Fabric Wall Decorations

Large, very well done oil on canvas representing the Portrait of a mathematician, a professor, leaning on his elbows and holding a ruler. This painting has a very beautiful frame, w...

Antique French IHS embroidered religious panel IHS - In His Service Religious French embroidery fragment from a church panel or vestment gown The base fabric is an off white c...

Santiago Uribe Holguin. Colombian, b. 1957 El Gran Vermeer, 1996-97. Signed and dated Uribe-Holguin '96 (lr), Signed and dated Uribe-Holguin 97 and inscribed as titled on the reverse...

Large oil on canvas depicting farm animals (sheeps, goat, horse, dog) at the watering trough, against a backdrop of a Roman countryside landscape. Philipp Peter Roos was a German pa...

Oil on canvas depicting the sacrifice of Iphigenia, daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, sister of Orestes, Electra and Chrysothemis, and therefore subject to the curse of the Atreides. When Agamemnon attempts to launch the Greek fleet at Aulis towards the Trojan coast, the winds remain unfavorable. Calchas asserts that only the sacrifice of Iphigenia will appease the wrath of Artemis, and according to legend, raise the winds for the Greek fleet. Anton Kern or Körne (12 December 1709 - 8 June 1747) was a Bohemian-born painter; primarily of religious and historical scenes.Kern was born in Děčín, where his father Johannes was the town clerk. He was brought by his father to Dresden, where his artistic talents first came to the attention of Laurentio di Rossi, an artist of Venetian origin who was serving as a court painter in Saxony, while Kern was attending the Jesuit school in Bohosudov.[1] Rossi was sufficiently impressed to take him to his studio in Dresden and give him lessons. In 1723, Rossi took him to Italy and secured him an apprenticeship with Giambattista Pittoni. He remained with Pittoni for seven years, although he also took lessons at various public and private schools.[1] He returned to Bohemia in 1731, accompanied by Laurentio's brother, Ventura. Four years later, he was officially registered as a "Pictor" at the Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague. Between 1734-1738 he worked in Prague and in the north Bohemia. His most important works of this period are: two altarpieces with Saint Apollonia and Saint Agata for Loretto church in Prague, Saint Norbert for Strahov monastery, Saint John at Pathmos for Cistercian abbey church in Osek (Teplice Disctrict) and an enthroned Virgin...

