66 Paintings - RELIGIOUS ART BY THE OLD MASTER PAINTERS - Paintings from the Bible, with footnotes

Artists included: Ángel Zárraga, Marten de Vos, Artus Wolfaerts, Jacopo Zanguidi, Jacob de Backer, Gerrit van Honthorst, Francesco Guarino da Solofra, Francesco Guarino, The Master of the Parrot, Antwerp School, Manuel Lopez Vazquez, Anton Kern, Pere Lembrí, Valencian School, Caravaggio, Anton Raphael Mengs, School of Toledo, Spanish School, Pedro Orrente, Francisco Camilo,  Bolognese School, Northern follower of Leonardo da Vinci, Ferrarese School, Jacopo Bassano, Marco Palmezzano, Marco Palmezzano, Orazio Lomi Gentileschi, Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, Jacques Stella, Artemisia Gentileschi, Daniele Crespi, Onorio Marinari, Gregorio Lazzarini, Francesco de Mura, Francisco Camilo, Sir Peter Paul Rubens, Theodoor Rombouts, Jacques d'Arthois.

File:Ángel Zárraga - The Gift - Google Art Project.jpg
Ángel Zárraga (1886 - 1946)
The Gift, c. 1910
Oil on canvas
Height: 1,800 mm (70.87 in). Width: 2,200 mm (86.61 in).
National Art Museum, Mexico City

The suggestion of erotic voyeurism produced by the display of the naked bodies, when the thin fabrics that cover them fall off, is mitigated by the modesty gesture of the maiden and the modesty of the old men, who lower their eyes, but above all by the decorative handling of formal elements, which produces a certain emotional and sensory distance. 

Although the woman is symbolically associated with the earth and its fertility, her body does not suggest motherhood but rather virginity; she shares the apparent innocence of the daughter who breastfeeds her elderly father in La caridad romana (1873) by Luis Monroy. More on this painting

Ángel Zárraga (y) Argüelles (b. Victoria de Durango, August 16, 1886 – d. September 22, 1946) was a Mexican painter, born as son of the physician Dr. Fernando Zárraga and his wife Guadalupe Argüelles in the Barrio de Analco of Durango. While he visited the Escuela Nacional Preparatoria in Mexico City, he made first contacts with the artistic and intellectual scene, and studied at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes (ENBA). His family enabled him a study trip to Europe in 1904, where he visited and exhibited in Spain, France and Italy. He also visited courses at the Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium.

In 1906 he exhibited some of his pictures in the Museo del Prado, and in 1907 in an exhibition of the ENBA. He participated in the 1909 Biennale di Venezia and exhibited in the Salon at the Piazzale Donatello, Florence. In 1911 he moved to France for good, and he only returned once at the outbreak of World War I for a short time.

After 1921 his work was influenced by Cézanne and Giotto. He also painted murals at the Château de Vert-Cœur and in the Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris, and decorated the Mexican embassy in Paris, where he also exhibited at the Salon d'Automne, as well as in New York. Concerned over the collapse of the international art market he lost his sponsors and became depressive. During World War II he returned to his home country in 1941, where he painted murals at the Club de Banqueros and at the of the Catedral de Monterrey. He died after suffering from a pneumonia.  A museum of contemporary art was named after him. More on Ángel Zárraga

Ángel Zárraga      (Mexican Painter 1886 - 1946)      Votive Offering [Saint Sebastian], 1912      oil on canvas, Height: 1,850 mm (72.83 in). Width: 1,345 mm (52.95 in).      Museo Nacional de Arte, Mexico City, Mexixo:
Ángel Zárraga (Mexican Painter 1886 - 1946) 
Votive Offering [Saint Sebastian], c. 1912 
Oil on canvas, 
Height: 1,850 mm (72.83 in). Width: 1,345 mm (52.95 in). 
Museo Nacional de Arte, Mexico City, Mexico

A votive offering is one or more objects displayed or deposited, without the intention of recovery or use, in a sacred place for broadly religious purposes. Such items are a feature of modern and ancient societies and are generally made in order to gain favor with supernatural forces. Some offerings have apparently been made in anticipation of the achievement of a particular wish, but in Western cultures from which documentary evidence survives it has been more typical to wait until the wish has been fulfilled before making the offering,] for which the more specific term ex-voto may be used. Votive offerings have been described in historical Roman era and Greek sources, although similar acts continue into the present day, for example in traditional Catholic culture and, arguably, in the modern-day practice of tossing coins into a wishing well or fountain. The modern construction practice called topping out can be considered as an example of a votive practice that has very ancient roots. More on A votive offering

Saint Sebastian (died c. 288) was an early Christian saint and martyr. According to Christian belief, he was killed during the Roman emperor Diocletian's persecution of Christians. He is commonly depicted in art and literature tied to a post or tree and shot with arrows. Despite this being the most common artistic depiction of Sebastian, he was, according to legend, rescued and healed by Irene of Rome. Shortly afterwards he criticized Diocletian in person and as a result was clubbed to death.[1][2] He is venerated in the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. More on Saint Sebastian

Circle of Marten de Vos (Antwerp 1532-1603)
The Annunciation 
oil on panel
77.5 x 102.2cm (30 1/2 x 40 1/4in)
Private collection

Sold for £8,750 in July 2015

The Annunciation is the Christian celebration of the announcement by the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary that she would conceive and become the mother of Jesus, the Son of God, marking his Incarnation. Gabriel told Mary to name her son Yehoshua , meaning "YHWH is salvation". Many Christians observe this event with the Feast of the Annunciation on 25 March, nine full months before Christmas, the ceremonial birthday of Jesus. According to Luke 1:26, the Annunciation occurred "in the sixth month" of Elizabeth's pregnancy with John the Baptist. Irenaeus (c. 130–202) of Lyon regarded the conception of Jesus as 25 March coinciding with the Passion.

Marten de Vos (1532 – 4 December 1603), also Maarten, was a leading Antwerp painter and draughtsman in the late sixteenth century. He travelled to Italy and adopted the mannerist style popular at the time. De Vos was also highly influenced by the colors of Venetian painting, and might have worked in the studio of Tintoretto. Following the iconoclastic destruction in 1566, he was one of the artists largely responsible for redecorating churches with new altarpieces in Antwerp. 

He was also the founder of the society of the Romanists, which brought together artists, connoisseurs and humanists who had travelled to Rome and appreciated its humanist culture. More on Marten de Vos

Workshop of Artus Wolfaerts (Antwerp 1581-1641)
The Four Evangelists 
oil on canvas
84.3 x 114.8cm (33 3/16 x 45 3/16in).
Private collection

Sold for £26,250 in July 2015

The Four Evangelists are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the authors attributed with the creation of the four Gospel accounts in the New Testament that bear the following titles: Gospel according to Matthew; Gospel according to Mark; Gospel according to Luke and Gospel according to John.

Artus Wolffort (also Wolffordt and Wolffaert) (1581–1641) was a Flemish painter of history paintings, landscapes and portraits. He trained as a painter in Dordrecht where he joined the local Guild of Saint Luke in 1603. He returned to Antwerp around 1615 where he worked as an assistant in the studio of Otto van Veen, one of the teachers of Peter Paul Rubens. 

Wolffort and his work were not well known until the late 1970s and some of his paintings were even classified as early works by Rubens. His pupils included his son Jan Baptist Wolfaerts, Pieter van Lint, Pieter van Mol and Lucas Smout the Elder. He died in Antwerp. More on Artus Wolffort

Follower of Jacopo Zanguidi, called Il Bertoia (Parma 1544-circa 1573)
The Adoration of the Magi 
oil on canvas
48.1 x 35.9cm (18 15/16 x 14 1/8in)
Private collection

Sold for £6,250 in July 2015

The Adoration of the Magi is the name traditionally given to the subject in the Nativity of Jesus in art in which the three Magi, represented as kings, especially in the West, having found Jesus by following a star, lay before him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, and worship him. More on The Adoration of the Magi

Jacopo Bertoia, also known as Giacomo Zanguidi or Jacopo Zanguidi or Bertoja, (1544 - ca. 1574), was an Italian painter of a late-Renaissance or Mannerist style that emerged in Parma towards the end of the 16th century. 

In Rome, he was part of the team that frescoed the walls of the Oratorio del Gonfalone, painting the panel depicting the Entry of Christ into Jerusalem. He was commissioned by Cardinal Alessandro Farnese in 1572-1573 to paint galleries (Sale del Giudizio, della Penitenza, dei Sogni, as well as the Anticamera degli Angeli) of the Villa Farnese in Caprarola, where he replaced the role of Taddeo Zuccari. He had earlier worked in Caprarola with Federico Zuccari in 1574, painting in the Sala di Ercole. More on Jacopo Bertoia

Circle of Jacob de Backer (Antwerp circa 1555-1585)
The Crucifixion 
oil on panel
103.2 x 72.3cm (40 5/8 x 28 7/16in).
Private collection

Estimated for £7,000 - £10,000 in July 2015

Jacob de Backer, also Jacques (c. 1555 – c. 1585), was a Flemish Mannerist painter and draughtsman active in Antwerp between about 1571 and 1585. Although he painted in the high mannerist style of Giorgio Vasari, he never appeared to have traveled to Italy. His series of the "Seven Deadly Sins", however, was bought in Antwerp by Alessandro Farnese's secretary Cosimo Masi in 1594 and taken to Italy. These paintings are now in the Museo di Capodimonte in Naples. Other attributable works include a Last Judgment triptych by him or his studio for Christophe Plantin's tomb in the Antwerp Cathedral and an Allegory of the Three Ages of Man in the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg. More on Jacob de Backer

Workshop of Gerrit van Honthorst (Utrecht 1590-1656)
The Lamentation
oil on canvas 
66.3 x 44.2cm (26 1/8 x 17 3/8in).
Private collection

Sold for £5,000 in July 2015

The Lamentation of Christ is a very common subject in Christian art from the High Middle Ages to the Baroque. After Jesus was crucified, his body was removed from the cross and his friends mourned over his body. This event has been depicted by many different artists.

