Alessandro Rosi (1627–1697) Blue pencil.svg wikidata:Q3610263 St Sébastien cared for by Ste Irene Oil on canvas Height: 132 cm (51.9 in); Width: 167.5 cm (65.9 in) Brest’s Museum of Fine Arts
Sebastian stood by a staircase where the emperor was to pass and harangued Diocletian for his cruelties against Christians. This freedom of speech greatly astonished the emperor; who gave orders for his being seized and beaten to death with cudgels, and his body thrown into the common sewer. A pious lady, called Irene, admonished by the martyr in a vision, got it privately removed, and buried it in the catacombs at the entrance of the cemetery of Calixtus, where now stands the Basilica of St. Sebastian. More on St. Sebastian
Alessandro Rosi (28 December 1627 in Rovezzano — 19 April 1697 in Florence) was an Italian artist, working during the Baroque period…
Fernand Cormon Bacchanalia of nymphs and satyrs Oil on canvas 90 x 130 cm Private collection
Fernand Cormon (24 December 1845–20 March 1924) was a French painter born in Paris. He became a pupil of Alexandre Cabanel, Eugène Fromentin, and Jean-François Portaels, and one of the leading historical painters of modern France.
His father was the playwright Eugène Cormon. His mother was Charlotte Furais, the actress…
Adriaen van der Werff The repudiation of Hagar Oil on canvas 87.6 x 69.1 Private collection
Hagar is a biblical person in the Book of Genesis Chapter 16. She was an Egyptian handmaid of Sarah, who gave her to Abraham “to wife” to bear a child. The product of the union was Abraham’s firstborn, Ishmael, the progenitor of the Ishmaelites.
After Sarah gave birth to Isaac, and the tension between the women returned. At a celebration after Isaac was weaned, Sarah found the teenage Ishmael mocking her son, and demanded that Abraham send Hagar and her son away. She declared that Ishmael would not share in Isaac’s inheritance. Abraham was greatly distressed but God told Abraham to do as his wife commanded because God’s promise would be carried out through both Isaac and Ishmael.
The name Hagar originates from the Book of Genesis, and is only alluded to in the Qur’an. She is considered Abraham’s second wife in the Islamic faith and acknowledged in all Abrahamic faiths. In mainstream Christianity, she is considered a concubine to Abraham. More on Hagar
Adriaen van der Werff (21 January 1659 – 12 November 1722) was an accomplished Dutch painter of portraits and erotic, devotional and mythological scenes. His brother, Pieter van der Werff (1661–1722), was his principal pupil and assistant.
At the age of ten he started to take lessons, two years later moving in with Eglon van der Neer, specializing in clothes and draperie. At the age of seventeen he founded his own studio in Rotterdam where he later became the head of guild of Saint Luc. In 1696, he was paid a visit by Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine and his wife, Anna Maria Luisa de’ Medici. The couple ordered two paintings to be sent to Cosimo III of Tuscany, Anna Maria Luisa’s father, in Florence. During the next years Van der Werff traveled regularly between Düsseldorf and his home town. In 1703, he became the official court painter and a knight, when his former teacher and predecessor Van der Neer died. Van der Werff, with a perfect technique, was paid extremely well by the Elector for his biblical or classical (erotic) paintings. In 1705, he painted a portrait of Gian Gastone de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. In 1716, he lost his job when the Elector died because the treasury was empty.
Van der Werff became one of the most lauded Dutch painters of his day, gaining a European reputation and an enormous fortune. Arnold Houbraken, writing in 1718, considered him the greatest of the Dutch painters and this was the prevailing critical opinion throughout the 18th century: however, his reputation suffered in the 19th century, when he was alleged to have betrayed the Dutch naturalistic tradition. In the Victorian Age people could not appreciate his art, so most of his work went into the cellars of the Alte Pinakothek.
Van der Werff also practised as an architect in Rotterdam, where he designed a few houses. More on Adriaen van der Werff
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Alessandro Rosi (1627–1697) Blue pencil.svg wikidata:Q3610263 St Sébastien cared for by Ste Irene Oil on canvas Height: 132 cm (51.9 in); Width: 167.5 cm (65.9 in) Brest’s Museum of Fine Arts
Sebastian stood by a staircase where the emperor was to pass and harangued Diocletian for his cruelties against Christians. This freedom of speech greatly astonished the emperor; who gave orders for his being seized and beaten to death with cudgels, and his body thrown into the common sewer. A pious lady, called Irene, admonished by the martyr in a vision, got it privately removed, and buried it in the catacombs at the entrance of the cemetery of Calixtus, where now stands the Basilica of St. Sebastian. More on St. Sebastian
Alessandro Rosi (28 December 1627 in Rovezzano — 19 April 1697 in Florence) was an Italian artist, working during the Baroque period…
Fernand Cormon Bacchanalia of nymphs and satyrs Oil on canvas 90 x 130 cm Private collection
Fernand Cormon (24 December 1845–20 March 1924) was a French painter born in Paris. He became a pupil of Alexandre Cabanel, Eugène Fromentin, and Jean-François Portaels, and one of the leading historical painters of modern France.
