Mythology: 2019-11-17

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

Attributed to Francesco Cairo, (Milan 1607-1674)

Hercules and Omphale

Oil on canvas

41 3/8 X 33 1/4 IN.

Private collection

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

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

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

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

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

Francesco Hayez, (1791–1882)

Meeting between Esau and Jacob, c. 1844

Oil on canvas

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

Tosio Martinengo Gallery, in Brescia, Lombardy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Italian master of the 17th century

THE ROYAL OF THE SABINERS

Oil on canvas. Relined.

117 x 187 cm.

Private collection

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Christ as the Man of Sorrows

Oil on panel

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

Private collection

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

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

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

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

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

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