Mythology

01 Work, CONTEMPORARY Interpretation of the Bible! Adrien Dekeyser's Annonciation, with Footnotes - #54

Adrien Dekeyser, 1914 - 1950

Annonciation, c. 1939

Mixed media on panel

68,5 x 26,6 cm; 27 by 10½ in.

Private collection

Estimated for 3,000 - 5,000 EUR in Mar 2023

The Annunciation is the announcement by the archangel Gabriel to Mary that she would conceive and bear a son through a virgin birth and become the mother of Jesus Christ, the Christian Messiah and Son of God, marking the Incarnation. Gabriel told Mary to name her son Immanuel, meaning "God is with us". More on the Annunciation

When he died prematurely at the age of thirty-six, it was already two years since Adrien Dekeyser had moved away from painting to devote himself to puppet theatre. A versatile artist and poet, he was known for his work in many fields. This charming composition, focused on the extraordinary spectacle of the Annunciation, is an example of the artist’s various interests and points to his final career.

In his childhood home, his mother had a huge attic containing paintings, fabrics and two skeletons with which the children were allowed to play. The artist’s taste for costumes and puppets may have stemmed from this period. Equally, his father would take him to the hospital when entertainment was put on for sick children and in this unusual context he was able to enjoy clowns and magic shows.

Dekeyser often used gouache or egg tempera, as in the case of this Annunciation, which he gave to his close friend Asta for her birthday in 1939. The palette features the artist’s favourite colours: ochres and a deep blue. The vertical composition, with its elongated figures on a unified, unreal background, evokes a puppet show, focused on the protagonists and the action, in this case the music. More on Adrien Dekeyser

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01 Work , RELIGIOUS ART, Daniele da Volterra's The Madonna of the Zodiac - with footnotes #202

Daniele Ricciarelli, called Daniele da Volterra, Volterra 1509 - 1566

The Madonna of the Zodiac

Red chalk

405 by 257 mm; 16 by 10 ⅛ in.

Private collection

Estimate for 100,000 - 150,000 USD in Jan 2023

On the present sheet the light falls strongly from the left, enhancing the voluminous and heavy draped cloth which, covering the Madonna's plaited hair, falls down behind her back to create two large folds to the side of her right hip. These, like waves, return to wrap her legs down to the feet, with several elegantly cascading folds, casting strong shadows to the right, clarifying form and volume as in a sculpture.

A Zodiac is visible behind the Madonna and Child, who stands on a globe while resting his left hand on a transversal cross. On the globe it is possible to discern the shape of the Italian peninsula. The Madonna, her head in profile to the right while talking to the Child, indicates with both hands towards the Zodiac, which alludes to Christ's role as ''chronocrator'': Lord of Cosmic Time. This subject is very seldom painted and its presence here must reflect the commission of a cultivated and refined patron particularly interested in astrology. The signs of Scorpio and Sagittarius can be easily detected to the left of the Madonna. Moreover she rests her right foot on a cloud over a crescent moon. The intriguing historical relationship between science and Christianity was perceived differently at different times, and not surprisingly was also often seen as a controversial combination in the context of the visual arts. More on this work

Mannerist painter and sculptor Daniele Ricciarelli da Volterra died on 4 April 1566 in Rome. Daniele initially trained with the Sienese painter Sodoma, and then with Baldassarre Peruzzi and Perin del Vaga in Rome. Here, Daniele befriended Michelangelo, whose influence marked his whole career. Their relationship drew much criticism on Daniele’s account, although it was not based on a passive imitation of Michelangelo’s style: Daniele indeed posed as the artist’s second self. Buonarroti helped him gaining prestigious commissions and provided him with drawings, which Daniele used as starting points for his own inventions, as in the case of the Orsini Chapel in Trinità dei Monti. The only known surviving part of the decoration is the altarpiece of the Deposition.

In 1547 Daniele succeeded Perino in the Sala Regia, but with Paul III’s death he lost the commission and the decoration was later completed by others. Daniele’s major works also include the Della Rovere chapel in Trinità dei Monti, the Massacre of the Innocents for the Church of Saint Peter in Volterra (now in Florence), and David Killing Goliath, a two-sided painting long attributed to Michelangelo. Upon the latter’s death (1564), Daniele was assigned the task to cover the nudities of the Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel, earning the infamous nickname of Il Braghettone (“The Breeches Maker”).

