Baroque Paintings

This striking oval portrait, attributed to the circle of Nicolas de Largillière, exemplifies the refined elegance and artistic sophistication of late 17th to early 18th-century Frenc...

Pair of stunning 17th / 18th Century Italian School oil on canvas mounted on board paintings of Lions and Leopards. Italian artists incorporated ele...

Amazing Tiziano Vecellio's Circle of the 17th century "Ecce Homo" Oil on canvas, 17th century, based on the original housed in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. Dimensions: 1...

A large antiqued reproduction oil painting after Anthony Van Dyck. Aptly titled "The Three Ages of Man" Features an antiqued canvas with unique craquelure and Baroque scalloped fra...

Circle of Alexis-Simon Belle (1674-1734) "Antique Portrait of a Young Girl" Oil on canvas. Dimensions: H: 70 × W: 57 cm Good condition Alexis Simon Belle was born in Paris. He was t...

Experience the elegance of the 18th century with this Belgian painted oil on canvas 3-panel screen. Each panel connects the intricate scenes of pastoral life, delicately hand-painted...

Flemish 17th Century Genre Painting Circle of David Teniers the Younger (1610-1690). This cabinet painting depicting a woman shelling peas is from the Flemish School of the 17th ...

A beautiful 19th century Italian oil painting on re-lined canvas presented in a gilded wooden frame. Done in Guardi style with gold frame. The...

Julius Caesar Ibbetson 1759-1817 old master painting English, 18th century This English school painting by Julius Caesar Ibbetson (1759-1817) depicts a countryside farm house off of a road with a horse drawn wagon...

Four paintings depicting the seasons, circle of Noel Coypel, second half of the 17th century Oil on canvas Measures: cm W 37 x H 46 x D 2 cm (canvas) The four paintings, presented in...

In the style or School of the Important Old Master Guido Reni (Italian, 1575-1642). A stunning Old Master 18th or possibly 17th century Italian Baroque School religious portrait painting...

This is a Pair of Oil Paintings of Concert of Birds. They depict different birds perched in a branch of a tree. It appears that there is a music paper attached to the tree in one of ...

Francesco Simonini (Parma, 16 June 1686 - Parma, 1766) “The rest of the soldiers” and “The march of soldiers” oil on canvas cm 40 x 58 and 40 x 60 ; frame: h 52,5 x W 70,5 x D 6 an...

17th century painting J.Castano 17th century Spain

A late XVII Century Italian School head of a young man (Circle of Guido Reni). A sensitively rendered portrait figure in profile, echoing soft modelling and restrained elegance chara...

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

Dipinto Fiammingo del 1600 a olio su rame raffigurante uno scorcio di paesaggio con figure, una scena di genere con una moltitudine di personaggi affollati in una strada con delle ar...

Antonio Alegri, (Correggio - 1494-1534) Our Lady with the Child Jesus oil on copper, Italian School 16th century With inscription on the back '1494-1534...

Peter Paul Rubens (Siegen 1577 - Antwerp 1640) circle of Saint Catherine of Alexandria Never Restored First Canvas Oil on canvas 129.5 x 94 cm The work is based on the painting by Peter Paul Rubens and engraved by Schelte von Bolswert. Rubens, known as "the Prince of the Baroque", was the great master who revolutionized both Flemish and European painting. His first training took place thanks to the masters Otto van Veen and Jan Brueghel the Elder. His trip to Italy, where he stayed, studied and painted for eight years, was fundamental to his artistic growth. His first stop was Venice, where Titian, Veronese and Tintoretto studied. He later came into contact with Vincenzo I Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, becoming the court painter of the family, a position he held until the end of his stay in Italy. In Mantua, Rubens had the opportunity to study the rich ducal collection closely and assiduously. By making copies of several famous paintings he was able to practice technically on the examples of the greatest masters. In 1601 he was sent by the duke to Rome, where he was able to further broaden his figurative horizons thanks to the copying of the models of Michelangelo and Raphael and the study of the ancient, also looking at the contemporary artistic production of Carracci, Caravaggio and Federico Barocci. After leaving Italy, he settled in Antwerp, where he organized his atelier, applying the methods of organized production, that is, employing his collaborators with rational criteria and on the basis of individual specializations. Among the many painters who came out of Rubens' workshop or were strongly influenced by the master, we remember: Cornelis and Paul de Vos, Jacob Jordaens, Pieter Van Mol, Victor Wolvoet, Joanna Vergouwen, Jan Boeckhorst known as Lange Jan, Lucas Van Uden, Theodor Van Thulden, Peter Van Lint, Willem Van Harp, Vincent Adrianssen, Pieter Van Avont, Jan and Hendrick van Balen, Theodor Boeyemans or Boeijermans, Vincent Malò...

