England - Art

River Boat Landscape, 17th Century Jan Jozefsz VAN GOYEN (1596-1656) Large 17th century Dutch landscape of figures boating on the river, oil on canvas. Excellent quality and condit...

The Penitent Magdalene French School, 18th century oil on canvas, unframed canvas : 33 x 21.5 inches provenance: private collection, France condition: very good and sound condition, ...

Portrait Of Lucas Cranach The Elder (1472-1553), 16th Century German Renaissance School Large 16th Century German School portrait identified as Lucas Cranach The Elder, oil on canv...

Self Portrait Of Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), 18th Century English School Large 18th Century English Self portrait of painter Sir Joshua Reynolds, oil on canvas. Excellent qual...

18th-century celestial FLAMSTEED, John. Hydra Crater Corvus Sextans Virgo London, C. Nourse, 1753. A fine star chart from the Atlas Coelestis, the largest and most accurate star a...

Pontefract Castle, 17th Century after the engraving by Joris Hoefnagel (1542-1601) Large 17th Century view of Pontefract Castle, West Yorkshire, oil on canvas taken from the 16th C...

George Edwards: ""A History of Uncommon Birds"", 1749-1761. A prominent English naturalist and ornithologist, George Edwards (1694 -1773) is best known for his work, ""A Natural His...

Christ Wearing The Crown Of Thorns, 17th Century circle of Carlo Dolci (1616-1686) Large 17th Century Italian Old Master of Christ wearing the Crown of Thorns, oil on canvas. Excel...

Portrait of a Gentleman in Armour beside a Table with Helmut c.1685 Follower or circle of Johann Kerseboom (d.1708) This exquisite Grand Manner work, presented by Titan Fine Art, wa...

The Return Of King Agamemnon, 16th Century circle of Frans I FLORIS (1516-1570) Large 16th Century Flemish Old Master depicting the return of King Agamemnon from the Trojan War, o...

Classical Still Life of Fruit in Basket with other objects Italian artist, 18th century oil on canvas, unframed canvas: 24.5 x 33 inches provenance: private collection, UK condition:...

The Tax Collectors Italian School, early 18th century oil on copper panel, framed framed: 14 x 11.5 inches copper panel : 11.5 x 9 inches provenance: private collection, UK conditio...

This atmospheric 18th century portrait oil painting is attributed to a Scottish artist. Painted circa 1790, The painting is a half length portrait of a seated gentleman. He is wearing a blue bonnet, the badge of a Scottish country gentleman and smoking a clay pipe. The way the light catches his hand and face and gleams on his buttons is lovely. The frame is super in that it echoes the button on his jacket. This is an excellent example of an 18th century Scottish portrait...

Catherine of Braganza (1638–1705), Circle of Sir Peter Lely (1618–1680) Queen consort of England, Scotland, and Ireland, married to King Charles...

This charming British 18th century Old Master portrait oil painting is attributed to noted portrait artist Thomas Hudson. Hudson was most prolific between 1740 and 1760 and, from 174...

Portrait of a Lady French artist, Rococo period 18th century oil on canvas, framed framed: 15 x 12.5 inches canvas: 10.5 x 8.5 inches provenance: private collection, France condition...

18th/19th Century School 'A scene of Christ entering Jerusalem' Medium: oil on canvas, framed Size of painting: 21.5" x 18.25" inches condition: overa...

