18 Works, RELIGIOUS ART - Paintings from the Bible by the Old Masters, with footnotes, 2

Orazio Borgianni - ROME 1574 - 1616
CHRIST AMONGST THE DOCTORS
oil on canvas
78.2 by 104.6 cm.; 30 3/4 by 41 1/4 in.

This extraordinary painting Orazio Borgianni was first published by Federico Zeri in 1956, when the painting was in a New York private collection. Borgianni was born in Rome on 6 April 1574, the son of a wood-painter.  After completing his early training in Rome, Borgianni travelled to Spain where he is recorded from 1598 and his presence there in the first decade of the 17th century is documented intermittently. The biographer Giovanni Baglione tells us he took a wife there and set up an art academy: he is indeed listed among the founders of the Academia de San Lucas in Madrid at the end of June 1603. 

By June 1606 Borgianni had settled back permanently in Rome.  Whilst in Spain he forged links with the artistocracy and found patrons among them, especially those in the inner circle of Philip III's favourite, the duque de Lerma. Francisco Ruiz de Castro was later to become Spanish ambassador in Rome and his secretary, Juan de Lezcano, not only owned numerous paintings by Borgianni (twelve are listed in his will of 1631) but most probably commissioned the present work directly from the artist. More

Pieter Brueghel the Younger - BRUSSELS 1564 - 1637/8 ANTWERP
SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST PREACHING TO THE MASSES IN THE WILDERNESS
oil on oak panel
91.1 by 140.5 cm.; 35 7/8 by 55 1/4 in

Of all Brueghel's treatments of this subject, at least fourteen others, this version would appear to best record their original appearance, given the extraordinary survival of, in particular, the azurite pigments which in all other versions known either first hand or in colour reproduction have at least partly oxidized. This painting thus allows us a unique glimpse of Brueghel's glittering interplay of the three primary colours that, with his own treatments of the composition, he galvanises from that of his father's original, replacing, for example, the cream coloured cape of the figure seated in the central foreground with one that is bright blue, and extending these stark azurite pigments into other items of clothing and headgear throughout the masses.  

The composition, with dozens of bodies pressed up against each other, was the perfect vehicle for Brueghel to experiment. Such is the diversity of the crowd that the painting becomes less a narrative on John the Baptist's act of preaching and more a fascinating study of the different classes, races and dispositions of the human race, as well as of the variety of inclinations of each protagonist's dress, the fascinating array of hats worn by the figures in the foreground being a case in point. In early seventeenth-century Flanders the subject would have been markedly less impactful than in 1566 when Pieter Bruegel the Elder, the artist's father, conceived it. His original has long been considered to be a comment on the religious debates that raged in the Low Countries at the time, the inspiration being the secret meetings and sermons attended en masse by Protestant reformers out in the countryside. The banning of such heathen activities as palm-reading is defied here by the figure dressed in black, kneeling, in the very centre of the composition. This figure has often been thought to be a portrait, either of the artist himself, the patron, or, as has been suggested, Thomas Armenteros, advisor to Margaret of Parma. More

Pieter Brueghel the Younger
BRUSSELS 1564 - 1637/8 ANTWERP
THE BATTLE BETWEEN CARNIVAL AND LENT
oil on oak panel
117 by 165 cm.; 46 by 65 in

The Fight Between Carnival and Lent is an oil-on-panel work painted by Pieter Bruegel the Elder in 1559. This painting depicts a common festival of the period, as celebrated in the Southern Netherlands.[1] It presents the contrast between two sides of contemporary life, as can be seen by the appearance of the inn on the left side - for enjoyment, and the church on the right side - for religious observance.

The busy scene depicts well-behaved children near the church and a beer drinking scene near the inn. At the centre is a well, showing the coming together of different parts of the community, and other scenes show a fish stall and two competing floats.

The painting is part of the collection at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. More

Bartolomeo Cavarozzi - VITERBO 1587-1625 ROME
THE SACRIFICE OF ISAAC
oil on canvas
116 by 175 cm.; 45 5/8  by 68 7/8  in.

This masterpiece of early naturalism was painted around 1617, probably in Spain, by Bartolomeo Cavarozzi, one of Caravaggio’s most successful and accomplished followers. Such are its quality and dramatic impact that for several years after its rediscovery in 1987 the painting was associated with Caravaggio himself and it has been exhibited as such numerous times in the recent past. The cinematographic intensity of the spot-lit scene is tempered by a serenity unexpected in a depiction of one of the Old Testament's most enigmatic and potentially catastrophic episodes which is recounted in Genesis 22. More

Bartolomeo Cavarozzi was born at Viterbo, he traveled to Spain with his teacher to help paint and build the Pantheon at the Escorial. He adopted the style of Cristofano Roncalli. He painted a St Ursula and Her Companions with Pope Ciriacus and St Catherine of Alexandria (1608) for the Confraternità delle Sante Orsola e Caterina. He died in Rome. More

Pieter Brueghel the Younger - BRUSSELS 1564 - 1637/8 ANTWERP

THE TOWER OF BABEL

oil on oak panel

145 by 176.5 cm.; 57 by 69 1/2 in.