Tapestry from the Royal Manufacture of Aubusson, Louis XVI period , made in 1738 at the Gobelins One panel from a series of Gobelins tapestries depicting the History of Esther, illustrating Esther seated and attended by handmaidens, one washing her feet in golden basin, another fastening a bracelet, another offering a mirror, all observed by Mordecai, woven in the workshop of Michele Audran after a design by J. F. de Troy. The Toilet of Esther c.1778-85.Royal Collection Trust-Queens Audience Chamber Windsor Castle The Sketches for the Esther Cycle by Jean-François de Troy (1736) “and the maid was fair and beautiful; whom Mor’decai, ..., took for his own daughter.” (Est. 2:7) A supple and undulating genius, both a flattering portraitist and a prolix history painter, as well as a brilliant genre painter, in a gallant or worldly vein, Jean-François de Troy (Paris, 1679 – Rome, 1752), solicited, although he had passed the threshold of old age, a new royal commission up to his ambitions. To obtain it, he submitted – successfully - for the approval of the Bâtiments du roi (administration), seven modelli painted in 1736 with his usual alacrity. Inspired by one of the most novelistic texts of the Old Testament, the Book of Esther, these sketches in a rapid and virtuoso manner were transformed by the artist, between 1737 and 1740 into large cartoons intended to serve as models for the weavers of the Gobelins factory. Showing undeniable ease and skill in the composition in perfect harmony with the sensitivities of the times, the tapestry set met with great success. The Story of Esther perfectly corresponded to the plan of the Bâtiments du roi to renew the repertoire of tapestry models used for the weavers of the royal factories while it also conformed to the tastes of Louis XV’s subjects for a fantastical Orient, the set for a dramatic tale in which splendour, love and death were combined. Indeed, no tapestry set was woven in France during the 18th century as often as that of Esther. The series of modelli painted by de Troy during the year 1736 looks to the history of French painting and decoration under Louis XV as much as it does the history of the Gobelins. It probably counts among the most important rococo pictorial groups to have remained in private hands. First the Biblical source illustrated by De Troy which constitutes the base of one of the richest iconographical traditions of Western art will be considered. Then the circumstances and specific character of French civilisation during the reigns of Louis XIV and Louis XV which contributed to making the theme of Esther a relevant subject, both attractive to contemporaries and remarkably in line with the sensitivities of the time will be elucidated. An examination of the exceptional series of sketches united here, the cartoons and the tapestries that they anticipate as well as a study of their reception will close this essay. The Book of Esther: A scriptural source at the source of rich iconography. The origin of the Esther tapestry set by Jean-François de Troy – origin and creation of a masterpiece According to the evidence of one of the artist’s early biographers, the chevalier de Valory, author of a posthumous elegy of the master, read at the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture on 6 February 1762, it was apparently due to early16 rivalry with François Lemoyne (1688-1737), his younger colleague who had precisely just been appointed First Painter to the King in 1736, that had encouraged François de Troy to seek a commission allowing him to show off his ease and his promptitude at the expense of a rival who was notoriously laborious: “M. De Troy, retaining some resentment of the kind of disadvantage which he believed to have suffered compared with his emulator looked to regain some territory by making use of the facility his rival did not possess. Lemoyne was excessively long in the creation of his works,and M. De Troy of a rare celerity: consequently, with this particular talent, the latter offered to the court to make paintings appropriate to be executed at the Gobelins Factory; and it is to this circumstance that we owe the beautiful series of the Story of Esther, which would be sufficient alone to give him a great reputation.”17 Beyond the suspicion inspired by the topos, which still constitutes, more or less, a tale of rivalries between artists in ancient literature, there is probably some truth in what Valory reports although A.-J. Dezalier d’Argenville (who indicates rather spitefully that de Troy did not hesitate to “cut prices” to impose himself, benefitting from the productivity assured by the unlikely rapidity of his brush)18 proves to be more evasive: “As he looked to busy himself, he had offered to make the paintings that serve as models for the King’s tapestries cheaply: which did not please his colleagues. He was given a choice of two tapestry series to be made and he took the Story of Esther and that of Jason”.19 Whether or not the choice was actually left to de Troy (which would appear rather casual on the royal administration’s part all the same), it seems likely that the artist, whose contemporaries extol his “fire”, as the faculty of invention was then called, must have ardently aspired to the possibility of using on a very large scale the “creative genius” with which Dezallier d’Argenville credits him. The decoration of the private apartments, the fashion for which Louis XV had promoted at Versailles and Fontainebleau, offered little opportunity to excel in this area. Other than painting for altarpieces, only tapestries could allow comparison with Lemoyne who had been granted – unfortunately for him – a major decoration: the enormous ceiling of the Hercules Room at Versailles. Favoured by the recent improvement in France’s financial situation, the revival of patronage offered de Troy a commission fitting for him, in a field in which, however, he had hardly any experience. Anxious to renew the repertoire of models available to the Gobelins factory, the Duc d’Antin, surintendant