Mythology

02 Works, CONTEMPORARY Interpretation of the Bible! The Martyrdom of Saint Lucy, with Footnotes - #58

Manuel Álvarez Bravo

Detail; Lucy, c. 1980

Gelatin silver print

Private collection

Manuel Álvarez Bravo

Lucy, c. 1980

Gelatin silver print

Private collection

Manuel Álvarez Bravo was a teenager when he first picked up a camera and began taking pictures, before he enrolled in night classes in painting at the Academia San Carlos, in 1917, or sought instruction in the darkroom of local German photographer Hugo Brehme. Initially self-taught, Álvarez Bravo’s style developed through study of foreign and local photography journals. In these pages, he first encountered the work of Edward Weston and Tina Modotti, who came to Mexico in 1923; the latter became a close colleague and supporter, introducing Álvarez Bravo to the artists of Mexico’s avant-garde, including Diego Rivera, Frida Khalo, and Rufino Tamayo, as well as encouraging him to send photographs to Weston.

In the 1930s, Álvarez Bravo met Paul Strand, traveling with him while he worked in Mexico, and Henri Cartier-Bresson. With Cartier-Bresson and Walker Evans he exhibited in a three-man show at the Julien Levy Gallery, New York, in 1935. Mexico was a cultural hub for many in the international avant-garde in these years; André Breton visited, including Álvarez Bravo in the Exposition of Surrealism he organized in 1940 in Mexico City. Although the artist never identified with Surrealism, it was a major theme in the analysis of his pictures throughout his career. Revealing the influence of his formative years following the Mexican Revolution of 1910, Álvarez Bravo would instead speak of his interest in representing the cultural heritage, peasant population, and indigenous roots of the Mexican people in the face of rapid modernization. More on Manuel Álvarez Bravo

Enzo Triolo
Angel of Branches - Saint Lucy

I have no further description, at this time

Enzo Triolo is a Freelance Illustrator and visual designer based in Catania (Italy).

After a few months in an adv agency in 2014, he left that job and moved to freelance work; since 2021 he work as a freelance character artist and storyboard artist for the Italian Stormind Games / Red Raion for TBA projects. More on Enzo Triolo

Lucia of Syracuse (283–304), also called Saint Lucia (Latin: Sancta Lucia) better known as Saint Lucy, was a Roman Christian martyr who died during the Diocletianic Persecution. She is venerated as a saint in the Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, and Eastern Orthodox churches. She is one of eight women explicitly commemorated by Catholics in the Canon of the Mass. Lucia of Syracuse was honored in the Middle Ages and remained a well-known saint in early modern England. She is one of the best known virgin martyrs, along with Agatha of Sicily, Agnes of Rome, Cecilia of Rome and Catherine of Alexandria.

The oldest record of her story comes from the fifth-century Acts of the Martyrs. The single fact upon which various accounts agree is that a disappointed suitor accused Lucy of being a Christian, and she was executed in Syracuse, Sicily, in the year 304 during the Diocletianic Persecution. Her veneration spread to Rome, and by the sixth century to the whole Church.

The emblem of eyes on a cup or plate apparently reflects popular devotion to her as protector of sight, In paintings St. Lucy is frequently shown holding her eyes on a golden plate. Lucy was represented in Gothic art holding a dish with two eyes on it. She also holds the palm branch, symbol of martyrdom and victory over evil. More on Saint Lucy

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01 Work, CONTEMPORARY Interpretation of the Bible! Rupert BUNNY's Burial of St Catherine of Alexandria, with Footnotes - #60

Rupert Charles Wulsten Bunny (29 September 1864 – 25 May 1947)

Burial of St Catherine of Alexandria, (c. 1896)

Oil on canvas

130.5 × 200.5 cm

National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

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

Rupert Charles Wulsten Bunny (29 September 1864 – 25 May 1947) was an Australian painter.[1] Born and raised in Melbourne, Victoria, he achieved success and critical acclaim as an expatriate in fin-de-siècle Paris.[2] He gained an honourable mention at the Paris Salon of 1890 with his painting Tritons and a bronze medal at the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1900 with his Burial of St Catherine of Alexandria.[3] The French state acquired 13 of his works for the Musée du Luxembourg and regional collections.[4] He was a "sumptuous colourist and splendidly erudite painter of ideal themes, and the creator of the most ambitious Salon paintings produced by an Australian." More on Rupert Charles Wulsten Bunny

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01 Work, CONTEMPORARY Interpretation of the Bible! Eugene Berman's The Masked Annunciation, with Footnotes - #59