A FEAST OF THE GODS WITH VENUS AND BACCHUS Collections: With Appleby Brothers, London, June 1957; Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox, London, 1961; John and Eileen Harris, acquired from the above, to 2015. Literature: Jacob Simon and Ellis Hillman, English Baroque Sketches: The Painted Interior in the Age of Thornhill, 1974, cat. no.12 (as by Louis Laguerre); Elizabeth Einberg (ed.), Manners and Morals: Hogarth and British Painting, 1700-1760, exh. cat., London (Tate Gallery), 1987, cat. no.10 (as by Louis Laguerre); Tabitha Barber and Tim Bachelor, British Baroque: Power and Illusion, exh. cat., London (Tate Britain), 2020. Exhibited: Twickenham, Marble Hill House, English Baroque Sketches: The Painted Interior in the Age of Thornhill, 1974, no.12 (as by Louis Laguerre); London, Tate Gallery, Manners and Morals: Hogarth and British Painting, 1700-1760, 1987, no.10 (as by Louis Laguerre); London, Tate Britain, British Baroque: Power and Illusion, cat. no 92, 2020. CUPID AND PSYCHE BEFORE JUPITER Collections: With Appleby Brothers, London, June 1957; Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox, London, 1961; Anthony Hobson, acquired from the above, to 2015. These recently re-united paintings are the most ambitious surviving baroque ceiling sketches made in Britain in the early eighteenth century. From the Restoration until the rise of Palladianism in the 1720s decorative history painting formed the preeminent artistic discipline in Britain. It was a field dominated by Continental artists including the Italian Antonio Verrio and the Frenchmen Louis Laguerre and Louis Chéron...

Portrait of Thomas Collard (rector of Withycombe, Somerset 1670-1691) the city depicted in the distance is thought to be Antwerp. the portrait historically has been thought to be fr...

A finely painted portrait of Man aged 55 years. Signed, Inscribed and Dated with old Dutch family provenance. He weighs a large white millstone ruff and a black silk tunic.

Bathers by the Woodland Pool Dutch School, 17th century circle of Cornelis van Poelenburgh (1594-1667) oil on copper, framed framed: 13 x 15 i...

Peter Monamy (London 1681-1749) A Calm with a Man of War firing a Salute Oil on canvas Canvas Size 14 1/4 x 17 1/4 in Framed Size 20 x 24 in Peter Monamy was an acclaimed British marine painter of the late 17th and early 18th centuries, renowned for his evocative depictions of seascapes and naval scenes. Born in 1681 on Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands, Monamy displayed an early affinity for art, which was shaped by the maritime culture of his homeland. His works vividly capture the drama and grandeur of the sea, marking him as one of the prominent marine artists of his time. At a young age, Monamy moved to London, where he likely apprenticed with a sign painter. His artistic skills flourished during this period, influenced by Dutch marine painters such as Willem van de Velde the Younger...

Exhibited: London, Royal Academy, 1800, no. 93 What was happening in British history painting in around 1800? In recent discussions of the emergence of a British School of history painting following the foundation of the Royal Academy in 1768, this is a question which is rarely posed and one which is not easily answered. Examination of surviving Royal Academy exhibition catalogues reveals a profusion of artists’ names and titles, few of which remain immediately recognizable, whilst endeavours to explain the impact of exhibition culture on painting - such as the 2001 Courtauld show Art on the Line - have tended to focus on the first and second generation of Royal Academician, rather than young or aspiring artists in the early nineteenth century. This makes the discovery and identification of the work under discussion of exceptional importance in making sense of currents in English painting around 1800. Executed by Edward Dayes...

FINE ORIGINAL ANTIQUE 18th CENTURY BRITISH OLD MASTER OIL PAINTING MAN O WAR IN HARBOUR Description Good Condition canvas but very old with some browning in places (see picture). C...

The Military Encampment Circle of Carel van Falens (1683-1733, Flemish) oil on canvas, unframed canvas: 8 x 10.5 inches provenance: private collection, UK condition: very good and so...

Portrait Of A Stallion, 18th Century by William Williams (1727-1791) sales to $60,000 Large circa 1770 portrait of a Stallion race horse in an open landscape, oil on panel by Willi...

Portrait of a Young Boy French Rococo School, 18th century oil on canvas, framed Framed: 24 x 20 inches Canvas : 20 x 16 inches Provenance: private collection, France Condition: very...

From a wonderful selection of hand-coloured mezzotint engravings from: "Phytanthoza Iconographia", c1739, presented in a hand- made parcel-gilt, ebonised and decalcomania frame. So...

