01 Work, Contemporary Interpretations of Olympian deities, with footnotes #21

Anna Razumovskaya

Three Graces 2

Oil on canvas stretched on wood

36"x48"

Private collection

In Greek mythology, a Charis or Grace is one of three or more minor goddesses of charm, beauty, nature, human creativity, and fertility, together known as the Charites or Graces. The usual list, from youngest to oldest is Aglaea ("Splendor"), Euphrosyne ("Mirth"), and Thalia ("Good Cheer"). In Roman mythology they were known as the Gratiae, the "Graces". In some variants, Charis was one of the Graces and was not the singular form of their name.

The Charites were usually considered the daughters of Zeus and Eurynome, though they were also said to be daughters of Dionysus and Aphrodite or of Helios and the naiad Aegle. Other possible names of their mother by Zeus are Eurydome, Eurymedousa, and Euanthe. Homer wrote that they were part of the retinue of Aphrodite. The Charites were also associated with the Greek underworld and the Eleusinian Mysteries.

The river Cephissus near Delphi was sacred to them. More Three Graces (aka the Charities)

Anna Razumovskaya is best known for her classic, romantic figures that carry a sense of elegance and grace. 

Anna is a graduate of the Russian State Academy Of Arts (Rostov-on-Don), where she was awarded the distinction of high-class artist in 1991. Subsequently she studied art in Germany, Belgium and Holland. With solo exhibitions in New York, Paris, Toronto, Amsterdam, Antwerp and Berlin and numerous works in private collections across the globe. 

Born at the height of the Cold War, Anna was exposed to very different worlds. She experience the austere world of the communist regime alongside the sophisticated and feminine influence of her fashion-conscious mother. She excelled at art school, and enjoyed the freedom of learning and perfecting her technique in a variety of different media. Of particular interest to her were the portrait masters of the late 19th Century, John Singer Sargent, the Russian painter Valentin Serov, and earlier masters such as Peter Paul Rubens and Rembrandt. She traveled around Europe absorbing the influences of artists, and finally settled in Canada which she now feels to be her true home. More on Anna Razumovskaya

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01 Work, Interpretation the bible, With Footnotes - 123

Johann Carl Loth, 1632 Munich - 1698 Venice, successor

JUDITH WITH THE HEAD OF HOLOFERNES

Oil on canvas. Relined. 

111 x 154 cm.

Private collection

The Book of Judith is the Old Testament of the Bible. The story revolves around Judith, a daring and beautiful widow, who is upset with her Jewish countrymen for not trusting God to deliver them from their foreign conquerors. She goes with her loyal maid to the camp of the enemy general, Holofernes, with whom she slowly ingratiates herself, promising him information on the Israelites. Gaining his trust, she is allowed access to his tent one night as he lies in a drunken stupor. She decapitates him, then takes his head back to her fearful countrymen. The Assyrians, having lost their leader, disperse, and Israel is saved. Though she is courted by many, Judith remains unmarried for the rest of her life. More on The Book of Judith

Johann Carl Loth (1632 – 6 October 1698) was a German Baroque painter, born in Munich but active most of his life in Venice. He was the son and pupil of Johann Ulrich Loth (1590–1662) and was possibly influenced by Giovan Battista Langetti. He was commissioned to paint for the emperor Leopold I in Vienna. He worked together with Pietro Liberi in Venice, where he was during the years 1663-1698. His brother Franz Loth was also a painter in Venice and Germany. More on Johann Carl Loth

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01 Work, Interpretation the bible, With Footnotes - 122

Marco Benefial, 1684 - 1764, train.
SUSANNA AND THE OLD MEN
Oil on canvas. Relined. 
230 x 297 cm.
Private collection

Presentation of the biblical theme incorporated into a fountain garden architecture animated by tiered marble blocks and garden vases. On the right, sliding down a red cloth, on which lie gilded silver objects with fully figurative decor. In the middle the half-naked Susanna, who is about to pull a white cloth over her shoulder, her breast already covered by this cloth, as anticipation of the hidden nakedness. To the left of her are the two old people who have lurked behind the balustrade. More on this painting

A fair Hebrew wife named Susanna was falsely accused by lecherous voyeurs. As she bathes in her garden, having sent her attendants away, two lustful elders secretly observe the lovely Susanna. When she makes her way back to her house, they accost her, threatening to claim that she was meeting a young man in the garden unless she agrees to have sex with them.