Lamentation works are very often included in cycles of the Life of Christ, and also form the subject of many individual works. One specific type of Lamentation depicts only Jesus' mother Mary cradling his body. These are known as Pietà (Italian for "pity"). More on The Lamentation of Christ

Gerard van Honthorst (Gerrit van Honthorst) (4 November 1592 – 27 April 1656) was a Dutch Golden Age painter. He was born in Utrecht, the son of a decorative painter, and trained under his father, and then under Abraham Bloemaert. Early in his career he visited Rome, where he had great success painting in a style influenced by Caravaggio. Following his return to the Netherlands he became a leading portrait painter. More on Gerard van Honthorst 

Francesco Guarino da Solofra (Sant' Agata Irpina, near Solofra 1611-1654 Gravina di Pulia)
Judith with the Head of Holofernes 
oil on canvas
76.7 x 96.7cm (30 3/16 x 38 1/16in).
Private collection

Sold for £12,500 in July 2015

The account of the beheading of Holofernes by Judith is given in the deuterocanonical Book of Judith, and is the subject of many paintings and sculptures from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. In the story, Judith, a beautiful widow, is able to enter the tent of Holofernes because of his desire for her. Holofernes was an Assyrian general who was about to destroy Judith's home, the city of Bethulia. Overcome with drink, he passes out and is decapitated by Judith; his head is taken away in a basket. More on the beheading of Holofernes

Francesco Guarino or Guarini (1611 – 1651 or 1654) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly in the mountainous area east of Naples called Irpinia, and in other areas of the Kingdom of Naples, chiefly Campania, Apulia, and Molise.

He was born in Sant'Andrea Apostolo, today a frazione of Solofra in the Province of Avellino, Campania, and died in Gravina di Puglia. He was a pupil first locally of his father, Giovanni Tommaso Guarino, before moving to Naples to work in the studio of Massimo Stanzione. In Naples, like many of his contemporaries there, he was influenced by the style of Caravaggio. In his selection of models who appear to have been plucked from the streets of Naples, he recalls the style of Bernardo Cavallino, the fellow-pupil of Stanzioni. Among his masterpieces are the works for Collegiata di San Michele Arcangelo in Solofra. More on Francesco Guarino or Guarini

Francesco Guarino (1611–1654) 
Saint Agnes, 1650
Oil on canvas
I have no further description, at this time

Saint Agnes was a member of the Roman nobility and raised in a Christian family. She suffered martyrdom at the age of twelve or thirteen during the reign of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, on 21 January 304.

Agnes was a beautiful young girl of wealthy family and therefore had many suitors of high rank. Legend holds that the young men, slighted by Agnes's resolute devotion to religious purity, submitted her name to the authorities as a follower of Christianity.

The Prefect condemned her to be dragged naked through the streets to a brothel. Various versions of the legend give different methods of escape from this predicament. In one, as she prayed, her hair grew and covered her body. It was also said that all of the men who attempted to rape her were immediately struck blind. In another the son of the prefect is struck dead, but revived after Agnes prayed for him, causing her release. There is then a trial from which Sempronius excuses himself, and another figure presides, sentencing her to death. When led out to die she was tied to a stake, but the bundle of wood would not burn, or the flames parted away from her, whereupon the officer in charge of the troops drew his sword and beheaded her. More on Saint Agnes 

The Master of the Parrot ACTIVE IN ANTWERP IN THE SECOND QUARTER OF THE 16TH CENTURY THE VIRGIN AND CHILD oil on panel 24.9 by 20 cm.; 9 1/2  by 7 7/8  in:
The Master of the Parrot, ACTIVE IN ANTWERP IN THE SECOND QUARTER OF THE 16TH CENTURY
THE VIRGIN AND CHILD
oil on panel
24.9 by 20 cm.; 9 1/2  by 7 7/8  in.
Private collection

Sold for 18,750 GBP in  October 2015

The Master with the Parrot or Master of the Parrot (fl. between 1520 and 1540) is the notname given to a group of Flemish painters who likely worked in a workshop in Antwerp in the first half of the 16th century. They produced devotional pictures for the local bourgeoisie in a style reminiscent of contemporary Flemish painters working in an Italianate style.

The scholar of Flemish painting Max Friedländer was the first to group a set of 15 homogenous works and attribute them to an unknown artist whom he gave the notname 'Der Meister mit dem Papagei' ('Master with the Parrot') in an article, which appeared in 1948-49.[2] Friedlander gave the name because the common factor of the works he gave to the painter was their depiction of the Virgin with the Christ child often together with an idiosyncratic, exotic bird.

Gradually more works were assigned to this master until there were about 100 works. Later research led to a new hypothesis about the attribution of the body of work: rather than a single individual painter, it is now surmised that because of the differences in style the works were the product of a workshop with several artists.

There is no certainty about the exact period during which the Master with the Parrot was active. It must have been in the first half of the 16th century and probably during the 1520s and 1530s. It is generally believed that the workshop was based in Antwerp but it is possible it was in fact located in Bruges. More on The Master with the Parrot

Antwerp School, early 16th century
THE CRUCIFIXION WITH SAINTS MARY, MARY MAGDALENE AND JOHN THE EVANGELIST
oil on panel
71.8 by 54.6 cm.; 28 1/4  by 21 1/2  in.
Private collection

Sold for 12,500 GBP in  October 2015

The Antwerp School is a term for the artists active in Antwerp, first during the 16th century when the city was the economic center of the Low Countries, and then during the 17th century when it became the artistic stronghold of the Flemish Baroque under Peter Paul Rubens. More on the Antwerp School

Manuel Lopez Vazquez (Granada 1920 – 2004), after Rogier van der Weyden THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI signed in the centre on the column: M.Lopez Vazquez oil on panel 89.9 by 105.4 cm.; 35 3/8  by 41 1/2  in.:
Manuel Lopez Vazquez (Granada 1920 – 2004), after Rogier van der Weyden
THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI
oil on panel
89.9 by 105.4 cm.; 35 3/8  by 41 1/2  in.
Private collection

Sold for 6,000 GBP in  October 2015

Manuel Lopez Vazquez ( Granada , April 7, 1920 - October 3, 2004), painter and restorer Granada School Rafael Latorre.  The multiple and varied workshop of the painter and restorer, Rafael Latorre, Race Darro, learned the techniques and crafts painter and restorer. The study of the master was forged not only his artistic vocation, but his care for the city and its heritage. He had the opportunity to listen and admire great figures of the time related to the art world, such as Fernando de los Rios , Manuel Gomez Moreno , Emilio Orozco Diaz , Natalio Rivas and José María López Mezquita. More on Manuel Lopez Vazquez

Anton Kern TETSCHEN, BOHEMIA 1709 - 1747 DRESDEN
ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS
oil on canvas
45.2 by 72.9 cm.; 17 7/8  by 28 3/4  in.
Private collection

Estimate for 8,000 - 12,000 GBP in October 2015

Anton Kern was a Bohemian painter who spent seven years in the studio of Giambattista Pittoni. A second version of this work, signed and dated 1730, once formed part of the Czernin collection in Vienna and is considered an early work, perhaps even Kern's very first painting.1 We are grateful to Lino Moretti for endorsing the attribution to Kern, on the basis of a photograph. More on Anton Kern

Antwerp School, first half of the 16th century
MARY MAGDALENE
oil on panel
47 by 38.2 cm.; 19 by 15 7/8 in.
Private collection

Estimate for 6,000 - 8,000 GBP in October 2015

Pere Lembrí
Saint Dominic and Mary Magdalene
Quantity: 2a pair, both tempera on panel, gold ground, arched tops
each: 66.1 by 10 cm.; 26 by 4 in.
Private collection

Sold for 17,500 GBP in October 2015

Pere Lembrí worked in the hilltop towns of Morella and Tortosa. A painter of altarpieces, his style clearly references the beginnings of the International Gothic movement in Valencia. These upright panels decorated the pilasters of a large altarpiece and may be compared with those of the artist's Retablo de los Santos Juanes in Albocásser, church of Sant Joan, which are dated by Pitarch to 1400-10. More on Pere Lembrí

Valencian School, early 16th century
PENTECOST
Oil on panel
89.5 by 52.7 cm.; 35 1/4  by 20 3/4  in
Private collection

Sold for 6,250 GBP in October 2015

Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christian holiday which takes place on the 50th day (the seventh Sunday) after Easter Sunday. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Virgin Mary and the Apostles of Jesus Christ while they were in Jerusalem celebrating the Feast of Weeks, as described in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 2:1–31). More on Pentecost

Valencian School, first half of the 16th century
Calvary, with Mary Magdalene at the foot of the cross
Oil on panel
187.8 by 111.2 cm.; 73 7/8  by 43 3/4  in.
Private collection

Sold for 8,125 GBP in October 2015 

The Valencian school is different from the rest of contemporary Spanish artistic centers, thanks to the fact that during most of the 15th and 16th centuries there was an important settlement of Italian and Flemish painters. Thus, throughout the history of art, Valencia has been an important focus of Spanish art, along with other schools such as Andalusia and Madrid. In Valencia, the change from the seventeenth to the eighteenth century was not a break with the previous tradition, but a continuation of it. In 1768 the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Carlos was created, and this institution will determine a change towards a classicism of baroque roots. Through it, young artists were trained by José Vergara, Manuel Monfort, José Camarón, Vicente Marzo, Vicente López and Mariano Salvador Maella. On the other hand, the economic recovery will result in a thriving industrial and commercial bourgeoisie, which will seek to distinguish itself socially through artistic patronage. At the same time, the Church was losing its monopoly as the only client of the artists. All this will determine a definitive change in taste, and also in the genres treated: religious painting will now coexist with bourgeois portraiture, still life, landscape, historical and mythological themes and genre painting. More on The Valencian school

Caravaggio
'The Entombment of Christ 1603–1604
Oil on canvas
300 cm × 203 cm (120 in × 80 in)
Pinacoteca Vaticana, Vatican City

The Entombment is the sole painting of Caravaggio's maturity that gained unanimous critical acclaim, and it was much copied- no fewer than forty-four drawn, painted, or engraved copies are known, including one by Paul Cezanne, who, having never visited Rome, must have made his watercolor from a photograph or a print.