Flemish or South German, c. 1700-1720 Hunting trophy with a deer and game, adorned with the accoutrements of the chase Oil on canvas In a period style moulded pine and ebony veneer...

Portrait of Arab Man in Turban French artist, 18th century oil on canvas, framed Framed: 21 x 16.5 inches Canvas : 18.5 x 14 inches Provenance: private collection, France Condition: ...

Italianate landscape garden with classical ornament, including Giambologna's Sabine women and a classical urn, view to a bay beyond Coplestone War...

This elegant portrait, presented by Titan Fine Art, depicts a beautiful young lady seated in a wooded area, resting one arm on a rock, before a landscape and a warm evening sky. She is wearing a white smock under russet-coloured silks, loosely held in place by an immense black diamond clasp on the sleeve, and her body is enveloped in a voluptuous swag of azure silk; the costly fabrics and jewels reveal that the sitter was a paragon of a wealthy and privileged society that she belonged to. Much of the attractiveness of this portrait resides in its graceful composition and the beauty of the youthful sitter. The flowing water in the left margin of the picture and the shell that she holds are compositional devises often used at the time to allude to her potential as wife and mother, recalling Proverbs, Chapter 5, Verse 18: “Let thye fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of thye youth”. Symbolism was a key component to many works of this period and contemporary viewers would have deciphered them immediately. Such images exude a sense of status and Augustan decorum, and were highly influential in transmitting these values into the first half of the eighteenth century. Held in a good quality and condition gilded antique frame. Herman Verelst was from a great dynasty of painters, with many members achieving great success. Specialising in portraits and still life paintings, he was one of the legions of foreign-born artists working in England at the time. Today, many of his pictures are given to other artists or are simply relegated to that term “circle of” which is a great disservice because he had an ability to render faces and drapery on par with some of the best artists at the time. Herman’s work is quite distinctive in the way he rendered faces and this particular pose was a favourite. His faces were portrayed with great skill often using the sfumato technique which gave them a very smooth feel to the skin with no hard lines, and many known works by him show that he could also render drapery with great affect. Our painting was painted in the 1690’s. His father, Pieter Hermansz Verelst...

George Edwards: ""A History of Uncommon Birds"", 1749-1761. A prominent English naturalist and ornithologist, George Edwards (1694 -1773) is best known for his work, ""A Natural His...

Signed and dated: ‘F. Harwood Fecit 1764’ Collections: Probably commissioned by Alexander Gordon, 4th Duke of Gordon (1743-1827); Probably by descent at Gordon Castle, Banffshire to c.1948; Possibly acquired by Bert Crowther of Syon Lodge, Middlesex; Jacques Hollander (1940-2004); Christie’s, 5 December 2013, lot 101; Private collection; Sotheby’s, 2 July 2019, lot 106 Literature: John Preston Neale, Views of the seats of noblemen and gentlemen, in England, Wales and Scotland, London, 1822, vol.I, unpaginated. This marble copy of an ancient bust in the Musei Capitolini usually identified as Faustina the Younger, the daughter of Antoninus Pius and future wife of Marcus Aurelius, was made in Florence by Francis Harwood in 1764. Harwood was one of the most prolific suppliers of decorative marbles for the Grand Tour market and this finely worked example demonstrates the quality of luxury goods available to travellers to Italy. So often anonymous, this unusually signed and dated example, raises questions about the status of marble copies in the period and of sculptors such as Harwood who are known principally for ornamental work. Harwood’s origins remain obscure. He is documented living in Palazzo Zuccari with Joshua Reynolds and the Irish sculptor Simon Vierpyl at Easter 1752, he had certainly settled permanently in Florence by the following year, when he is recorded working with Joseph Wilton. He was admitted to the Florentine Academy on 12 January 1755 (as pittore Inglese, although he was described as scultore in the matriculation account). After Wilson returned to England in 1755 Harwood appears to have worked in a studio near SS. Annunziata with Giovanni Battista Piamontini who had made life-size copies of The Wrestlers and The Listening Slave for Joseph Leeson in 1754. In 1758 both sculptors were contracted to make a statue and a trophy to complete the decoration of the Porta San Gallo, Harwood completing a statue of Equality, installed the following year. By 1760 Harwood was on the brink of his most productive period as a sculptor, producing copies of celebrated antiquities for the ever-increasing audience of Grand Tour travellers and for the domestic market in London. In 1761 Harwood met the young architect James Adam who was in Italy specifically to make contact with suppliers for Robert Adam’s burgeoning practice back in Britain. The Adams offered a remarkably cohesive design package to their clients, encompassing not just architecture, but fixtures, fittings and furniture as well. Harwood was able to supply the brothers with marbles for their new interiors. At Syon, for example, Harwood produced a full-size copy of Michelangelo’s Bacchus for the new dining room the Adams had designed for Hugh Smythson, 1st Duke of Northumberland. Harwood seems to have also specialised in producing sets of library busts. In 1758 Charles Compton, 7th Earl of Northampton, a distinguished traveller commissioned a set of busts which remain in situ at Castle Ashby in Northamptonshire. It is perhaps no coincidence that the Adam brothers were producing designs for new interiors at Castle Ashby at this date. The set included representations of: Cicero, Julius Caesar, Marcus Aurelius, Faustina the Younger, Sappho, Seneca and Homer. Each of these busts Harwood seems to have replicated for multiple patrons, another Adam patron, Thomas Dundas...