18th Century, Painting with Architectural Capriccio with figures, attributed to Isaac De Moucheron Measures: canvas cm H 108 x L 152; with frame cm H 132 x L 176 x 8 The painting i...

Saskia smiling with feather bar (circa 1633). Oil on canvas. Exceptionally beautiful copy after Rembrandt, back titled - copy after No. 1556, the royal pai...

Maximilian Pfeiler (active Rome, circa 1694-circa 1721 Budapest) Still life with peaches, grapes, figs and pomegranate Oil on canvas, Measures: cm H 63,5 x W 47. With frame cm ...

Magnus Jørgensen (1683-1738), Denmark. Painting: "Two Gentlemen at a Well-Laid Table." Signed: Magnus Jørgens(en) Pinxit et invenit Ao 1724. Oil on canvas, mounted in later black fr...

A very fine Italian 17th century oval oil on canvas "Head of Christ Crowned with Thorns" Circle of Pierre Mignard (French, 1612-1695) within...

18th century French pair of oils on gold leaf panels. One is depicting an angel playing the violin, and the other one is holding the music book.

Antique painting “Madonna with a Napkin” after Bartolome Esteban Murillo, 1666 This lovely oil painting on beveled wood panel is after the f...

Pair of old master paintings by August Querfurt (1696-1761). Oil on panel, one signed with initials in the lower left. Two scenes depicting hawking parties from the 18th century. ...

Russia / 19th century / Religious Icon / oak / Baroque / Antique Religious Russian Icon “The Suffering Mother God”, 19th Century in tempera on panel from the estate of a collector. ...

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...

17th century Dutch Old Master painting with provenance, Barnyard with farm animals and peasants. This Dutch oil on canvas painting is a jewel among the g...

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...

A fine and large 19th century oil on canvas after Bartolomé Esteban Murrillo's (Spanish, 1617-1682) "Beggar Boys Playing Dice" (The original work by Murillo was painted in 1675). The impressive artwork depicts two young boys playing dice while another eats a piece of fruit as his dog watches on., within an ornate gildwood and gesso frame bearing a label from the faming company Bigelow & Jordan. The original work by Murillo is currently at the Alte Pinakothek Museum in Munich, Germany. The present work is signed: L. Rüber. Circa: Munich, Late 19th Century. Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (born late December 1617, baptized January 1, 1618 – April 3, 1682) was a Spanish Baroque painter. Although he is best known for his religious works, Murillo also produced a considerable number of paintings of contemporary women and children. These lively, realist portraits of flower girls, street urchins, and beggars constitute an extensive and appealing record of the everyday life of his times. Murillo was born to Gaspar Esteban and María Pérez Murillo. He may have been born in Seville or in Pilas, a smaller Andalusian town. It is clear that he was baptized in Seville in 1618, the youngest son in a family of fourteen. His father was a barber and surgeon. His parents died when Murillo was still very young, and the artist was largely brought up by his aunt and uncle. Murillo began his art studies under Juan del Castillo in Seville. There he became familiar with Flemish painting and the "Treatise on Sacred Images" of Molanus (Ian van der Meulen or Molano). The great commercial importance of Seville at the time ensured that he was subject to influences from other regions. His first works were influenced by Zurbarán, Jusepe de Ribera and Alonzo Cano, and he shared their strongly realist approach. As his painting developed, his more important works evolved towards the polished style that suited the bourgeois and aristocratic tastes of the time, demonstrated especially in his Roman Catholic religious works. In 1642, at the age of 26, he moved to Madrid, where he most likely became familiar with the work of Velázquez, and would have seen the work of Venetian and Flemish masters in the royal collections; the rich colors and softly modeled forms of his subsequent work suggest these influences. In 1645 he returned to Seville and married Beatriz Cabrera y Villalobos, with whom he eventually had eleven children. In that year, he painted eleven canvases for the convent of St. Francisco el Grande in Seville. These works depicting the miracles of Franciscan saints vary between the Zurbaránesque tenebrism of the Ecstasy of St Francis and a softly luminous style (as in Death of St Clare...

17th Century large baroque painting of the passing and last communion of Saint Jerome. Representation of the dying holy man, attended by angels and surrounded by his disciples while ...

Oil on board, signed and dated in the lower right corner. Presented in a period gilt frame this painting depicts a content monk enjoying a peacful moment presumably in the cellar. ...

