ArtHitParade
ArtHitParade on Twitter
  • Home
    • Contact
  • Calendar
  • Top 10
    • Origin
    • From 600 BCE to CE
    • Years 1 to 1000
    • Years 1000 to 1300
    • 14th Century
    • 15th Century >
      • Years 1400-1429
      • Years 1430-1459
      • Years 1460-1479
      • Years 1480-1499
    • 16th Century >
      • Years 1500-1519
      • Decade 1520-1529
      • Decade 1530-1539
      • Years 1540-1569
      • Years 1570-1599
    • 17th Century >
      • Decade 1600-1609
      • Decade 1610-1619
      • Decade 1620-1629
      • Decade 1630-1639
      • Decade 1640-1649
      • Decade 1650-1659
      • Years 1660-1679
      • Years 1680-1699
    • 18th Century >
      • Decade 1700-1709
      • Decade 1710-1719
      • Decade 1720-1729
      • Decade 1730-1739
      • Decade 1740-1749
      • Decade 1750-1759
      • Decade 1760-1769
      • Decade 1770-1779 >
        • 1776
      • Decade 1780-1789
      • Decade 1790-1799 >
        • 1792
    • 19th Century >
      • Decade 1800-1809
      • Decade 1810-1819
      • Decade 1820-1829
      • Decade 1830-1839
      • Decade 1840-1849
      • Decade 1850-1859
      • Decade 1860-1869
      • Decade 1870-1879
      • Decade 1880-1889 >
        • 1887
        • 1888
        • 1889
      • Decade 1890-1899 >
        • 1890
        • 1892
        • 1895
        • 1896
    • 20th Century >
      • Decade 1900-1909 >
        • 1902
        • 1903
        • 1904
        • 1905
        • 1907
        • 1908
        • 1909
      • Decade 1910-1919 >
        • 1911
        • 1912
        • 1913
        • 1914
        • 1915
        • 1916
        • 1917
        • 1918
        • 1919
      • Decade 1920-1929 >
        • 1920
        • 1921
        • 1923
        • 1924
        • 1925
        • 1926
        • 1927
        • 1928
        • 1929
      • Decade 1930-1939 >
        • 1930
        • 1931
        • 1932
        • 1933
        • 1934
        • 1935
        • 1936
        • 1937
        • 1938
        • 1939
      • Decade 1940-1949 >
        • 1941
        • 1942
        • 1945
        • 1946
        • 1947
        • 1948
        • 1949
      • Decade 1950-1959 >
        • 1950
        • 1951
        • 1952
        • 1953
        • 1954
        • 1955
        • 1956
        • 1957
        • 1958
        • 1959
      • Decade 1960-1969 >
        • 1960
        • 1961
        • 1962
        • 1963
        • 1964
        • 1965
        • 1966
        • 1967
        • 1968
        • 1969
      • Decade 1970-1979 >
        • 1970
        • 1971
        • 1972
        • 1974
        • 1975
        • 1976
        • 1977
        • 1978
        • 1979
      • Decade 1980-1989 >
        • 1980
        • 1981
        • 1982
        • 1983
        • 1984
        • 1985
        • 1986
        • 1987
        • 1988
        • 1989
      • Decade 1990-1999 >
        • 1990
        • 1991
        • 1992
        • 1993
        • 1994
        • 1995
        • 1996
        • 1997
        • 1998
        • 1999
    • 21st Century >
      • Decade 2000-2009 >
        • 2000
        • 2001
        • 2002
        • 2003
        • 2004
        • 2006
        • 2007
        • 2008
      • Decade 2010-2019 >
        • 2017
      • 2020 to now >
        • 2021
  • Current Art
  • Renaissance
  • Painting
    • Ancient Painting >
      • Rembrandt
      • Oil on Copper
    • 18th Century Painting
  • Ancient Drawing
  • Art on Paper
  • Sculpture
    • Bust
    • Ancient Sculpture >
      • Roman Sculpture
    • Italian Sculpture
    • French Sculpture
    • Sculpture by Painters
  • Women Artists
    • Ancient Art by Women
    • Current Art by Women
    • O'Keeffe
    • Martin
    • Mitchell
    • Yayoi Kusama
  • Furniture