Two members of the grieving little group are gently bearing Christ's body into a cave-tomb barely visible in the obscurity of the left background. Much of the pathos is conveyed by the gestures: Nicodemus almost embracing Christ's legs, Saint John touching Christ's wound, the aged Virgin blessing Him and extending her arms to embrace the whole group, and most poignant of all, Christ's pendant lifeless right arm and His left hand lying on His abdomen. Mary Cleophas's upraised arms recall Saint Paul's similar gesture of acquiescence; her face, the only one except Christ's that is fully illuminated, looks up like Saint Paul's into the source of light as if seeking divine guidance. More on the Entombment


Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571 – 1610) was an Italian painter active in Rome, Naples, Malta, and Sicily between 1592 and 1610. His paintings, which combine a realistic observation of the human state, both physical and emotional, with a dramatic use of lighting, had a formative influence on Baroque painting. More on Caravaggio

After Anton Raphael Mengs THE DEPOSITION OF CHRIST oil on canvas 116.6 by 81.9 cm.; 45 7/8  by 32 1/8  in.:
After Anton Raphael Mengs
THE DEPOSITION OF CHRIST
oil on canvas
116.6 by 81.9 cm.; 45 7/8  by 32 1/8  in.
Private collection

Sold for 1,063 GBP in October 2015

This painting is a copy after Anton Raphael Mengs' Deposition, in the Patrimonio Nacional, Madrid (Palacio Real de Pedralbes, Barcelona). It repeats the lower half of the composition, omitting the additional panel of the Madrid painting, which depicts God the father and the Holy Spirit with two angels. An autograph version of the lower section of the picture is held in St John's College Chapel, Cambridge. More on this painting

Anton Raphael Mengs (March 22, 1728 – June 29, 1779) was a German Bohemian painter, active in Rome, Madrid and Saxony, who became one of the precursors to Neoclassical painting.

School of Toledo, early 17th Century
SAINT LOUIS IX OF FRANCE WITH THE ARCHANGEL MICHAEL, IN A LANDSCAPE
Oil on panel
117.8 by 66.1 cm.; 46 3/8  by 26 in.
Private collection

Sold for 3,500 GBP in April 2016

Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly known as Saint Louis, was a Capetian King of France who reigned from 1226 until his death. Louis was crowned in Reims at the age of 12, following the death of his father Louis VIII the Lion. As an adult, Louis IX faced recurring conflicts with some of the most powerful nobles, such as Hugh X of Lusignan and Peter of Dreux. Simultaneously, Henry III of England tried to restore his continental possessions, but was defeated at the battle of Taillebourg. His reign saw the annexation of several provinces, notably Normandy, Maine and Provence.

Louis's actions were inspired by Christian values. He decided to punish blasphemy, gambling, interest-bearing loans and prostitution, and bought the relics of Christ for which he built the Sainte-Chapelle. More on Louis IX More

For eight centuries, between 711 and 1492, Southern Spain was part of the Muslim world. A rich culture emerged around the royal and provincial courts in Córdoba, Granada, Toledo, and Málaga. Trade, intellectual life, and the arts flourished. 

It is easy to understand that around 1600 the dominant influence in Toledo should have been that of El Greco. The link with the master was strongest in the distinguished painter Luis Tristán ( 1586?-1624), who stressed the Tenebrist aspects of some of El Greco's work. Tristán's development was interrupted by his premature death, but not before he had completed work of such merit as the altarpiece in Yepes (1616) and that of Santa Clara de Toledo which was finished in 1623.

Another artist to receive his training in Toledo was the Murcian Pedro Orrente (c. 1570-1645), who, in his youth, was a friend of El Greco's son, but whose art holds closely to the course set by Bassano and Ribalta. Chiaroscuro is the principal element of his style, particularly in the paintings of his maturity. For the greater part of his life Orrente lived in Valencia and, in fact, became a member of the Valencian school. He painted numerous Biblical scenes in which the landscapes have a certain importance. These are dominated by the brownish and reddish tones popularized by Ribalta.

 Fray Juan Bautista Maino (1578-1649), who was trained in the studios of Toledo, became the drawing master of Philip IV. He stands apart from his colleagues in resisting the general predilection for dark settings with the light coming from a single or one principal source. The transparency of his colours and the brightness of his tones are combined with a very individual sense of space in which something of the late sixteenth century goes hand in hand with a love of realistic detail typical of the new age. Two of Maino's works that claim attention are the Adoration of the Shepherds, in the Prado Museum, and the Pentecost, in the Toledo Museum.

 Fray Juan Sánchez-Cotán (1560-1627), a native of La Mancha, also studied at Toledo. In his "bodegones", or still-lifes of food, remarkable for their purity of form and subtle balance, the light has a diaphanous quality similar to that achieved by Maino. His best-known still-life is that in the Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego, California. More School of Toledo, early 17th Century

Spanish School, 17th century
Raphael and Tobias
oil on canvas, unlined
160 by 116.2 cm.; 63 by 45 3/4  in.
Private collection

Estimate for 4,000 - 6,000 GBP in October 2015

The story of how the Archangel Raphael helped a young man named Tobias is found in the Old Testament Book of Tobit. When Tobias is sent by his blind father to a distant land to collect a debt, the archangel appears in the guise of an older companion and guide. At one point he helps Tobias catch a large fish with curative properties. When they reach their destination and Tobias falls in love with a young woman troubled by an evil spirit, Raphael teaches him how to drive the spirit away so that the two can marry. When they return home, the archangel prepares a salve from parts of the fish and heals Tobias’ blind father. Tobias’ dog follows the two travelers throughout their journey. 

Based on this story, St. Raphael has long been considered the patron saint of healers, travelers, and fishermen. More on Raphael and Tobias

Pedro Orrente, MURCIA 1580 - 1645 VALENCIA
DEPARTURE OF THE PRODIGAL SON
Oil on canvas
82.3 by 107.4 cm.; 32 3/8  by 42 1/4  in.
Private collection

The Parable of the Prodigal Son (also known as the Parable of the Two Sons, Lost Son, Running Father, Loving Father, or Lovesick Father) is one of the parables of Jesus. It appears in only one of the Canonical gospels of the New Testament. More

Pedro Orrente (1580–1645) was a Spanish painter of the Baroque period. Born in the village of Murcia. Orrente appears to have studied with el Greco in Toledo, where he painted a San Ildefonso before the apparition of St Leocadia and the Birth of Christ for the cathedral. He often moved, painting in Murcia and Cuenca. In Valencia, he painted for the Cathedral. He set up a school, and among his pupils were Esteban March and García Salmerón. In Madrid, he painted works transferred to the Palacio del Buen Retiro. He traveled to Seville, where he met Francisco Pacheco. Returning to Castille, died in Valencia and buried in the parish de San Martín. Known for paintings of animals and landscapes, as well a history paintings. More

Pedro Orrente
MURCIA 1580 - 1645 VALENCIA
RETURN OF THE PRODIGAL SON
Oil on canvas
82.8 by 106.8 cm.; 32 5/8  by 42 in.
Private collection

Both the DEPARTURE OF THE PRODIGAL SON (Above) and the RETURN OF THE PRODIGAL SON Were sold for 18.750 GBP in  Apr 2015

Francisco Camilo MADRID 1615 - 1673 THE ANNUNCIATION oil on canvas 85.5 by 82.5 cm.; 33 3/4  by 32 1/2  in.:
Francisco Camilo, MADRID 1615 - 1673
THE ANNUNCIATION
Oil on canvas
85.5 by 82.5 cm.; 33 3/4  by 32 1/2  in.
Private collection

Estimate for 20,000 - 30,000 GBP in April 2015

The Annunciation,  also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady or the Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the announcement by the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary that she would conceive and become the mother of Jesus, the Son of God, marking his Incarnation. Gabriel told Mary to name her son Yehoshua , meaning "YHWH is salvation". More

Francisco Camilo (1610-1671) was a Spanish painter. Camilo was the son of an Italian who had settled at Madrid. When his father died, his mother remarried, and Camilo became the stepson of the painter Pedro de las Cuevas.

De las Cuevas brought Camilo up as his own son, teaching him painting. At the age of 18, Camilo was asked to paint, for the high altar of the Jesuits’ house at Madrid, a picture representing St. Francis Borgia. More on Francisco Camilo

Bolognese School, 16th Century
THE HOLY FAMILY
oil on panel, unframed
88.2 by 76 cm.; 34 5/8  by 29 7/8  in.
Private collection

Estimated for  4000 - 5 000 GBP in  February 2021

Between the 16th and 17th centuries, Italy witnessed the flourishing painting art of the Bolognese School or the School of Bologna, rival to Florence and Rome. Pioneered by the Carracci family, this school merged together the solidity of High Renaissance painting and the rich colours of the Venetian school.

Northern follower of Leonardo da Vinci
THE HOLY FAMILY WITH SAINT ANNE
oil on panel, in an elaborate wood tabernacle frame with figural carvings
97.5 by 71 cm.; 38 1/2  by 29 in.
Private collection

Sold for 9,375 GBP in October 2015

The pose of the Madonna and Child, and Saint Anne, are taken from Leonardo da Vinci's original in the Musée du Louvre, commissioned by Louis XII of France to celebrate the birth of his only daughter, Claude, in 1499 (168 by 130 cm., inv. no. 776). More on this painting

Ferrarese School, 16th Century
THE HOLY FAMILY WITH SAINTS ELISABETH AND JOHN THE BAPTIST
oil on panel, in a tabernacle frame
53.7 by 42.5 cm.; 21 1/8  by 16 3/4  in.

Sold for 10,000 GBP in  October 2015

Saint Elizabeth. According to the Gospel of Luke, Elizabeth was "of the daughters of Aaron". She and her husband Zacharias were "righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless" , but childless. While he was in the temple of the Lord, Zacharias was visited by the angel Gabriel who told him that his Elizabeth would bear him a son, John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born"."

