Gilt Paintings

This small oil on panel is attributed to Adolphe Valette (1876–1942), the French painter who later became a leading figure of the Manchester School and mentor to L.S. Lowry. Dating f...

Another stunning hand-painted oil on canvas work of religious art. This antique oil painting was first hand-painted on canvas and later mounted onto a zinc backplate .. a traditiona...

This is a lovely antique English oil on panel of 'Three Cavaliers' by Frank Moss Bennett (1874-1953), signed and dated 1929.    The paint is dramatic and depicts three Cavaliers dres...

Beautiful antique Pichhwai silk painting of Krishna and Radha accompanied by gopis, devas, the sun God Surya, plants and animals enjoying Dana L...

Flowers of the four seasons Isoi Joshin (1883-1964) Pair of six-panel Japanese screens Ink, pigment, lacquer and silver leaf on pa...

A peaceful French painting on canvas depicting landscape scene featuring a house or small castle in ruins, a water with a bridge nearby. The painting is contained in a simple gold le...

This stunning oil painting by Lucien Carbonell captures the essence of a lively Parisian street scene, filled with charm and vibrancy. The artwork depicts an idyllic autumn day, show...

A charming vintage French landscape painting–elongated to a wide panorama–to appreciate the unspoiled beauty of the Ain countryside (Ain is a department in Eastern France) where a mo...

Stunning set of four two-sided painted wood panels that were once a folding screen or room divider. The Italian panels feature parcel gilt framed scenes embellished with Chinese moti...

This large Italian Baroque oil on canvas, dating from the late 17th century represents an exceptionally vivid battle scene with the unusual subject of a brigand ambush on a stagecoac...

This 18th-century Italian portrait depicts a distinguished gentleman in a loosely sketched, slightly misty style, giving the painting a soft, atmospheric quality. Although unsigned, ...

A Large and Impressive Early 20th Century Oil on Canvas "Madonna and Child" After Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (Spanish, 1618-1682) depicting a seated Virgin Mary with a baby Jesus Chri...

A fine & large antique Russian Orthodox icon, circa 1820. This large antique Russian icon painted with egg tempera on wooden panel, depicts the "True Cross" to the center with Saint...

This 19th-century English oil on canvas captures a vivid sporting scene with striking clarity and charm. Set in an expansive wooded landscape with a winding river, the composition fe...

A Captivating Vision: "Clown Avec Un Oiseau" by Charles Levier. This striking oil on canvas painting, titled "Clown Avec Un Oiseau" (Clown with a Bird) in French, is a captivating...

This delightful 19th century oil on panel presents an intimate and romantic outdoor scene, capturing two refined ladies dressed in voluminous gowns seated in the countryside, near th...

Symbolic and meaningful work of religious art with original label on the back. Framed oil on wooden panel, Madonna and child, after Italian Nicolo Barabino (1833-1891). The original...

Matteo Lovatti (Italian, 1861-1909) A Fine 19th-Century Oil on Canvas Titled 'Church V. State - The Fencing Lesson'. The finely detailed artwork depicting an interior tavern scene, f...

Spanish Rococo Giltwood Frames with Flowers Paintings Giltwood Double Oval Hanging Frame with Pink Flowers Painting and Bow Ribbon Details. Spain, 1940s. These stunning oil on canva...

This is an absolutely stunning and finely painted KPM Berlin Plaque after Paul Thumann's (1834-1908) 'Kunst Bringt Gunst' (meaning 'Art wins heart'), sign...

Imperial Majesty: 19th-Century Ming Dynasty Emperor Silk Painting This exquisite silk painting, dating back to the 19th century, depicts a majestic Ming Dynasty emperor in all his regalia. Hand-painted with meticulous detail and presented in a beautiful frame, this artwork showcases the rich tradition of Chinese silk painting. The vibrant colors and intricate brushwork capture the emperor's imperial stature and the grandeur of the Ming Dynasty. The painting's subject matter and artistic style make it a captivating addition to any collection. Dimensions: Framed measurements: 24 3/4" W x 31" H x 1 1/4" D Condition: Very good antique condition. This Antique Chinese Imperial Emperor Ancestral Painting...

Set of two noble male and female oil paintings in period delicate ornate Rococo wood frames. This pair of highly detailed portraits were purchased at a Swedish estate in the 1970's. ...

