28 Works, RELIGIOUS ART - Paintings from the Bible, , with footnotes, 14

Andrea Mantegna (1431–1506)
Presentation of Christ in the temple, c. 1465-1466
Tempera on canvas
67 × 86 cm (26.4 × 33.9 in)
Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, Germany

The figures at the left and the right margin of the image are often explained as selfportrait of Mantegna (at the right side) and portrait of his wife Nicolosia Bellini (at the left side).

Cornelis van Haarlem (1562–1638)
Bathseba at her bath, c. 1594
oil on canvas
Height: 77.5 cm (30.5 in). Width: 64 cm (25.2 in).
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam


Giovanni Bellini (Italian, Venice, active by 1459–died 1516 Venice)
Madonna Adoring the Sleeping Child, c. early 1460s
Tempera on wood
Dimensions: 28 1/2 x 18 1/4 in. (72.4 x 46.4 cm)
The Metropolitan Museum 

This is an important early work by Giovanni Bellini, the greatest painter of fifteenth-century Venice and one of the key figures of European painting. Datable to the mid-1460s, its hard, linear quality is indebted to the example of Bellini’s brother-in-law, Andrea Mantegna, as well as to the sculpture of Donatello, which Bellini studied in Padua. The sleeping child is a reminder of Christ's death and sacrifice. The picture has suffered from a strong, abrasive cleaning. More

Lovis Corinth

The Deposition, 1895

Lovis Corinth (21 July 1858 – 17 July 1925) was a German painter and printmaker whose mature work realized a synthesis of impressionism and expressionism.

Corinth studied in Paris and Munich, joined the Berlin Secession group, later succeeding Max Liebermann as the group's president. His early work was naturalistic in approach. Corinth was initially antagonistic towards the expressionist movement, but after a stroke in 1911 his style loosened and took on many expressionistic qualities. His use of color became more vibrant, and he created portraits and landscapes of extraordinary vitality and power. Corinth's subject matter also included nudes and biblical scenes. More

Vincent van Gogh

Pieta (after Delacroix),  September 1889

Sandro Botticelli
Madonna del libro, 1480-82

Oil on panel with original mortise and tenon

Italy, 1st half of 16th century

Circle of Giovanni Cariani, actually Giovanni Busi (c. 1485-1547) - Italian painter of the Venetian School

Dimensions: 80 x 126 cm

Parcel-gilt wooden frame: 101 x 147 cm

Good condition

Madonna and Child surrounded by the Saints Sebastian, John the Baptist and another saint

Giovanni Cariani had numerous imitators during his lifetime, as he was one of the most important painters of the Venetian.

Giovanni Cariani (c. 1485-1547) created numerous Madonna depictions, which are often characterized by a succession of saints, in whose center is depicted Maria with the child. A similar composition of the Madonna and child, which holds the right arm outstretched, can be found, for instance, at the Pinacoteca dell Accademia Carrara in Bergamo. In addition, the present painting shows similarity in the choice of the image detail, which zooms the sitters close to the viewer.

Lovis Corinth

The Magdalen with Pearls in Her Hair, c 1919

Height: 71.5 cm (28.15 in.), Width: 47.6 cm (18.74 in.)

oil on canvas 

Tate Modern

Lovis Corinth (21 July 1858 – 17 July 1925) was a German painter and printmaker whose mature work realized a synthesis of impressionism and expressionism. Corinth studied in Paris and Munich, joined the Berlin Secession group, later succeeding Max Liebermann as the group's president. His early work was naturalistic in approach. Corinth was initially antagonistic towards the expressionist movement, but after a stroke in 1911 his style loosened and took on many expressionistic qualities. His use of color became more vibrant, and he created portraits and landscapes of extraordinary vitality and power. Corinth's subject matter also included nudes and biblical scenes. Morehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovis_Corinth

Oil on canvas, relined

Italy, early 17th century

Giambattista dal Ponte, called Bassano (1553-1613), workshop - Italian painter and second son of Jacopo dal Ponte from the painter’s family called Bassano

Workshop, Road to Calvary

This work is accompanied by a certificate by Dr. Giulina Ericani, director of the Musei Civici di Bassano del Grappa, dated 29/08/2015

Dimensions: 99 x 134 cm

Framed: 120 x 156 cm

Good condition

Estimate by Auctionata Expert: 12,000 Euro

The biblical motif with the scene ‘Jesus being led to the Calvary’ from the Passion of Christ is a varying recurring motif within the circle of the famous Italian painter’s family called Bassano.