des Bâtiments du roi from 1708 to 1736 followed by his successor, Philibert Orry comte de Vignory, gave him the task of producing seven large cartoons inspired by the Book of Esther corresponding to the brilliant sketches or modelli which de Troy had produced in one go, or almost (very few preparatory drawings can in fact be linked to the Esther cycle and all seem to be at the execution stage of the cartoons).20 Subjected to the approval of the Administration des Bâtiments according to the procedure in use for projects being planned for the Gobelins, sketches made rapidly during 1736 were approved and the project launched immediately. Thereupon came the news of François Lemoyne’s death, who, ground down by work and a victim of his private torment, committed suicide on 4 June 1737. Against all expectations, de Troy did not replace his rival in the position of First Painter (which remained vacant until the appointment of Charles Coypel in January 1747), which would perhaps have made him too obviously the beneficiary of the drama. The awarding of the position of Director of the French Academy in Rome came to console him while he had already produced (or he was in the process of finishing), in Paris, three of the seven cartoons of the cycle (The Fainting of Esther finished in 1737 and the Toilet and Coronation of Esther, both finished in 1738). De Troy, we can see, did not follow the order of the narrative but began with the subjects which apparently offered the least difficulty because he had already depicted them, or because they fall into a strong pictorial tradition (such is the case especially for the Fainting of Esther). He had hardly settled at the Palazzo Mancini in August 1738, when his first task which awaited the new director of the French Academy naturally consisted of honouring the royal commission and finishing without delay the final cartoons of the Story of Esther after the sketches he must have taken with him. As prompt as ever, de Troy discharged himself of the execution of the four remaining cartoons in only two years, by beginning with the largest format which allowed him to strike the imagination and to impose himself as soon as he arrived on the Roman stage: the Triumph of Mor’decai which was finished in 1739 (like Esther’s Banquet). The following year, the Mor’decai's Disdain and The Sentencing of Haman were brought to an end in the same Neo-Venetian style, obviously tributary to Veronese with its choice of “open” monumental architecture which is characteristic of the entire cycle.21 The series, it should be noted, was almost augmented with some additional scenes in the mid 1740s. Indeed, the first tapestry set finished at the Gobelins in 1744 proved to be unsuitable for the arrangement of the Dauphine’s apartments at Versailles for which it had been intended to decorate the walls the following year (cf infra). Informed of this, de Troy, considering that the story of Esther offered “several good subjects,” immediately offered to illustrate one or new subject among those “which could appear to be the most interesting”. The directeur des Bâtiments Orry, who managed the State’s accounts, obviously judged it less costly to have one of the tapestries widened to fill in the end of the Dauphine’s bedroom,22 which has probably deprived us of very original compositions, because de Troy had already illustrated the most famous themes, those that benefitted from a strongly established iconographical tradition and from which it was not easy to deviate The Tapestry Set of the Story of Esther Placed on the tapestry looms of the Gobelins at the end of the 1730s in Michel Audran’s workshop, the cycle created by de Troy aroused true infatuation. The few hundred tapestries made between 1738 and 1797 – all in high-warp tapestry and woven in wool and silk except for four in low-warp made in Neilson’s workshop – show the impressive success of a tapestry set that was without any doubt the most frequently woven of the 18th century in France. 29 Only three cartoons had been delivered by de Troy in 1738 when the first tapestry set was begun by Audran under the expert eye of Jean-Baptiste Oudry to whom the Directeur général des bâtiments, Philibert Orry had assigned the (weekly) supervision of the weaving. During the summer of 1738, the piece of the Fainting of Esther, which Oudry judged to be admirable, was finished. During the winter of 1742, Oudry informed Orry that about two ells of the Triumph of Mor’decai had been made “with no faults”,that the Coronation of Esther was finished and that the Esther at her Toilet “a very gracious tapestry” was “a little over half” finished. Exhibited at Versailles in 1743, these two last pieces were admired by Louis XV and the Court. On 3 December 1744, the set of seven tapestries was finally delivered to the Garde Meuble. It was intended, the honour was not slight, to decorate the apartments of the Infanta Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain whose marriage to the young Dauphin Louis-Ferdinand had been fixed for the following year (it took place on 23 February 1745). Apparently it was thought that the theme of Esther the biblical heroine and wife of a foreign sovereign was appropriate for the apartments of the Spanish Dauphine. As early as the month of March, the architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel informed de Troy that her grand cabinet was decorated with the “Esther tapestry set” specifying however that “for lack of two small or one large piece, we have not been able to decorate the end of the room”. This difficulty led immediately to the Banquet episode being woven a second time in two parts (they were delivered to the Garde-Meuble on 30 December 1746) to garnish the panels on each side of the bed of the Dauphine who would hardly enjoy them (she died on 22 July 1746 and the decoration was installed for the new Dauphine Maria Josepha of Saxony). The appearance of the set’s remarkable border, which imitated a richly sculpted wooden frame, should be mentioned. Conceived in 1738 