    • Chairs and Seats
    • Colonial Furniture
    • Ancient French Furniture
    • 18th Century Furniture
    • Modern Furniture >
      • Art Deco
    • Modern Tables
  • Prints
    • Ancient Prints
    • Modern Prints
  • Photo
    • Old Photos >
      • Travel Photos
      • Early French Photo
    • Photos 1900s 1910s
    • Photos 1920s 1930s
    • Photos 1970s 1980s
    • Sherman
    • Gursky
  • The Man
  • The Woman
  • Children
  • Man and Woman
  • Groups
  • Self Portrait
    • Self Portrait 2nd page
  • Nude
  • Abstract Art
    • Abstract Art - 2nd page
  • Landscape
    • Midi
    • Alps
    • Mountains in China
  • Cities
    • Venice
    • Paris
    • Los Angeles
  • Flowers
    • Bouquet
  • Animals
    • Bird
    • Cats
    • Horse
  • Dragon
  • Tabletop
  • Early Still Life
  • Music and Dance in Art
    • Music in Old Painting
  • Sport in Art
  • Orientalism
    • Orientalism 1830-1900
  • France
    • Louis XV and XVI
    • Revolution and Empire
    • Louis XVIII to 2nd Empire
    • Ancient French Painting
    • Degas
    • Cézanne
    • Monet >
      • Monet before 1878
      • From Vétheuil to Giverny
      • London and Venice
      • Bassin aux Nymphéas
    • Renoir
    • Gauguin
    • Seurat and Signac
    • Lautrec
    • Matisse
    • Klein
    • Lalanne
    • Post War French Art
  • Italy
    • Ancient Italy >
      • Italian Painting 1280-1700
    • Canaletto
    • Modigliani
    • Fontana
  • Swiss Painting
    • Hodler
  • Giacometti
    • Giacometti 1947-53
    • Femme Debout
  • Bacon
    • Bacon before 1963
    • Bacon 1963-70
    • Later Bacons
    • Head Triptych
  • UK - 2nd page
    • Ancient England
    • George I to III
    • George IV to Victoria
    • British Royals
    • Turner >
      • Watercolor by Turner
    • Freud >
      • Early Freud
    • Hockney
    • Doig
    • Hirst
    • Banksy
  • Germany
    • Ancient Germany >
      • Cranach
    • Richter >
      • Richter before 1983
    • Germany - 2nd page
  • Van Gogh
  • Mondrian
  • De Kooning
  • Old Flanders and Belgium
    • Flemish Art >
      • Rubens
    • Magritte >
      • Early Magritte
    • Belgium 2nd page
  • Picasso
    • Picasso before 1907
    • Picasso 1907-1931
    • 1932 Picasso
    • Picasso later 1930s
    • Picasso 1940-1960
    • Picasso in Mougins
    • Prints by Picasso
  • Miro
  • Spain 2nd page
    • Ancient Spain
    • Gris
  • Klimt
  • Schiele
  • USA
    • US Independence
    • Development of USA
    • US Civil War
    • Wild West
    • US Painting before 1940
    • Rockwell
    • Calder
    • Rothko >
      • Early Rothko
      • Rothko 1957-70
    • Still
    • Pollock
    • Lichtenstein >
      • Lichtenstein after 1965
    • Warhol >
      • USA by Warhol
      • Celebrities by Warhol >
        • Elvis and Liz
      • Later Warhols
      • Prints by Warhol
    • Twombly
    • Prince
    • Koons
    • Wool
    • Basquiat
    • USA 2nd page
  • Central and South Americas
    • Mexico
  • China
    • Archaic China >
      • Ritual Bronzes
    • Northern Song
    • Southern Song and Yuan
    • Early Ming
    • Later Ming
    • Early Qing
    • Qianlong
    • Modern China >
      • Zhang Daqian >
        • Zhang Daqian before 1965
      • Fu Baoshi
      • Sanyu >
        • Sanyu before 1950
      • Zao Wou-Ki
    • New Chinese Painting
    • Chinese Porcelain >
      • Song to Yuan Porcelain
      • Ming Porcelain
      • Qing Porcelain
    • Chinese Art
    • Chinese Calligraphy
    • Chinese Furniture
    • Imperial Seal
    • Jadeite
  • India
    • Gaitonde
    • Modern India
  • Persia
    • Safavid Carpets
  • Yoshitomo Nara
  • Russia
    • Russia 1700-1900
    • Kandinsky
  • Eastern Europe
    • Chagall
  • Northern Europe
