follower of rembrandt van rijn (dutch, 1606 -1669) …...17th century follower of rembrandt van rijn...

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Follower of Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606-1669) Abraham's Sacrifice of Isaac, 17th or 18th century Oil on canvas 61.83 Gift of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation (K1633)

Published: Handbook, no. 126

This painting once attributed to a member of Rembrandt's studio, copies the composition of Rembrandt's Sacrifice of Isaac located in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg. The size of the Museum’s painting, 183cm x 132cm, is close to that of the original, 193cm x 132cm.

The painting’s monumental Baroque composition represents Abraham, the first of the Hebrew patriarchs of the Old Testament. To test Abraham's faith, God commanded him to make an offering of his son, Isaac (Genesis 22:2–13). Torn between great love for his son and his desire to obey God's command, Abraham decided that his duty to God ultimately took precedence. He bound Isaac, laid him on the altar, and drew his knife. At that moment an angel of the lord called out to him, saying, "Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God." Greatly relieved, Abraham saw a ram caught in a thicket which he sacrificed instead of Isaac.

Abraham and Isaac has many characteristics we associate with the Baroque period. A series of diagonal axes dominates the composition; dramatic chiaroscuro lighting illuminates the scene; and the moving figures strike dynamic poses. The artist chose to represent the pivotal moment in the story, as Abraham is about to slash his son’s throat, and the angel grabs the patriarch’s wrist. In Abraham's face we see both the anguish of a father about to murder his son and the surprise and confusion of a human confronting an angel. The suggestion of interrupted action is made even more dramatic by the representation of the knife suspended in mid-air.

The artist who made the Museum’s Abraham and Isaac cannot be established due to the painting's condition. Portions of the surface have been heavily restored after an aggressive cleaning, and the figure of Isaac, Abraham's left hand, and parts of the background were retouched at some point. Finally, vertical abrasions on the left and right borders suggest the canvas was folded over a smaller stretcher before being returned to the original dimensions. While we do not know who painted the picture, we do know that the support and techniques used to make the painting are consistent with those used by seventeenth and eighteenth century

MAA 6/2012 Docent Manual Volume 2 17th Century 1

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artists.

There is no doubt that the Missouri painting is by an imitator of Rembrandt rather than the master himself. The weak handling of the anatomy, for example, is not consistent with Rembrandt’s style. The chest of Isaac is pasty and poorly modeled, and the left hand of Abraham is misshapen and awkward. When one compares the face of the patriarch in the original with the face in the copy, the expression of the former seems to capture a subtle mix of complex emotions, while the face in the latter seems less expressive in comparison.

In 1988, the original Abraham and Isaac toured the United States. When this painting was in New York City, Patricia Condon, former curator at the Museum of Art and Archaeology, took a series of detailed photographs and transparencies of the Museum’s painting to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to compare these photos with the original. There she spoke with a number of experts on the authorship of the Missouri painting. Walter Liedtke, curator of Dutch and Flemish painting at the Metropolitan Museum, felt that our painting was weakly painted, but might have been made by an inexperienced copyist in Rembrandt’s circle. Liedtke suggested that a young Govert Flinck, a pupil of the master, could possibly be the artist. Egbert Havercamp-Begemann, professor at New York University, felt that the Missouri painting was probably by a seventeenth-century Dutch artist, but he did not believe that the painter was a close associate of Rembrandt. Otto Newman, a New York art dealer in Dutch and Flemish painting, felt that the exaggerated “Rembrandtesque” touches in the Missouri painting (such as the use of a sharp point to scratch in the locks of the angel) reflected the mannered qualities of an artist working in an anachronistic style. He suggested that our painting might have been made in the 18th century, perhaps as a replacement for the original canvas when the latter was sold. We know that the Hermitage painting was auctioned in Amsterdam in 1760 and that it was in England in the collection of Robert Walpole in 1767. Walpole sold the painting to Catherine II of Russia in 1779, and Abraham and Isaac remained in the royal collections of the Russian rulers until those collections were transferred to the state in the twentieth century. Newman suggested that the Missouri copy might have been commissioned by a Dutch or English art lover who wanted to preserve a reproduction of Abraham and Isaac before it left his/her homeland. (MAA 1/06)


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Attributed to Balthazar Permoser (German, 1651-1732) St. Jerome, ca. 1685 Wood with gilding and polychrome 63.10 Gift of the University Alumni Achievement Fund St. Jerome (c. 340-420) was one of the greatest of the Christian scholars. His revision of the Latin translation of the Bible, known as the Vulgate, is the most famous of his many writings, though he also held a deep admiration for Classical authors such as Cicero. Throughout his life, Jerome felt torn between his love for God and his love for pagan literature. The latter interest is represented by the open books at the feet of the figure. He presided over a monastery in Bethlehem before retiring to the desert to live the second half of his life in penance and contemplation. In the desert, he was said to have befriended a lion by removing a thorn from its paw. The lion is, therefore, along with the books just mentioned, one the saint's most common attributes (objects which appear in representations of a figure to help the viewer identify him or her).