by the ornamentalist Pierre Josse-Perrot and used in the later weavings until 1768, it tended to reinforce the resolutely painterly appearance of the tapestry set which, in this regard, pushed the art of tapestry as far as its ultimate mimetic possibilities. With the exception of Mor’decai's Disdain which had been removed earlier, the “editio princeps” of the story of Esther (from then on in nine pieces) remained at Versailles until the Revolution. Of the eight surviving tapestries, four are at the chateau of Compiègne and four belong today to the Mobilier National. No less than seven tapestry sets reputed to be complete (one of them in fact only had six tapestries) would be produced officially at the Gobelins up to 1772. Literature: 1- The Œuvres mêlées of an emulator of Racine, the Abbé Augustin NADAL thus include an Esther. Divertissement spiritual which is exactly contemporary with Jean François de Troy’s cycle since it was performed in 1735 and published in Paris three years later. 2-Le Siècle de Louis XIV, 1751, 1785 ed., p. 96-97 for French ed. 3- Lemoyne and de Troy had been obliged to share the First Prize in the competition organised in 1727 between the most prominent history painters of the Académie Royale. 4- Mémoires…, pub. L. DUSSIEUX et al., 1854, II, p.265. 5-The fact that de Troy, at the risk of falling out with his colleagues, did not hesitate to make use of prices in order to convince the new directeur des Bâtiments Philibert Orry, is confirmed by Mariette who adds tersely “it caused much shouting” (pub. 1851-1860, II, p. 103). 6- Abrégé de la vie des plus fameux peintres…, ed. 1762, IV, p. 368-369 20 Early comments on the painter are inclined to present him as a kind of “pure painter”, doing without the medium of drawing, a few intermediary studies between the Esther sketches and the large cartoons at the Louvre nevertheless show that de Troy used red chalk (see in the catalogue, the notice for the Meal of Esther and Ahasuerus under the entry drawing) to change one or other figure. 7-C. GASTINEL-COURAL (cat. exp. PARIS, 1985, p. 9-13) as well as the article by J. VITTET, exh. cat. LA ROCHE-GUYON, 2001, p. 51-55. 8-The Hermitage in St. Petersburg conserves five tapestries of these two royal gifts whose provenance still awaits elucidation (as far as we are aware). In 1766, the Grand Marshal of Russia, Count Razumovski (or Razamowski), acquired the Fainting and the Banquet extracted from the sixth weaving (J. VITTET, 2001, p. 53). 9- Lettres écrites de Suisse, d’Italie…,quoted by J. VITTET, op. cit., p. 54. 10-The tapestry set remained in the hands of a branch of the Hapsburg-Lorraine family until 1933 (ibid. P. 54). 11-Quoted by Chr. LERIBAULT, 2002, p. 97, note 269. 12-Y. CANTAREL-BESSON, 1992, p. 241. Catalogue The Esther at her Toilet Oil on canvas, 57 x 51 cm Provenance: Painted in 1736 at the same time as the six other modelli of the Story of Esther intended to be presented, for approval, to the direction des Bâtiments du Roi; perhaps identifiable among a lot of sketches by Jean-François de Troy in the post mortem inventory of the amateur, historian and critic Claude-Henri Watelet (1718-1786) drawn up on 13 January 1786 and following days (A.N. T 978, n° 30) then in the sale of the property of the deceased, Paris, 12 June 1786, n° 33; Paris, François Marcille Collection (who owned a series of six sketches from which the Triumph of Mor’decai was missing, see infra); Paris, Marcille Sale, Hôtel Drouot, 12-13 January 1857, n° 36; Asnières, Mme de Chavanne de Palmassy ( ?) collection; Paris, Galerie Cailleux; Paris, Humbert de Wendel collection (acquired from the Galerie Cailleux in 1928); by inheritance in the same family; Paris, Sotheby’s, 23 June 2011, n° 61. In order not to add unnecessarily to the technical commentary on each work, the catalogue raisonné by Chr. Leribault which contains a substantial bibliography on the series should be referred to. The other bibliographical references only concern the publications and exhibitions to have appeared and been presented more recently. Bibliography and Exhibitions: Chr. LERIBAULT, 2002, n° P. 247 (repr.); E. LIMARDO DATURI, 2004, p. 28; Exh. cat. NANTES, 2011, p. 138, n° 34, referred to in note 1; Sotheby’s catalogue, Tableaux anciens et du XIXe siècle, 23 June 2011, n° 61 (repr.). Related Works: Tapestry cartoon: The cartoon (oil on canvas, 329 x 320 cm), the third made by the artist in Paris after the sketches had been approved by the direction des Bâtiments, is in the Louvre (Inv. 8315). It previously bore the painter’s signature and the date 1738 (inscriptions which are found on the tapestries). The royal administration paid 1600 livres for it on 21 June 1738 and it was exhibited at the Salon in the year of its creation. Summary Biography 1679 (27 January): Baptism in Paris (Parish of St. Nicolas du Chardonnet) of Jean-François de Troy, son of the painter François de Troy and Jeanne Cotelle, sister of the painter Jean II Cotelle. 1696-1698: Studies (apparently rather turbulent) at the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture. 1698-1708: First trip to Italy. Is obliged to leave Rome in January 1711 after a tempestuous affair (a duel?), de Troy extends the traditional Roman experience as a pensionnaire at the Académie de France by also visiting Tuscany where he stays for a long time, Venice (his art in face has a strongly Venetian character) and Genoa. 1708: De Troy (whose father had been elected Director of the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture on 7 July) is agréé and immediately received at the Académie with Apollo and Diana Piercing with their Arrows the Children of Niobe (Montpellier, Musée Fabre) on 28 July. 1710: First royal commission, paid for on 10 May (a sketch representing “the Promotion of the Order of the Holy Spirit” for the tapestry series of the History of the King). 1716: Jean-François de Troy is elected Assistant Professor at the Academy. 1720: He is appointed Professor. 1723: The artist creates the double portrait of Louis XV...