She refuses to be blackmailed and is arrested and about to be put to death for promiscuity when a young man named Daniel interrupts the proceedings, shouting that the elders should be questioned to prevent the death of an innocent. After being separated, the two men are questioned about details of what they saw, but disagree about the tree under which Susanna supposedly met her lover. In the Greek text, the names of the trees cited by the elders form puns with the sentence given by Daniel. The first says they were under a mastic, and Daniel says that an angel stands ready to cuthim in two. The second says they were under an evergreen oak tree, and Daniel says that an angel stands ready to saw him in two. The great difference in size between a mastic and an oak makes the elders' lie plain to all the observers. The false accusers are put to death, and virtue triumphs. More about Susanna

Marco Benefial (25 April 1684 – 9 April 1764) was an Italian, proto-Neoclassical painter, mainly active in Rome. Benefial is best known for his repudiation of 18th century decorative Rococo styles pre-eminent in the Rome dominated by Carlo Maratta pupils. His paintings portrayed tangible human figures, with complex treatment of space, and luminous, warm colors. Along with the altarpieces and frescoes, he also painted many portraits. Because he partnered with some inferior artists who subsequently received credit, some of his paintings have been frequently misidentified. More on Marco Benefial

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01 Work, RELIGIOUS ART - Interpretation the bible, With Footnotes - 121

Jean Jacques Henner, 1829 Bernweiler / Alsace - 1905 Paris

SALOME, c. 1903

Oil on canvas. 

99.1 x 66 cm.

Private collection

Painted circa 1903. Henner's painting depicts Salome as a three-quarter portrait in a red dress and an almost pale complexion, emerging from the dark background like a figure of light. More on this painting

Salome was the daughter of Herod II and Herodias. She is infamous for demanding and receiving the head of John the Baptist, according to the New Testament. According to Flavius Josephus's Jewish Antiquities, Salome was first married to Philip the Tetrarch of Ituraea and Trakonitis. After Philip's death in 34 AD she married Aristobulus of Chalcis and became queen of Chalcis and Armenia Minor. They had three children. Three coins with portraits of Aristobulus and Salome have been found. Her name in Hebrew meaning "peace". More on Salome

Jean-Jacques Henner (15 March 1829 – 23 July 1905) was a French painter. Henner was born at Bernwiller (Alsace). He began his studies in art as a pupil of Michel Martin Drolling and François-Édouard Picot. In 1848, he entered the École des Beaux Arts in Paris, and took the Prix de Rome with a painting of Adam and Eve finding the Body of Abel in 1858. In Rome, he was guided by Flandrin, and painted four pictures for the gallery at Colmar among other works.

Henner's most widely known work is his 1885 portrait of Saint Fabiola. Although the original is now lost, it was copied by artists around the world for devotional purposes. Artist Francis Alÿs has collected over 500 copies of the portrait in a variety of media. The collection, known as the "Fabiola Project," is on exhibit at the Byzantine Fresco Chapel of the Menil Collection in Houston from May 21, 2016 - May 13, 2018.

Henner died at age 76 in Paris. More Jean-Jacques Henner

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01 Painting, Olympian deities, by the Old Masters, with footnotes #37

Attributed to Francesco Cairo, (Milan 1607-1674) 

Hercules and Omphale 

Oil on canvas

41 3/8 X 33 1/4 IN.

