18th Century and Earlier Paintings

Nice pastel portrait representing a young woman. Wonderful weathered wooden frame and its old glass, France, 18th century. Weathered, small losses.

Pair of framed antique 17th century Roman Catholic antiphonal music sheets, hand drawn on vellum with illuminated capitals. Measures: 28.25” x 1.75” ...

Spanish colonial oil on panel painting depicting a kneeling saint or bishop being adorned with floral wreath by an angel in the upper left corner....

Antique Italian painting from the second half of the 18th century. Artwork oil on canvas depicting a portrait of a young girl, Princess with parrot, of good pictorial quality. Painti...

The crucifixion of Crist Italian school 17th or 18th century. Beautiful detail in the face and hands. The lighting makes the figure of Crist seem to glow. In a good quality later fra...

This painting comes from Polland and is over 200 years old. Oil on canvas with little restorations.: let's not forget that there were two world wars in Europe. A lovely Madonna and ...

Oil On Copper, 17th Century ELEGANT OIL ON COPPER REPRESENTING THE VIRGIN MARY SPANISH SCHOOL OF THE 17TH CENTURY VERY WELL PRESERVED CONDITION GILT WOOD FR...

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

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...

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 Her status as Princess of Brazil, inherent to 18th century Portuguese presumptive heirs, would however be superseded once the queen gave birth to two male princes, D. Pedro (1712-1714) and D. José (1714-1777), preventing her from ascending to the throne.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...

Important old-master painting, 18th century. Measurements: With frame: H. 65 W. 57 D. 5 cm Without frame : H. 48 W. 42 cm With frame: H. 25.5 W. 22.4 D. 1.9 in Without frame : H...

Portrait Of A Nobleman 18th century PORTRAIT OF AN 18TH CENTURY NOBLE ELEGANT AND LARGE PAINTING WITH THE PORTRAIT OF AN 18TH CENTURY EUROPEAN ...

18th century continental eglomise painting of St John the Baptist preaching. Eglomise is a method of reverse painting on glass. In a go...

Antique Italian painting from the second half of the 17th century. Oil on canvas artwork of the Lombard School, of exceptional quality, depicting a peasant woman with eggs. Painting ...

European workshop XVII century Portrait of Lars Gathenhielm (1689-1718) Oil on canvas Unsigned Lars Gathenhielm (1689–1718), was a Swedish sea captain, commander, shipowne...

A fine 18th century painting depicting the Virgin Mary holding baby Christ above four saints, painted in the artistic centers of Cuzco and the Altiplano re...

Venetian school, early 16th century Oil on panel, 49 x 56 cm. Framed (restorations) These two panel paintings, portraying John the Baptist a...

ATTRIBUTED TO JOHN SMITH OF CHICHESTER England, 1717-1764 "The Second Premium Landscape, a copy" oil on canvas unsigned, attributed posthumously verso in pitch "jno Smith of Chich...

An exceptional, museum quality very large 18th century Greek icon of the Pentecost. Egg tempera and gold leaf on wood, primed with gesso. Attributed to Mount Athos...

18th century oil on canvas, St. Joseph with Christ child. The unidentified artist who painted this bucolic scene, dominated by the figure of the sixteenth-century Portuguese monk Sa...

Pair of two oil paintings on canvas depicting landscapes with figures. Veneto, 18th century Good state of conservation.

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.

David Kleyne (1753- 1805) Dutch painter, oil painting seascape with ships David Kleyne (1753- 1805), Dutch painter, draftsman, pen artist, etcher. A beau...

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...

"An impressive early 18th century Dutch School portrait of Carolina Cornelia De Wille, circa 1714. The oval oil painting is on canvas and feat...

The story of the Magi comes from the Gospel of Matthew, which indicates that the Magi from the East, having followed a star, came to Bethlehem to adore the newborn King of the Jews, and offered him gold, myrrh and incense. In the West, the number of wise men, after many variations, was established at three. Symbols were quickly associated with them, and they ended up, in the 15th century, personifying the three continents known in the Middle Ages (Asia, Africa, Europe) after having represented, from the 12th century, the three ages...

Oriental style portrait by Giuseppe Angeli (attr.) - XVIII century This Oriental-style portrait of a man was attributed to the Italian Giuseppe Angeli (Venezia, 1709 – Venezia, 1798...

A wonderfully painted oil on canvas by George Morland depicting a moment of life in a cottage on a snowy winter day. Signed lower right. George Morland (26 June 1763 – 29 October 1804) was an English painter. His early work was influenced by Francis Wheatley, but after the 1790s he came into his own style. His best compositions focus on rustic scenes: farms and hunting; smugglers and gypsies; and rich, textured landscapes informed by Dutch Golden Age painting...

Beautiful Flemish painting painted in oil on panel depicting a gentleman in elegant clothes. Within a molded and gilded wooden frame. MEASUREMENTS: overall 78x63 cm, work 63x49 cm

Kano School painting showing ancient pine, exotic birds, peonies, azalea and cherry tree in bloom on far right. Early Edo period painting, (1614 -...

Piedmontese painter of the second half of the 18th century Two "Still Lifes with composition of flowers, fruits and mushrooms" Measurements: Frames: cm W 63 x H 74 x D 8.5 frames...

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

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...