According to the account, the angel Gabriel was then sent to Nazareth in Galilee to her relative Mary, then a virgin, espoused to a man called Joseph, and informed her that she would conceive by the Holy Ghost and bring forth a son to be called Jesus. After she was also informed that her "relative Elizabeth" had begun her sixth month of pregnancy, she travelled to "Hebron, in the hill country of Judah", to visit Elizabeth. More on Saint Elizabeth

Valencian School, 16th century THE HOLY FAMILY WITH THE INFANT SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST AND SAINT JOHN THE EVANGELIST oil on oak panel, unframed 33.9 by 27.5 cm.; 13 3/8  by 10 7/8  in.:
Valencian School, 16th century
THE HOLY FAMILY WITH THE INFANT SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST AND SAINT JOHN THE EVANGELIST
Oil on oak panel, unframed
33.9 by 27.5 cm.; 13 3/8  by 10 7/8  in.
Private collection

Sold for 2,250 GBP in  October 2015

John the Evangelist  is traditionally regarded as the author of the Gospel of John, and other Johannine works in the New Testament — the three Epistles of John and the Book of Revelation. More on John the Evangelist

Workshop of the Bassano Family
THE MOCKING OF CHRIST
oil on canvas, unlined
80 by 61.5 cm.; 31 1/2  by 24 1/4  in.
Private collection

Estimated for  $30,000 USD - $40,000 USD in June 2018

Jacopo Bassano (1510– 14 February 1592), known also as Jacopo dal Ponte, was an Italian painter who was born and died in Bassano del Grappa near Venice, from which he adopted the name. A pupil of Bonifazio Veronese's, he painted mostly landscapes and genre scenes. Bassano's pictures, and those of his two sons, Leandro Bassano and Francesco Bassano the Younger, who followed him closely, were very popular in Venice because of their depiction of simple country life. Bassano is considered to be the first modern landscape painter. More on Jacopo Bassano

Manner of Marco Palmezzano CHRIST CARRYING THE CROSS Quantity: 2 oil on panel 32.3 by 24.4 cm.; 12 3/4  by 9 5/8  in.:
Manner of Marco Palmezzano
CHRIST CARRYING THE CROSS
Oil on panel
32.3 by 24.4 cm.; 12 3/4  by 9 5/8  in.
Private collection

Sold for 2,000 GBP in October 2015

Marco Palmezzano (1460–1539) was an Italian painter and architect, belonging to the Forlì painting school, who painted in a style recalling earlier Northern Renaissance models. He was mostly active near Forlì.

After his initial training with the painter Melozzo da Forlì Palmezzano went to Rome in the early 1490s.

It is rumored that Palmezzano may have then traveled to Jerusalem to join the team painting frescoes at the Holy Cross church there, but no documentary evidence exists. He is, however, noted in property records as residing in Venice in 1495. Shortly thereafter, Palmezzano returned to Forlì, where he spent the rest of his long life—apparently with only brief excursions connected with commissions in other places in the region—until his death in 1539.

Palmezzano's studio was prolific in producing altarpieces, most commonly featuring the iconic arrangement of an enthroned Virgin with child on her lap, while below, symmetrically sited in the foreground are flanking saints. Venetian painting, in general, and the work of Giovanni Bellini and Cima da Conegliano, in particular, were to remain the most powerful influences on Palmezzano's output. Moreover, he remained faithful to the Venetian style of the later 15th and early 16th century. Mannerism entirely passed him by, and he seemed immune to subsequent developments in Venetian painting. One of the most attractive facets of Palmezzano's oeuvre are the distinctive and suggestive landscapes that form the backdrops of many of his altarpieces. These are a blend of the ideal and lyrical, and of the observed reality of the Apennine foothills and mountains to the south of Forli for which Palmezzano clearly had a real affection. These landscapes are also employed to subtle and imaginative effect to convey the symbolic religious messages of the works. More on Marco Palmezzano

Manner of Marco Palmezzano CHRIST CARRYING THE CROSS Quantity: 2 oil on panel 32.3 by 24.4 cm.; 12 3/4  by 9 5/8  in.:
Manner of Marco Palmezzano
The Holy Family 
Oil on panel
32.3 by 24.4 cm.; 12 3/4  by 9 5/8  in.
Private collection

Orazio Gentileschi and Giovanni Lanfranco
SAINT CECILIA WITH AN ANGEL
oil on canvas, laid down on board
87.5 x 108 cm (34 7/16 x 42 1/2 in.)
The National Gallery of Art

Cecilia is one of the most famous of the Roman martyrs. According to the story, despite her vow of virginity, she was forced by her parents to marry a nobleman named Valerian. During the wedding, Cecilia sat apart singing to God in her heart, and for that she was later declared the saint of musicians. When the time came for her marriage to be consummated, Cecilia told Valerian that she had an angel of the Lord watching over her who would punish him if he dared to violate her virginity but who would love him if he could respect her maidenhood. When Valerian asked to see the angel, Cecilia replied that he would see the angel if he would go to the third milestone on the Via Appia (the Appian Way) and be baptized by Pope Urbanus.[citation needed] After his baptism, he found an angel standing by the side of Cecilia, and crowning her with a chaplet of roses and lilies.

The martyrdom of Cecilia is said to have followed that of Valerian and his brother by the prefect Turcius Almachius. The legend about Cecilia’s death says that after being struck three times on the neck with a sword, she lived for three days, and asked the pope to convert her home into a church.

Cecilia was buried at the Catacombs of St. Callistus, and then transferred to the Church of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere. In 1599, her body was found still incorrupt, seeming to be asleep. More on Cecilia

Orazio Lomi Gentileschi (1563–1639) was an Italian painter. Born in Tuscany, he began his career in Rome, painting in a Mannerist style, much of his work consisting of painting the figures within the decorative schemes of other artists. After 1600 he came under the influence of the more naturalistic style of Caravaggio. He received important commissions in Fabriano and Genoa before moving to Paris to the court of Marie de Medici. He spent the last part of his life at the court of Charles I of England. He was the father of the painter Artemisia Gentileschi. More on Orazio Lomi Gentileschi

Giovanni Lanfranco, also called Giovanni di Steffano or Il Cavaliere Giovanni Lanfranchi (born Jan. 26, 1582, Parma [Italy]—died Nov. 30, 1647, Rome) Italian painter, an important follower of the Bolognese school. He was a pupil of Agostino Carracci in Parma (1600–02) and later studied with Annibale Carracci in Rome. A decisive influence on his work, however, was not just the Baroque classicism of the Carracci brothers but the dynamic illusionism of the dome paintings in Parma by Correggio. Lanfranco translated Correggio’s 16th-century style into a Roman Baroque idiom. Soon after his arrival in Rome (1612), he painted the ceiling frescoes Joseph Explaining the Dreams of His Fellow Prisoners and Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife (both 1615) in the Palazzo Mattei. The frescoes combine techniques and styles learned from Annibale Carracci and from Lanfranco’s own study of Correggio and Caravaggio. Lanfranco’s painting in the dome of San Andrea della Valle in Rome (1621–25) derives directly from Correggio in its virtuoso use of vigorously posed figures floating in the clouds over the spectator’s head. Lanfranco worked in Naples from 1633/34 to 1646, his best known work there being the dome of the chapel of San Gennaro in the cathedral (1641–46). He was a bitter rival of Domenichino, both in Rome and later in Naples. More on Giovanni Lanfranco

Matteo Rosselli FLORENCE 1578 - 1650 THE ARCHANGEL MICHAEL oil on canvas 64.5 by 51.5 cm.; 25 3/8  by 20 1/4  in.:
Matteo Rosselli, FLORENCE 1578 - 1650
THE ARCHANGEL MICHAEL
Oil on canvas
64.5 by 51.5 cm.; 25 3/8  by 20 1/4  in.
Private collection

Sold for 7,500 GBP in  October 2015

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 on Michael

Matteo Rosselli (10 August 1578 – 18 January 1650) was an Italian painter of the late Florentine Counter-Mannerism and early Baroque. He is best known however for his highly populated grand-manner historical paintings. On 26 February 1599, he was inducted to the Accademia del Disegno, and in 1605 traveled to Rome to work with Domenico Passignano for six months.
 
He completed some frescoes on Lives of Servite Monks (1614–1618) in the Palazzo Pitti and in the Cloister of the Basilica della Santissima Annunziata; a Madonna and child with St Francis altarpiece for the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Florence; and an Adoration of the Magi (1607) for the Church of Sant'Andrea in Montevarchi. He painted a Crucifixion (1613) now in the parish church at Scarperia. He painted a Last Supper (1614) now in Conservatorio di San Pier Martire.
 
Upon the French monarch's death, he was commissioned two commemorative paintings of events in the life of Henry IV: his visit to Nantes and Gaudabec (1610). He also completed an Assumption (1613) for the church of San Domenico in Pistoia. He painted a number of frescoes for the Casa Buonarroti based on events of Michelangelo's life.
 
The largest collection of Rosselli drawings is contained within the Louvre Museum, Paris, with many being preliminary sketches for other works. More on Matteo Rosselli

South German School, circa 1600 THE ARCHANGEL MICHAEL oil and gold ground on panel 134 by 110 cm.; 51 3/4  by 43 1/4  in:
South German School, circa 1600
THE ARCHANGEL MICHAEL
Oil and gold ground on panel
134 by 110 cm.; 51 3/4  by 43 1/4  in
Private collection

Sold for 3,750 GBP in October 2015

Pietro Sigismondi, BORN IN LUCCA - ROME BEFORE 1624
SAINT AGNES
Oil on copper
36.9 by 28 cm.; 14 1/2  by 11 in.
Private collection

Sold for 15,000 GBP in October 2015

Agnes of Rome (c. 291 – c. 304) is a virgin–martyr, venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, and Lutheranism. She is one of seven women, who along with the Blessed Virgin, are commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass. She is the patron saint of chastity, gardeners, girls, engaged couples, rape survivors, virgins, and the Children of Mary.