In his late career Daniele devoted himself to sculpture, working on a bronze equestrian statue of Henry II of France (unfinished) and on a series of bronze busts of Michelangelo. More on Daniele Ricciarelli da Volterra

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01 Work , RELIGIOUS ART, Jan Miel's The feeding of the poor at the gates of a monastery - with footnotes #199

Jan Miel (Antwerp 1599-1663 Turin)

The feeding of the poor at the gates of a monastery; one of the Seven Acts of Mercy

Feeding the poor of Gaza!

Oil on canvas

40.3 x 54cm (15 7/8 x 21 1/4in)

Private collection

Estimated for £7,000 - £10,000 in June 2025

The Seven Acts of Mercy, also known as the Corporal Works of Mercy, are a set of seven compassionate acts that address the physical needs of others, according to Catholic tradition. They include feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, visiting the sick, visiting the imprisoned, and burying the dead.

Jan Miel (1599 in Beveren-Waas – April 1664 in Turin) was a Flemish painter and engraver who was active in Italy. He initially formed part of the circle of Dutch and Flemish genre painters in Rome who are referred to as the 'Bamboccianti' and were known for their scenes depicting the lower classes in Rome. He later developed away from the Bamboccianti style and painted history subjects in a classicising style.

He collaborated with many artists in Rome and worked in the latter part of his career in Turin as the court painter of Charles Emanuel II, the Duke of Savoy. More on Jan Miel

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01 Work, CONTEMPORARY Interpretation of the Bible! Rose Datoc Dall's First News of the Resurrection, with Footnotes - #53

Rose Datoc Dall

First News of the Resurrection

Oil on canvas

48x24

Church History Museum

The women disciples who went to the Savior's tomb that first Easter Sunday, to anoint His body with spices. They encountered an angel who told them that Jesus has risen. They were told to spread the news to the disciples. These women were the first bearers of news of the resurrection.

Filipina-American artist, Rose Datoc Dall was born in Washington, DC and raised in Northern Virginia. She received her BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in 1990. Mrs. Dall's artwork is predominately a contemporary figurative painter. Roses figurative work is distinctive for her graphic compositions, her unconventional use of color and her linear graphic sensibility. Rose is also known for her body of religious artwork in addition to her figurative work.

Mrs. Dall has received several awards and honors for her work; most notably, she is a three-time Purchase Award Winner of the International Art Competition for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (2019, 2015, 2009). Her works are in permanent collections at the Museum of Church History and Art in Salt Lake City, Brigham Young University, and Southern Virginia University. More on Rose Datoc Dall

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01 Work, Interpretations of Olympian deities, August Groh's Diana hunting, with footnotes #40

GROH, A.(1871 Neckarsteinach - 1944 ebd.)

Diana hunting, c. 1898

Oil on canvas

Private collection

Sold for 5500.00 € in March 2023

The goddess with her entourage hunting a deer that flees into the water on a rocky cliff!

Diana is a goddess in Roman and Hellenistic religion, primarily considered a patroness of the countryside, hunters, crossroads, and the Moon. She is equated with the Greek goddess Artemis, and absorbed much of Artemis' mythology early in Roman history, including a birth on the island of Delos to parents Jupiter and Latona, and a twin brother, Apollo, though she had an independent origin in Italy.

Diana was originally considered to be a goddess of the wilderness and of the hunt, a central sport in both Roman and Greek culture.] Early Roman inscriptions to Diana celebrated her primarily as a huntress and patron of hunters. More on Diana

August Groh (born February 23 , 1871 in Neckarsteinach ; died there in 1944 ) was a German painter . He was a professor at the Karlsruhe School of Applied Arts and the Baden State School of Art .