This is one of Pieter Brueghel the Younger's most monumental and imposing pictures, and not only because of its overwhelming subject. It is also one of his earliest pictures: one that belongs as thoroughly to the 16th century as his later kermesses belong to the 17th. Pieter Brueghel the Younger was an outstandingly successful painter in his own time, and his works remain extremely sought-after today. His career and enduring reputation was based on the production of paintings, like this one, that are based on compositions by his father, Pieter Bruegel the Elder. This is however one of Pieter Brueghel the Younger's rarest subjects, known only in this painting and one other. More

School of ANTHONY VAN DYCK (British, 1599-1641)
The Road to Calvary, 17th century
Oil on canvas
76-1/2 x 59 inches (194.3 x 149.9 cm)

Christ Carrying the Cross on his way to his crucifixion is an episode included in all four Gospels, and a very common subject in art, especially in the fourteen Stations of the Cross, sets of which are now found in almost all Catholic churches. Alternative names include the Procession to Calvary, Road to Calvary and Way to Calvary, Calvary or Golgotha being the site of the crucifixion outside Jerusalem. The actual route taken is defined by tradition as the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem, although the specific path of this route has varied over the centuries and continues to be the subject of debate. More

Sir Anthony van Dyck, (22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England, after enjoying great success in Italy and Flanders. He is most famous for his portraits of Charles I of England and his family and court, painted with a relaxed elegance that was to be the dominant influence on English portrait-painting for the next 150 years. He also painted biblical and mythological subjects, displayed outstanding facility as a draughtsman, and was an important innovator in watercolour and etching. More

Circle of WOLFGANG ANDREAS HEINDL (Austrian, 1693-1757)

Saint Michael

Oil on canvas

51 x 32 inches (129.5 x 81.3 cm)

Michael, is an archangel in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Roman Catholics, the Eastern Orthodox, Anglicans, and Lutherans refer to him as "Saint Michael the Archangel" and also as "Saint Michael". Orthodox Christians refer to him as the "Taxiarch Archangel Michael" or simply "Archangel Michael".

In the New Testament Michael leads God's armies against Satan's forces in the Book of Revelation, where during the war in heaven he defeats Satan. In the Epistle of Jude Michael is specifically referred to as "the archangel Michael". Christian sanctuaries to Michael appeared in the 4th century, when he was first seen as a healing angel, and then over time as a protector and the leader of the army of God against the forces of evil. By the 6th century, devotions to Archangel Michael were widespread both in the Eastern and Western Churches. Over time, teachings on Michael began to vary among Christian denominations. More

Wolfgang Andreas Heindl (Born 1693 in Linz ; 28 July 1757 in Wels) was busy in the Bavarian and Austrian Danube Region painter ( fresco painter ) in the the Baroque time.

From In 1719 he worked as a janitor at Kremsmünsterer Freihaus in Wels. In 1735 he became a freelance painter and restaurateur in Wels. More

Karl Gampenrieder (1860-1930)

Painting, Madonna, c. 1890

Oil on canvas

Signed lower center ‘Gampenrieder’

Inscribed ‘GAMPENRIEDER / MADONNA’ on the verso

Dimensions: 94 x 75 cm

This painting by Karl Gampenrieder depicts an extraordinary motif for the Munich society portraitist – a Madonna. The Virgin is depicted seated before a stylized landscape, in an iconographically typical pose wearing a purple robe and richly pleated cape. With a proud gaze she looks down at the viewer, holding the Divine Child in her arm. Although the heads are crowned by delicate nimbuses, Gampenrieder not merely rendered a votive image of the Madonna and the Son of God but succeeded in creating an emotive portrait of a loving young mother with her child.

Jusepe de Ribera, called Spagnoletto - JÁTIVA, VALENCIA 1591 - 1652 NAPLES

CHRIST BLESSING

oil on canvas

61.8 by 49.2 cm.; 24 3/8  by 19 1/4  in.