The painting presented here is a copy of a painting, which was presumably originally created by Jacopo dal Ponte, called Bassano (1510-1592) and which belonged to the collection of the Archduke Leopold Wilhelm von Habsburg-Austria (1614-1662) in the second half of the 17th century. Evidence of this is based on an engraving by David Teniers II (1610-1690), who produced the first illustrated printed catalog of the Archduke’s painting collection, published under the title ‘Theatrum Pictorium’ in 1660. The unknown artist of our painting comes from the workshop of Giambattista Bassano (1553-1613), who as one of the four sons of Jacopo who took over the father's business.

Oil on canvas, relined

Presumably Italy, around 1700

Copy after Daniel Seiter (1647/49-1705) – Austrian painter of the baroque period; court painter in Turin

With an insignia on the frame, who ascribes the work to the Swedish painter David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl (1623/28-1698)

Dimensions: 95.5 x 134.5 cm

Framed: 105.5 x 145 c

Daniel Seiter (1647/49-1705). Born in Vienna as the son of the Imperial silver dealer and court jeweler Martin ‘Seutter’, Daniel Seiter received his artistic, social and economic prestige in the art centers of Italy. He was trained in Venice, where he served at the workshop of Johann Carl Loth (1632-1698) for twelve entire years. Further trips through northern Italy led him to Florence and Rome, where he reached the rank of a ‘Pittore di seconda classe’. In 1688, Seiter was finally appointed to the Savoyian Court of Duke Vittorio Amedeo II in Turin, where he reached an artistic quality comparable to his Italian Baroque colleagues. Most biographical notes about Daniel Seiter are based on the written traditions of Lione Pascoli (1730-1736), which have been supplemented by further sources of Arabella Cifani and Franco Monetti.

Flemish School, 18th century

The Idolatry of Solomon 

oil on canvas

66 x 84cm (26 x 33 1/16in).

Wearing a magnificent silk robe with an ermine lining, King Solomon kneels and makes an offering to a pagan idol. One of his wives appears to instruct him while several other concubines, lavishly dressed, stand behind. A group of men in elaborate headpieces and rich finery watch Solomon and the women from the left with displeasure, as if they know that Solomon's idol worship will eventually destroy his kingdom.

Solomon was known for his proverbial wisdom and great wealth. In his later years he was drawn more and more to the pagan cults, which were thought to have been introduced into Israel by the women who came from neighboring kingdoms to join his large harem. 

This subject was popular in Protestant countries in the 1600s because it reflected Protestant disapproval of the Catholic Church's use of religious imagery, a practice that Protestants viewed as idolatrous. More

Jean Jacques Henner

1829 - 1905

FRENCH

LA MAGDELEINE

signed and dated J.J. HENNER 1880 lower left

oil on canvas

122.5 by 94.5cm., 48¼ by 37¼in.

Jean-Jacques Henner (15 March 1829 – 23 July 1905) was a French painter, noted for his use of sfumato and chiaroscuro in painting nudes, religious subjects, and portraits.

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

The Levite of the Tribe of Ephraim (1898) was awarded a first-class medal. Among other professional distinctions, Henner also took a Grand Prix for painting at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1900. He was made Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in 1873, Officer in 1878, and Commander in 1889. In 1889, he succeeded Cabanel in the Institut de France.

Henner died at age 76 in Paris. More

Hendrik van Cleve III
ANTWERP CIRCA 1525 - BETWEEN 1590/95
NIMROD AMONGST THE MONUMENTS
oil on oak panel

36.3 by 58.5 cm.; 14 1/4  by 23 in

Nimrod  is described as the son of Cush, grandson of Ham, and great-grandson of Noah; and as "a mighty one in the earth" and "a mighty hunter before the Lord". Genesis says that the "beginning of his kingdom" were the towns of "Babel (See Below), Erech, Akkad and Calneh in the land of Shinar" (Mesopotamia), understood variously to imply that he either founded these cities, ruled over them, or both.