Eugene Berman (1899-1972)

The Masked Annunciation, c. 1942

Pen, India ink and wash on board

16 3/16 x 13 1/8 in (41 x 33.3 cm)

Private collection

Sold for US$1,147.50 in December 2022

In 1942, Berman worked on several sketch versions of the Masked Annunciation. The most finished version is in the permanent collection of the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens in Jacksonville, Florida, but there are two other unsigned and undated versions illustrated in The Graphic Work of Eugene Berman (E. Berman, New York, 1971), both of which are dated 1942 and similarly titled. The standing figure on the left is the Angel Gabriel, although his face and wings are not shown, he is identified by the traditional white lilies which he holds. In many earlier scenes of the Annunciation painted during the Renaissance, the Angel Gabriel is shown only by a powerful ray of light on the Virgin. More on this work

Born in Russia, Eugene Berman is known for his imaginary landscapes and architectural conceits. He is also recognized for his Baroque-like stage set designs for the likes of the Metropolitan Opera. A leader among the Surrealist and Neo-Romantic artists, Berman focused on the expression of emotion, loneliness and human isolation that emerged between the World Wars. Trained in Paris, and influenced directly by the works of Pierre Bonnard, Berman was drawn to the U.S. by the legendary dealer Julien Levy and exhibited alongside Salvador Dali, Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp and a young Howard Warshaw. Inspired by imaginary worlds created by Hollywood, Berman lived in Los Angeles for almost ten years during which time he enjoyed the patronage of the legendary collector Wright Ludington. Berman’s work is held by many significant museums and has been featured in solo exhibitions including 2005's High Drama: Eugene Berman and the Legacy of the Melancholic Sublime. In 1957, Berman retired to Rome after the death of his wife, actress Ona Munson. More on Eugene Berman

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01 Work, RELIGIOUS ART - Interpretation the bible, Paul Rieth's Adam and Eve, with Footnotes - #131

Paul Rieth, Pöszneck 1871 - 1925 Munich

Adam and Eve, also called The Lost paradise

Oil on canvas

162,4 x 168 cm; 64 by 66 ⅛in.

Private collection

Estimated for 5,000 - 20,000 EUR in March 2023

In a desolate landscape of rocks and brown and red cliffs, with no way to escape, a naked Adam and Eve, marked by the original sin, lament their fate. Rieth has here reduced the narrative to its essentials, without introducing any unnecessary picturesque element, focusing on the guilt and distress of the unfortunate couple, expelled from Earthly Paradise.

Painted with vigour and a sure hand, this work was presented by the artist at the Munich Exhibition of Fine Arts in 1902, where its high pictorial quality came as a surprise, since Paul Rieth was better known for his illustrations in a smaller format. More on this painting

Paul Rieth ( born June 16, 1871 in Pößneck , Thuringia; † May 15 , 1925 in Munich ) was a painter and draftsman . Paul Rieth distinguished himself through his depiction of sophisticated social life in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century.

In his lifetime, Paul Rieth was mainly known as a draftsman and illustrator. He had a crucial role in Jügend, the most important journal of the Munich Secession. From 1899, he was its principal illustrator, producing 607 drawings and 59 front covers.

Trained at the arts academy in Munich (Akademie der Bildenden Künste, München) under Max von Widnmann and Ludwig von Löfftz, Paul Rieth continued to paint, despite being busily employed at Jügend. More on Paul Rieth

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01 Work, CONTEMPORARY Interpretation of the Bible! Helisena Girl's Maeia with child, with Footnotes - #57

Helisena Girl, (1831 Lindau - 1916 Augsburg)

Maria with child, 1896

Oil on panel

14 x 11.5 cm

Private collection

Sold for €1,100 EUR in Mar 2023

Maria with child or Madonna and Child is often the name of a work of art which shows the Virgin Mary and the Child Jesus. The word Madonna means "My Lady" in Italian. Artworks of the Christ Child and his mother Mary are part of the Roman Catholic tradition in many parts of the world including Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, South America and the Philippines. Paintings known as icons are also an important tradition of the Orthodox Church and often show the Mary and the Christ Child. They are found particularly in Eastern Europe, Russia, Egypt, the Middle East and India. More Madonna and Child

Helisena Girl (1831–1916) was a German painter known for her portrait and genre art. An active figure in the Augsburg art scene, she was part of a circle of female artists in the 19th century, a time when women faced challenges balancing their creative ambitions with societal gender roles.