Private collection

Hercules and Omphale. Wishing to expiate the murder of one of his friends, Hercules consulted the oracle of Apollo, who advised him to enter the service of Omphale, Queen of Lydia. Although Hercules was the son of Zeus and was famed for his invincible strength, he submitted to the tasks the queen devised for him to expiate his crime. Omphale fell in love with Hercules for his strength and physical beauty, and the couple married. This tale, found in both Greek and Roman mythology, is told with a number of variations. It proved a great source of inspiration for French and Italian Mannerist painters, as well as the Venetian artists who influenced Lemoyne. François Boucher also painted a version of the same love scene. More on Hercules and Omphale

Francesco Cairo (26 September 1607 – 27 July 1665) was an Italian Baroque painter active in Lombardy and Piedmont. He was born and died in Milan. It is not known where he obtained his early training though he is strongly influenced by the circle of il Morazzone, in works such as the Saint Teresa altarpiece in the Certosa di Pavia.

In 1633, Cairo moved to Turin to work as a court painter. Between 1637–1638, Cairo travelled to Rome, where he encounters the works of Pietro da Cortona, Guido Reni and of the Caravaggisti. He returns to Lombardy to complete altarpieces for the Certosa of Pavia and a church at Casalpusterlengo. Between 1646–1649, he returns to Turin, and paints an altarpiece for Savigliano and the church of San Salvario. He is also known as Il Cavalière del Cairo, because in Turin, he received the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus in recognition of his merit.

Many of his works are eccentric depictions of religious ecstasies; the saints appear liquefied and contorted by piety. He often caps them with exuberant, oriental turbans. More on Francesco Cairo

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01 Work, Interpretation of the bible, With Footnotes - 176

Francesco Hayez, (1791–1882)

Meeting between Esau and Jacob, c. 1844

Oil on canvas

Height: 208 cm (81.8 ″); Width: 300 cm (118.1 ″)

Tosio Martinengo Gallery, in Brescia, Lombardy

Jacob and Esau. The Book of Genesis speaks of the relationship between Jacob and Esau, focusing on Esau's loss of his birthright to Jacob and the conflict that had spawned between their descendant nations because of Jacob's deception of their aged and blind father, Isaac, in order to receive Esau's birthright/blessing from Isaac.

This conflict was paralleled by the affection the parents had for their favored child: "Now Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison, and Rebekah loved Jacob." (Genesis 25:28). Even since conception, their conflict was foreshadowed: "And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the Lord. And the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger." (Genesis 25:22–23)

This passage in Genesis 25:26 is as if Jacob was seemingly trying to pull Esau back into the womb so that he could be firstborn. The grasping of the heel is also a reference to deceptive behavior. More on Jacob and Esau

Francesco Hayez (10 February 1791 – 21 December 1882) was an Italian painter, the leading artist of Romanticism in mid-19th-century Milan, renowned for his grand historical paintings, political allegories and exceptionally fine portraits.

Hayez came from a relatively poor family from Venice. He was brought up by his mother's sister, who had married a well-off shipowner and collector of art. From childhood he showed a predisposition for drawing, so his uncle apprenticed him to an art restorer. Later he became a student of the painter Francesco Maggiotto with whom he continued his studies for three years. He was admitted to the painting course of the New Academy of Fine Arts in 1806. In 1809 he won a competition from the Academy of Venice for one year of study at the Accademia di San Luca in Rome. He remained in Rome until 1814, then moved to Naples where he was commissioned by Joachim Murat to paint a major work depicting Ulysses at the court of Alcinous. In the mid-1830s he attended the "Salotto Maffei" salon in Milan.

Francesco Hayez lived long and was prolific. His output spanned both historic paintings, and Neoclassic style grand themes, either from biblical or classical literature. He also painted scenes from theatrical presentations of his day.  More Francesco Hayez

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01 Painting, Olympian deities, by the Old Masters, with footnotes #36

Italian master of the 17th century

THE ROYAL OF THE SABINERS

Oil on canvas. Relined. 

117 x 187 cm.

Private collection

In the center of the large-format picture, in the open air, two Romans in armor with spring-loaded helmet, holding in their hands a young woman who defends herself with arms raised against their abduction. On the left side of the picture the wide sea with a big sailboat. A young man with a helmet and a paddle in his hands seems to be waiting for the abductee to take her away with his boat. On the right side underneath a round temple eager battles fight, in which also a horse is to be seen. More on this painting

The Sabines were an Italic people that lived in the central Apennine Mountains of ancient Italy, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome.