    • Prints by Munch
  • Egypt
  • Tropical Africa
    • Congo
    • Gabon
    • Mask
  • Tribal Oceania
    • Easter Island
  • Australia
    • Colonial Australia
  • Islam
  • Buddhism
    • Early Buddhist Sculpture
    • Tibet and Nepal
  • Judaica
  • Christianity
    • Madonna and Child
  • Cars
    • Birth of Automobile
    • Cars of the 1910s
    • Cars of the 1920s
    • Cars of the 1930s >
      • Cars 1930-33
      • Cars 1934-35
      • Cars 1936-37
      • Cars 1938-39
    • Post War Cars
    • Cars of the 1950s >
      • Cars 1953-54
      • Cars 1955
      • Cars 1956-57
      • Cars 1958-59
    • Cars of the 1960s >
      • Cars 1960-61
      • Cars 1962-63
      • Cars 1964-65
      • Cars 1966-67
    • Cars 1970s 1980s
    • Supercars
    • Hypercars
    • Ferrari >
      • Early Ferrari
      • From LWB to GTO >
        • California Spider
      • Big Five
    • Alfa Romeo
    • Mercedes-Benz
    • Porsche
    • British Cars >
      • Aston Martin
      • Jaguar
      • McLaren
    • Bugatti
    • French Cars
    • Duesenberg
    • Ford and Shelby
    • Cars in Movies
    • Cars - 2nd page
  • Motorcycles
  • Jewels
    • White Diamond
    • Pink Diamond
    • Blue Diamond
    • African Diamonds
    • Jewels - 2nd page
    • Cartier
  • Silverware
    • Old Silverware
  • Coin
    • Antique Coins
    • Coins 1000-1775
    • Coins 1776-92
    • Coins 1793-99
    • Coins 1800-49
    • Coins 1850-69
    • Coins 1870-99
    • 20th century Coins
    • US Gold Coins
    • Dollars and Eagles >
      • Silver Dollar
    • British Coins
    • Japanese Coins
    • Chinese Coins
  • Paper Currency
  • Medal and Decoration
  • Time Pieces
    • Clocks >
      • Old Clocks
    • Mechanical Craft ca 1800 >
      • Jaquet-Droz and Followers
    • Modern Watches
    • New Watches >
      • OnlyWatch
    • Patek Philippe >
      • Patek Philippe before 1950
      • World Time
      • Perpetual Calendar
    • Rolex
    • Watches 2nd page
    • English Time Pieces
    • French Time Pieces
  • Glass and Crystal
    • Glass before 1900
    • Tiffany Studios
  • From Terracotta to Porcelain
    • Meissen
  • Textiles
  • Garment
  • Fashion
  • Books
    • Incunabula
    • 16th Century Books
    • 17th Century Books
    • Fine Books 1700-1850
  • Literature
    • Literature in English
    • Literature in French
  • Poems and Lyrics
  • Autograph
  • Manuscript
    • Illuminated Christian Manuscript
  • Religious Texts
  • Political Writing
  • Comic Books
  • Illustration Art
    • Tintin
  • Travel
  • Space
    • Apollo 11
  • Maps
    • Ancient Maps
  • Movies
  • Music
  • Musical Instrument
    • Stradivarius
    • Violin 2nd page
    • Guitar
    • Musical Instrument 2nd page
  • Pop Music
    • The Beatles
  • Poster
  • Sport
    • Sport Equipment
    • Sport Uniform
    • Sport Document
    • Sport Rewards and Medals
    • T206 Wagner
    • Sport Images before 1940
    • Sport Cards 1940-92
    • Topps Mantle
    • Modern Sport Cards
    • Baseball >
      • Baseball Bat
      • Babe Ruth
      • Lou Gehrig
    • Basketball >
      • Jordan
    • Ice Hockey
    • Sport 2nd page
    • Olympic Games
  • Origins of Sports
  • Historical Arms
    • Blade and Armour
    • Colt 1836-62
    • Later Colts
    • Winchester
    • Firearms - 2nd page
  • Toys
  • Doll
  • Games
  • Stamps
    • World Stamps
    • US Stamps
    • Inverted Jenny
  • Inventions
  • Optical Instrument
  • Sciences
    • Ancient Science
    • Sciences 1600-1800
    • Sciences from 1800
    • Astronomy
    • Physics
    • Medicine
  • Dinosaur
  • Computing
  • Nobel Medals
  • Whisky
    • Whisky 2nd page
  • Wine
  • Plus
    • Plus 17C
    • Plus 1880s
    • Plus 1910s
    • Plus Basquiat