Announcement Italian School Oil on canvas, of the 17th century Dimension: 75 x 62 cm. Good conditions.

This 18th-century Flemish oil on wood painting depicts the moment of adoration of the Child Jesus, in the loving arms of the Virgin Mary. Kneeling at their feet is the young Saint J...

captivating oil on canvas portrait of a monk, likely created in the 18th century by an artist of the Spanish school. The sitter is depicted with solemn intensity, his expressive fea...

An imposing religious-themed painting depicts the scene of the "Assumption of the Virgin". The iconography in this 19th-century painting follows the tendencies of Baroqueization and ...

Exceptional quality oil on canvas portrait painting of a bewigged Dutch statesman in armour having architectural background of ancestral seat with heraldic crest at lower left. Later...

1681, Pair of Paintings signed Grechetto da Leone as Govaert G. VAN DER LEEUW Oil on Canvas Dimensions: cm W 91 x H 123 x D 6; canvas: cm W 72 x H 103.5 This pair of fine paintings,...

Lot and his daughters, EMILIAN SCHOOL XVIIIth century Oil on canvas 175 x 126 cm Lot and his daughters is one of the themes most frequently encountered by seventeenth-century pain...

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 ...

Antonio Calza (Italy, Verona, 1653-18th April 1725) "Battle between Christian and Turkish cavalry with castle" The painting depicts a bloody battle between Christian and Turkish cavalry. Characterized by dynamism, intensity of color and light, the main scene occupies the lower horizontal section of the canvas, optically interrupted by the black fumes of the shots from which emerge, on the left, the towers of a fortress. On the right, in the distance you can see the combat in progress in the countryside, beyond which you can see the pale presence of hills that create a fifth, marking the horizon. To frame the scene contributes to the left, against light and in the foreground, a portion of the wall. The painter, however, introduces a horse on the ground, of which we see only the back, a ruse to involve the observer making him become active and participate in the scene. In the foreground, lifeless bodies, wounded horses and, scattered on the ground, weapons and a drum enhance the drama of the clash. The excitement and expressive force, the intense chromatic range attentive to the conditions of light and the fine brushstrokes, decisive and dramatic, suggests the attribution to Antonio Calza, one of the most important painters of battles of the seventeenth century, excellent student and continuator of the greatest interpreter of the genre, Jacques Courtois called il Borgognone (Saint-Hyppolite 1621 - Rome 1676). Il Borgognone, although not having had a real school or direct students, places itself as a primary reference point by the Italian and foreign "battaglisti". The genre of battle painting found great success in the collections of the Italian and European nobility of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The battles of the Italian Renaissance, in which the scene converged towards a precise protagonist, evolve towards a type of combat "without hero". The bloody realism of the details and the dynamic development of the narrative confuse the figure of the protagonist, when present, to give importance to the swirl of horses and armed fighters, among which, moreover, does not emerge a winner. The certain documents relating to the life and movements of Antonio Calza are scarce; it was equally difficult to reconstruct, from the critics, a catalogue of autograph works. Through paintings in private collections, in museums and paintings passed on the antiques market it has been possible to identify a copious corpus of works that can be traced back to his hand. The work of art historians, together with that of antique dealers, in conferring proper attributions in order to best outline the figure of Calza, continues but studies are still in progress. In this sense, the work of Giancarlo Sestieri should certainly be noted, who investigated the artistic production of the battaglisti and Calza, thus allowing the comparison of the numerous photographic works reported, to identify and recognize the stylistic qualities that distinguish the corpus of paintings assigned to him today. Antonio Calza was born in 1653 in Italy, in Verona and in 1664 he entered the school of Carlo Cignani in Bologna, dedicating himself to painting battles and landscapes. He then perfected in Rome, where he knew the works of the then undisputed head of the sector, Jacques Courtois called the Burgundian. In 1675 he returned to Verona and married an 88-year-old widow who, dying, left him a rich inheritance. Much appreciated by the nobility and the bourgeoisie, he received numerous commissions. Bartolomeo Dal Pozzo (Le Vite de' pittori, de gli scultori et architetti veronesi, 1718) praises "three great paintings of battles...

Venetian Capriccio with Santa Maria della Salute and Figures Italian School, 18th Century Oil on Oak Panel Dimensions: Panel – 16 x 21.5 cm (6.3 x 8.5 in). Provenance: Private Europe...