The Sabines divided into two populations just after the founding of Rome, which is described by Roman legend. The division, however it came about, is not legendary. The population closer to Rome transplanted itself to the new city and united with the preexisting citizenry, beginning a new heritage that descended from the Sabines but was also Latinized. The second population remained a mountain tribal state, coming finally to war against Rome for its independence along with all the other Italic tribes. After losing, it became assimilated into the Roman Republic. More on The Sabines

In art history, "Old Master" refers to any painter of skill who worked in Europe before about 1800, or a painting by such an artist. The term "old master drawing" is used in the same way.

In theory, "Old Master" applies only to artists who were fully trained, were Masters of their local artists' guild, and worked independently, but in practice, paintings produced by pupils or workshops are often included in the scope of the term. Therefore, beyond a certain level of competence, date rather than quality is the criterion for using the term. More on the Old Master

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01 Works, RELIGIOUS ART - Interpretation of the bible, With Footnotes - 175

Attributed to Luis de Morales (Badajoz circa 1509-1586)

Christ as the Man of Sorrows 

Oil on panel

35.9 x 30.1cm (14 1/8 x 11 7/8in)

Private collection

Man of Sorrows is paramount among the prefigurations of the Messiah identified by Christians in the passages of Isaiah 53 in the Hebrew Bible. It is also an iconic devotional image that shows Christ, usually naked above the waist, with the wounds of his Passion prominently displayed on his hands and side, often crowned with the Crown of Thorns and sometimes attended by angels. It developed in Europe from the 13th century, and was especially popular in Northern Europe.

The image continued to spread and develop iconographical complexity until well after the Renaissance, but the Man of Sorrows in its many artistic forms is the most precise visual expression of the piety of the later Middle Ages, which took its character from mystical contemplation rather than from theological speculation". Together with the Pietà, it was the most popular of the andachtsbilder-type images of the period - devotional images detached from the narrative of Christ's Passion, intended for meditation. More on the Man of Sorrows

Luis de Morales (1512 – 9 May 1586) was a Spanish painter born in Badajoz, Extremadura. Known as "El Divino", most of his work was of religious subjects, including many representations of the Madonna and Child and the Passion.

Influenced, especially in his early work, by Raphael Sanzio and the Lombard school (fr) school of Leonardo, he was called by his contemporaries "The Divine Morales", because of his skill and the shocking realism of his paintings, and because of the spirituality transmitted by all his work.

His work has been divided by critics into two periods, an early stage under the influence of Florentine artists such as Michelangelo and a more intense, more anatomically correct later period similar to German and Flemish Renaissance painters. More on Luis de Morales

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01 Work, CONTEMPORARY Interpretation of the Bible! With Footnotes - 37

Elle Hanley, United States

Breaking Eden

Photography

24 W x 16 H x 0.1 in

Private collection

Eve is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, she was the first woman. In Islamic tradition, Eve is known as Adam's wife and the first woman although she is not specifically named in the Quran.

According to the second chapter of Genesis, Eve was created by God by taking her from the rib of Adam, to be Adam's companion. She succumbs to the serpent's temptation to eat the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. She shares the fruit with Adam, and as a result the first humans are expelled from the Garden of Eden. Christian churches differ on how they view both Adam and Eve's disobedience to God, and to the consequences that those actions had on the rest of humanity. Christian and Jewish teachings sometimes hold Adam and Eve to a different level of responsibility for the fall, although Islamic teaching holds both equally responsible. More on Eve

Elle Hanley is a self taught American Fine Art photographer currently living and working in Seattle. Her work is alluring and unexpected, focusing mainly on capturing beauty and emotion in a still shot of time. She began photography seven years ago as an artistic outlet and it grew into a full fledged devotion. Elle enjoys the challenges in creating something classic and timeless from a thoroughly modern process and the contradiction between the two is a strong theme throughout her work. Currently she is mixing the realms of art and fashion, working to expand her current open series, as well as creating self portraits. always working on several projects and bringing new and intriguing characters to life to photograph. More on Elle Hanley