She spent a significant portion of her life and career in Augsburg, where she was active as a painter. A journal article detailing the letters of painter Julie Hagen includes a section on Girl and fellow painter Lina List, and their correspondence sheds light on the experiences of female artists in Augsburg at the time.

Her works have occasionally appeared at auction. For example, her painting Sit! was sold in 2015 by Bonhams. Other works sold at auction include Maria mit Kind (Madonna and Child) in 2023 and Girl feeding pigeons in 1984. More on Helisena Girl

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01 Work, RELIGIOUS ART - Interpretation the bible, Northern Netherlands' Entombment of Christ, with Footnotes - #130

Northern Netherlands, first third 16th C.

The entombment of Christ

Oil on panel

31 x 23,5 cm

Private collection

Sold for € 10.200 in March 2023

The burial of Jesus refers to the burial of the body of Jesus after crucifixion, before the eve of the sabbath described in the New Testament. According to the canonical gospel accounts, he was placed in a tomb by a councillor of the sanhedrin named Joseph of Arimathea. In art, it is often called the Entombment of Christ.

The earliest reference to the burial of Jesus is in a letter of Paul. Writing to the Corinthians around the year 54 AD, he refers to the account he had received of the death and resurrection of Jesus

The four canonical gospels, written between 66 and 95, all conclude with an extended narrative of Jesus' arrest, trial, crucifixion, burial, and resurrection. All four state that, on the evening of the Crucifixion, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body, and, after Pilate granted his request, he wrapped it in a linen cloth and laid it in a tomb. More on Burial of Jesus

Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting represents the 16th-century response to Italian Renaissance art in the Low Countries. These artists, who span from the Antwerp Mannerists and Hieronymus Bosch at the start of the 16th century to the late Northern Mannerists such as Hendrik Goltzius and Joachim Wtewael at the end, drew on both the recent innovations of Italian painting and the local traditions of the Early Netherlandish artists. Antwerp was the most important artistic centre in the region. Many artists worked for European courts, including Bosch, whose fantastic painted images left a long legacy. Jan Mabuse, Maarten van Heemskerck and Frans Floris were all instrumental in adopting Italian models and incorporating them into their own artistic language. Pieter Brueghel the Elder, with Bosch the only artist from the period to remain widely familiar, may seem atypical, but in fact his many innovations drew on the fertile artistic scene in Antwerp. More on Northern Netherlands Art 16C

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01 Work , RELIGIOUS ART, Giovanni Bellini's Madonna and Child with Saints John the Baptist and Elizabeth - with footnotes #203

Giovanni Bellini

Madonna and Child, John the Baptist and Saint Elizabeth

Mixed technique on poplar

72.0 x 90.0 x 0.9 cm

Städel Museum

The Mother of God and the Christ Child are in the company of John the Baptist and his mother, Elizabeth. This devotional painting radiates quietude of a virtually sublime character. The pictorial type known as ‘sacra conversazione’ (sacred conversation) was extremely popular. Successful artists like Bellini produced several versions of it, combining figures based on standardised models. This explains why Elizabeth and John cannot see the Infant Jesus, but only Mary’s back. The painting undoubtedly owes its aura in good part to the brilliant blue produced from the precious lapis lazuli. More on this painting

Giovanni Bellini was born into a Venetian artist family as the illegitimate son of Jacopo Bellini. He doubtless received his training - as a panel painter, draughtsman and miniaturist - in his father's workshop. By 1459 Giovanni maintained his own household, and his first reliably documented work, which he signed along with his father and his brother Gentile, dates from the following year. This is the 'Pala Gattamalata' in S Antonio in Padua. Between the 1470s and 1516, the year of his death, continuous commissions in Venice are documented. After 1479 and the departure of his older brother Gentile for Constantinople, Giovanni was repeatedly engaged on important commissions from the Republic of Venice, which also named him the Serenissima's official painter in 1483. His high esteem is also confirmed by his membership in a number of the Venetian scuole. Beginning in the 1490s Giovanni Bellini was awarded increasing numbers of commissions from neighbouring princely families, notably from Isabella d'Este and Francesco Gonzaga. In a letter to Willibald Pirckheimer from 1506, Albrecht Dürer described Bellini as "very old ... but still the best in painting". In addition to altarpieces, paintings of the Madonna for private devotions and portraits make up a large part of Giovanni Bellini's oeuvre. Along with Antonello da Messina, he is of extraordinary importance in Venetian painting for his development of the 'sacra conversazione'. He shrewdly adapted to the swiftly changing expectations of the art market during his lifetime by using his workshop, in which Giorgione and Titian both worked for a time, for the virtual mass production of pictorial compositions which were reproduced in full or half figures. During his long career Bellini was equally skilful in adapting his art to the most varied influences: from his father, Jacopo, who still worked in the International Gothic style, to his brother-in-law Andrea Mantegna and even his pupils and followers Giorgione and Titian. More on Giovanni Bellini

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01 Work, Interpretation of the bible, Master of the Legend of Saint Lucy's Saint Margaret of Antioch, with Footnotes - part #223

Attributed to the Master of the Legend of Saint Lucy, circa 1435 - 1506/09 Bruges

Saint Margaret of Antioch and a kneeling donor figure in a Gothic church

Oil on panel, unframed

19⅝ by 9 in.; 49.8 by 22.9 cm.