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

Superb French hand-painted watercolor/gouache miniature on a bone panel. It depicts Bacchus and Ariane in a courting scene set in a mountainous landscape. The 18th century miniature is a version of the painting by Charles Joseph Natoire (1700-1777). It is a small but elegant painting with amazing quality details. It is mounted in a hand carved polychrome and gilded Spanish Baroque style wood frame...

Amazing Flemish Master 17th Century "Saint Jerome" Oil/canvas/double, 82 x 64 cm. good condition

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...

A pair of Italian baroque paintings of Jesus Christ: - An 18th Century painting that depicts the Holy Family, Child Jesus, the Virgin Mary and the elderly Saint Joseph, with the An...

PAIR of Italian Venetian style (19th Cent) gilt framed oil paintings of canal scenes.

Giuseppe Gambarini (Bologna, 17 March 1680 - Casalecchio di Reno, 11 September 1725) Loth and the daughters Oil on canvas; Measurements: cm H 73 x W 93; frame H 88 x W 108 x D 5,5 The painting, of beautiful pictorial quality, depicts the biblical scene of Lot and his daughters, with Sodom set on fire in the background, and is stylistically attributable to the italian painter Giuseppe Gambarini (Italy, Bologna, 17 March 1680 - Casalecchio di Reno, 11 September 1725). The canvas shows in the center Lot sitting and already drunk, depicted according to traditional iconography, old, gray and with long gray boat. With his left hand he grabs the wine flask that one of his daughters offers him. She is depicted kneeling and resting on large boulders of stone, described as an architectural base, dressed in a voluminous deep blue mantle, her hair covered with a humble headdress made of a knotted cloth; look at the viewer, as if to want to involve him directly in the scene. The other daughter is described on the left, from the back to the observer, with a bare back and dark hair gathered by a red ribbon. She too is intent on serving her father a cup in which to pour the wine. Around them a duck placed on a cloth, some bread and another wine flask enrich the composition describing a banquet in progress. The scene is set outdoors, where only a large tent supported by branches arranged in a hut serves as a shelter to the figures. In the background a forest landscape blends chromatically with the blue sky. To the right in the distance, is described the city of Sodom, already destroyed and on fire. Lot’s wife...

17th century, Italian painting with virgin and childr by Follower of Sir Anthony van Dyck cm W 90 x H 113; cornice cm W 111 x H 135 x D 7 The canvas depicts the Madonna with the Chi...