Original B&W Abstract Painting in Antique gilt Frame by Shannon Weir, acrylic on panel

Austrian Painting Portrait Of lady oil on canvas Signed Gustav Klimt Framed Art. Portrait of a beautiful woman with blue eyes and red lips in the Manner of Klimt . Work made in the distinctive style of the famous artist Gustav Klimt (July 14, 1862 - February 6, 1918) was an Austrian Symbolist painter and one of the most prominent founding members of the Vienna Art Nouveau (Vienna Secession) movement. His major works include paintings, murals, sketches, and other art objects, many of which are on display in the Vienna Secession gallery. Klimt's primary subject was the female body, and his works are marked by a frank eroticism. This painting is the perfect magic touch to a library, a bedroom wall, and living dining room. To decorate the wall on top of a console or credenza. In an entryway or On top of a fireplace mantel (fireplace). Antique Dealer Los Angeles CA West Hollywood Melrose Ave. La Cienega Blvd. Interior decor and Garden Landscape elements. Great Artwork for Collectors or as a decorative object for a housewarming gift idea. (Austrian, 1862-1918) Portrait of a lady oil on canvas signed lower center Gustav / Klimt Klimt was born in Baumgarten, near Vienna, the second of seven children, three boys and four girls. All three sons displayed artistic talent early on. His father, Ernst Klimt, formerly from Bohemia, was a gold engraver. Ernst married Anna Klimt (nee Finster), whose unrealized ambition was to be a musical performer. Klimt lived in poverty for most of his childhood, as work was scarce and the economy difficult for immigrants. Known for many beautiful artworks such as “the Kiss” “Apple Tree I” “Portrait Of Adele Block Bauer I” “The Tree of Life” “ The Maiden” “Water Serpents II” , Mother and Child, Lady with Fan, The Dancer etc. Gustav Klimt work helped define the Art Nouveau style in Europe. Klimt is known for his paintings, murals, sketches, and other objets d'art. Klimt's primary subject was the female body and his works are marked by a frank eroticism. Amongst his figurative works, which include allegories and portraits, he painted landscapes. He is best known for The Kiss and Portrait of Adele Bloch...

A Bold, Colorful Cubist Abstract Painting in the Manner of Jacques Villon Signed and dated lower right: “M. Jardet” Presented in a striking m...

This refined mid-19th-century oil on canvas is the work of French painter and illustrator Amédée Greux (1836–1879), an accomplished artist known for his richly detailed compositions ...

Peder Mønsted, 1859–1941 This atmospheric painting depicts a tranquil North African oasis where Bedouins and camels are gathered beneath towering palm trees. Rendered with Mønsted’s...

A romantic painting depicting two women sitting on the shore of a lake, looking at the sailboats. It is painted with oil on canvas. The painting is signed with E.L. Garrido. However,...

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...

American portrait oil on canvas of a young ship captain holding a spyglass with a sailing ship, crew in rowboat, and gulls in lower background mounted in the original decorative gilt...

Decorate a wall with this large and colorful oil on canvas painting. Painted in Paris circa 1970 and set in a thick carved gilt frame, the artwork beautifully captures the vibrant at...

Magnificent almond-shaped portrait of a young poet, painted in oil on canvas and framed in a fine carved and gilded wooden frame. At the cente...

Untitled mid-century modern Italian impressionist oil on board painting of a village or town square landscape. The painting features beautifully detailed b...

John Haanstra (Dutch, b. 1940), signed and dated 1985 on lower right. A charming oil painting, showing a winter landscape. Skaters are enjoying seasonal fun on a frozen canal while others go about their daily activities. A typical Dutch windmill can be seen in the background. Typical Dutch style housing can be seen in the foreground. The sky seems to be laden with more snow, creating the sense of more winter fun...

Charles Joshua Chaplin (French, 1825-1891) 'The Bird's Nest' A very fine and charming Rococo revival style oil on canvas depicting a young girl, dressed in 18th century costume and r...

A Large Continental Oil on Canvas "The Prohibited Reading " after Karel Ooms (Belgium, 1845-1900). This beautiful executed painting depicts a historical scene of an old man and a young woman who are huddled over a bible. The pair is gazing in apparent concern or alarm, over the old man's shoulder, towards something outside of the picture. The scene is likely set in the 16th or 17th century when Protestants were prosecuted, amongst others, for reading the bible in the vernacular, a practice prohibited by the Catholic Church at the time. Signed (l/r) A. Ribas 15-12-913. Within a giltwood carved frame. circa: Probably Belgium, 1913. Karel Ooms was born in Dessel on January 27, 1845 as the youngest son of a large peasant family. At school his extraordinary talent for drawing was discovered. When he was twelve his hometown provided financial support which allowed him to study at the Antwerp Academy of fine Arts. One of his teachers at the Academy was Nicaise de Keyser, one of the key figures in the Belgian Romantic-historical school of painting and a painter of mainly history paintings and portraits. After graduating from the Academy 1865 Karel Ooms was welcomed with pomp in his home town Dessel. He painted two altarpieces for the local church Saint Nicolas, to express his gratitude to his city. Karel Ooms settled as an independent artist in Antwerp around 1871. He quickly established a reputation as a portrait painter. In addition, he received commissions for religious paintings and history paintings. He gained particular recognition with two large paintings...