Years 1540-1569

See also : Ancient Germany  Cranach  Italian painting 1280-1700   Christianity  Madonna and Child  Chinese porcelain  Ming porcelain  Later Ming
Decade 1530-1539

​1540-1545 Fontis Nympha by Cranach
2022 SOLD for £ 9.4M by Christie's

The Nymph of the spring by Cranach is both a proverb and an excuse for displaying a recumbent female nude. Twelve examples are known with variants in the position of the woman and in the landscape behind her. The elongated body is typical of the cannon of cute beauty practiced by the master.

The proverb is a poem previously used by Dürer in a more extended version. It reads in a cartouche : FONTIS NYMPHA SACRI SOMNVM NE RVMPE QVIESCO (do not break the serenity of the Nymph of the Sacred Spring in her sleep).

​It is indeed not an erotic invite but a Lutheran warning against the vanity of pleasure. A close inspection shows that the lower body is not nude but covered by a scarcely visible veil. A pair of pecking partridges, a quiver of arrows and the rich necklace are the threats of the sexual temptation.


On June 7, 2022, Christie's sold a Nymph for £ 9.4M from a lower estimate of £ 6M, lot 6. This oil on panel 82 x 120 cm in beautiful preservation is announced as the largest example known. It is dated 1540-1545 in consistence with the monogram of the winged serpent used from 1537.

It had resurfaced in 1990 and a provenance tentatively including the emperor Rudolf II and queen Christina of Sweden has been proposed.

Please watch the video shared by the auction house.

#AuctionUpdate Lucas Cranach The Elder’s (1472-1553) 'The Nymph of the Spring' from The Collection of Cecil & Hilda Lewis sells above estimate for £9,449,500. pic.twitter.com/telMa3VeVJ

— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) July 7, 2022
Ancient Germany
Cranach

​1542-1543 Good and Evil in Brescia
2012 SOLD 4.6 M$ including premium

PRE SALE DISCUSSION

At the time of Titian, Brescia depended on the republic of Venice. The master painter working in the city was called Girolamo di Romano, named after the village where his family originated. His artist name was Il Romanino.

On June 6 in New York, Christie's sells a Cross Bearer by Romanino, oil on canvas 81 x 72 cm, estimated $ 2.5M.

This episode of the Passion of Christ promotes the stoicism of the Christians against humiliation, symbolized by the cross, the crown of thorns, the shoulder that is laid bare in the effort. In his satin dress, the humiliated Christ is still the Lord illuminated by light.

Evil is very close but in the shadows, with the Baroque head of a terrible
 mustachioed soldier who puts all his energy trying to capture the attention of Christ. Unsuccessfully, of course.

Romanino's work is varied and not well documented, so it is difficult to date. Expert opinions on the realization of this painting converge however to 1542 or 1543.