A beautifully executed and rare complementary pair of oil on canvas paintings depicting two of the moist famous and important counter reformation catholic saints St Francis Xavier and St Carlo Borromeo shown in scenes of what the respective saints are mostly famous for. St Francis Xavier for the conversion to Christianity of many S. E Asian countries notably India and St Carlo Borromeo shown asking the Virgin Mary to intercede for the cessation of the terrible plague of 1576. The paintings are presented in refreshed gilded carved wooden frames and are unsigned. St. Francis Xavier was born in Spanish Navarre in 1506 and in 1528, he met St. Ignatius of Loyola. He became one of the seven in 1534 who founded the Society of Jesus (Jesuit Order). In 1536, he left the University of Paris and joined St. Ignatius in Venice. He was ordained in 1537, and in 1540 after the Society was recognized by the Pope, he journeyed to the Far East. Francis Xavier first evangelized the Portuguese colony of Goa in India, then Travancore, Ceylon, Malacca, and the surrounding islands. From there he journeyed to Japan, where he gave Christianity such deep roots that it survived centuries of violent persecution. He died on Sancian Island in 1552, while he was seeking to penetrate into the great forbidden land of China. Despite language problems, lack of funds, resistance from the Europeans as well as the natives, he persevered. St. Francis converted more people in his life than anyone since the Apostle St. Paul. He baptized over 3 million people, converted the entire town of Goa in India, and he labored in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and Japan. He was truly a missionary par excellence. St Carlo Borromeo (1538-1584), was a Cardinal of the Holy Roman Catholic Church and Archbishop of Milan from 1565 to 1583. He was described in the decree for his canonization, as “a man, even while the world smiles on him with the utmost flattery, he lives crucified to the world, spiritually, trampling earthly things, seeking continuously the things of heaven, emulating the life of the Angels on earth, in his thoughts and actions. The plague began in the month of August that year. Milan was celebrating joyfully the arrival of Don John of Austria, on his way to Flanders, where he had been appointed governor. The city authorities were abuzz with excitement in their desire to bestow the highest honours on the Spanish prince, but Charles, who had been Archbishop of the diocese for six years, was following with concern the news coming from Trento, Verona and Mantua, where the plague had begun claiming victims. The first cases exploded in Milan on August 11th, right at the moment when Don John of Austria arrived. The victor of Lepanto, followed by the governor, Antonio de Guzmán y Zuñiga, departed the city, while Carlo Borromeo, who was in Lodi for the Bishop’s funeral, returned in haste. Confusion and fear reigned in Milan and the Archbishop dedicated himself completely to assisting the sick and ordering public and private prayers. Dom Prosper Guéranger sums up his infinite charity in this way: “In the absence of local authorities, he organized the health service, founded or renewed hospitals, sought money and provisions, decreed preventive measures. Most importantly though, he took steps to ensure spiritual help, assistance to the sick and the burial of the dead. Unafraid of being infected, he paid in person, by visiting hospitals, leading penitential processions, being everything to everyone, like a father and true shepherd” St. Carlo was convinced that the epidemic was “a scourge sent by Heaven” as chastisement for the sins of the people and that recourse to spiritual measures was necessary to fight against it: prayer and penitence. He rebuked the civil authorities for having placed their trust in human measures rather than divine ones. “Hadn’t they prohibited all the pious gatherings and processions during the time of the Jubilee? For him, and he was convinced of it, these were the causes of the chastisement. The magistrates who governed the city continued to oppose public ceremonies, out of fear that the large gathering of people would spread contagion, but Charles “who was guided by the Divine Spirit” – recounts another biographer – convinced them by citing various examples, among which was the one regarding St. Gregory the Great who had halted the plague devastating Rome in 590. While the pestilence spread, the Archbishop then ordered three general processions to take place in Milan on the 3rd, 5th and 6th of October, “to placate the wrath of God”. On the first day, the Saint, despite it not being the Lenten season, placed ashes on the heads of the thousands gathered, exhorting them to penitence. Once the ceremony was over, the procession went to the Basilica of St. Ambrose. Charles put himself at the head of the people, dressed in a hooded purple robe, barefoot, penitential cord at his neck and large cross in his hand. The second procession led by the Cardinal headed towards the Basilica of San Lorenzo. The third day the procession from the Duomo headed for the Basilica of Santa Maria at San Celso. St. Carlo carried in his hands a relique of Our Lord’s Holy Nail, which had been given by the Emperor Theodosius to St. Ambrose in the 5th century. The plague didn’t show any signs of waning and Milan appeared depopulated, as a third of its citizens had lost their lives and the others were in quarantine or didn’t dare leave their homes. The Archbishop ordered about twenty stone columns with a cross at the top to be erected in the main squares and city crossroads, allowing the inhabitants from every quarter to take part in the Masses and public prayers - from the windows of their homes. One of Milan’s protectors was St. Sebastian, the martyr the Romans had recourse to during the plague in 672. St. Charles suggested that the magistrates of Milan reconstruct the sanctuary dedicated to him, which was falling into ruins, and to celebrate a solemn feast in his honour for ten years. Finally in July 1577, the plague ceased and in September the founding stone was laid in the civic temple of St. Sebastian, where on January 20th every year, even today a Mass is offered to recall the end of the scourge. St.Carlo Borromeo died on November 3rd 1584 and was buried in the Duomo of Milan. His heart was solemnly translated to Rome, in the Basilica of Saints Ambrose...

Ribera, Jusepe Workshop 17th Century Oil on canvas. Half-length portrait of a bearded old man. 62 x 50 cm. Gilt frame with surrounding relief decoration and black lacquered interior ...

An Portrait of a Lady and her Dog, 18th Century, European School The oval painting within its original oak leaf and beaded gilt-wood frame, oil on canvas. Height: 101 cm Width: 85 ...

Jan Frans van Bloemen called Orizzonte (Antwerp 1662-Rome 1749). A Late 17th early 18th century Italian landscape with figures of the Roman Campagna. ...

Catalan Baroque S.XVI The Adoration of the Magi Oil on wood 92cm x 68cm Dated 1527 At the beginning of the Renaissance period, Gothic forms coexisted in Catalonia with other new solutions, in which religious fervor was mixed with the attention to detail of everyday life. Following the medieval tradition, the altarpieces are thought from a narrative vision, and flat painting...

Follower of Jacopo Da Ponte, called Jacopo Bassano (Bassano del Grappa, circa 1510 - Bassano del Grappa, 13 February 1592), 17th century Allegory of the Spring Measures: With frame: ...

"Saul with the Pythoness Evoking the Shadow of Samuel". Beautiful oil on Canva, work of the English school of the entourage of Benjamin West. This oil on canvas represents a bibl...

Copy of a portrait of "Emanuele Filiberto", Italian military leader of the 1500's