Austrian School, 18th Century A Portrait of a Gentleman, thought to be Moses Diego Lopez Pereira, 1st Baron d’Aguilar, in an elaborate coat and a powdered wig Oil on canvas Provena...

A charming 18th-century engraving depicting the religious scene of Rebecca at The Well. Inscribed in plate. Presented in a gilt frame. On paper.

This superb British 18th century Old Master portrait oil painting is attributed to Matthew William Peters. Painted circa 1780 it is a fine half length portrait of a woman gazing to her left. She has a lovely blue bow and sash on her dress. The sympathetic detail in her face is sublime. A really wonderful 18th century Old Master portrait. Matthew William Peters was known for his late 18th century portraits which had both the influence of Sir Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough. Provenance. Lincolnshire estate. Condition. Oil on canvas 30 inches by 25 inches unframed and in good condition. Has has restoration. Frame. Housed in an ornate gilt carved swept period frame, 40 inches by 35 inches framed and in good condition. Matthew William Peters (1742-1814) was an English portrait and genre painter who later became an Anglican clergyman and chaplain to George IV. He became known as "William" when he started signing his works as "W. Peters". Peters was born in Freshwater, Isle of Wight, the son of Matthew Peters (born at Belfast, 1711), a civil engineer and member of the Royal Dublin Society; by Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of George Younge of Dublin. The family moved from England to Dublin when Peters was young. Peters received his artistic training from Robert West in Dublin; in 1756 and 1758 he received prizes from the first School of Design in Dublin. In 1759, he was sent by the Dublin Society to London to become a student of Thomas Hudson and won a premium from the Society of Arts. The group also paid for him to travel to Italy to study art from 1761 to 1765. On 23 September 1762 he was elected to the Accademia del Disegno in Florence. Peters returned to England in 1765 and exhibited works at the Society of Artists from 1766 to 1769. Beginning in 1769, Peters exhibited works at the Royal Academy. In 1771 he was elected an associate and in 1777 an academician. He returned to Italy in 1771 and stayed until 1775. He also probably traveled to Paris in 1783–84, where he met Léopold Boilly, Antoine Vestier, and was influenced by the work of Jean-Baptiste Greuze. On 27 February 1769, Peters became a freemason, and he was made the grand portrait painter of the Freemasons and the first provincial grand master of Lincolnshire in 1792. In 1785, he exhibited portraits of the Duke of Manchester and Lord Petre as Grand Master at the Royal Academy exhibition. According to Robin Simon's article in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, no British contemporary had such an Italian manner of painting as Peters, reflecting the old masters he copied. Many of Peters' works were erotic and although these works did not damage his career, according to Simon, Peters later regretted these when he became an ordained clergyman in 1781. He served as the Royal Academy's chaplain from 1784 to 1788, at which time he resigned to become chaplain to the Prince of Wales. In 1784, Peters was awarded the living of Scalford, Leicestershire by Charles Manners, 4th Duke of Rutland. In 1788, the Dowager Duchess gave him the living at Knipton, at which time he also obtained that at Woolsthorpe. These livings were near to Belvoir Castle...