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01 Work, RELIGIOUS ART - Interpretation of the bible, With Footnotes - 174

Francesco Zaganelli, (c. 1475–1532)

St. Lucy
Tempera and gold on wood
12 3/8 x 7 3/4 in. (31.4 x 19.7 cm)
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Saint Lucy, Italian Santa Lucia (died 304, Syracuse, Sicily), virgin and martyr who was one of the earliest Christian saints to achieve popularity, having a widespread following before the 5th century. She is the patron saint of the city of Syracuse (Sicily). Because of various traditions associating her name with light, she came to be thought of as the patron of sight.

Lucy came from a wealthy Sicilian family. Spurning marriage and worldly goods, however, she vowed to remain a virgin in the tradition of St. Agatha. An angry suitor reported her to the local Roman authorities, who sentenced her to be removed to a brothel and forced into prostitution. This order was thwarted, according to legend, by divine intervention; Lucy became immovable and could not be carried away. She was next condemned to death by fire, but she proved impervious to the flames. Finally, her neck was pierced by a sword and she died.

Lucy was a victim of the wave of persecution of Christians that occurred late in the reign of the Roman emperor Diocletian. References to her are found in early Roman sacramentaries and, at Syracuse, in an inscription dating from 400 ce. As evidence of her early fame, two churches are known to have been dedicated to her in Britain before the 8th century, at a time when the land was largely pagan. More Saint Lucy

The emblem of eyes on a cup or plate apparently reflects popular devotion to her as protector of sight. Lucia (from the Latin word "lux" which means "light"). In paintings St. Lucy is frequently shown holding her eyes on a golden plate. She also holds the palm branch, symbol of victory over evil. More The emblem of eyes

Francesco da Cotignola (c. 1475-1532), also called Zaganelli, was an Italian painter of the Renaissance period, active mainly in Parma and Ravenna. He was a pupil of the painter Niccolo Rondinelli. He painted for Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe near Ravenna, Faenza, and Parma. His brother, Bernardino, was also a painter, but nowhere as successful as what Francesco was able to do. He was likely also family of Girolamo Marchesi da Cotignola.

In his native Cotignola he shared his workshop with his brother Bernardino Zaganelli (1499-1519). Their first known joint work is the Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints John the Baptist and Floriano and Three Angels (1499). Their last is the Holy Family (1509). After the abandonment of his brother, who left the workshop in 1509, Francesco, who until then had worked mainly in tempera, took up new directions by taking an interest in woodcut.

He died in Ravenna in 1532 , leaving the construction of a pictorial cycle unfinished in the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe . He was buried in the basilica, as he had requested. More on Francesco da Cotignola

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01 Work, Interpretation of the bible, With Footnotes - 173

Venetian School, circa 1510

The Madonna and Child with Saints Leonard and Ursula

Oil on panel

61 x 80cm (24 x 31 1/2in)

Private collection

The Madonna and Child or The Virgin 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 on The Madonna and Child

Leonard of Noblac (or of Limoges or Noblet; also known as Lienard, Linhart, Leonhard, Léonard, Leonardo, Annard) (died 559 AD), is a Frankish saint closely associated with the town and abbey of Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat, in Haute-Vienne, in the Limousin (region) of France.

According to unreliable sources, he was a courtier who was converted by St. Remigius, refused the offer of a See from his godfather, King Clovis I, and became a monk at Micy. He lived as a hermit at Limoges and was rewarded by the king with all the land he could ride around on a donkey in a day for his prayers, which were believed to have brought the Queen through a difficult delivery safely. He founded Noblac monastery on the land so granted him, and it grew into the town of Saint-Leonard. He remained there evangelizing the surrounding area until his death. He is invoked by women in labor and by prisoners of war because of the legend that Clovis promised to release every captive Leonard visited. More on Leonard

Saint Ursula (Latin for "little female bear") is a Romano-British Christian saint. Because of the lack of definite information about her and the anonymous group of holy virgins who accompanied her and on some uncertain date were killed at Cologne, they were removed from the Roman Martyrology and their commemoration was omitted from the General Roman Calendar when it was revised in 1969.