Good and Evil will end up to dispute for that painting. In 1941, during the occupation of Paris by the Germans, it was included in a forced sale, and it took 70 years for returning it to the heirs of the robbed collector.

POST SALE COMMENT
​
Christie's had considered that the quality of the artwork was more important than the identification of its author, a relatively unknown provincial painter. They were right. The result: $ 4.6 million including premium.


Please watch the video shared by Christie's :

​1545 The Painter and the Burger
2010 SOLD 5.6 M£ including premium

Christie's presents for sale on July 6 in London a beautiful German portrait of the sixteenth century, in good condition, estimated £ 5 million.

The artist, Georg Pencz, was known at Nuremberg as the best pupil of Dürer. At that time the German art was imbued with the Italian influence. Pencz is also (and mostly) famous as a printmaker. The painting is signed with his monogram.

The model, Sigismund Baldinger, is a typical member of the commercial bourgeoisie. Based in Nuremberg where he joined the council, he worked for a merchant family of Augsburg.

In 1545, Baldinger was 35 years old. He is a bearded man with short hair, well dressed, very modern-looking. Solid and confident, he gazes with authority and courtesy. If he believes that this artwork forwards the image of his glory to his descendants, he is right. He will be knighted soon after and this oil on panel, 135 x 118 cm, will remain in his family for nearly four centuries.

POST SALE COMMENT

This portrait of a civilian is altogether rare, large size and of high quality. It is not easy to find an auction history for this pupil of Dürer. The market understood: £ 5.6 million including premium.

Jiajing - The Carps of the Heavenly Pond
​2017 SOLD for HK$ 214M including premium

The palace bowls of the Chenghua emperor were fabulous by the quality of the porcelain and their early application of polychromy but the pieces were small and the drawings were naive. A period of inactivity begins because of court protests against the onerous taste of the leading concubine for such a luxury.

The progress of Jingdezhen porcelain is restarting with the Jiajing emperor, an art lover and an adept of Taoism. Becoming emperor at the age of 14 in 1522, Jiajing reigned for 45 years. Large pieces are made under his rule, using the bright color palette identified as wucai. Wucai literally means five enamels, five having here a meaning of plurality adjusted to the five elements

This emperor liked to state that he was the fisherman of the heavenly pond. The pattern with fish swimming amidst aquatic plants enables a pleasing interweaving of the drawings on the walls of the jars and Jiajing himself promotes this theme by massive commissions. The details of the themes are related to homophonic rebuses bringing to the emperor the auspices that he so much enjoyed.

A 46 cm high jar with its cover is one of the biggest pieces of that type. It is animated by carps of two different sizes. The suspension of the fish in water allows various attitudes. The porcelain was first painted with the classical underglaze blue. The other colors were added over the glaze. Experts believe that three firings have been necessary.

Pieces which are still with their original cover are very rare in private hands. This one was sold for HK $ 44M including premium by Sotheby's on October 29, 2000, a very high price at that time for a Chinese porcelain. It will be sold by Christie's in Hong Kong on November 27, lot 8006. Please watch the video shared by Christie's.
Chinese Porcelain
Ming Porcelain
Later Ming
16th Century

Poesie by TITIAN

1
for reference
1553 Danaë
​Duke of Wellington collection

Titian was commissioned for a series of mythological paintings, known in period as poesie, for the use of Philip of Habsburg who became King consort of England in 1554 and King Felipe II of Spain in 1555. He delivered six large size painting from 1553 to 1562.

The first one was a Danaë, closely inspired from an original version made by the master in 1544-1546, from which the artist has replaced cupid by an aged maid and removed a piece of cloth on the right upper thigh of the nymph.

It is now agreed that the Danaë poesia is not the Prado version but the Wellington example. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Apsley Wellington

2
masterpiece
1554 Venus and Adonis
Prado

The second poesia is a Venus and Adonis painted by Titian in 1554. Titian explained in a letter to prince Philip that the two paintings would offer contrasting front and rear views of a nude Venus, thus allowing painting to compete with sculpture

It is considered by most experts that the Philip II painting is the 186 x 207 cm example kept at the Prado.