Antique French Tapestry Exotic Flowers Animals Rare Black Verdure 3x6 92cm x 168cm A magnificent antique French tapestry depicting a scene of verdure. This is an easy, chic addition...

A biblical scene of the Adoration of the Magi of the baby Jesus, depicting the meeting between the mysterious travelers and the Family. An Italian painting of deep light contrast an...

18th Century oil on canvas painting depicting Saint Catherine of Siena bearing lilies and a book in her left hand and a crucifix in her right ...

Antique French Tapestry Wool & Silk Masquerade Vase Exotic Flowers 4x5 1920 4' x 4'8" 122cm x 142cm "A magnificent antique French tapestry depicting an ornate vase full of flowers....

We present you this magnificent oil painting on canvas endearingly the Virgin Mary gently caressing the head of Christ Child asleep on His Mother's lap. This artwork has been expertly fit with new canvas and encased in an exquisite gilded wooden frame. It is representative of the Tuscan School...

Vintage Tapestry Kelim Flatwoven Handwoven 2x4 1'10" x 4'3" 56cm x 130cm About Us~ Welcome to Antique Rug Collection. Your #1 Source for handmade Antique Rugs & Tapestries at great...

Old Master Landscape Painting, Flemish or German School 17th-18th century Transport yourself back in time with a captivating old master landscape painting that embodies the essence o...

1920 Antique French Tapestry Wool & Silk Village Scene Framed 3x4 "A magnificent antique wool & silk French tapestry depicting a village scene amongst verdure."-ARS Size 3'4" x 4'...

An exceptional early Cuzco School painting, naive depiction of the Holy Family, presented in a contemporary wooden frame. The Cuzco or Cusco school was a Roman Catholic artistic tradition that began in the 1500's in Peru, following the Spanish conquest and subsequent attempts by the Spanish invaders and missionaries to implement the Catholic faith and associated customs upon the Peruvian people. The school was established in the ancient city of Cusco which had previously been the capital of the Incan empire. Bernardo Bitti arrived in Peru in 1583, and with his arrival the acceleration of Cuzqueno Art flourished. During his two stays in Cusco, Bitti was commissioned to make the main altarpiece of the church of his Order, replaced by another after the earthquake, and painted some masterpieces, such as The Coronation of the Virgin, currently in the museum of the church of La Merced, and the Virgen del pajarito, in the cathedral. Cuzco School paintings are marked by their baroque influenced imagery and the subjects of the paintings shown with light focused upon them. Cuzco art...

Oil on canvas depicting the Angel of the Annunciation. Sent by God, the angel Gabriel announces to Mary that she will conceive a son of the Holy Spirit, whom she will name Jesus (Luk...

A stunning oil portrait in the manner of Allan Ramsay, a Scottish painter who was renowned for his portraits in the 18th century. (1813-1784) This is a beautifully executed painting...

With scrolling acanthus leaves with birds and cherubs. Originally the border for a large tapestry. From the estate of JP Morgan Jr acquired directly from the heirs.

Flemish master of the 17th century, "Still life with dog and parrot", oil on canvas, marouflaged 50,7 x 60,5 cm

Beautiful oil painting on canvas, depicting travelers on horseback visiting the Tivoli Rock, passing over an ancient bridge that was destroyed and restored with a wooden substructure...