Her legend, is that she was a princess who, at the request of her father King Dionotus of Dumnonia in south-west Britain, set sail to join her future husband, the pagan governor Conan Meriadoc of Armorica, along with 11,000 virginal handmaidens. After a miraculous storm brought them over the sea in a single day to a Gaulish port, Ursula declared that before her marriage she would undertake a pan-European pilgrimage. She headed for Rome with her followers and persuaded the Pope, Cyriacus, and Sulpicius, bishop of Ravenna, to join them. After setting out for Cologne, which was being besieged by Huns, all the virgins were beheaded in a massacre. The Huns' leader fatally shot Ursula with a bow and arrow in about 383. More Saint Ursula

Venetian school (art). From the later part of the 15th century, Venice had a distinctive, thriving and influential art scene. Beginning with the work of Giorgione (c. 1477–1510), and the workshop of Giovanni Bellini (c. 1430–1516), major artists of the Venetian school included Titian (1489–1576), Tintoretto (1518–1594), Veronese (1528–1588) and the Bassano (1510–1592). Considered to bring a primacy of color over line, this tradition was seen to contrast with the Mannerism then prevalent in the rest of Italy, and the Venetian style is viewed as having had a great influence on the subsequent development of painting. More on Venetian school

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01 Work, Interpretation of the bible, With Footnotes - 172

Bernardo Cavallino, (Naples 1616-1656)

Saint John the Evangelist 

Oil on canvas, octagonal

93.2 x 83.4cm (36 11/16 x 32 13/16in)

Private collection

Saint John the Apostle, also called Saint John the Evangelist or Saint John the Divine (flourished 1st century ce), in Christian tradition, the author of three letters, the Fourth Gospel, and the Revelation to John in the New Testament. He played a leading role in the early church at Jerusalem.

John was the son of Zebedee, a Galilean fisherman, and Salome. John and his brother James were among the first disciples called by Jesus. In the Gospel According to Mark he is always mentioned after James and was no doubt the younger brother. His mother was among those women who ministered to the circle of disciples. James and John were called by Jesus “Boanerges,” or “sons of thunder,” perhaps because of some character trait such as the zeal exemplified in Mark 9:38 and Luke 9:54, when John and James wanted to call down fire from heaven to punish the Samaritan towns that did not accept Jesus. John and his brother, together with Simon Peter, formed an inner nucleus of intimate disciples. In the Fourth Gospel, ascribed by early tradition to John, the sons of Zebedee are mentioned only once, as being at the shores of the Sea of Tiberias when the risen Lord appeared; whether the “disciple whom Jesus loved” (who is never named) mentioned in this Gospel is to be identified with John (also not named) is not clear from the text. More on Saint John

Bernardo Cavallino (1616–1656) was an Italian painter and draughtsman. He is regarded as one of the most original painters active in Naples during the first half of the 17th century. 

Born in Naples, his paintings are some of the more stunningly expressive works emerging from the Neapolitan artists of his day. Little is known about his background or training. Of eighty attributed paintings, less than ten are signed. He worked through private dealers and collectors whose records are no longer available.

One of his masterpieces is the billowing proletarian Blessed Virgin at the Brera Gallery in Milan. Passive amid the swirling, muscular putti, this Neapolitan signorina delicately rises from the fog, the updated Catholic baroque equivalent of a Botticelli's Venus. His The Ecstasy of St Cecilia exists both as cartoon (Museo di Capodimonte, Naples)[2] and final copy in the Palazzo Vecchio of Florence. Finally, his Esther and Ahasuerus hangs in the Uffizi Gallery.

He is thought to have died during the plague epidemic in 1656. More on Bernardo Cavallino

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