Groh studied from 1888 to 1900 at the Academy in Karlsruhe with Gustav Schönleber. He was a professor at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Karlsruhe and in 1920 was accepted at the Landeskunstschule as a professor for figure drawing . Also active as a book illustrator , for example in 1898 for the German first edition of Kipling's Jungle Book. He was a member of the senate of the Karlsruhe Art Academy. Until 1924 he taught monumental painting and poster art. On May 1, 1924, he was retired and his class was disbanded due to austerity measures. He then worked as a freelance artist. More on August Groh

A private collection is a privately owned collection of works (usually artworks) or valuable items. In a museum or art gallery context, the term signifies that a certain work is not owned by that institution, but is on loan from an individual or organization, either for temporary exhibition or for the long term. This source is usually an art collector, although it could also be a school, church, bank, or some other company or organization. More on Private collection

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01 Work, RELIGIOUS ART, IGian Girolamo Bonesi's Madonna with Child and San Giovannino - with footnotes #207

Gian Girolamo Bonesi

Madonna with Child and San Giovannino

Oil on canvas

cm. 75x96

Private collection

Sold for €4,800 EUR in May 2023

Giovanni Girolamo Bonesi (1653–1725) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period.

He was born in Bologna. He was the pupil of the painter Giovanni Maria Viani, but followed the style of Carlo Cignani. He painted a St Francis of Sales kneeling before the Virgin for the church of San Marino; a St Thomas of Villanova giving Alms to the Poor for the church of San Biagio; and a Virgin and Infant Christ, with Mary Magdalene and St Hugo for the Certosa di Bologna. More on Giovanni Girolamo Bonesi

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01 Work, CONTEMPORARY Interpretation of the Bible! Gonzalo Bilbao Martinez's Procession of the Seven Words, with Footnotes - #53

Gonzalo Bilbao Martinez

Procession of the Seven Words, c. 1902

Oil on canvas

54 x 45 cm

Carmen Thyssen Museum Málaga

The "Procession of the Seven Words" refers to a religious event, a solemn procession that often takes place on Good Friday, where participants, particularly members of religious brotherhoods, reflect on and commemorate the seven last words of Jesus on the cross. The artwork depicts the entrance of the Brotherhood of the Seven Words into a cathedral, showcasing the event.

Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34

In 1902, Alfonso XIII was proclaimed King of Spain. Joaquín Sorolla went to Seville to attend the coronation and also to take up Gonzalo Bilbao's invitation to paint the processional parades. Bilbao himself painted this scene of the entrance of the Brotherhood of the Seven Words into the metropolitan cathedral, just when the Seville brotherhoods were considering the creation of a new official processional route.

Like a press photographer, the painter took up a position facing the main procession. In the foreground stands the elder, staff in hand; behind him are several penitents who, like him, are wearing white robes and black shoes, some carrying candles and one the white flag; in the middle are youths with candlesticks, and an altar boy with a thurible. At the sides are women in mantillas and in the background, the float carries Roldán's crucified Christ (from which the brotherhood takes its name) and the 19th-century images of Our Lady of Remedies, St John and Mary Magdalene. More on this work

Gonzalo Bilbao Martínez (27 May 1860 – 4 December 1938) was a Spanish costumbrista painter and art professor.

He was born in Seville, the son of a well-to-do lawyer and the older brother of the sculptor, Joaquín Bilbao. With the encouragement of José Jiménez Aranda, he began drawing lessons at an early age. At his father's insistence, he studied law along with his art lessons.

In 1880, he completed his law degree, but never entered into practice; continuing his art lessons and devoting himself exclusively to painting. As it turned out, his father was pleased with the results and paid his expenses for travelling to France and Italy with Aranda. He remained in Italy for three years, establishing himself in Rome; travelling frequently to Naples and Venice, where he painted both urban and rural scenes.

He returned to Spain in 1884. His restless temperament made it difficult for him to become accustomed to life in Seville, so he moved constantly, painting landscapes and wasted little time planning new trips; visiting Algeria and Morocco. From there, it was back to Paris, where he sold his Moroccan paintings. His travels continued throughout Europe and America.

In 1893, he was appointed a member of the Academia de Bellas Artes and, in 1901, became President of the Athenaeum. In 1903, he succeeded Aranda as a Professor at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de Santa Isabel de Hungría.

He is perhaps best known for a series of sketches and paintings depicting "cigarreras" (cigar makers), made during the 1910s at the Royal Tobacco Factory. During his later years, he received numerous awards, including the Order of Isabella the Catholic and the Order of Carlos III.