According to tradition, Agnes was a member of the Roman nobility born 291 AD and raised in a Christian family. She suffered martyrdom at the age of twelve or thirteen during the reign of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, on 21 January 304. Details of her story are unreliable, but legend holds that the young men, slighted by her resolute devotion to religious purity, submitted her name to the authorities as a follower of Christianity. More on Agnes of Rome

Born in Lucca, Sigismondi made his career in Rome, where he painted the present work. His style reflects that of both native Roman painters and the itinerant Flemish landscape painters working in the city, such as Paul Bril, whose influence is evident in the background of this work. Sigismondi painted frescoes in Villa Celimontana in Rome, and an altarpiece depicting the Madonna and child with saints Nicholas and Filippo Benizzi for the church of San. Niccolò in Arcione. More on Pietro Sigismondi

Circle of Adam Elsheimer
THE MADONNA AND CHILD IN A LANDSCAPE WITH ANGELS
oil on copper
19.5 cm by 24.8 cm.; 7 5/8  by 9 3/4  in.
Private collection

Sold for  CHF 8,000 in April 2011

Adam Elsheimer (18 March 1578 – 11 December 1610) was a German artist working in Rome who died at only thirty-two, but was very influential in the early 17th century. His relatively few paintings were small scale, nearly all painted on copper plates, of the type often known as cabinet paintings. They include a variety of light effects, and an innovative treatment of landscape. He was an influence on many other artists, including Rembrandt and Peter Paul Rubens. More on Adam Elsheimer

Francesco Trevisani CAPODISTRIA 1656-1746 ROMA THE MADONNA AND CHILD oil on copper 18.4 by 14 cm.; 7 1/4  by 5 1/2  in.:
Francesco Trevisani, CAPODISTRIA 1656-1746 ROMA
THE MADONNA AND CHILD
oil on copper
18.4 by 14 cm.; 7 1/4  by 5 1/2  in.
Private collection

Sold for €3,900 EUR in November 2019

Francesco Trevisani (April 9, 1656 – July 30, 1746) was an Italian painter, active in the period called either early Rococo or late Baroque (barochetto). Born in Capodistria, Istria (modern Koper now in Slovenia, then part of the Republic of Venice), he was the son of Antonio Trevisani, an architect, by whom he was instructed in the first rudiments of design. He then studied in Venice under Antonio Zanchi. He moved to Rome, where he remained until his death, in 1746. His brother, Angelo Trevisani remained a prominent painter in Venice. More on Francesco Trevisani

Guy François LE PUY, HAUTE-LOIRE CIRCA 1578 - 1650 LE PUY THE VIRGIN AND CHILD oil on canvas 84.5 by 59 cm.; 33 1/4  by 24 1/4  in.:
Guy François, LE PUY, HAUTE-LOIRE CIRCA 1578 - 1650 LE PUY
THE VIRGIN AND CHILD
oil on canvas
84.5 by 59 cm.; 33 1/4  by 24 1/4  in.
Private collection

Sold for 6,250 GBP in October 2015

Guy François (1578 – 1650), was a French painter born in Le Puy and travelled to Italy, where he worked in the workshop of Carlo Saraceni in Venice during the years 1615-1619. He signed his works "Guido Francesco". He is known for religious works in the style of Caravaggio. More on Guy François

Follower of Antiveduto Gramatica HOLY FAMILY WITH THE INFANT SAINT JOHN oil on canvas 105.4 by 130.8 cm.; 41 1/4  by 51 1/2  in:
Follower of Antiveduto Gramatica
HOLY FAMILY WITH THE INFANT SAINT JOHN
Oil on canvas
105.4 by 130.8 cm.; 41 1/4  by 51 1/2  in
Private collection

Sold for 4,750 GBP in October 2015

Antiveduto Grammatica (1571 – April 1626) was a proto-Baroque Italian painter, active near Rome. It was in Rome that Antiveduto was baptised, raised and based his career. His apprenticeship with the Perugian artist Giovanni Domenico Angelini (Giandomenico Perugino) introduced him to small-scale work, mostly on copper. He gained the nickname "gran Capocciante" because he specialised in painting heads of famous men. A decade later, in 1591, Antiveduto set up as an independent artist. More on Antiveduto Gramatica

Roman School, 18th century
MADONNA AND CHILD WITH THE INFANT SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST 
oil on copper
21.6 by 16.8 cm.; 8 1/2  by 6 5/8  in.
Private collection

Estimate for 6,000 - 8,000 GBP in October 2015

The Roman School of Italian painting was important from the mid-15th to the late 19th century.

Both Michelangelo and Raphael worked in Rome, making it the centre of High Renaissance; in the 17th century Rome was the centre of the Baroque movement represented by Bernini and Pietro da Cortona. From the 17th century the presence of classical remains drew artists from all over Europe. In the 17th century Italian art was diffused mainly from Rome, the indisputable centre of the Baroque.

Roman Mannerism, spread abroad by the prolific work of Federico and Taddeo Zuccari, was continued by Cristoforo Roncalli, called Pomarancio and especially by Giuseppe Cesari, called Cavaliere d'Arpino, whose reputation was immense. The reaction against Mannerism engendered two different movements, which were sometimes linked together: one was realist with Caravaggio, the other eclectic and decorative with the Carracci.

Decorative art, after the Carracci and stimulated by them, flourished extensively. Sometimes it followed their style and that of Correggio, e.g. Giovanni Lanfranco, lavish decorator of churches in Rome and Naples. Sometimes the Carracci influence was combined with an admiration for Raphael, e.g. Andrea Sacchi who taught Carlo Maratti, a fine portraitist whose religious paintings inspired a number of artists. 

In the first half of the 18th century Rome remained the artistic centre to which painters were drawn. From Gaeta came Sebastiano Conca, who trained in Naples under Francesco Solimena. He lived in Rome from 1706 to 1759, and founded a famous workshop. The paintings of ruins, made fashionable by Flemish and Dutch artists, was revived by Giovanni Paolo Pannini. He was born in Piacenza but lived in Rome where he acquired great fame. His sense of light and pictorial values lends charm to his architectural fantasies and to his chronicles. More on The Roman School of Italian painting

Follower of Giambattista Piazzetta
CHRIST ON THE CROSS WITH SAINT FRANCIS
oil on canvas, with an unidentified collector's wax seal on the stretcher
74.5 by 53.8 cm.; 29 3/8  by 21 1/4  in.
Private collection

Estimate for 3,000 - 5,000 GBP in October 2015

Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, also called Giambattista Piazetta (born Feb. 13, 1682, Venice [Italy]—died April 28, 1754, Venice), painter, illustrator, and designer who was one of the outstanding Venetian artists of the 18th century. His art evolved from Italian Baroque traditions of the 17th century to a Rococo manner in his mature style.

Piazzetta began his career in the studio of his father, Giacomo, but soon abandoned the family profession and began to study painting under Antonio Molinari. In about 1703 he went to Bologna, where he worked in the studio of Giuseppi Maria Crespi. He was back in Venice by 1711 and continued to work there until his death.

Little is known of the dating of Piazzetta’s paintings, especially those of his youth. His “St. James Led to Martyrdom” (Venice) dates to 1717; at this period he was a powerful influence on the young Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, who was to become the most famous Venetian painter of the 18th century. The “Ecstasy of St. Francis,” perhaps his finest religious work, dates from about 1732, and some three years later he was commissioned to execute an “Assumption” for the elector of Cologne. The celebrated “Fortune Teller” is dated 1740. 
In 1727 Piazzetta was elected a member of the Clementine Academy of Bologna, and, on the foundation of the Venetian Academy in 1750, he was made its first director and teacher of drawing from the nude. He was a very slow worker and in spite of his popularity was compelled to produce innumerable drawings for sale to support his large family. More on Giovanni Battista Piazzetta

Circle of Jacques Stella
JUDITH AND HOLOFERNES
oil on slate, octagonal
37.5 by 38.6 cm.; 14 3/4  by 15 1/8  in.
Private collection

Estimate for 3,000 - 5,000 GBP in October 2015

The account of the beheading of Holofernes by Judith is given in the deuterocanonical Book of Judith, and is the subject of many paintings and sculptures from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. In the story, Judith, a beautiful widow, is able to enter the tent of Holofernes because of his desire for her. Holofernes was an Assyrian general who was about to destroy Judith's home, the city of Bethulia. Overcome with drink, he passes out and is decapitated by Judith; his head is taken away in a basket (often depicted as carried by an elderly female servant). More in the beheading of Holofernes by Judith

Jacques Stella (1596 - 29 April 1657) was a French painter. From about 1616 to 1622, Jacques was in Florence working for Cosimo II de' Medici, along with Jacques Callot, whose style influenced Stella's early engravings. Around 1623 Stella moved to Rome, where he stayed for ten years and gained fame for his small-scale paintings and engravings. In Rome he was influenced by the cool classicism and restraint of Nicolas Poussin's art and became one of Poussin's few intimates. 

In about 1634, he ventured towards Paris, traveling to Venice, Milan, and Lyon along the way. In Paris, Cardinal Richelieu presented him to Louis XIII, who appointed him Painter to the King. In later years, Stella worked in Paris, Rouen, and Versailles, but his life became overshadowed by illness. 

After his death, Stella's paintings and drawings were often sold as the works of Poussin. The chronology of Stella's works is far from settled, with numerous paintings still untraced or damaged. His nieces, whom Stella trained as painters, later engraved many of his drawings. More on Jacques Stella

File:Artemisia Gentileschi - Giuditta decapita Oloferne - Google Art Project-Adjust.jpg
Artemisia Gentileschi (1593–1653) 
Judith and Holofernes c. 1620 until 1621
Oil on canvas
Height: 199 cm (78.3 in). Width: 162.5 cm (64 in).
Uffizi Gallery

Artemisia Gentileschi (July 8, 1593 – c. 1656) was an Italian Baroque painter, today considered one of the most accomplished painters in the generation following that of Caravaggio. In an era when women painters were not easily accepted by the artistic community or patrons, she was the first woman to become a member of the Accademia di Arte del Disegno in Florence. She painted many pictures of strong and suffering women from myth and the Bible – victims, suicides, warriors. More on Artemisia Gentileschi

Follower of Daniele Crespi
SALOMÈ WITH THE HEAD OF SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST
oil on canvas, unframed
63.4 by 76 cm.; 25 by 29 7/8  in.
Private collection

Sold for 563 GBP in April 2016

The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist commemorates the martyrdom by beheading of Saint John the Baptist on the orders of Herod Antipas through the vengeful request of his step-daughter Salome and her mother. More on The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist

Daniele Crespi (1598–July 19, 1630) was an Italian painter of the Baroque era. He was born in Busto Arsizio, and active mostly in the Milan of Federico Borromeo.