This is a characteristic work by Ribera from the early 1630s, a time when the artist was well-settled in Naples and firmly established as the greatest exponent of the physical naturalism for which Neapolitan painting would be famed in the seventeenth century. Ribera’s single-figure subjects, which account for the vast majority of his œuvre, are invariably depictions of men at an age that allowed the artist to masterfully express, through wrinkled brows, sunken eyes and rugous, well-worn knuckles, the effects on the face and hands of a life well-lived. Here, however, he depicts a youthful Christ, his skin smooth and his hair silken.  It is however an image based on the realism for which he always strove, the two folded fingers, for example, revealing dirt under their nails. In both execution and design it is broadly comparable to a painting of the same subject in the Prado, also datable circa 1630–32, and to the depiction of St. James the Lesser from the same series, also in the Prado. All three faces share the same extended, very straight nose and sharply delineated eyes.

Giandomenico Tiepolo - VENICE 1727 - 1804

CHRIST AND THE WOMAN TAKEN IN ADULTERY

oil on canvas

48 by 57 cm.; 18 7/8  by 22 1/2  in.

Jesus and the woman taken in adultery is a biblical episode from John 7:53-8:11 where Jesus encounters an adulteress brought before Pharisees and scribes, which has been depicted by many artists. Such a crime was punishable by death by stoning, however, in the scene, Jesus says to the crowd "he that is without sin among you, let him first cast the stone at her".

Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo (August 30, 1727 – March 3, 1804) was an Italian painter and printmaker in etching. He was the son of artist Giovanni Battista Tiepolo and elder brother of Lorenzo Baldissera Tiepolo. Domenico was born in Venice, studied under his father, and by the age of 13 was the chief assistant to him. He was one of the many assistants. By the age of 20, he was producing his own work for commissioners. More

Giandomenico Tiepolo - VENICE 1727 - 1804

CHRIST HEALING THE BLIND MAN

oil on canvas

48 by 65.5 cm.; 18 7/8  by 25 3/4  in.

Francesco Botticini - FLORENCE 1446 - 1497

THE MADONNA AND CHILD IN A LANDSCAPE, WITH THE INFANT SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST

tempera on panel, rounded top

94.3 by 54.5 cm.; 37 1/8  by 21 1/2  in.

Raffaellino del Garbo - FLORENCE 1466 (?) - 1524

THE MADONNA AND CHILD WITH THE INFANT SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST, BEYOND THEM A LANDSCAPE WITH SAINTS JEROME AND FRANCIS

oil on panel, a tondo

diameter: 87 cm; 34 1/4  in

Florentine School, circa 1560

THE DESCENT INTO LIMBO

oil on panel

146 by 114 cm.; 57 1/2  by 44 7/8  in.

In this innovative composition, Christ is portrayed from behind as he embarks upon his descent into Limbo, the zone before the entrance to Hell, where he traveled after his death and before his Resurrection. The story is not found in the New Testament but was part of early Church teachings and by the fifteenth century was an accepted Christian belief

Workshop Domenico Tintoretto

Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata

Oil on canvas

Italy, 1st half 17th century

Workshop of Domenico Tintoretto, origin. Robusti (1560-1635) - Venetian painter, son of Jacobo Tintoretto

Dimensions: 120 x 126 cm

Domenico Tintoretto and his father's workshop, which Domenico took over after the death of his father Jacobo

Saint Francis of Assisi (1181 / 82-1226), who received the stigmata of Christ since Michaels Day in the year 1224, is considered the first historically documented case of stigmatization. The subject of the Stigmata of St. Francis was already widespread in the fourteenth century, the best-known representations include the frescoes by Giotto di Bondone.

Workshop of Francisco de Zurbarán - FUENTE DE CANTOS, BADAJOZ 1598 - 1664 MADRID

THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

bears inscription on the reverse: DE. BA(in ligature)ar.DE(in ligature)

oil on canvas

169 by 107 cm.; 66 1/2  by 42 1/8  in.

This painting was first published by the great Spanish scholar Diego Añgulo in 1983 as a new discovery by Zurbarán, one of the most original and important Spanish masters of the seventeenth century. The attribution was accepted by successive scholars, among them Alonso Pérez Sánchez in 1993, but has more recently been challenged by Odile Delenda (see Literature) who considers it to be the work of an as yet unidentified follower of Zurbarán, also working in Seville in the late 1620s.

Circle of Domenico Zampieri

Mary Magdalene, Painting, 17th C

Oil on canvas, relined

Dimension of canvas: 75.6 x 61.5 cm


Jean Fouquet (1420–1480) 
Madonna Surrounded by Seraphim and Cherubim, 1452
Medium oil on panel
Height: 94.5 cm (37.2 in). Width: 85.5 cm (33.7 in)

Acknowledgment: Auctionata AG, Sotheby's,