In 1935, he was elected a member of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando and moved to Madrid. He died in Madrid, aged 78, during the Spanish Civil War, while the city was under siege. After the war, his widow donated his remaining works to the Museo de Bellas Artes. More on Gonzalo Bilbao Martínez

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01 Work, RELIGIOUS ART, Carlo Francesco Nuvolone's Martyrdom of Saint Catherine - with footnotes #205

Carlo Francesco Nuvolone (1609-1662)

Martyrdom of Saint Catherine

Oil on canvas

cm. 97x75

Private collection

Sold for €10,000 EUR in November 2023

Saint Catherine of Alexandria is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, who was martyred in the early 4th century at the hands of the pagan emperor Maxentius. According to her hagiography, she was both a princess and a noted scholar, who became a Christian around the age of fourteen, and converted hundreds of people to Christianity. She was martyred around the age of 18. Over 1,100 years following her martyrdom, St. Joan of Arc identified Catherine as one of the Saints who appeared to her and counselled her.

The emperor condemned Catherine to death on a spiked breaking wheel, but, at her touch, it shattered. Maxentius ordered her to be beheaded. Catherine herself ordered the execution to commence. A milk-like substance rather than blood flowed from her neck.

The Eastern Orthodox Church venerates her as a Great Martyr, and celebrates her feast day on 24 or 25 November (depending on the local tradition). In the Catholic Church she is traditionally revered as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. In 1969 the Catholic Church removed her feast day from the General Roman Calendar; however, she continued to be commemorated in the Roman Martyrology on 25 November. More on Saint Catherine of Alexandria

Carlo Francesco Nuvolone (1608 or 1609 in Milan – 1661 or 1662 in Milan) was an Italian painter of religious subjects and portraits who was active mainly in Lombardy. He became the leading painter in Lombardy in the mid-17th century, producing works on canvas as well as frescoes.

After working with his father, Carlo Francesco studied at the Accademia Ambrosiana in Milan under Giovanni Battista Crespi (il Cerano). In that studio he would have encountered Daniele Crespi and Giulio Cesare Procaccini.

He later worked in Milan and its environs. During the 1650s, Nuvolone painted frescoes for the Cappella di San Michele in the Certosa di Pavia and contributed to the decorations of the sacro monte (hillside shrine) at Varese, an important local pilgrimage site. He later also painted frescos at the Sacro Monte di Orta. His brother occasionally assisted him with his fresco work.

Among his pupils were Giuseppe Zanata, Federigo Panza, Filippo Abbiati, and Pietro Maggi. More on Carlo Francesco Nuvolone

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02 Works , RELIGIOUS ART, Peter Paul Rubens and Jan Brueghel the Elder's The Garden of Eden with the Fall of Man - with footnotes #203

Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) and Jan Brueghel the Elder (1568–1625)

The Garden of Eden with the Fall of Man, circa 1615

Oil on panel

height: 74.3 cm (29.2 in); width: 114.7 cm (45.1 in)

Mauritshuis

The scene is a reference to Genesis 2:8–14 and hosts a variety of animals, presumably 100, from diverse ecosystems. There is a Capuchin Monkey from South America, hidden to the left, who bites into an apple to symbolize the sin about the be committed by Adam and Eve. Since Adam has yet to commit the original sin, these creatures all live in harmony – a cow peacefully watches while two large cats play. Birds of Paradise are also painted with a scientific accuracy. Up until the time of this painting, these birds were believed to lack feet, and in this painting, they are depicted clearly. This was a modernistic move on Bruegel’s behalf.

Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) and Jan Brueghel the Elder (1568–1625)

Detail; The Garden of Eden with the Fall of Man, circa 1615

Oil on panel

height: 74.3 cm (29.2 in); width: 114.7 cm (45.1 in)

Mauritshuis

The monkey next to Adam is the hotspur who cannot resist temptation, while the choleric cat near Eve's heels represents cruel cunning In Christian symbolism, several grapes in the foliage behind Adam and Eve represent Christ's death on the cross, as wine represents his blood. A plethora of exotic birds such as peacocks and macaws spectate Adam's detrimental demise.