He was an excellent colorist, known for the simplistic beauty of his composition. His earliest works show him assisting Guglielmo Caccia in San Vittore. His best works include a series of pictures from the life of Saint Bruno (now in the Certosa di Garegnano in Milan) and a depiction of the Stoning of St. Stephen (in Brera). Another masterpiece is the dark 1628 San Carlo Borromeo at Supper in the church of Santa Maria della Passione in Milan. Other works by him can be found in Milan and Pavia. His Conversion of Saint Paul, when compared to Caravaggio's earlier work in the Cerasi Chapel, shows the persistence of Crespi's Mannerist traits. Crespi died in Milan during the plague epidemic in 1630. More on Daniele Crespi

Onorio Marinari (1627–1715)
Salome with the head of John the Baptist, c. 1680
Oil on Canvas
56 × 50 × 3 in. (142.24 × 127 × 7.62 cm)
Minneapolis Institute of Arts

Into this scene the artist injected a dissonant elegance. Contrasting with the saint’s bloodied head and the shirtless executioner’s rough looks, mother and daughter are beautiful and refined, with porcelain skin and sumptuous attire that includes shiny pearls and elaborate headpieces. By Salome’s downturned head, Marinari suggested a pained remorse as she contemplates the result of her murderous request. More on this painting

Jacob Willemsz. de Wet the Elder
HAARLEM 1610 - AFTER 1675 HAARLEM (?)
CHRIST DISPUTING WITH THE DOCTORS IN THE TEMPLE
oil on canvas
44 by 36.8 cm.; 17 1/4  by 14 1/2  in.
Private collection

Sold for 3,000 GBP in October 2015

Christ disputing with the Doctors. At the age of twelve, Christ debated in the Temple of Jerusalem with senior scholars and priests and 'all that heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers' (New Testament, Luke 2: 41-8). 

Jacob Willemsz. de Wet the Elder (c. 1610 – between 1675 and 1691) was a Dutch Golden Age painter. He was born and died in Haarlem. Little is known of his early life. Houbraken mentions him in passing as an art dealer of Haarlem in his biographical sketch of Philips Wouwerman, referring to him as Jan de Wet. De Wet left a notebook that mentions a total of 34 pupils, most famously Paulus Potter. Other notable pupils were Job Adriaensz Berckheyde, Adriaen Jansz Kraen, Johann Philip Lemke, Jan Vermeer van Haarlem I (not to be confused with Vermeer of Delft), Jacob de Wet II, and Kort Withold. He became a member of the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke in 1632. Judging from the number of pupils, and the difficulties his son Jacob II had with launching an independent career, it seems that De Wet had a large and successful practise in Haarlem. More on Jacob Willemsz. de Wet the Elder

Lodovico Mazzolino
Christ disputing with the Doctors, probably about 1520-5
Oil on wood
31.1 × 22.2 cm
The National Gallery

On their way home from the Passover celebration, the Virgin Mary and Joseph could not find 12-year-old Jesus and anxiously searched for him. They found him sitting under the portico of the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, discussing theology with the Temple elders. Mazzolino shows Christ seated on a gilded throne, surrounded by theologians. The Virgin and Saint Joseph, identified by their haloes, listen to Christ’s wise words, and the Virgin crosses her arms in reverence.

The structure directly behind Christ may represent the Holy of Holies, where the Ark of the Covenant containing the tablets with the Ten Commandments was stored. The frieze on its front depicts Moses showing the tablets to his people and above it is the Hebrew inscription. More on this painting

Ludovico Mazzolino (1480 – c. 1528) was an Italian Renaissance painter active in Ferrara and Bologna. He was born and died in Ferrara. He appears to have studied under such as Lorenzo Costa, who also trained Dosso Dossi and Cosimo Tura, and came under the influence of Ercole Roberti. In 1521 he married Giovanna, the daughter of Bartolomeo Vacchi, a Venetian painter. Much of his work was commissioned by the duke Ercole I d'Este from Ferrara. Mazzolino was influenced by il Garofalo and Boccaccino. He is known for devotional cabinet pictures, in a style somewhat regressive, or primitive, relative to the modern classicism then emerging. More on Ludovico Mazzolino

Salomon Koninck, AMSTERDAM 1609 - 1656
THE HOLY FAMILY
Oil on canvas
32.1 by 28 cm.; 12 5/8  by 11 in.
Private collection

Estimate for 2,000 - 4,000 GBP in October 2015

Salomon (de) Koninck (1609 - 1656) was a Dutch painter of genre scenes and portraits, and an engraver. Hewas born in Amsterdam, the son of a goldsmith, originally from Antwerp. Salomon became a pupil of Pieter Lastman, David Colijns, François Venants and Claes Corneliszoon Moeyaert. From 1630 he was a member of the Sint Lucasgilde. He moved in the circles of Rembrandt and the academy of Hendrick van Uylenburgh, making many copies of Rembrandt's compositions. His paintings have a warm colour palette and include many "philosophers" or scholars. Perhaps one of the better known of these is the Philosopher with an Open Book at the Louvre that was long attributed to Rembrandt and served as companion piece to Rembrandt's Philosopher in Meditation.More on Salomon (de) Koninck

Circle of Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
THE HOLY FAMILY
oil on canvas
39.2 by 35.6 cm; 15 1/2  by 14 in.
Private collection

Sold for 6,500 GBP in October 2015

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (March 5, 1696 – March 27, 1770), was an Italian painter and printmaker from the Republic of Venice. He was prolific, and worked not only in Italy, but also in Germany and Spain. Giovan Battista Tiepolo, together with Giambattista Pittoni, Canaletto, Giovan Battista Piazzetta, Giuseppe Maria Crespi and Francesco Guardi forms the traditional great Old Masters of that period.

Successful from the beginning of his career, he has been described as "the greatest decorative painter of eighteenth-century Europe, as well as its most able craftsman."More on Giovanni Battista Tiepolo

School of Utrecht, 17th Century
SUSANNA AND THE ELDERS
Oil on panel
29.8 by 39 cm.; 11 3/4  by 15 1/4  in.
Private collection

Sold for 3,750 GBP in October 2015

As the story goes, 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 cross-examined about what they saw but disagree about the tree under which Susanna supposedly met her lover. The first says they were under a mastic. The second says they were under an evergreen oak tree. The great difference makes the elders' lie plain to all the observers. The false accusers are put to death, and virtue triumphs. More on SUSANNA AND THE ELDERS

Utrecht school, principally a group of three Dutch painters—Dirck van Baburen (c. 1590–1624), Gerrit van Honthorst (1590–1656), and Hendrik Terbrugghen (1588–1629)—who went to Rome and fell fully under the pervasive influence of Caravaggio’s art before returning to Utrecht. Although none of them ever actually met Caravaggio (d. 1610), each had access to his paintings, knew his former patrons, and was influenced by the work of his follower Bartholomeo Manfredi (1580–1620/21), especially his half-length figural groups, which were boldly derived from Caravaggio and occasionally passed off as the deceased master’s works.

Back in the Netherlands the “Caravaggisti” were eager to demonstrate what they had learned. Their subjects are frequently religious ones, but brothel scenes and pictures in sets, such as five works devoted to the senses, were popular with them also. The numerous candles, lanterns, and other sources of artificial light are characteristic and further underscore the indebtedness to Caravaggio.

Although Honthorst enjoyed the widest reputation at the time, painting at both the Dutch and English courts, Terbrugghen is generally regarded as the most talented and versatile of the group. More on The Utrecht school

Antwerp School, 17th century SUZANNA AND THE ELDERS oil on canvas 116 by 167 cm; 45 5/8  by 65 3/4  in.:
Antwerp School, 17th century
SUZANNA AND THE ELDERS
oil on canvas
116 by 167 cm; 45 5/8  by 65 3/4  in.
Private collection

Estimate for 2,000 - 3,000 GBP in October 2015

The Antwerp School is a term for the artists active in Antwerp, first during the 16th century when the city was the economic center of the Low Countries, and then during the 17th century when it became the artistic stronghold of the Flemish Baroque under Peter Paul Rubens. More on The Antwerp School

Gaspar van den Hoecke ACTIVE IN ANTWERP 1595 - 1648 THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI signed lower right: gaspar van Hoecke. In. f. oil on panel 25 by 20.5 cm.; 9 3/4  by 8 in.:
Gaspar van den Hoecke, ACTIVE IN ANTWERP 1595 - 1648
THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI
Oil on panel
25 by 20.5 cm.; 9 3/4  by 8 in.
Private collection

Gaspar van den Hoecke (c. 1585–after 1648) was a Flemish Baroque painter of small devotional cabinet pieces. He became a master in the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke in 1603. His early works continue Mannerist tendencies that were still popular at the beginning of the seventeenth century, but later the influences of Peter Paul Rubens and Caravaggism are noticeable in his paintings. More

Flemish School, circa 1700
ADORATION OF THE MAGI
oil on canvas
41.8 by 61.5 cm.; 16 3/8  by 24 1/4  in.
Private collection

Estimate for 5,000 - 7,000 GBP in October 2015

Flemish art, art of the 15th, 16th, and early 17th centuries in Flanders and in the surrounding regions, known for its vibrant materialism and unsurpassed technical skill. Flemish painters were masters of the oil medium and used it primarily to portray a robust and realistically detailed vision of the world around them. Their paintings reflect clearly the changes in fortune of this narrow slice of country between France, Germany, and the Low Countries.