As for the Danaë, the artist was inspired by an earlier version. He added the raised head of a third dog, displayed a Cupid sleeping instead of watchful and changed the attitude of the loving Adonis from embracing the goddess to holding a spear for his hunt.

The love story of the goddess Venus and the handsome mortal Adonis was narrated in Ovid's Metamorphoses. Titian made of it a very dynamic expression of desire and death. A seated Venus viewed from back side in full nudity ​is catching her lover to prevent him to go hunting. The unwavering young man will not accept despite his loving gaze. The dogs strain at their leashes in impatience. Ovid had not considered that poignant moment.

This composition evokes also the very end of the story with Venus arriving in her chariot in the sky too late to save the dying hunter. These two stages are processed in very different styles, sharp and brightly colored for the parting of the lovers and the start to the hunt, and ethereal in the sky.


The twisted body of the goddess is inspired from an antique relief, providing a great sense of energy and movement. This piece appeared in due course to observers in period as the most erotic of the poesie series.
Picture

3
​1555-1557
​2022 SOLD for £ 11.2M by Sotheby's

The Venus and Adonis stirred the interest of the Spanish court. Titian prepared several replicas, some of them autograph.

One of the replicas, oil on canvas 177 x 200 cm, has the additional refinement in the background of the presence of the killing wild boar. It makes this version the only one to provide a more complete narration of the story. Another difference is a drapery added over Adonis's shoulder. Near Cupid a pair of doves repeat the parting scene. A 1559 engraving reformated upright is consistent with these details.

This painting have significant similarities in its preparation with the Queen Christina example sold for £ 7.5M by Christie's on December 13, 1991, lot 85, and both have certainly been prepared in parallel around 1555-1557.

Identifying a provenance is difficult because early owners enjoyed to hang several examples on their walls. A nephew of Pope Innocent XI had twelve examples. This replica is supposed to come from the Austrian general Eugene of Savoy and later from Benjamin West, the history painter of King George III.
​
​Attributed to Titian and workshop but considered as autograph after a recent inspection, it was sold for £ 11.2M from a lower estimate of £ 8M by Sotheby's on December 7, 2022, lot 6. Please watch the video shared by the auction house. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Ashmolean venus adonis

4
1555-1560 (so dated by the J. Paul Getty Museum)
1991 SOLD for £ 7.5M (worth US $ 13.6M) by Christie's

Another oil on canvas 160 x 200 cm of Venus and Adonis attributed to Titian and workshop was sold for £ 7.5M, worth at that time US $ 13.6M, by Christie's on December 13, 1991, lot 85. The image is shared by Wikimedia.

This painting have significant similarities in its preparation with the Prince Eugene example, and both have certainly been prepared in parallel. They both have the drapery over Adonis's shoulder.
​
It later had a royal provenance including Queen Christina of Sweden and the ducs d'Orléans. It is dated about 1555-1560 by the J. Paul Getty Museum which acquired it in 1992 and considers it as autograph.

This example does not have the boar nor the parting scene of the doves.
Picture

later 1550s Penitent Magdalene by Titian
2022 SOLD for € 4.8M by Dorotheum

Titian painted his first Penitent Magdalene ca 1531 on a commission from the Duke of Urbino. The theme is exemplary : a young woman who suddenly and definitively passes from vice to virtue through Christian enlightenment.

Magdalene is a robust woman, who instinctively hides her nudity by wrapping her hair around her neck. The first picture is sensual, as if the artist wanted her change of life to cause pity. She is indeed modeled from a Venus Pudica with her prayerful upward hair and the long hair that wraps the shoulders.

Titian painted on commissions the figure of the Maddalena penitente over four decades. A lost example with a royal provenance has just resurfaced. It had been in the collection of Queen Christina of Sweden, probably acquired by her from the Holy Roman emperors, and has not been seen after an auction in 1859 where it was correctly identified as by Titian.