Sir Peter Paul Rubens (28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish Baroque painter. A proponent of an extravagant Baroque style that emphasized movement, colour, and sensuality, Rubens is well known for his Counter-Reformation altarpieces, portraits, landscapes, and history paintings of mythological and allegorical subjects.

In addition to running a large studio in Antwerp that produced paintings popular with nobility and art collectors throughout Europe, Rubens was a classically educated humanist scholar and diplomat who was knighted by both Philip IV of Spain and Charles I of England. More Sir Peter Paul Rubens

Jan Brueghel (also Bruegel or Breughel) the Elder (1568 – 13 January 1625) was a Flemish painter and draughtsman. He was the son of the eminent Flemish Renaissance painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder. A close friend and frequent collaborator with Peter Paul Rubens, the two artists were the leading Flemish painters in the first three decades of the 17th century.

Brueghel worked in many genres including history paintings, flower still lifes, allegorical and mythological scenes, landscapes and seascapes, hunting pieces, village scenes, battle scenes and scenes of hellfire and the underworld. Brueghel represented the type of the pictor doctus, the erudite painter whose works are informed by the religious motifs and aspirations of the Catholic Counter-Reformation as well as the scientific revolution with its interest in accurate description and classification.

The artist was nicknamed "Velvet" Brueghel, "Flower" Brueghel, and "Paradise" Brueghel. The first is believed to have been given him because of his mastery in the rendering of fabrics.[7] The second nickname is a reference to his fame as a painter of (although not a specialist in) flower pieces and the last one to his invention of the genre of the paradise landscape. His brother Pieter Brueghel the Younger was traditionally nicknamed "de helse Brueghel" or "Hell Brueghel" because it was believed he was the author of a number of paintings with fantastic depictions of fire and grotesque imagery. These paintings have now been reattributed to Jan Brueghel the Elder. More on Jan Brueghel

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01 Work, RELIGIOUS ART, Juan De Flandes' Deposition from the Cross - with footnotes #206

Juan De Flandes (Spain 1460-1519 attributed)

Deposition from the Cross

Oil on canvas

cm. 56x70

Private collection

Estimated for €2,500.00 in Feb 2023

The Descent from the Cross, or Deposition of Christ, is the scene, as depicted in art, from the Gospels' accounts of Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus taking Christ down from the cross after his crucifixion. In Byzantine art the topic became popular in the 9th century, and in the West from the 10th century. The Descent from the Cross is the 13th Station of the Cross.

Other figures not mentioned in the Gospels who are often included in depictions of this subject include St. John the Evangelist, who is sometimes depicted supporting a fainting Mary, and Mary Magdalene. The Gospels mention an undefined number of women as watching the crucifixion, including the Three Marys and Mary Salome. More on Deposition of Christ

Juan de Flandes ("John of Flanders"; c. 1460 – by 1519) was an Early Netherlandish painter who was active in Spain from 1496 to 1519; his actual name is unknown, although an inscription Juan Astrat on the back of one work suggests a name such as "Jan van der Straat". Jan Sallaert, who became a master in Ghent in 1480, has also been suggested.

He was born around 1460 in Flanders (modern Belgium). He evidently trained in his home country, most likely in Ghent, as his work shows similarities to other Ghent artists. He is only documented after he became an artist at the court of Queen Isabella I of Castile, where he is first mentioned in the accounts in 1496. He is described as "court painter" by 1498 and continued in the queen's service until her death in 1504. He mostly painted portraits of the royal family, but also the majority of a large series of small panels for a polyptych altarpiece for the queen. The panels have been dispersed and the largest number of panels is in the royal collection in Madrid.

After Isabella's death in 1504 Juan de Flandes turned to ecclesiastical commissions from Spanish churches, beginning in Salamanca in 1505–7. He was later based in Palencia, where there is a large reredos in the Cathedral. The overwhelming majority of his work, held in collections outside Spain, date from this later period during which he concentrated on religious themes.

His works show the Early Netherlandish style of Ghent adapted to the Spanish taste and landscape, notably the requirements for groups of compartmented scenes for altarpieces. His colouring is refined, "with a preference for rather acid hues", and "while his feeling for space and light is sophisticated, a tendency to divide space into a succession of thin planes becomes a mannerism in his late works". More on Juan de Flandes

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