The precursors of the Flemish school are usually placed in Dijon, the first capital of the dukes of Burgundy. Philip the Bold (reigned 1363–1404) established the powerful Flemish-Burgundian alliance that lasted more than a century. He also established a tradition of art patronage that was to last nearly as long. Among the artists he attracted to Dijon were the sculptor Claus Sluter of Haarlem and the painter Melchior Broederlam of Ypres, in whose richly textured works one can see the attachment to the world of surface appearances that is so characteristic of the Flemish school. More on Flemish art

Johann König NUREMBERG 1586 - 1642 THE BAPTISM OF CHRIST signed and dated lower left on the rock: Johan: Konig./ f: 1637 oil on copper, unframed 37.8 by 28 cm.; 15 by 11 in.:
Johann König, NUREMBERG 1586 - 1642
THE BAPTISM OF CHRIST, c. 1637
Oil on copper, unframed
37.8 by 28 cm.; 15 by 11 in.
Private collection

Estimated for € 15,000 - 20,000 in March 2017

In the center of the depiction, Jesus is dressed only in a loincloth, looking upwards. On the right is John the Baptist, who is currently holding the conch shell over the ray-wreathed head of Jesus. At the bottom right is a lamb as an attribute of the Baptist, and at the left are two angels standing ready with cloths. Above the depiction there is a translucent cloud structure with winged angel heads. More on this painting

Johann König (21 October 1586 – 4 March 1642) was a German painter. He was a follower of Adam Elsheimer.[2] He is known primarily for his painted copper panels.

König was born in Nuremberg in 1586, the son of goldsmith Arnold König. His knowledge of the works of Johannes Rottenhammer suggests that he might have apprenticed in Augsburg (possibly with Rottenhammer).

He spent a year in Venice and Rome from 1610 to 1614. There he possibly made contact in December 1610 with Elsheimer before the latter died. His works directly influenced even König's early works.

In 1614 he returned to Augsburg, married and received painter rights from the local guild. In 1622 he became a member of the Painters' Guild and a year later, he became a member of the Great Council. After 1620 he worked with Matthias Gundelach and Johann Matthias Kager on decorations of Augsburg Town Hall created by Elias Holl.

Following the Edict of Restitution, by 1631 he returned to Nuremberg, where he further worked and died in March 1642. More on Johann König

Attributed to Frans Francken the Elder HERENTALS 1542 - 1616 ANTWERP THE MARTYRDOM OF SAINT JOHN THE APOSTLE signed lower right: O . FFRANCK.F (FF in ligature)  oil on panel, the reverse with the star symbol of an Antwerp panel maker, and with remains of the stamp of the Antwerp Panel Makers Guild 59.4 by 42.1 cm.; 23 3/8  by 16 5/8  in.:
Attributed to Frans Francken the Elder, HERENTALS 1542 - 1616 ANTWERP
THE MARTYRDOM OF SAINT JOHN THE APOSTLE
Oil on panel
59.4 by 42.1 cm.; 23 3/8  by 16 5/8  in.
Private collection

Sold for 6,250 GBP in October 2015

This picture is a copy of the interior of the right wing of the Saint John Altarpiece, by Quinten Metsys (1466-1530) (Antwerp, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, inv. no. 248), commissioned for the chapter of the joiners' guild in Antwerp Cathedral in 1508 and completed by 26 August 1511. During the mid-century iconoclastic frenzy, the Antwerp painter Marten de Vos (1532-1603) saved the triptych, which was subsequently bought by the city and placed in the Stadhuis, before returning to the cathedral in 1599. More on this painting

The Martyrdom of St. John. It is often said that St. John the Beloved (the Evangelist) is the only of the apostles who was not martyred, and this is true. St. John did not die a martyrs’ death, he did not shed his blood for Christ. according to the ancient tradition, St. John lived through two attempts upon his life. Once, when he was to be boiled in oil, but came forth from the cauldron healthy and well. And another time, when he was given a poisoned chalice, but remained unharmed. More on The Martyrdom of St. John

Frans Francken  (1542, Herentals – 1616, Antwerp) was a Flemish painter and one of the principal painters in Antwerp during the Counter-Reformation. He is mainly known for his large altarpieces and allegorical paintings. He was a member of the Francken dynasty of painters that played an important role in the Antwerp art scene in the 17th century. More on Frans Francken the Elder

South German School, early 16th century
THE DEATH OF THE VIRGIN
oil on panel, unframed
70.2 by 48.1 cm.; 27 5/8  by 19 in.
Private collection

Sold for 9,375 GBP in October 2015

South German School, early 16th century. The changes experienced in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries were nowhere more strongly felt than in German-speaking lands. There the revolutions of printing and the Protestant Reformation were first unleashed. And it was a German artist, Albrecht Dürer, who introduced the art of Renaissance Italy to northern Europe. As France, England, and Spain coalesced around strong dynasties into powerful nations, Germany remained a political mosaic of small, independent states under the aegis of the Holy Roman Emperor. Yet it sustained a strong sense of national identity, and this was reflected in the distinctive character of German art.

At the beginning of the fifteenth century, German artists, like those all across Europe, created delicate courtly art in what is now known as the International Style. This was marked by long graceful figures, richly patterned surfaces, gold decoration, and a preference for abstract ornamentation over realism. By about 1450, influenced by painting in the Netherlands, German artists adopted a more naturalistic style. In general, however, their work remained more expressive than their neighbor's. German painters tended to emphasize line and pattern over three-dimensional form. They juxtaposed strong contrasts of color and continued to use gold backgrounds long after they became old fashioned elsewhere. German altarpieces often included painted and gilded sculpture, increasing the theatricality of the sacred scenes. All these qualities pitched art to a high emotional key, one well suited to the German religious experience, which had been heavily influenced by the mysticism of such preachers as Meister Eckehart beginning in the 1300s. More South German School, early 16th century

After Jan Gossaert, called Mabuse
VIRGIN AND CHILD ENTHRONED
oil on panel
32.8 by 24 cm.; 12 7/8  by 9 1/2  in.
Private collection

Sold for 3,000 GBP in October 2015

Jan Gossaert (c. 1478 – 1 October 1532) was a French-speaking painter from the Low Countries also known as Jan Mabuse (the name he adopted from his birthplace, Maubeuge) or Jennyn van Hennegouwe (Hainaut), as he called himself when he matriculated in the Guild of Saint Luke, at Antwerp, in 1503. He was one of the first painters of Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting to visit Italy and Rome, which he did in 1508–09, and a leader of the style known as Romanism, which brought elements of Italian Renaissance painting to the north, sometimes with a rather awkward effect. He achieved fame across at least northern Europe, and painted religious subjects, including large altarpieces, but also portraits and mythological subjects, including some nudity.

From at least 1508 he was apparently continuous employed, or at least retained, by quasi-royal patrons, mostly members of the extended Habsburg family, heirs to the Valois Duchy of Burgundy. These were Philip of Burgundy, Adolf of Burgundy, Christian II of Denmark when in exile, and Mencía de Mendoza, Countess of Nassau, third wife of Henry III of Nassau-Breda. More on Jan Gossaert

Follower of Pier Francesco Mola
THE ANGEL APPEARING TO HAGAR AND ISHMAEL IN A LANDSCAPE
oil on canvas, unframed
43.5 by 61.2 cm.; 17 1/8  by 24 1/8  in.
Private collection

Sold for 375 GBP in October 2015

The Angel appears to Hagar and Ishmael. This episode is taken from the Old Testament (Genesis 16 and 21). Abraham has a child called Ishmael by Hagar, the Egyptian maidservant of his aged and barren wife, Sara. When Sara miraculously conceives and gives birth to Isaac, she demands that Hagar and Ishmael should be banished, to which Abraham reluctantly agrees. In the wilderness their supplies run out, but an angel appears and points out a source of water to Hagar. More on The Angel appears to Hagar and Ishmael

Pier Francesco Mola, called Il Ticinese (9 February 1612 – 13 May 1666) was an Italian painter of the High Baroque, mainly active around Rome.

Mola was born at Coldrerio (now in Ticino, Switzerland). At the age of four, he moved to Rome with his father Giovanni Battista Mola, a painter. With the exception of the years 1633–40 and 1641–47, during which he resided in Venice and Bologna, respectively, he lived for the rest of his life in Rome.

His early training was with the late mannerist painter Cavalier d'Arpino, and he worked under the classicizing Francesco Albani.

His masterpiece as a fresco painter is widely considered to be the fresco in the gallery of Alexander VII in the Quirinal Palace Gallery, entitled Joseph making himself known to his Brethren (1657). However, Mola is considered to have been better as a painter of small pictures, especially landscapes.

He was elected Principe of the Accademia di San Luca, the Roman artists' professional association, in 1662, but his last years were neither profitable nor prolific. Among his pupils were Jean-Baptiste Forest, Antonio Gherardi, and Giuseppe Bonati.

With his looser style and handling, more naturalistic palette, and interest in exploring landscape elements, Mola differs from the prevailing, highly-theoretical classicism of such leading 17th-century Roman painters as Andrea Sacchi. More on Pier Francesco Mola

Guercino (1591 - 1666) 
The Angel appears to Hagar and Ishmael, c.1652-3
Oil on canvas
193 x 229 cm
The National Gallery

In this painting, Hagar turns from her son so she does not have to watch him die. As she weeps, an angel appears to her and reveals a water source nearby – visible in the bottom left corner of the painting – saving their lives. Hagar’s anguish is the focus of the painting. She is seated in the centre of the composition, poised and dignified, and her gleaming tears convey her intense sorrow. More on this painting

Giovanni Francesco Barbieri was called Guercino in reference to his pronounced squint. He was the leading Bolognese painter after the death of Guido Reni. His earlier pictures typically combine the chiaroscuro effects of Caravaggio with a charm and softness not usually found in followers of this artist.

Guercino was born at Cento, near Bologna. He was largely self-taught but influenced by the Carracci and particularly by Ludovico Carracci. An early commission in Bologna was the altarpiece of the 'Investiture of Saint William' (1620, Bologna, Pinacoteca). In 1621 Guercino was invited to Rome to work for Pope Gregory XV. His ceiling fresco, Aurora, was painted for the Pope's nephew (Rome, Villa Ludovisi).