Antique Verdure Tapestry French Tapestry Handmade Antique Large Tapestry 1900 Measures: 5.4" x 7.4". "A magnificent antique French tapestry depicting magnificent verdure and greenery. This piece includes rare black colors. Beautiful colorway, and an easy, chic addition to any space."-Antique Rug Collection Size 5'4" x 7'3" 163cm x 221cm Serial ID # 10095k Design Verdure Origin France Age circa 1900 Category Antique Pattern Verdure/Floral/Human Figures Material 100% Hand Woven Wool Foundation Material Cotton Color Beige, Green, Black, Brown, Pink, Ivory Quality Great Condition Great condition, minute low area About Us~ Welcome to Antique Rug Collection. Your #1 Source for handmade Antique Rugs & Tapestries at great prices, curated by leading industry expert. We are a 6th Generation antique rug shop with 48+ years of experience working with designers, private clients, dealers, and really anyone looking for a unique antique rug at a great price. We've made an imprint selling rugs...

Dipinto religioso italiano di Scuola Lombarda Madonna con Bambino e San Giovannino circa 1650 con una buona composizione equilibrata ed armoniosa al centro della quale si trova il Bi...

Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez (baptized June 6, 1599 – August 6, 1660) was a Spanish painter, the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV ...

Italian painting from 1600 Banquet with Figures Memento Mori by Giovanni Martinelli, titled Death Comes to the Banquet Table, vanitas circa 1635. The oil-on-canvas painting is inspi...

This incredible hand crafted Italian (Venetian ) 17th- 18th century Wall Hanging /Valance originated from a gorgeous Palazzo in Venice with i...

A 17th century oil on canvas picture, framed, a scene of travelers / noblemen including horses after Philips Wouwerman ( Dutch, 1619-1668 ), noblemen on horseback are drinking ale / ...

This is an absolutely stunning 18th century topographical painting, genre of which known as “veduta”. The crucial role in the development of that genre played Caspar van Wittel or Gaspar van Wittel -known in Italian as Gaspare Vanvitelli...

This an absolutely magnificent unique 17th century painting illustrates pirates in the time of Barbary Slave Trade (European slaves were acquired by Barbary pirates...

An exquisite circa 1720 English George I period "Kit-kat" style portrait firmly attributed to royal court painter Sir Godfrey Kneller (8 August 1646 – ...

A wall hanging tapestry, simply put, is a textile specifically designed and woven to portray an artistic scene with the intent of hanging it on a wall. Antique tapestries, those that...

A wall hanging tapestry, simply put, is a textile specifically designed and woven to portray an artistic scene with the intent of hanging it on a wall. Antique tapestries, those that...

Antique French Tapestry Rare Fountain and scenery Large Tapestry 5x7 1920 Circa 1920 "A magnificent antique French tapestry depicting a scenic river including a fountain and a larg...

Immense 17th Century Flemish wool verdure tapestry Flemish, 17th Century Height 323cm, width 424cm This very large and exquisite tapestry was crafted in wool in Flanders during the ...

18th century stunning extra large oil on Canvas housed in it's original frame by Giovanni Domenico Brugieri (1678–1744). Condition is perfect and has not been restored. Please see i...

Set of 2 so-called 'Trompe L'oeuil' ( (deception of the eye) paintings - still life with dead game. These paintings were already made in the 16th century and developed into a genre...

"Oil on canvas ""The Lamentation"" painted after the original (circa 1629) by Sir Anthony van Dyck. This rendition of the burial of Jesus Christ shows ...

A fine Italian 19th century oil painting on canvas "La Madonna della Seggiola" after Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino 1483-1520) The circular 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 (all high quality gilt is original) 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 Measures: Canvas height: 29 1/4 inches (74.3 cm) Canvas width: 29 1/4 inches (74.3 cm) Painting diameter: 28 1/4 inches (71.8 cm) Frame height: 57 7/8 inches (147 cm) Frame width: 45 1/2 inches (115.6 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...

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 Ma...

A late 18th century French painting depicting a romantic couple in a pastoral setting. Oil on canvas. Unsigned. Original gilded wood frame. Small repair to canvas in the upper left c...

Magnificent Italian 17th century Portrait of Virgin Mary measures 52 x 68 cm without the frame. The colors are stunning and the paintin...

Rare Antique French Aubusson Tapestry "Entre Fenetres" Wool & Silk Gold 4'3" x 6'5" (122cm x 196cm) circa 1880 "This is an Rare Antique French Wool & Si...

Antique French Tapestry 1920 Handmade Fountain 6x8 Wool Foundation 1920 6'2" x 7'5" 188cm x 226cm A magnificent antique French tapestry depicting a scene of people among a founta...

