05 Paintings, RELIGIOUS ART - Interpretations of the Bible! by The Old Masters, With Footnotes # 73

GEORGES DE LA TOUR, 1593 - 1652
Mary Magdalen with the Smoking Flame, ca. 1640
Oil on canvas
46 1/4 × 36 1/8 in
117.5 × 91.8 cm
Private collection

During the 17th century, great devotion was shown to Mary Magdalene in all Catholic countries. She was the perfect lover of Christ, her beauty made yet more appealing by reason of her repentance, which had a special attraction for a period so passionately interested in problems of mysticism, quietism and asceticism. It has been suggested that Georges de La Tour took a gypsy as his model: at the time, there were many in Lorraine where he painted this picture. More on this painting

Georges de La Tour (March 13, 1593 – January 30, 1652) was a French Baroque painter, who spent most of his working life in the Duchy of Lorraine, which was temporarily absorbed into France between 1641 and 1648. He painted mostly religious chiaroscuro scenes lit by candlelight.

La Tour's educational background remains somewhat unclear, but it is assumed that he travelled either to Italy or the Netherlands early in his career. He may possibly have trained under Jacques Bellange in Nancy, the capital of Lorraine.

He painted mainly religious and some genre scenes. He was given the title "Painter to the King" (of France) in 1638, and he also worked for the Dukes of Lorraine in 1623–4, but the local bourgeoisie provided his main market, and he achieved a certain affluence. He was involved in a Franciscan-led religious revival in Lorraine, and over the course of his career he moved to painting almost entirely religious subjects, but in treatments with influence from genre painting.

Georges de La Tour and his family died in 1652 in an epidemic in Lunéville. His son Étienne (born 1621) was his pupil. More on Georges de La Tour 

Master of the Prodigal Son, ACTIVE IN ANTWERP CIRCA 1530 - 1560
THE LAMENTATION
Oil on panel
43 3/4  by 28 1/2  in.; 111.1 by 72.4 cm.
Private collection

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 The Lamentation of Christ

The Master of the Prodigal Son. Named after the large altarpiece now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna which depicts the Parable of the Prodigal Son, the Master of the present work comes very close in style to both Pieter Coecke van Aelst (1502-50) and Frans Floris (1517-1570). This stylistic affinity suggests that the artist was active in Antwerp during the second quarter of the 16th Century. The master often treated subjects from the Old Testament. More on The Master of the Prodigal Son

He was born in Antwerp and is considered to have run a workshop there with several pupils. His name is derived from a painting in Vienna. He is known for landscapes and religious works, and possibly travelled to Rome. Though a monogram of "LK" was discovered in one of his paintings, to conclude that this person was the Leonart Kroes mentioned as teacher in Karel van Mander's biography of Gillis van Coninxloo is incorrect. More on The Master of the Prodigal Son

Follower of Hieronymus Bosch, circa 1600
THE MOCKING OF CHRIST
Oil on panel
33 1/2  by 24 1/8  in.; 85.1 by 61.3 cm.
Private collection

The mocking of Jesus occurred several times, after his trial and before his crucifixion according to the canonical gospels of the New Testament. It is considered part of Jesus' passion.

According to the gospel narratives, Jesus had predicted that he would be mocked. The mocking of Christ took place in three stages: immediately following his trial, immediately following his condemnation by Pontius Pilate, and when he was being crucified.


The New Testament narratives of Jesus being mocked are filled with irony, while the mockery focuses on Jesus' prophetic and kingly roles. More on The mocking of Jesus 

Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450 – 9 August 1516) was an Early Flemish painter. His work is known for its fantastic imagery, detailed landscapes, and illustrations of religious concepts and narratives. Within his lifetime his work was collected in the Netherlands, Austria, and Spain, and widely copied, especially his macabre and nightmarish depictions of hell.

Little is known of Bosch's life, though there are some records. He spent most of it in the town of 's-Hertogenbosch, where he was born in his grandfather's house. The roots of his forefathers are in Aachen, in present-day Germany. His pessimistic and fantastical style cast a wide influence on northern art of the 16th century, with Pieter Bruegel the Elder being his best known follower. His paintings have been difficult to translate from a modern point of view; attempts to associate instances of modern sexual imagery with fringe sects or the occult have largely failed. Today he is seen as a hugely individualistic painter with deep insight into humanity's desires and deepest fears. Attribution has been especially difficult; today only about 25 paintings are confidently given to his hand along with 8 drawings. Approximately another half dozen paintings are confidently attributed to his workshop. His most acclaimed works consist of a few triptych altarpieces, the most outstanding of which is The Garden of Earthly Delights. More Hieronymus Bosch

Hispano-Flemish School, 15th Century
SAINT CLARE
Oil on panel
12 5/8  by 9 in.; 32.1 by 22.9 cm.
Private collection

Saint Clare of Assisi (July 16, 1194 – August 11, 1253), born Chiara Offreduccio, is an Italian saint and one of the first followers of Saint Francis of Assisi. She founded the Order of Poor Ladies, a monastic religious order for women in the Franciscan tradition, and wrote their Rule of Life, the first set of monastic guidelines known to have been written by a woman. Following her death, the order she founded was renamed in her honor as the Order of Saint Clare, commonly referred to today as the Poor Clares. More on Saint Clare

Hispano-Flemish School, late 15th century. Trade relations between Flanders and the kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula flourished as early as the fifteenth century. As a result, the newest fashions of Flemish art made their way to Spain early on. Spanish artists were sent to Bruges to train, while Flemish artists headed to Spain and Portugal. One of the leading exponents of this Hispano-Flemish style is Bartolomé Bermejo (c. 1440 — after 1495). Juan Rexach is another exponent of the Hispano-Flemish style, and he is proven to have been in Valencia between 1431 and 1482. Miguel Ximénez (died before 1505) worked as a painter in Saragossa. More on Hispano-Flemish School, late 15th century


CELSO LAGAR, (spanish 1891-1966) 
THE FAMILY GROUP
Oil on canvas 
52 1/2 x 43 1/2 (133.4 x 110.5cm) 
Private collection

Celso Lagar, (spanish 1891-1966)  was a pupil of Miguel Blay and friends with fellow artists Amedeo Modigliani, Fernand Leger and André Derain, Celso Lagar was a Spanish expressionist painter whose oeuvre featured circus themes - including harlequins, acrobats and clowns - along with still lifes, landscapes and portraits. He originally studied sculpture which he abandoned in favor of painting. The French writer Max Jacob said of Lagar: "This is an artist full of soul and spirit a generous creator, untrammeled by the boundaries set by modern or any other schools. He paints what he loves, loves what he paints and brings to it all the passion of well-nourished and wise insight." More on Celso Lagar

















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