Private collection

Estimated for 15,000 - 20,000 USD in October 2022

This panel once formed the right wing of a devotional triptych, and it is a recent addition to the corpus of the Master of the Legend of Saint Lucy. More on this work

St. Margaret of Antioch, also called St. Marina, (flourished 3rd or 4th century, Antioch, Syria), a virgin martyr, who was one of the most venerated saints during the Middle Ages. Her story, generally regarded to be fictitious, is substantially that of the Eastern St. Marina of Antioch, and is related to that of St. Pelagia of Antioch, who is also known as Margaret or Marina.

During the reign (284–305) of the Roman emperor Diocletian, Margaret allegedly refused marriage with the prefect Olybrius at Antioch and was consequently beheaded after undergoing extravagant trials and tortures. Her designation as patron saint of expectant mothers (particularly in difficult labour) and her emblem, a dragon, are based on one of her trials: Satan, disguised as a dragon, swallowed Margaret; his stomach, however, soon rejecting her, opened, and let her out unharmed. In 1969 Margaret’s feast day, formerly July 20, was eliminated in the revised calendar of the Roman Catholic Church because it is doubtful whether she ever existed. Nevertheless, during the medieval period she ranked among the most famous saints; her voice was among those attested to have been heard by St. Joan of Arc. More on St. Margaret of Antioch

Master of the Legend of Saint Lucy (fl. 1480–1510) was an unidentified Early Netherlandish painter from Bruges. His name comes from an altarpiece in the church of Saint James in Bruges, dated 1480, depicting three scenes from the life of Saint Lucy. Since then, twenty-five to thirty-five paintings have been attributed to the same hand. He may have trained Spanish students at his studio in Bruges. Many of his paintings are characterized by views of the city of Bruges in the background, and can be dated according to the level of construction of its belfry. He may have trained with Dieric Bouts, and was certainly influenced by Hans Memling.

He has been associated with the Bruges master Fransois vanden Pitte, active in Bruges between 1453 and 1456. More on Master of the Legend of Saint Lucy

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01 Work, RELIGIOUS ART - Interpretation of the bible, il Perugino's Madonna and Child with two cherubs, With Footnotes - #174

Pietro Vannucci, known as il Perugino

Madonna and Child with two cherubs, c. 15th century

Tempera on panel

Palazzo Baldeschi Museum

This painting illustrates the painter's masterful drawing technique and his unique ability, anticipating Raphael, to execute holy iconography even in a small format painting.

The cherub's heads, which had been obscured by dark paint, came back to light after a restoration carried out in 1927. Following a sale later that same year, the painting entered Robiolio di Biella's collection where it remained until 1987 when it was purchased by the Savings Bank of Perugia. As a work from Perugino's mature years which is stylistically comparable to his Pala dei Decemviri (Decemviri altarpiece), this painting can be dated to the last decade of the 15th Century. More on this painting

Giovanni Santi described the young Perugino as the artistic equal of Leonardo: 'Two young ones, equal in their gifts and ages, Leonardo da Vinci and Perugino, Piero from Pieve, divine painter.' By the end of his life, however, his sweet light manner, unchanging from the 1490s, had been surpassed by his most important associate, Raphael, and by Leonardo himself.

Pietro Vanucci was born in Città della Pieve and was called Perugino after the town of Perugia, where he worked. As a professional painter and the overseer of two or more workshops consecutively, Perugino had great and international success. Raphael worked with him in Perugia in about 1500. The Gallery's fragments 'The Virgin and Child and Saints Michael and Raphael' were part of an altarpiece for the Charterhouse of Pavia. In 1480-2 he was in charge of the wall decoration of the Sistine Chapel, Rome.

His early formation is not recorded. He is thought to have been a pupil of Piero della Francesca. From about 1470 he worked in Florence in the circle of Verrocchio and was also influenced by Botticelli. More on Pietro Vanucci

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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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