A fine Dutch still life Old Master by Leendert de Laeff which is signed and dated 1664. This oil on canvas on panel depicts a still life of fruit with insects and butterflies. A supe...

Portrait Of Sir James Hamlyn (1735-1811), MP for Carmarthen, Sheriff of Devon, 18th Century follower of Sir Joshua REYNOLDS (1723-1792) Large 18th Century portrait of Sir James Ham...

'Mgnaminia' Italian School, 18th century ink and wash drawing on paper, framed within a light oak wood frame (behind glass) image size: 10.5 x 7 inches overall framed: 17 x 13 inches...

Francis Sartorius British, (1734-1804) Bay Hunter & Groom Oil on canvas, signed Image size: 24.25 inches x 29.25 inches Size including frame: 32 inches x 37 inches A wonderful spor...

This stunning 18th century Old Master portrait oil painting is attributed to Swedish born, England based artist Michael Dahl. Painted circa 1690 it is a sumptuous half length portrai...

Portrait Of Philadelphia, 17th Century Probably Philadelphia Carey Of Aske Hall, Richmond, North Yorkshire, English Courier & Lady In Waiting to Princess Elizabeth Studio Of Sir Pe...

'Cain et Abel' Circle of Franois Devosge (1732-1811) French pencil drawing with watercolour wash on paper size: 12.25 x 9 inches private collection, France The painting is in overall...

The Great Fire of London in September 1666 was one of the greatest disasters in the city’s history. The City, with its wooden houses crowded together in narrow streets, was a natural fire risk, and predictions that London would burn down became a shocking reality. The fire began in a bakery in Pudding Lane, an area near the Thames teeming with warehouses and shops full of flammable materials, such as timber, oil, coal, pitch and turpentine. Inevitably the fire spread rapidly from this area into the City. Our painting depicts the impact of the fire on those who were caught in it and creates a very dramatic impression of what the fire was like. Closer inspection reveals a scene of chaos and panic with people running out of the gates. It shows Cripplegate in the north of the City, with St Giles without Cripplegate to its left, in flames (on the site of the present day Barbican). The painting probably represents the fire on the night of Tuesday 4 September, when four-fifths of the City was burning at once, including St Paul's Cathedral. Old St Paul’s can be seen to the right of the canvas, the medieval church with its thick stone walls, was considered a place of safety, but the building was covered in wooden scaffolding as it was in the midst of being restored by the then little known architect, Christopher Wren and caught fire. Our painting seems to depict a specific moment on the Tuesday night when the lead on St Paul’s caught fire and, as the diarist John Evelyn described: ‘the stones of Paul’s flew like grenades, the melting lead running down the streets in a stream and the very pavements glowing with the firey redness, so as no horse, nor man, was able to tread on them.’ Although the loss of life was minimal, some accounts record only sixteen perished, the magnitude of the property loss was shocking – some four hundred and thirty acres, about eighty per cent of the City proper was destroyed, including over thirteen thousand houses, eighty-nine churches, and fifty-two Guild Halls. Thousands were homeless and financially ruined. The Great Fire, and the subsequent fire of 1676, which destroyed over six hundred houses south of the Thames, changed the appearance of London forever. The one constructive outcome of the Great Fire was that the plague, which had devastated the population of London since 1665, diminished greatly, due to the mass death of the plague-carrying rats in the blaze. The fire was widely reported in eyewitness accounts, newspapers, letters and diaries. Samuel Pepys recorded climbing the steeple of Barking Church from which he viewed the destroyed City: ‘the saddest sight of desolation that I ever saw.’ There was an official enquiry into the causes of the fire, petitions to the King and Lord Mayor to rebuild, new legislation and building Acts. Naturally, the fire became a dramatic and extremely popular subject for painters and engravers. A group of works relatively closely related to the present picture have been traditionally ascribed to Jan Griffier...