On the death of the Pope, Guercino returned to Cento; he settled in Bologna, probably in 1644, after the death of Reni. His later work is more academic, closer to the manner of Reni, and lacks the bravura handling and chiaroscuro effects of his earlier paintings. More on Giovanni Francesco Barbieri

Onorio Marinari FLORENCE 1627-1715 SAINT MARGARET OF ANTIOCH oil on canvas 65 by 50.6 cm. 25 1/2  by 19 7/8  in.:
Onorio Marinari, FLORENCE 1627-1715
SAINT MARGARET OF ANTIOCH
Oil on canvas
65 by 50.6 cm. 25 1/2  by 19 7/8  in.
Private collection

Sold for 22,500 GBP in October 2015

St. Margaret of Antioch. Nothing certain is known of her, but according to her untrustworthy legend, she was the daughter of a pagan priest at Antioch in Pisidia. Also known as Marina, she was converted to Christianity, whereupon she was driven from home by her father. She became a shepherdess and when she spurned the advances of Olybrius, the prefect, who was infatuated with her beauty, he charged her with being a Christian. He had her tortured and then imprisoned, and while she was in prison she had an encounter with the devil in the form of a dragon. According to the legend, he swallowed her, but the cross she carried in her hand so irritated his throat that he was forced to disgorge her (she is patroness of childbirth). The next day, attempts were made to execute her by fire and then by drowning, but she was miraculously saved and converted thousands of spectators witnessing her ordeal-all of whom were promptly executed. Finally, she was beheaded. That she existed and was martyred are probably true; all else is probably fictitious embroidery and added to her story, which was immensely popular in the Middle Ages, spreading from the East all over Western Europe. She is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, and hers was one of the voices heard by Joan of Arc.More on St. Margaret of Antioch

Onorio Marinari (1627 – January 5, 1715) was an Italian painter and printmaker of the Baroque period, active mainly in Florence. His father, Sigismondo di Pietro Marinari, was also a painter, and he trained with his cousin, Carlo Dolci, later being also influenced by Simone Pignoni and Francesco Furini. 

His fresco in the Palazzo Capponi, Florence, is dated 1707. He worked mainly in Florence for Florentine and Tuscan clients, but he did not devote himself only to painting. In fact, in 1674, he published an essay on astronomy entitled Fabbrica ed uso dell' Annulo Astronomico. Bartolomeo Bimbi was one of his pupils. More on Onorio Marinari

Gregorio Lazzarini, VENICE 1655-1730 VILLABONA
REBECCA AND ELIEZER AT THE WELL
oil on canvas
44.6 by 37 cm.; 17 5/8  by 14 1/2  in.
Private collection

Estimate for 2,500 - 3,500 GBP in October 2015

After the death of Sarah, Isaac, her son, was lonely; and as he was now old enough to marry, Abraham went about finding a wife for  Isaac, who was already 37 years old. He commanded his servant, Eliezer of Damascus, to journey to his birthplace of Aram Naharaim to select a bride from his own family. 

As Eliezer stood at the central well in Abraham's birthplace with his men and ten camels laden with goods, a young girl immediately came out and offered to draw water for him to drink, as well as water to fill the troughs for all his camels. 
The servant recounted the oath he made to Abraham and all the details of his trip to and meeting with Rebecca in fine detail, after which her brother Laban and her father Bethuel agreed that she could return with him. Her family sent her off with her nurse, Deborah, and blessed her. More on Rebecca and Eliezer at the Well

Gregorio Lazzarini (1657 – 10 November 1730) was an Italian painter of mythological, religious and historical subjects, as well as portraits. Best known for first training Giambattista Tiepolo, he was one of the most successful Venetian artists of the day and a prominent teacher. His own style was somewhat eclectic.

Born in Venice, the son of a barber, he was the brother of the proficient painter, Elisabetta Lazzarini (1662–1729). He trained initially with the Genovese painter Francesco Rosa, then with Girolamo Forabosco, and lastly in the studio of Pietro della Vecchia.

He joined the painters' guild in Venice in 1687. Active in Venice until at least 1715, he spent most of his life in the Venetian Republic. He was a prolific painter. He was reputed to be a patient teacher who imparted a broad knowledge of artistic styles for the portrayal of mythological and historical subjects.

Lazzarini died on 10 November 1730 in Villabona Veronese (now Villa d'Adige in Badia Polesine), having moved there in September to stay with his brother, the local priest. More on Gregorio Lazzarini

Francesco de Mura, NAPLES 1696 - 1782
The Judgment of Solomon
oil on canvas
100.5 by 75.3 cm.; 39 1/2  by 29 5/8  in.
Private collection

Sold for 8,125 GBP in October 2015 

The Judgment of Solomon refers to a story from the Hebrew Bible in which King Solomon of Israel ruled between two women both claiming to be the mother of a child by tricking the parties into revealing their true feelings. It has become an archetypal example of argument to moderation and that of an impartial judge displaying wisdom in making a ruling. More on The Judgment of Solomon

Francesco de Mura (21 April 1696 – 19 August 1782) was an Italian painter of the late-Baroque period, active mainly in Naples and Turin. His late work reflects the style of neoclassicism.

He was a pupil of Francesco Solimena, then later with Domenico Viola, where he met his contemporary, Mattia Preti.


While still in his teens he painted frescoes (1715) in San Nicola alla Carità in Naples. He painted ten canvases of the Virtues and an Adoration of the Magi (1728) for the church of Santa Maria Donnaromita. His other works include frescoes of the Adoration of the Magi (1732) in the apsidal dome of the church of the Nunziatella. De Mura also painted portraits. More on Francesco de Mura

Francisco Camilo, MADRID 1615 - 1673
The Annunciation
oil on canvas
85.5 by 82.5 cm.; 33 3/4  by 32 1/2  in.
Private collection

Estimate for 10,000 - 15,000 GBP in October 2015 

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

Francisco Camilo (1610-1671) was a Spanish painter; the son of an Italian who had settled at Madrid. When his father died, his mother remarried, and Camilo became the stepson of the painter Pedro de las Cuevas.
De las Cuevas brought Camilo up as his own son, teaching him painting. At the age of 18, Camilo was asked to paint, for the high altar of the Jesuits’ house at Madrid, a picture representing St. Francis Borgia (which was afterwards removed to make way for an altarpiece in plastic).
The Count-Duke of Olivares ordered Camilo to do a series of paintings of Kings of Spain for the theater of Buenretiro, and also chose Camilo to adorn the western gallery of that palace with 14 frescoes from Ovid's Metamorphoses. Primarily a painter of religious works, Camilo did paintings for the monasteries of Madrid, Toledo, Alcalá, and Segovia. He painted and draped some of the statuary of Manuel Pereyra. More on Francisco Camilo

Rubens, Peter Paul, Sir, Flemish, 1577 - 1640
The Meeting of David and Abigail, c. 1630
oil on panel
44.7 x 66.3 cm (17 5/8 x 26 1/8 in.)
The National Gallery of Art

This biblical narrative describes an episode during David's exile in the wilderness in southern Judah. David, in need of provisions, sent some of his men to request aid from a wealthy sheep farmer named Nabal, whose herd David had let graze unmolested all winter. The sheep farmer curtly refused their request. Infuriated, David set out with 400 armed men to seek revenge.  Nabal's wife, Abigail, having learned of David's impending attack, quickly packed generous provisions—including bread, wine, meat, and fruit—on the backs of donkeys, and set out to intercept David and his soldiers. She pleaded with David to forego his punitive action, reminding him that he was fighting the Lord's battles and should not allow evil into his life. Abigail returned home and her joyous news caused her husband's heart to die "within him, and he became as a stone." Upon hearing of Nabal's death, David assumed that God had acted to support his cause and rejoiced, after which he promptly sent servants to ask Abigail to marry him.  She consented and became David's second wife. More on The Meeting of David and Abigail

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 on Sir Peter Paul Rubens

Follower of Theodoor Rombouts
The Meeting of David and Abigail
oil on canvas
117.8 by 168 cm.; 46 3/8  by 66 1/8  in.
Private collection

Sold for 5,000 GBP in  October  2015

The present work is a copy with variations after the large painting by Rombouts in the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest (180 by 230 cm.; inv. no. 2014.2). Other repetitions of the composition, with some differences, have been sold in The Hague, Van Marle & Bignell. More on this painting

Theodoor Rombouts (2 July 1597 – 14 September 1637) was a Flemish painter who is mainly known for his Caravaggesque genre scenes depicting lively dramatic gatherings as well as religiously-themed works. He is considered to be the primary and most original representative of Flemish Caravaggism. These Caravaggisti were part of an international movement of European artists who interpreted the work of Caravaggio and the followers of Caravaggio in a personal manner. More on Theodoor Rombouts

Jacques d'Arthois, BRUSSELS 1613 - 1686
RUDOLF HAPSBURG (1218- 1291) HANDING OVER HIS HORSE TO A PRIEST DELIVERING THE VIATICUM
Oil on canvas
206.5 by 284 cm.; 81 1/4  by 111 3/4  in.
More on this painting

Estimate for 40,000 - 60,000 GBP in October  2015

This highly unusual subject is taken from the Chronicon Helveticum written by Aegidius Tschudi (1505-72) and is again recounted Archduke of Austria and Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary, comes across a priest taking the viaticum to the dying, and in a show of piety hands over his horse for the priest to use. More on this painting

Jacques d'Arthois (12 October 1613) - May 1686) was a Flemish Baroque painter who specialized in landscapes. He was born in Brussels and was apprenticed to Jan Mertens on 11 January 1625, he became a master in the Brussels Guild of St. Luke in 1634. He had his own workshop and took on pupils, among them his brother Nicolaes, his son Jan Baptist, Alexandre van Herssen, and Philippe van Dapels. He was especially good at painting tree trunks covered in moss and ivy. Paintings from his workshop are referred to collectively as "The Sonian Forest Painters".

In 1655 he was made chartered tapestry cartoon designer of the city of Brussels. At the time of his death he owned several houses (one of which was in the Sonian forest) and a painting collection, though his lavish lifestyle had left him severely in debt. He died in Brussels. More on Jacques d'Arthois



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