Antique 17th century French Baroque Still Life with Fish. Net size: 35 x 62 cm Size with frame: 53.5 x 79.5 cm Restaured.

Antique painting, Flemish, flowers, Banks after Van Huysum Oil painting on canvas, from the 18th century, depicting a refined floral composition, made by a follower of Van Huysum, B...

Death of Socrates, oil on canvas, Unsigned, 18th century possibly Italy.

1920 Antique French Tapestry Scene Celebration Trees 3'5" x 5'1" 104cm x 155cm "This is a Antique French Tapestry depicting a celebration amongst...

This late 17th century Franco-Flemish verdure tapestry, signed RAET, worked in fresh colors, depicting animals in a wooded river landscape with a bird of prey attacking a rabbit in t...

PORTRAIT OF D. MARIA BÁRBARA DE BRAGANÇA (1711-1758), QUEEN OF SPAIN Circle of Louis-Michel van Loo (1707-1771) Oil on canvas Her Royal Highness, the Infanta Maria Barbara of Braganza (1711-1758) was the first-born child of King John V of Portugal (1689-1750) and his queen consort Maria Anna of Austria (1683-1754). Born in December 1711, she had the Convent Palace of Mafra built in her honour following a vow made by her royal father. Her status as Princess of Brazil, inherent to 18th century Portuguese presumptive heirs, would however be superseded once the queen gave birth to two male princes, D. Pedro (1712-1714) and D. José (1714-1777), preventing her from ascending to the throne. Daughter of one of the most illustrious monarchs of his time, Maria Barbara was carefully educated to become a fond admirer of the arts, and of music in particular, having had the Italian composer Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757) as her music teacher. On the 10th January 1723 the young princess was betrothed to the Infante Ferdinand of Spain (1713-1759), eldest son of King Philip V (1683-1746). Six years later, on the 19th January, she entered her new country in a carefully choreographed ceremony that became known to history as the “Exchange of the Princesses”. This unique event took place on a specially built Bridge-Palace, a wooden, luxuriously decorated structure that included various modules and rooms, on both banks of the river Caia, the natural border between the town of Elvas in Portugal and of Badajoz in Spain. Simultaneously, on the same day that the Portuguese Infanta crossed the border to marry the Spanish Crown Prince, her new sister in law, the Infanta Mariana Victoria of Bourbon (1718-1781), her husband’s sister, crossed the same bridge in the opposite direction to marry Prince D. José, the Portuguese heir to the throne. Once married, Maria Barbara would spend 17 years as Princess of Asturias, only becoming Queen of Spain at her husband’s accession following the death of Philip V in 1746. She is portrayed in the 1743 painting by Louis-Michel van Loo (1707-1771) now in the Prado Museum, in which Philip V had himself represented with all his close family. The new Queen would take an important role at court eventually becoming the liaison between her husband and the King of Portugal, particularly throughout the negotiations for the Treaty of Madrid (1746-1750). Maintaining her interest in music, she patronized the Italian castrato singer Farinelli (1705-1782) while remaining close to her old master Scarlatti, having herself composed some sonatas for a large orchestra. She would also commission and fund the building of the Royal Salesians Monastery complex in central Madrid, where both her and Ferdinand VI are buried. The portrait we are presenting for sale shows the Queen in half-length, turning left at three quarters. She is wearing a blue low-cut dress embroidered with flowers and foliage, over a lace cuffed white blouse, and an ermine cloak pined on the left-hand side by a diamond broach. The powdered hair style is held sideways by a seven diamond and black plume headdress and topped by a small gold and pearl crown. The right arm rests on a cushion while the left hand, at chest height, holds a miniature male portrait. The Infanta’s features are analogous to the 1725 portrait by the painter Domenico Duprà (1689-1770), also in the Prado Museum collection. Further similarities can be found in another portrait by Louis-Michel van Loo, in which a seven diamond and black plume headdress is also present. In this work, the cushion supporting Maria Barbara’s right arm has also some obvious similarities to our painting. The same diamond headdress reappears in Van Loo’s above-mentioned portrait of Philip V’s family dated from 1743. It is nevertheless in Lisbon’s Ajuda National Palace that it is possible to find an almost identical depiction of the Infanta holding a miniature portrait of her husband. In it, the future Ferdinand VI is portrayed facing right at three quarters and wearing a curly wig, suit of armour, the golden fleece insignia and a blue band, in a composition that closely resembles an 18th century Spanish school painting that appeared in the art market in January 2016. Another detail common to various portraits of the Portuguese Infanta and Queen of Spain is the small gold and pearl crown on her head. In another Van Loo painting, also from the Prado Museum, in which Maria Barbara is portrayed as Queen, this crown is represented together with a headdress similar to the one previously described. Another two paintings by the same artist, at the Royal Academy of Saint Ferdinand, include the same ornament. We must also refer the paintings by the artist Jean Ranc (1674-1735). In one, dating from 1729 (Prado Museum), the Infanta is depicted outdoors holding a flower bouquet and wearing a yellow silk dress with red cloak, and a set of diamond and ruby jewellery that includes a headdress similar to the one present in our portrait. Another work by the same artist, belonging to the Complutence University of Madrid, depicts the Infanta sumptuously dressed in identical colours to our painting and wearing an elaborate headdress and diadem. These portraits, beyond their iconographical importance as contemporary records of the Infanta and Queen Maria Barbara, are also illustrative of 18th century fashion for jewelled head dressing. Often, flowers were combined with joyful adornments, composing almost theatrical displays that would reinforce the ostentatious nature of the image. The ornamental flowers and the chromatic character of the jewels would complement the luxury of the colourful dresses in blue, crimson, green or other silk shades, in compositions whose sole purpose was to highlight a royal sitter’s wealth and power, becoming an essential statement accessory within the strict court protocols and codes of conduct. Circle of Louis-Michel van Loo (1707-1771) Slowly but steadily, the resolute, tranquil and dignified attitude of Renaissance and Baroque portraiture becomes artificial and presumptuous. Mid 18th century society favours elusive expression and psychological deepness, albeit limited to the face, that, with emphasis on detail, on the rich colour palette and on changing costumes and landscapes, associated to the courtliness of gestures, creates a strongly artificial environment while maintaining a highly poetic intrinsic character. Louis-Michel van Loo followed a dynasty of famous Dutch origin artists that had settled in France. Initially taught by his father, Jean-Baptiste von Loo (1684-1745), the younger van Loo studied in Turin and Rome and frequented the Paris Academy. In Rome he worked with his uncle Charles-André van Loo (1705-1765) and become a painter for the Turin Court. In 1737 he arrived in Spain being summoned by Philip V to succeed Jean Ranc as painter of the king’s chamber. In Madrid, his work covers the numerous Court commissions and the Royal Saint Ferdinand Fine Arts Academy, of which he was a founding member and director for the Painting department in 1752. Is production at court consisted essentially of numerous portrait paintings, often Royal gifts...