Titan Fine Art presents this exquisite oil on panel portrait depicting a handsome young gentleman in an exuberant black damask doublet. The pose, with one hand holding gloves and the other akimbo, was one that was well-established for gentleman of the upper echelons of society by the time this work was painted. The principle governing portraits at this time was the recording and defining in visual terms of the position of a sitter in society. In addition to brilliant and complex symbols of luxury, they often contained many symbolic elements too; the inclusion of gloves was often used in portraits that celebrated a betrothal as in ancient times gloves were used to seal a marriage contract. The extraordinary costume of a black shimmering doublet, the brilliant white reticella ruff, and the cuffs edged with lace were immensely costly… this attire proclaims to every onlooker that this is a superior being. The rendering of the reticella lace ruff is exquisite and the artist has recorded the design that runs through the black damask fabric with meticulous attention to detail. The preservation of this black pigment is remarkable considering the age of the work. Black pigments are especially vulnerable to fade and wear over time partly due to environmental condition but also from unprofessional cleaning. This work is an exquisite example from the period. According to the inscription in the upper right, the gentleman was in his 22nd year of age in 1624. The coat of arms, which is displayed without a crest, may be ‘blazoned’ in the language of heraldry, as: Sable on a Chevron between in chief two Roundels and in base a Billet [or possibly Square] Or three Martlets Sable. In plainer English this means a black (Sable) background, spanned by a gold (Or) chevron, above which are two golden solid circles (Roundels), and below which is a gold rectangle (Billet); on the chevron are three small black birds (Martlets). Martlets are a stylised form of heraldic bird, believed to be based on the swift, which are conventionally drawn with small tufts instead of feet. In Continental Europe it is also conventional for them to be drawn without beaks, as appears to be the case here. The birds in this instance also have a vaguely duck-like appearance. Five families have been identified with very close armorial bearings to the one in our portrait. They are the (van) Houthem’s (of Brabant), the Prévinaire’s (of Flanders and Holland), and the Proveneer’s (of Liège) and it must be noted that the locations of these families also fit with the painting’s Flemish origins. However the French Grenières’s (of Île-de-France) and the Jallot’s (of Normandy) are the next closest matches and plausible matches, as Frans Pourbus had settled in Paris just a few years before our portrait was painted. This painting has been assessed by a professional conservator prior to going on sale, and as thus, it can be hung and enjoyed immediately. Frans Pourbus the Younger...

This superb Italian 17th century Old Master animal oil painting is attributed to Baroque artist Giovanni Agostino Cassana. Painted circa 1650 the composition is of two rabbits, a guinea pig and a dove in an interior. The two rabbits, one brown one grey are in the immediate foreground, head to head eating something and the dove is standing to their right. The brown and white guinea pig is sitting above and behind them. As the background is dark the animals really stand out and there is superb detail in their respective fur and feathers. This is a charming Italian Old Master animal oil painting and an excellent example of Cassana's work. Provenance. Scottish estate. Condition. Oil on canvas, 24 inches by 20 inches and in good condition. Frame. Housed in a ebonised frame, 32 inches by 28 inches, in good condition. Giovanni Agostino Cassana (c.1658 – 6 May 1720) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. He was a son of Giovanni Francesco Cassana and an elder brother of Niccolò and Giovanni Battista. He was born at Venice, and was initially instructed by his father. In 1670 he worked at the court of Ferdinando de' Medici in Florence and travelled regularly between the two cities, but spent at least the years 1718–1720 in Genoa, where he later died. He painted portraits with some success, but preferred painting animals in the style of Antonio Maria Vasallo, Benedetto Castiglione, and Joannes Fyt, a style which he learned from Jacques van de Kerckhove...