It may be dated from the later 1550s. This figure with draped breasts has lost the titillating effect of the bare breasted original made ca 1531 for the duke of Urbino. The book and the skull are symbolizing the mortality of both the saint and the viewer. The landscape may refer to the hermitage of her solitary retirement in Provence according to a medieval legend.

This oil on canvas 115 x 97 cm was sold for € 4.8M from a lower estimate of € 1M by Dorotheum on May 11, 2022, lot 32. ​Please watch the video shared by the auction house.

The pentimenti observed in X Ray and Infra Red demonstrate the great care brought by the artist in his autograph replicas, even when he copied from a paper master model.

The contemplating expression with tears in the eyes does not reach the mystic ecstasy of a later oil on panel 110 x 78 cm with half-open mouth and dripping tears sold for $ 4.5M by Sotheby's on January 25, 2008, lot 117. The gestures have not changed but the saint has dressed : the nudity of her breasts no longer tickles the old artist. The landscape has become very dark and the light in the sky is mystical.

This incredible painting was created by non-other than Tiziano Vecellio, called Titian, and shows ‘The Penitent Magdalen’. The painting is included in our Old Master Paintings Auction on 11 May.

Learn more about this painting in our blog:https://t.co/gHYZh8G8En pic.twitter.com/2rDCR1YAfl

— dorotheum (@dorotheum) April 13, 2022

​1560 Quiet Mysticism of Titian
2011 SOLD 16.9 M$ including premium

In the later Renaissance, it is difficult to imagine a more complete painter than Titian. His great mythological or religious scenes offer the full range of psychological expression from violence to peace.

At the end of his life, his creativity is much alive, but he has nothing more to prove to increase his fame. Painter of sensuality and characters, he became the painter of the passions.

Circa 1560, he painted A Sacra Conversazione, also known as the Mystical Marriage of St. Catherine. We really catch the intelligence being transferred between the Child Jesus, held by his mother, and Catherine of Alexandria. The Child is active and friendly, Catherine is serious and focused, the Madonna encourages the movement of Jesus. St Luke, standing, is carefully watching.

This large painting on canvas, 128 x 170 cm, is estimated $ 15M, for sale at Sotheby's in New York on January 27. It is illustrated on the press release shared by Artdaily.

There is no doubt about the importance of this work. Already in the 1620s, it had the honor to draw the attention of Van Dyck, who made a sketch of it in a notebook now preserved at the British Museum. 

POST SALE COMMENT

As expected, this beautiful Titian dominated the week of ancient art sales in New York. Sold $ 16.9 million including premium, it does not, however, exceed its estimate.


I invite you to play the video shared on the web by Sotheby's. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Titian, Sacra Conversazione, The Madonna and Child with Saints Luke and Catherine of Alexandria
Madonna and Child
Italian Painting 1280-1700

BRUEGEL

1
​masterpiece

1559 Combat between Carnival and Lent
Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna

Working in Antwerp and afterwards in Brussels, Pieter Bruegel lived in troubled times. His specialty of painting proverbs and morals might at any time offend the Catholic Spain which was then the colonial power, or the Dutch Protestants beginning to engage in their very long war of independence.

Pieter Bruegel chose the theme of peasant life. Their occupations are indeed symbols more or less easy to decode of the struggle between vices and virtues.

The difficulty in deciphering his message, which is explained by the political context, allows the modern viewer to focus his admiration on the anecdote. Bruegel's characters enchant us by their picturesque features and by the exceptional reference to the lifestyle of another time.

​
Pieter Bruegel painted the original version of the Combat Between Carnival and Lent in 1559. This work, currently preserved in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, is teeming with life and colorful, in the best manner of an artist who was the best picture maker of popular scenes of all time. The image is shared by Wikimedia.