Nimrod is considered the leader of those who built the Tower of Babel in the land of Shinar, and  it is likely under his direction that the building of Babel and its tower began. 

Judaic interpreters, interpreted "a mighty hunter before the Lord" as signifying "in opposition to the Lord"; a similar interpretation is found in Pseudo-Philo, as well as later in Symmachus. More

Hendrick van Cleve III (Antwerp, ca. 1525 - between 1590 and 1595) was a Flemish painter and engraver. He was the son and pupil of Willem van Cleve the Elder, and the elder brother of Marten van Cleve the Elder and of Willem Van Cleve the Younger.

Hendrick III went to Italy when young, and returned to his native country a good painter of landscapes. His pictures are distinguished by an uncommon lightness of touch, and an excellent tone of colour. The backgrounds of the historical works of his brother Marten and of Frans Floris are frequently painted by this artist, and are harmonized with the figures with great intelligence. In the Belvedere at Vienna is the 'History of the Prodigal Son' by him. He was received into the Guild of St. Luke at Antwerp in 1551. More

Hendrik van Cleve III
ANTWERP CIRCA 1525 - BETWEEN 1590/95
THE TOWER OF BABEL
oil on marouflaged oak panel
60.5 by 71.5 cm.; 23 3/4  by 28 1/4  in.

CHARLES LE BRUN (French 1619-1690)

Crossing the Red Sea

After Poussin 

Oil on canvas

62 1/2 x 84 inches / 158.75 x 213.36 cm

CHARLES LE BRUN (French 1619-1690) "Crossing the Red Sea": Sold at the London Christie's Robert Strange sale on March 5, 1773 (lot 107); the work was purchased by someone named Parsons and then perhaps acquired by Sir Thomas Rumbold for his home, Woodhall Park. It may then have passed to Samuel Smith, who purchased Woodhall and its contents in 1801. Alternatively, it may have been acquired by his heir, Able Smith, when he inherited and redecorated the estate in 1834, for he had the painting reframed by Smith and Son, a leading London framer. "The Crossing the Red Sea" remained in the house until the family sold it and dispersed its contents in 1931 at which time it was evidently re-attributed to Poussin. The parents of the present owners purchased it from Butterfield & Butterfield San Francisco in the 1960's. 

Charles Le Brun (24 February 1619 – 22 February 1690) was a French painter and art theorist. Declared by Louis XIV "the greatest French artist of all time", he was a dominant figure in 17th-century French art and much influenced by Nicolas Poussin. More

After RAFFAELLO RAPHAEL (Italian 1483-1520) 

(The original is below)

Bridgewater Madonna 

Oil on canvas 

35 x 24 inches / 88.9 x 60.96 cm 

Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (April 6 or March 28, 1483 – April 6, 1520), known as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur. Together with Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, he forms the traditional trinity of great masters of that period.

Raphael was enormously productive, running an unusually large workshop and, despite his death at 37, leaving a large body of work. Many of his works are found in the Vatican Palace, where the frescoed Raphael Rooms were the central, and the largest, work of his career. The best known work is The School of Athens in the Vatican Stanza della Segnatura. After his early years in Rome much of his work was executed by his workshop from his drawings, with considerable loss of quality. He was extremely influential in his lifetime, though outside Rome his work was mostly known from his collaborative printmaking. After his death, the influence of his great rival Michelangelo was more widespread until the 18th and 19th centuries, when Raphael's more serene and harmonious qualities were again regarded as the highest models. His career falls naturally into three phases and three styles, first described by Giorgio Vasari: his early years in Umbria, then a period of about four years (1504–1508) absorbing the artistic traditions of Florence, followed by his last hectic and triumphant twelve years in Rome, working for two Popes and their close associates. More

Raffaello Sanzio

Bridgewater Madonna

Oil on wood transported on canvas, c. 1507

(81x56 cm) 

