, perhaps maintaining two permanent branches. Raphael is described as a "master", that is to say fully trained, in December 1500. His first documented work was the Baronci altarpiece for the church of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino in Città di Castello, a town halfway between Perugia and Urbino. Evangelista da Pian di Meleto, who had worked for his father, was also named in the commission. It was commissioned in 1500 and finished in 1501; now only some cut sections and a preparatory drawing remain. In the following years he painted works for other churches there, including the Mond Crucifixion (about 1503) and the Brera Wedding of the Virgin (1504), and for Perugia, such as the Oddi Altarpiece. He very probably also visited Florence in this period. These are large works, some in fresco, where Raphael confidently marshals his compositions in the somewhat static style of Perugino. He also painted many small and exquisite cabinet paintings in these years, probably mostly for the connoisseurs in the Urbino court, like the Three Graces and St. Michael, and he began to paint Madonnas and portraits. In 1502 he went to Siena at the invitation of another pupil of Perugino, Pinturicchio, "being a friend of Raphael and knowing him to be a draughtsman of the highest quality" to help with the cartoons, and very likely the designs, for a fresco series in the Piccolomini Library in Siena Cathedral. He was evidently already much in demand even at this early stage in his career. Influence of Florence Raphael led a "nomadic" life, working in various centres in Northern Italy, but spent a good deal of time in Florence, perhaps from about 1504. Although there is traditional reference to a "Florentine period...
Category

Early 1900s Baroque Antique European Decorative Art

Materials

Canvas, Giltwood

Italian Baroque Sunburst Giltwood Wall Candle Holder
Located in Barcelona, ES
Carved giltwood wall torchere candle holder, Italy, 19th century-1930s Hand-carved gold gilt wood candlestick sconce with wrought iron details. This w...
Category

Early 20th Century Baroque European Decorative Art

Materials

Gold Leaf

Modern Signed Painting French Riviera Landscape
By William Langley
Located in Roma, IT
Very rare painting oil on canvas by the artist William Langley Title “View of Menton Cap Martin” It depicts a beautiful view of the French Riviera, in particular Cap Martin-Menton O...
Category

Early 20th Century Modern European Decorative Art

Materials

Canvas, Wood

French Majolica Orchid Plate Saint Clement, circa 1900
By Saint-Clément
Located in Austin, TX
French Majolica orchid plate signed Keller and Guerin saint clement, circa 1900.
Category

Early 1900s Art Nouveau Antique European Decorative Art

Materials

Ceramic, Faience

Fairyland Lustre Plaque 'Picnic' by River, Wedgwood, circa 1925
By Wedgwood, Daisy Makeig-Jones
Located in Melbourne, Victoria
Currently on loan to The David Roche Foundation for their exhibition "Josiah Wedgwood - Master Potter to the Universe". Daisy Makeig Jones’ description relates this to Völuspá, a poem from the Poetic Edda, which is a collection of Old Norse poems. In Völuspá, it is said that the dwarves were created by the god Loki and the giantess Angrboda, and that they were condemned to live underground. The Light Elves are also mentioned in the poem as being allowed to live in the realm of Alfheim, which is a place of beauty and light. In Norse mythology...
Category

1920s Art Deco Vintage European Decorative Art

Materials

Porcelain

Painting by JOSÉ FELIPE ABÁRZUZA RODRÍGUEZ DE ARIAS (Cádiz, 1871-Puerto Real
Located in Marbella, ES
JOSÉ FELIPE ABÁRZUZA RODRÍGUEZ DE ARIAS (Cádiz, 1871-Puerto Real, 1948). "Moors at Dusk". Oil on canvas. On the lower part there is a plaque with the artist's name and title. Frame f...
Category

Early 1900s Antique European Decorative Art

Materials

Canvas, Wood

Hugo Berger Goberg German Jugendstil Owl Wall Hanging Match Box Holder
By Goberg
Located in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire
A very stylish German Jugendstil iron industrial style owl wall hanging match box holder designed by Hugo Berger for Goberg and dating from around 191...
Category

Early 1900s Jugendstil Antique European Decorative Art

Materials

Wrought Iron

French Majolica Poppies Plate Luneville, circa 1910
By Luneville
Located in Austin, TX
French Majolica Poppies Plate Luneville, Circa 1910.
Category

1910s Country Vintage European Decorative Art

Materials

Ceramic, Faience

German Majolica Cherries Plate, Circa 1900
Located in Austin, TX
German Majolica Cherries plate, Circa 1900.
Category

Early 1900s Rustic Antique European Decorative Art

Materials

Ceramic

Vintage Italian Grand Tour Style Pietra Dura Mosaic Plaque, Framed 2
Located in Bradenton, FL
A beautiful Italian grand Tour Style Pietra Dura mosaic on marble Plaque with gilt framing. Picture is a bird on branch with leaves and flowers.
Category

Early 20th Century Baroque European Decorative Art

Materials

Marble

Corboda Leather Wall Panels by C.A. Lion Cachet, the Netherlands 1920
Located in Amsterdam, NL
An impressive set of corboda leather wall panels by Dutch Artist Carel Adolph Lion Cachet, made around 1920. The collection holds a total of 17 artworks...
Category

1920s Vintage European Decorative Art

Materials

Leather

Large French Majolica Platter Swan Orchies Circa 1900
By Orchies
Located in Austin, TX
Large French Majolica Platter Swan in a Pond Orchies Circa 1900.
Category

Early 1900s Rustic Antique European Decorative Art

Materials

Ceramic

Recently Viewed

View All