Carnival is perched on a barrel and encouraged by his followers who leave the tavern. Lent is an unpleasant nun whose friends leave the church. On the Flemish village square, away from the main story, a crowd of people is busy with everyday occupations.
Pieter Bruegel d. Ä. 066

2
masterpiece
1565 Massacre of the Innocents
Royal Museums of Belgium

Painted ca 1565 by Pieter Bruegel, the Massacre of the Innocents is a response to the outbreak of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish rule. The artist staged the event in a Dutch village under a heavy snow that provides a high contrast with the ongoing drama. The image is shared by Wikimedia.

Conceived in smaller size in parallel with the Massacre, the Bird Trap allegory is its moralizing counterpart in the same village and same snow, with peaceful ice skaters replacing the Spanish soldiers and German mercenaries. The Bird Trap title cannot be understood without referring to the Massacre : Take care, a quiet scenery may hide a trap to the innocents.
Pieter Bruegel the Elder - Massacre of the Innocents - Google Art Project

3
masterpiece
1566 The Wedding Dance
Detroit Institute of Arts

The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Pieter Bruegel the Elder - Wedding Dance in the Open Air - WGA03505

​1562-1563 An Artist's Studio in the Village
2014 SOLD 8.9 M$ including premium

Born in Vicenza, Francesco da Ponte was trained in Venice where he perhaps met Bellini. He soon opened his artist's studio in the village of Bassano, 65 km away from Venice, where he observed the peasants.

His son Jacopo, known as Jacopo Bassano, succeeded him. Making frequent visits to Venice, he assimilated the mannerist expression of emotions while maintaining a realistic observation of peasants, animals and landscapes.

Christian scenes painted by Jacopo are lively and sensitive representations of life in his village. The Adoration of the Shepherds is a perfect theme for this peasant painter.

A large oil on canvas, 72 x 112 cm, in excellent condition, is estimated $ 8M for sale on January 29 in New York at Christie's. It was painted in 1562 or 1563. On the same date in Venice, Veronese painted the Wedding at Cana. The outstanding place offered by Veronese to Jacopo in his monumental painting demonstrates that the art of the villager was well received in the city of the Doges.

Jacopo is contemporary of another peasant painter whom he probably could not know: Pieter Bruegel. Bassano and Bruegel have another common history: their sons succeeded them, using their images as trademarks for their workshops during several decades.

POST SALE COMMENT

Great result for this rare artwork from an outstanding master : $ 8.9M including premium, in line with the estimate.

1562-1567 Two volumes from the Yongle Dadian
2020 SOLD for € 8.1M including premium by Beaussant Lefèvre
narrated post sale in 2020

The Yongle emperor of the Ming was extremely active from his raise to power, particularly in matters of diplomacy and religion. In 1404 CE he commissioned the compilation of all knowledge. More than 2,000 scholars travel the whole China to find the sources.

The job is completed in just five years. The set includes nearly 23,000 scrolls placed in 11,000 volumes, occupying approximately 30 cubic meters. The number of Chinese characters is estimated at 370 million, corresponding to approximately 250 million words in Latin script. Satisfied with his participation to preserve culture, the emperor attributes to this compilation his own reign name : the Great Canon of Yongle, or Yongle Dadian.

The Yongle Dadian is too huge to consider an edition. In 1557, this still unique set barely escapes a fire that destroys three palaces in the Forbidden City. The Jiajing emperor, aware of the risk of losing this invaluable cultural treasure, orders to take a copy, in the form of 50 x 30 cm albums matching the original volumes and chapters. This work is carried out from 1562 to 1567 CE.

No one will ever hear of the original scrolls again. The copy existed until the Opium Wars. It suffered fires and depredations, and only 400 albums survive, which are 3.5% of the original set.

A lot made of two volumes was sold for € 8.1M including premium by Beaussant Lefèvre at Drouot on July 7, 2020. The respective themes are the geography of the lakes of China and a description of funeral rites. Wear, stains and accidents were announced in the catalog.

8 128 000€ frais compris pour les deux rares albums Yongle Dadian dédié à la géographie des lacs de la Chine et aux rites funéraires. @Drouot pic.twitter.com/yjyUvWWXlf

— BEAUSSANT LEFEVRE (@BeaussantL) July 7, 2020
Years 1570-1599
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.