Late 18th century or early 19th century French school circa 1800, Louis XV style oil on panel picturing Chinese people in an ideal garden with a pagoda, a harpsichord : a beautiful 18th century style chinoiserie, showing an idyllic vision of China seen by 18th century European people. Our work was painted in the spirit of Pillement ; it brings to mind 18th century lifestyle and softness. Jean Baptiste...

Decorate a study or a den with this antique chicken painting composition. Created in Belgium circa 1890, and set in the original thick carved giltwood frame, this large painting depi...

Decorate an office or study with this striking oil on canvas equestrian portrait. Titled “Baffling – 4”, signed and dated 1925 by Thomas M. Toher (American, 1868–1929), the work pres...

A pair of circa 1950's Spanish archangel paintings with giltwood frames. Measurements: Height: 58.5" Width: 40" Depth: 3".

Antique Religious Oil Painting, Antique Religious Icon, Antique Gothic Revival Religious Painting, Antique Gothic Revival Cabinet, Reli...

With a distinct hand, the painter has affectionately captured this child's delicate spirit. Highly detailed and of the utmost of skill, this painter showcases his/her abilities quite...

Two exquisite Fête Galante scenes from France, painted in the early 19th century in Rococo style. The first depicts various groups of figures as they gather in a park, with classica...

An English oil on board painting from the late 19th century depicting a hunting scene and set in antique frame. Created in England during the last quarter of the 19th century, this o...

Selection of colorful modern art or gallery wall, circa 1940s-1970s. They are: Top row, left to right: 1) Color Lithograph by Sonia Delaunay, French, circa 1950s. Pencil signed at lower right. It measures 16.5" H x 13.5" W. 2) Cubist oil painting, probably American, circa 1940s. It has been framed in a vintage gilt frame. Various rubs and wear as seen in photos. It measures 22.75" H x 19" W. 3) Naïve modernist portrait painting, American, circa 1950s. Retains original gilt frame. It measures 21.5" H x 19.5" W. Bottom row, left to right: 4) Color lithograph by Jean Lurcat, French, circa 1950s. It has been professionally framed in a black lacquer gallery frame under UV resistant glass. It measures 15.5" H x 19.5" W. 5) Colorful original painting of beach scene...

Elegant oil portrait shows of a young woman in three-quarter profile, painted with careful attention to the softness of her features and the sheen of her gown. Placed in a gilt frame...

Oil on canvas: A vibrant street scene of “Paris, Montmartre”, by Marseille artist Louis Audibert (1880-1983). Depicting a typical Parisian street, lined with residential apartments ...

Oil on canvas portrait entitled:Mr. Bowles of Kentucky, painted by Benoni Irwin (1840-1896) an American portraitist born in new market, Ontario, Canada. He moved to New York as a you...

Impressive Chinese late Qing dynasty four panel folding coromandel screen featuring carved soapstone. The lacquered panels are decorated with idyllic scenes of beauties in a pagoda p...

Splendid oil portrait on canvas of a gentleman in uniform, identified as Professor Moses Bosisio, mayor of Monza, who died in 1846, as reported on a plaque on the back of the paintin...

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

Italian 19th century oil on canvas titled "The Music Professor" depicting a mid-19th century music-room scene of an elder man, the music professor, holding his violin, hat and umbrel...

This is a beautiful antique pair of oil on canvas paintings, one showing the view of the Grand Canal in Venice and the other the view of The Dogana, by the renowned British artist Al...

A very fine and Large Italian 18th-19th century oval-shaped oil on canvas titled "The Triumph of Venice" After the original work by Paolo Veronese (Venice, 1528-1588). The original of this painting hangs in the Palazzo Ducale, Venice. The 'Ricci' coloration suggests a late 17th-early 18th century date. In 1715 Charles de la Fosse advised Ricci to paint only "Veroneses and no more Riccis", Venice, circa 1800. Measures: Height: 45 1/4 inches (115 cm). Width: 29 inches (73.7 cm). Frame height: 58 1/4 inches (147.9 cm). Frame width: 43 1/4 inches (109.9 cm). Frame depth: 5 1/4 (13.3 cm). Provenance: Royal Academy of Scotland. Paolo Veronese (Born 1528, Verona, Republic of Venice - died April 9, 1588, Venice) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance in Venice, famous for paintings such as The Wedding at...

Decorate a library, study, or formal living room with this exceptional 19th-century Italian devotional painting. Created in Italy circa 1850, this large hand-painted oil on canvas i...

Decorate an office or study with this beautiful antique pastoral painting. Hand painted in Italy circa 1870, the painting depicts a tranquil ...

A rare and evocative example of Spanish Colonial art from the Cusco School, this 17th-century oil on wood panel captures the iconic biblical scene of Sain...

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...

This delicate still life captures a vibrant bouquet of pansies in full bloom, arranged informally in a simple glass vase. Rendered in oil on canvas, the composition celebrates the fr...

A distinguished pair of noble portraits Likely painted by Hans Hansen (1769–1829) or another artist from Circle of Jens Juel. These portraits are masterfull...