This magnificent Madonna and Child belongs to an Itlalian (Roman) school of painting and could be a masterpiece of a Carlo Maratta /Maratti (1625-1713) school. Maratta's style of Bar...

This antique stunning portrait of Madonna in Sorrow came out from a Palazzo in Florence and an absolute eye catcher. The colors and details are incredible and very typical for an Ita...

'Sea Garden' panels in plaster by British Master craftsman Geoffrey Preston MBE. The designs for this pair of decorative panels spring from the series of drawings the artist made for the The Goring...

Dimensions- Frame: H: 32 3/4in W: 39 1/4in D: 2 1/2in Painting: H: 25 1/2in W: 32 1/4in This Oil Painting On Canvas Titled "Checkmated" by Alex De Andreis (1880-1939) is truly ...

A light-brown, green antique Austrian Baroque oil on canvas painting by Franz Xaver Hornöck in a hand crafted original black, partly gilded wooden frame, in good condition. The vinta...

A large Flemish 17th-18th century baroque pictorial tapestry "The Royal Garden". The large tapestry depicting an allegorical park-scene of R...

Antique French Tapestry Rare Fountain and scenery Large Tapestry 5x7 1920 circa 1920 "A magnificent antique French tapestry depicting a scenic river including a fountain and a ...

18th century, French Painting with Landscape with Ruins Measures: frame cm L 165 x H 95 x P 10; canvas cm L 142 x H 71 This painting depicti...

The Sacred Heart of Jesus, Oil Painting on Canvas 18th century An antique oil painting depicting the sacred heart of Jesus. Oil on canvas with p...

Pair of 20th Century decorative Venetian canal paintings, After Canaletto Each one Signed 'Maffel' A stunning pair of late 20th Century oils on canvas, views of the Grand Canal in Venice Italy, in ornate carved giltwood frames. After works by the iconic Venetian painter...