This superb French Old Master oil painting with excellent provenance is by Jean Francois I Millet. It was painted circa 1675 and is a figurative landscape depicting Diana hunting in ...

Portrait of a Clerical Gentleman Italian artist, mid 18th century Circle of Giovanni Battista Carboni (1725-1790) oil on canvas, unframed canvas: 26 x 22 inches provenance: private c...

This magnificent oil on panel portrait, presented by Titan Fine Art, is a splendid example of the sumptuous female portraits that were painted for members of the upper echelons of society during the early part of the 1600’s. The artist has rendered this portrait with meticulous attention to detail and the surface effects of the fine materials. The elaborate lace coif and cuffs are painstakingly delineated, as is the bold black damask, and sumptuous gold decoration of her skirt and stomacher, which is wonderfully preserved and quite remarkable considering the age of the work and the fact that darker pigments are particularly vulnerable to fading and wear. This work with its spectacular depiction of costume is of absolute quality, it can be rated as one of the best works in the artist’s oeuvre and as such it is an important and splendid example of Dutch portraiture. The Dutch Golden Age of painting was a period in Dutch history, roughly spanning the 17th century, in which Dutch trade, science, military, and art were among the most acclaimed in the world. Dutch explorers charted new territory and settled abroad. Trade by the Dutch East-India Company thrived, and war heroes from the naval battles were decorated and became national heroes. During this time, The Dutch Old Masters began to prevail in the art world, creating a depth of realistic portraits of people and life in the area that has hardly been surpassed. The Golden Age painters depicted the scenes that their discerning new middleclass patrons wanted to see. This new wealth from merchant activities and exploration combined with a lack of church patronage, shifted art subjects away from biblical genres. Dress was a key component in portraits, and the exuberant attire reiterates the incredible wealth of this woman. The sitter will have visited the artist’s workshop and inspected examples on display. They would have chosen the size and the sort of composition and on that basis negotiated the price – which would have also been determined by the complexity of the clothing and the jewels that were to be depicted, and by the materials to be used. When all was considered, this portrait would have cost the sitter (or her husband) a substantial sum. The colour black was regarded as humble and devout yet at the same time refined and sophisticated and the most expensive colour of fabric to dye and to maintain. Citizens spent fortunes on beautiful black robes. Such uniformity must also have had a psychological side-effect and contributed to a sense of middle-class cohesion; the collective black of the well-to-do burgess class will have given its members a sense of solidarity. The colour was always an exciting one for artists and when this portrait was painted there were at least fifty shades of it, and as many different fabrics and accoutrements. Artists went to great lengths to depict the subtle nuances of the colour and the fabrics and textures and how they reflected light and it was an ideal background against which gold and crisp white lace could be juxtaposed to dramatic effect. The sitter is either a married women or a widower as is evident by the clothing that she wears and the position, toward her right, it is highly likely that this portrait was once a pendant that hung on the right-hand side of her husband’s portrait as was convention at the time. She wears a vlieger which was a type of sleeveless over-gown or cape worn by well-to-do married women in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Variations with short sleeves or high shoulder rolls are known. Sometimes sleeves were attached with aiglets, and often slits were made to allow belts or the hands to pass through. Three-piece vlieger costumes of this kind were standard items of clothing in portraits of the women of the civic elite in the period 1600-40 and was a variant of the Spanish ‘ropa’ and served as a trademark of well-to-do married burgher women. Girls and unmarried woman, including beguines, wore a bouwen (a dress with a fitted bodice and a skirt that was closed all round) instead. This clear distinction between apparel for married and unmarried women is clear not only from inventories and trousseau lists, but also from contemporary sources such as the Dutch Spanish dictionary published by Juan Rodrigues in 1634. In it, a bouwen is described as a ‘ropa de donzella’ (over-gown worn by a virgin) and a vlieger as a ‘ropa de casada’ (overgown worn by a married woman). It is striking how few women are depicted wearing a bouwen, unless they are part of a group, family or children’s portrait and it can therefore be assumed that independent portraits of unmarried women were seldom commissioned. It is also believed that the clothing worn in these portraits existed and were faithfully reproduced when cross-referenced with the few exact documents. These sources also demonstrate that clients wanted their clothing to be depicted accurately and with this in mind precious garments and jewels were often left in the painter’s studio. The prominent white lawn molensteenkraag (or millstone ruff) is held up by a wire supportasse and was reserved only for the citizens that could afford this luxurious item that often required 15 meters of linen batiste. The fabulous wealth of this sitter is also evident by the elaborate lace coif and cuffs which have been exquisitely depicted; lace was often literally copied by artists in thin white lines over the completed clothing. The gold bracelet with jewels is a type that was evidently fashionable as it is seen in a number of portraits during the 1610s and 1620. Clothing and jewellery were prized possessions and were often listed in inventories of estates and passed down from generation to generation. There were a great number of jewellers of Flemish origin working at all the courts and cities of Europe, competing with the Italians, and then the French, adapting themselves to the tastes and positions of their patrons and the raw materials available in the country where they worked. The fashion for jewels “in the Flemish style” succeeded that of the Italian style. Cornelis van der Voort, who was probably born in Antwerp around 1576, came to Amsterdam with his parents as a child. His father, a cloth weaver by trade, received his citizenship in 1592. It is not known who taught the young Van der Voort to paint, but it has been suggested that it was either Aert Pietersz or Cornelis Ketel. On 24 October 1598 Van der Voort became betrothed to Truytgen Willemsdr. After his first wife’s death he became betrothed to Cornelia Brouwer of Dordrecht in 1613. In addition to being an artist, Van der Voort was an art collector or dealer, or both. In 1607 he bought paintings from the estate of Gillis van Coninxloo, and after an earlier sale in 1610 a large number of works he owned were auctioned on 7 April 1614. Van der Voort is documented as appraising paintings in 1612, 1620 and 1624. In 1615 and 1619 he was warden of the Guild of St Luke. He was buried in Amsterdam’s Zuiderkerk on 2 November 1624, and on 13 May 1625 paintings in his estate were sold at auction. Van der Voort was one of Amsterdam’s leading portrait painters in the first quarter of the 17th century. Several of his group portraits are known. It is believed that he trained Thomas de Keyser (1596/97-1667) and Nicolaes Eliasz Pickenoy (1588-1650/56). His documented pupils were David Bailly (c. 1584/86-1657), Louis du Pré...

