Old Master painting: Greek mythology 19th C miniature copy of work in the Louvre

1879

A majestic miniature painting by Victor Mongodin. Painted with extraordinary detail, it depicts a pretty young lady writing a letter in her boudoir. Mongodin clearly delights in painting fabrics... the silk of her skirt, the cotton of her camisole, as well as the luxurious velvets of the curtains and drapery. And then there is the mystery: who is she writing to? Born in Vire in Normandy in 1819, Victor Mongodin had studied with de Rudder. Working in the French Capital...

A beautiful mid 19th Century dog painting by the undisputed king of the genre, artist Louis Godefroy Jadin (1805-1882). Jadin is known for having ...

In German, there is a word called "Sommefrische" , meaning summer freshness, which describes this painting perfectly. Looking at this Swiss mountain and lake is like a perfect, restf...

I liked the title "After the storm" for this painting, which the artist had noted on the back of the painting, although he later changed it to "Day of the storm". It's the juxtaposi...

17th century European oil, Christ and is disciples seated around a table. An interesting and very unique painting. Possibly a fragment originally from a piece of furniture. The s...

Provenance: Dr. James Henry Lancashire, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts, by 1925; probably by descent to: Private Collection, Cumberland Foreside, Maine, until 2018 This unpublished panel is a characteristic work of the Master of the Apollo and Daphne Legend, an anonymous Florentine painter in the circle of Bartolommeo di Giovanni, Domenico Ghirlandaio, and Sandro Botticelli. The artistic personality of the Master of the Apollo and Daphne Legend was independently recognized by Everett Fahy and Federico Zeri at roughly the same moment in time. Fahy originally dubbed this artist the Master of the Ryerson Panels but later adopted Zeri’s name for the artist, which derives from his eponymous works from the Samuel H. Kress collection (Figs. 1-2). Fahy posited that the artist was most likely a pupil of Ghirlandaio active from roughly 1480 to 1510, and that he may be identifiable with one of Ghirlandaio’s documented pupils to whom no works have been securely attributed, such as Niccolò Cieco, Jacopo dell’Indaco, or Baldino Baldinetti. The present painting was first attributed to this master by Everett Fahy in 1989, who became aware of its existence only after publishing his definitive studies on the artist. The surviving body of work by the Master of the Apollo and Daphne Legend is largely composed of series of panels treating the same theme. In addition to the works illustrating the legend of Apollo and Daphne, there are also series on the themes of Susanna and the Elders and the story of Saint Joseph, among others. The subject of the present panel is drawn from Genesis 24, the story of Isaac. It is possible that our painting relates to another work by the artist depicting the Sacrifice of Isaac formerly in the collection of E. A. McGuire in Dublin, Ireland (Fig. 3), and that these two panels were originally part of a decorative scheme based on the story of Isaac. Although the Master’s paintings of this type have traditionally been considered painted fronts of wedding chests, known as cassoni, the scale of these paintings and the fact that they are often part of a series indicates that they are more likely spalliera panels—paintings set into furniture or the wainscoting of a room. The biblical episode depicted in this painting centers on the theme of marriage, which suggests that this work was likely commissioned for the domestic interior of a newly married couple. The Master has transcribed into paint even the minute details of this Old Testament story, in which Abraham sends a servant to travel by camel to the land of his father and seek out a wife for his son Isaac. The servant is here shown at the well...

This striking devotional image, painted by a follower of Jan Gossaert, represents one of the most influential compositions of the Northern Renaissance: Christ on the Cold Stone, or C...

Beautiful Dutch School painting dating from 17th century. Oil on wood panel measuring 10 3/8 x 14 7/16 inches. Unsigned. No inpainting or conservation. Depicted is a scene with a beautiful young woman singing...