His father was the playwright Eugène Cormon. His mother was Charlotte Furais, the actress…
Giuseppe Bezzuoli (Firenze 1784 – 1855) Entry of Charles VIII into Florence, c. 1829 Oil on canvas 390 x 596 cm Pitti Palace
The painting depicts a scene from Florentine history. On the 17th of November 1494, following his conquest of the Kingdom of Naples, King of France Charles VIII made his entrance into Florence as ruler. Because of his isolation and lack of allies, Piero de’ Medici, the son of Lorenzo the Magnificent who ruled the city at the time, did not send an army to stop the invasion, thus fuelling the resentment of the Florentine people who finally forced him into exile…
Giuseppe Bezzuoli (28 November 1784–13 September 1855) was an Italian painter of the Neoclassic period, active in Milan, Rome, and his native city of Florence.
He studied as a young man under Jean-Baptiste Desmarais at the Academy of Fine Arts of Florence, and afterward spent some time at Rome between 1813 and 1820. He became a candidate to the professorship of painting at the Academy of Fine Arts of Florence after Pietro Benvenuti’s death in 1844…
Benjamin West, American, 1738-1820 Death on the Pale Horse, c. 1796 Oil on canvas 23 3/8 × 50 5/8 inches (59.4 × 128.6 cm) Detroit Institute of Arts
The title of this painting is taken from the final book of the Bible, the Revelation of Saint John the Divine, which has often been interpreted as a symbolic description of warfare: “And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And Power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth to kill with the sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth” (Rev. 6:8).
In this horrifying chronicle of the destruction of humankind, the rugged irregular forms, the dramatic contrasts of light and dark, and the dynamism of the turbulent movement combine with the distorted faces and pitiful gestures of the dead and dying to convey a sense of terror. The violent furor exhibits a destructive dynamism that makes this one of the most awesome depictions of the methods by which a world may be annihilated.
In 1796, the year this work was painted, England was at war with revolutionary France, and West’s picture may have been intended to comment on what was happening, or was expected to happen, in the contemporary world. More on this painting
Benjamin West, PRA (October 10, 1738 — March 11, 1820) was a British-American artist who painted famous historical scenes such as The Death of Nelson (See below), The Death of General Wolfe (See below), the Treaty of Paris (See below), and Benjamin Franklin Drawing Electricity from the Sky…
Gerard de Lairesse (1640–1711) Hercules between Vice and Virtue, c. 1685 Oil on canvas Height: 112 cm (44 in); Width: 181 cm (71.2 in) Louvre Museum
The theme comes from the famous apologue of Prodicas, transmitted by Xenophon, often represented by painters (Raphael, Carrache, Rubens, etc., cf. Panofsky). Vice is embodied by the provocative Voluptuousness, accompanied by an old woman in the role of matchmaker. The attribute of chaste Virtue is a horse bit, a symbol of restraint and moderation. Behind Hercules, already on the path to good, a Fame and, in the background, the temple of glory which rewards good deeds. More on this painting
Hercules at the crossroads, also known as the Choice of Hercules and the Judgement of Hercules, is an ancient Greek parable attributed to Prodicus and known from Xenophon. It concerns the young Heracles/Hercules who is offered a choice between Vice and Virtue — a life of pleasure or one of hardship and honour. In the early modern period it became a popular motif in Western art. More on Hercules at the crossroads
Gerard or Gérard (de) Lairesse (11 September 1641 — June 1711) was a Dutch Golden Age painter and art theorist. His broad range of skills included music, poetry, and theatre. His importance grew in the period following the death of Rembrandt. His treatises on painting and drawing, Grondlegginge Ter Teekenkonst (1701),based on geometry and Groot Schilderboek (1707), were highly influential on 18th-century painters…
Robert Scott Lauder (1803–1869) The Shepherdess Oil on canvas H 75 x W 111 cm Paisley Museum and Art Galleries
Robert Scott Lauder RSA (25 June 1803–21 April 1869) was a Scottish artist who described himself as a “historical painter”. He was one of the original members of the Royal Scottish Academy…
Style of Adriaen van der Werff (Dutch, 1659–1722) Detail; Sarah leads Hagar to Abraham, c. 1718 Oil on wood 29 x 32 cm. (11.4 x 12.6 in.) Private collection
Adriaen van der Werff (21 January 1659–12 November 1722) was an accomplished Dutch painter of portraits and erotic, devotional and mythological scenes. His brother, Pieter van der Werff (1661–1722), was his principal pupil and assistant…
Zaidan Gallery 