Portrait The Honourable Mrs Elizabeth Tufton (Wilbraham), circa 1710 Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723) Large circa 1710 portrait of The Honourable Mrs E...

Price is for the set of 12 framed engravings. Hand-coloured mezzotint engravings from: ""Phytanthoza Iconographia"", c1739, presented in hand-made pa...

Portrait of a Noble Lady English artist, mid 18th century circle of Thomas Gainsborough (English 1727-1788) oil on canvas, unframed canvas: 30 x 25 inches provenance: private collect...

This accomplished watercolours is a fine copy of John Downman's portrait of Sarah Siddons. Painted in the early 19th century, watercolours was a contempo...

This superb British Old Master oil painting is attributed to circle of Sir Thomas Lawrence. Painted circa 1795, the sitter is Major-General James Hanson Salmond (1766–1837) an office...

Cain & The Death Of Abel, 18th Century School of William Blake (1757-1827) Circa 1790 English School depiction of Cain and the Death Of Abel, oil on canvas. Rare biblical depiction...

Michael Ayrton (1921-1975) Girl Wringing out her Hair Patinated bronze, 1962 26cm in height Michael Ayrton was a British artist and writer, renowned as...

A finely painted picture, possibly of the penitent Mary Magdelane, painted in oil on to a copper plate and dating to c1750. Condition Two old touch ins, tiny chip to the forehead...