National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh

Raphael made many drawings and paintings of the Virgin and Child, in part inspired by the work of Leonardo da Vinci in Florence. Here he achieved a particularly graceful combination of poses, with an elegant twist (contrapposto) in both. The exchange of glances further emphasises the tender relationship between the beautiful mother and child. Technical analysis has revealed that the artist originally painted a landscape background. Raphael may have decided that a dark setting was a better foil for the subtle modelling of his figures in light and shadow. The painting was probably made as a devotional image for a private chamber. More

 After RAFFAELLO RAPHAEL (Italian 1483-1520)

The Madonna of the Goldfinch, early 20th century

(Original Below)

Oil on canvas. 

42 x 29 1/2 inches / 106.68 x 74.93 cm 

The Madonna of the Goldfinch. In this painting, as in most of the Madonnas of his Florentine period, Raphael arranged the three figures - Mary, Christ and the young John the Baptist - to fit into a geometrical design. Though the positions of the three bodies are natural, together they form an almost regular triangle. The Madonna is shown young and beautiful, as with Raphael’s various other Madonnas. She is also clothed in red and blue, also typical, for red signifies the passion of Christ and blue was used to signify the church. Christ and John are still very young, only babies. John holds a goldfinch in his hand, and Christ is reaching out to touch it. The background is one typical of Raphael. The natural setting is diverse and yet all calmly frames the central subject taking place.

The Madonna was a wedding gift from Raphael to his friend Lorenzo Nasi. On November 17, 1548 Nasi's house was destroyed by an earthquake and the painting broke into seventeen pieces. It was immediately taken to be salvaged, and was hastily put back together, though the seams were quite visible. In 2002.

In Madonna Del Cardellino, the goldfinch represents Christ’s crucifixion. The reason for its association comes from the legend that its red spot was born at the time of the crucifixion. It flew down over the head of Christ and was taking a thorn from His crown, when it was splashed with the drop of His blood. The book in Mary’s hand reads Sedes Sapientiae or “The Throne of Wisdom.” This term usually is applied to images in which Mary is seated upon a throne, with Jesus on her lap, but in this case, the inscription implies the rock which Mary sits on as her natural throne.

Raphael (1483–1520) Madonna del Cardellino

Madonna of the Goldfinch, .from 1505 until 1506

Oil on panel

Height: 107 cm (42.1 in). Width: 77 cm (30.3 in).

Uffizi Gallery

AUREL NARAY (Hungarian 1883-1948) 

Virgin and Child 

Oil on canvas 

31 1/2 x 23 inches / 80.01 x 58.42 cm

Signed upper right corner: Aurel Naray

Aurel Naray (1883-1948). Born in Budapest, Hungary in 1883, he was a self-educated artist and social critic.  He worked with art teacher and academician painter Zsigmond Vajda (1860-1931) for 6 months, but had no other conventional art training. 

He exhibited in the Nemzeti Szalon (National Salon) in 1921 and 1924, and later in America and throughout Europe.  In 1924 he traveled to the USA and exhibited extensively. 

Naray's themes include the portrayal of woman, children, idyllic folk life and imaginary landscapes, flowers (the petals having fireworks-like energy) and most notably, paintings of ecclesiastical subjects.

His works are included in the collection of the Hungarian National Gallery (Magyar Nemzeti Galeria), the Hungarian Museum of Fine Arts (Szepmuveszeti Muzeum), the British Royal Family Collection. More

 After J. M.W. TURNER (England 1775-1851)

The Baptism of Christ

Oil on canvas 39 x 51 inches / 99.06 x 129.54 cm

Joseph Mallord William Turner, RA (baptised 14 May 1775 – 19 December 1851) was an English Romanticist landscape painter. Turner was considered a controversial figure in his day, but is now regarded as the artist who elevated landscape painting to an eminence rivalling history painting.

Although renowned for his oil paintings, Turner is also one of the greatest masters of British watercolour landscape painting. He is commonly known as "the painter of light" and his work is regarded as a Romantic preface to Impressionism. More

Frans Francken the Younger

ANTWERP 1581 - 1642

THE PARABLE OF THE PRODIGAL SON

oil on oak panel, with an unidentified collector's cipher 'PH', and an unidentified wax seal bearing the initials 'CS' with a cross

26.3 by 36 cm.; 10 3/8  by 14 1/8  in.