Giovanni Domenico Molinari (Caresana, 1721 - Turin, 1793) Lying Female figure Oil on canvas, cm 46 x. 31 - With frame, cm 56 x 42 The present painting is connected by style and treated subject, in this case a young girl lying in an idyllic landscape, to the production of small pictures of pastoral subject of the Piedmontese painter Giovanni Domenico Molinari (Caresana, 1721 - Turin, 1793). Molinare was born in Caresana (Vercelli) on 19 July 1721 but after losing both his parents he moved to Turin. Here he became, from 1736, a pupil of the Academy of Drawing founded by the painter Claudio Francesco Beaumont (Turin, 4 July 1694 - Turin, 21 June 1766) where he remained as a pensioner until December 1755. Molinari was immediately engaged in the translation of the master’s sketches on cardboard used for the Regia manufacture of tapestries. His early success on the Turin art scene is confirmed by the fact that he joined the Compagnia di San Luca in 1756. In 1751 he married Margherita Peiroleri, whose brothers Pietro (engraver) and Nicolò (painter) also attended the school. Remained widower count two other marriages first with Lucrezia Elisabetta Burzio and then in 1770 with Domenica Maria Ferrero. On the death of the master in 1766 Molinari, considered by his contemporaries to be the most faithful interpreter of the master and for his elegant and Arcadian style, which clearly interprets the aesthetic taste of the court, was called to finish the works that remained unfinished, such as the altarpiece for the church of Santa Maria della Scala in Moncalieri depicting the Assumption venerated by Blessed Bernard of Baden and Saint Anthony. Molinari was also well praised by critics and Abbot Lanzi highlighted the quality of the production of historical and mythological subject for the rigorous post-marattesco classicism. In Turin he worked for Vittorio Amedeo III of Savoy as a portrait painter, executing for him eleven canvases (between 1774 and 1775), but, since 1745, he also supplied tapestry cartoons to the local Fabbrica, of which, in 1766, he became director. The production of paintings of sacred subjects is also lively, especially used in the decoration of the churches of the capital as the Assumption for the Hotel of Virtue and San Pietro Regalado and San Benedetto il Moro for Santa Maria degli Angeli ( Torino) He also painted tempera and oil cartoons for the same church, on the occasion of the beatification of Pacifico da San Severino (1787) and, for that of San Francesco di Paola, when Gaspare de Bono...

Fete Galante Scene from 18th century Piedmont-School. Bamboo inlay collage on canvas in carved antique frame. Net size: 40 x 49 cm Size with frame: 53 x 61.5 cm

Exquisite antique Arcadia Scene with Shepherds, by flemmish painter Jan Frans Beschey (Antwerp, 1717-1786). Signed bottom left: J. F. Beschey In antique carved wood frame. Net siz...

Antique Italian painting from the 18th century. Artwork oil on canvas depicting a religious subject, The sacrifice, of good pictorial quality. Painting of good size and pleasant furn...

Still life with copper crockery, bottle and majolica. Emilian school, 18th century On the top of a table there are some copper crockery for daily use, an excellently painted gl...

This magnificent early 18th century painting of an Angel Arcabucero. In eighteenth century Peru, extraordinary depictions of ángeles arcabuceros or an...

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...

Large oil painting on canvas depicting the Madonna with Child and San Giovannino within a carved and gilded wooden frame. The subject is particular as it leaves the classic canons of the representation of Maternity by presenting a Madonna without a halo. Attributable to the School of Giovanni Battista Salvi...

Royal House Antiques is delighted to offer for sale this stunning pair of 16th to 17th century, miniature oil paintings which are after the originals by James Northcote (1480-1517) t...

Delightful 18th century Roman school representing a view of Rome fixing the "ponte Rotto". Painted in an architectural style of the best craftsmanship, this charming animated composi...

Beautiful oil painting on canvas depicting a winged putto with a tree background, grape branches and fruit. Within a molded frame in gilded wood, typical manufacture attributable to...

Oil painting on canvas depicting Christ and the Madonna consoling a dying man, Emilian school, 17th century.

A rare 18th century painting of Virgin Mary, painted for a Spanish Colonial travellers, most probably in the artistic centers of Cuzco and the ...

Oil on canvas depicting the mythological scene of Bezzebea bathing. Gorgeous woman wife of one of King David's army commanders, the latter, seeing her at the bath, fell madly in love...

Antique Italian painting from the 17th century. Oil on canvas artwork of the Neapolitan school depicting Bacchanal of cherubs of excellent pictorial quality. Painting of great size a...

This is a charming painting of a cherub with an arm extending forward, perhaps hold out a bouquet of flowers. The painting dates to the mid-18th century and is probably cut from a la...

An incredible and rare 17th century (Ming Dynasty) Tibetan Thangka depicting the Medicine Buddha seated on a lotus throne with an alms bowl in one hand, and his other hand with outstretched fingers touching the ground, feeling the pulse of the Earth. The Buddha is surrounded by dozens of monks seated...

Beautiful white chrysanthemums are emphasized by heavy gold on a soft floral landscape, while gold clouds create a striking and dream-like floral scene. Gold leaf and gofun with min...

Striking painting depicting scattered fans painted on gold leaf. Featuring various scenes from classic Japanese literature, flowers and birds. Mineral pigmen...

A vintage print of the painting George Washington before the Battle of Trenton from 1792-94. Beautiful gilt tipped frame. Acquired at a Palm Beach estate.

Large original oil on canvas painting of Italian village with mountains in background, 6' long (measured at frame). Italian school circa 1700s. Impressive in Size and detail this w...

Original Antique Oil on Canvas Painting Coming from a Cornish estate, it was said by the previous owners that the subject was a tin miner, although by the looks of it, I imagine it ...

Grand tour - Landscape of the Roman countryside with architecture and characters Oil painting on canvas Rome 18th century Measurements: 27 x 33 - 43.5 x 50.5 cm (with frame)...

A beautiful piece with a portrait of a shepherd boy, with this great touch of Spanish artist.

This 18th century painting, signed by L.S. VERHEYDER, showcases a scene of a man and a horse in a field, framed in a luxurious gold leaf frame with d...