Owing to its narrative content, the parable of the prodigal son, as told by Luke, has inspired many artists since the Middle Ages. The episode described by Francken here is that of the prodigal son spending his money in an inn. While Luke's parable gives little indication of how the son squanders his fortune, artists have taken great liberty in depicting scenes of merry-making, gambling and episodes with courtesans, as is the case here. More

Frans Francken the Younger

ANTWERP 1581 - 1642

THE BAPTISM OF CHRIST

oil on copper

35 by 28.5 cm.; 13 3/4  by 11 1/4  in.

Frans Francken the Younger (Antwerp, 1581 – Antwerp, 6 May 1642) was a Flemish painter and the best-known member of the large Francken family of artists. He played an important role in the development of Flemish art in the first half of the 17th century through his innovations in genre painting and introduction of new subject matter. More

Moritz Daniel Oppenheim, 1800 - 1882

SARAH LEADS HAGAR TO ABRAHAM, c. 1832

signed MOppenheim and dated MDCCCXXXII (lower center)

oil on canvas

27 1/8 by 21 1/2 in, 69 by 54.5 cm

In this work, Sarah is placed at the center of the composition, a tall and dignified figure. Her bold decision, taken to ensure the succession of their line, is presented as a moment of high drama. The story of Hagar clearly intrigued the young Oppenheim, as he returned to different moments in the saga throughout the 1820s. For example, Oppenheim painted The Banishment of Hagar twice, in 1824 and in 1826. The Salvation of Hagar and Ishmael in the Desert in 1826. More

One of the most interesting women in the Bible is Hagar, Abraham's second wife, and the mother of Ishmael. The Arab and Bedouin tribes claim to be descendants of Ishmael, the son of Abraham and Hagar.

According to the Midrash, Hagar was the daughter of King Pharaoh of Egypt. When she saw the miracle which G-d performed for the sake of Sarah, to save her from the hands of the Egyptian king during Abraham's visit there, she said: "It is better to be a slave in Sarah's house than a princess in my own."

Her name "Hagar," according to the Midrash, stems from this beginning of her association with Abraham's house. It comes from "Ha-Agar," meaning this is the reward.

Hagar became Sarah's Maid, but when Sarah was not blessed with children, she persuaded Abraham to take Hagar as his second wife. Sarah hoped that she could bring up Hagar's children and merit G-d's blessing that way, so that she, too, perhaps might be blessed with a child. More

Moritz Daniel Oppenheim (January 7, 1800 in Hanau, Germany – February 26, 1882 in Frankfurt am Main) received his first lessons in painting from Conrad Westermayr, in Hanau, and entered the Munich Academy of Arts at the age of seventeen. Later he visited Paris, where Jean-Baptiste Regnault became his teacher, and then went to Rome, where he studied with Bertel Thorwaldsen, Barthold Georg Niebuhr, and Friedrich Overbeck. There he studied the life of the Jewish ghetto and made sketches of the various phases of its domestic and religious life, in preparation for several large canvases which he painted upon his return to Germany. In 1825 he settled at Frankfurt, and shortly after exhibited his painting David Playing Before Saul, to see which a great number of admirers from all parts of Europe visited his studio. In 1832, at the instance of Goethe, Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach conferred upon him the honorary title of professor. More

Marina Nelson

Weary Angel

Of humans and angels; of evil and good; of light and darkness

Marlay cutting It.

The Burial of St Monica at Ostia (left) and St Augustine Departing for Africa (right).

Master of the Murano Gradual

The Dormition of the Virgin from the Gradual of San Mattia in Murano, Venice, c. 1420

 Illumination in the style of the Masters of the Beady Eyes (Maîtres aux Yeux-Bridés), who were active mainly in Ghent during the third quarter of the fifteenth century.

Acknowledgement: 19th Century European Paintings, Michaan, Old Master & British Paintings, Fitzwilliam Museum, 

Acknowledgement: Italy: Art of the 16th to 21st Century.