Though Permoser was a German artist, he worked in Italy, and his art shows the influence of Italian Baroque masters such as Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Like the best Baroque art, the outward form expresses an interior drama. The deeply set, expressive eyes, the wild, tangled hair, the open mouth, agitated drapery, and even the sorrowful expression of the lion directly communicate St. Jerome's torment in choosing between God and Classical learning. The work appeals first of all to our emotions--we are intended to empathize with the saint. Bernini and his followers were very successful in drawing the viewer in, in making him or her share the agony or ecstasy of the figure represented. (MAA 12/95)


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Jan van Goyen (Dutch, 1596-1656) River Scene with Ruined Tower, 1637 Oil on panel 65.180 Gift of Ivan B. Hart

Jan van Goyen (Dutch, 1596-1656) River Scene with Hay Wagon, 1649 Oil on panel 66.358 Gift of Ivan B. Hart


The museum is fortunate to have two works by van Goyen, one of the masters of Dutch landscape painting. Because the traditional sources of artistic patronage-the Catholic church and the nobility-had no place in Protestant, middle-class Holland, artists turned to landscape, portraiture, still-life, and genre painting (depicting scenes of everyday life). The land, in particular, had a special resonance for the Dutch who had been forced to wage a dual struggle for their soil: against Spanish domination on the one hand and the encroachments of the sea on the other. As the sea, therefore, gradually turned into an ally by allowing for socioeconomic growth through trade, and the war with Spain was ended in 1609, the land became an especially important symbol of success and prosperity. What used to serve as merely the background to pictures came to determine entire compositions and color schemes.

Typically for van Goyen, the sky occupies the major part of the composition. The river bank is viewed from an angle, to create a diagonal arrangement that is more lively and interesting than a horizontal view. It is a tribute to van Goyen's skill that he is able to take the flat, almost featureless plain of Holland and make it hold our interest by rearranging elements in the landscape and focusing on the play of sunlight and shadow on clouds and water.

It should be noted that although Dutch landscapes like these were based on direct observation, they were usually created in the studio. (It was not until the nineteenth century that artists worked out-of-doors). (MAA 12/95)


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Frans Francken the Younger (Flemish, 1581-1642) King Solomon Making Offerings to the Gods, Before 1616 Oil on panel 66.9 Museum Purchase


Solomon, the third king of Israel, had numerous wives and concubines from neighboring kingdoms who brought with them many pagan cults. In his later years Solomon was drawn more and more to these cults, and his faithlessness brought disaster on Israel, which was divided by civil war and ultimately destroyed after his death.

In this image, Francken has represented the biblical king's ultimate submission to pagan idols while being urged on by his harem. The statue of Venus and Cupid in the niche at the right is symbolic of the women's pagan inclinations, as are the temple being built in the background and the reliefs on the idols' column (though we do not know exactly what subject they depict).

The work exemplifies the kind of painting that wealthy middle-class patrons of the seventeenth century were eager to purchase. It is an excellent display of the artist's delight in depicting lush and detailed textures and effects. Note, for example, the delicate precision with which Solomon's jeweled collar has been rendered. See also the satin gowns of the women. Though they might appear to us to be of the seventeenth century, these gowns would have seemed very fanciful to contemporary viewers, with their yards and yards of impractically bunched fabric. The artist's depiction of Solomon's pale and forlorn face, set off by the dark robe of the woman behind him, heightens the drama of the scene.

Paintings of this size, along with other precious objects, were often displayed together in a small room known as a kunstkamer (literally "art cabinet"). It is likely that this painting was produced for such a setting, and was intended to be enjoyed both privately by the patron and shared with friends.

It was common in Francken's day for painters to collaborate. One painter could, for example, add figures to an interior or a landscape done by another. It is probable that Francken painted the figures in another of the museum's paintings, Peeter Neeffs' Interior of a Gothic Cathedral. (MAA 12/95)


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Mathaus Merian the Younger (Swiss, 1621-1687) Sophonisba, 1647 Oil on canvas 66.348 Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William Olden


According to Livy's Ad Urbe Condita, Sophonisba was the daughter of the Carthaginian general Hasdrudal at the time of the Second Punic War (219-210 B.C.), part of the ongoing conflict between Carthage and Rome. She married a prince of neighboring Numidia, allied to Rome, and succeeded in alienating him from his Roman masters. But he was captured by another Numidian leader, Masinissa, who in turn fell in love with Sophonisba, and likewise married her. To prevent the loss of a second ally for the same cause, the Roman general Scipio demanded that she be surrendered and sent captive to Rome Her husband, not daring to defy Scipio, sent her a cup of poison which she drank. She thereby showed her preference for death in Carthage rather than slavery in Rome.

Sophonisba' s death was a popular theme among baroque painters in both northern Europe and Italy. She is generally richly attired, as she is here, and sits holding a large goblet. Merian may have been familiar with John Marston's tragic drama Sophonisba (1606) during his stay in England, where he studied under the famous portrait painter Anthony van Dyke. He may also have seen the portrayals of the subject by Rubens and Rembrandt. In Rembrandt's version of this scene, Sophonisba is pictured receiving the goblet from a kneeling and respectful attendant, while Merian has chosen to depict the servant standing over the doomed woman with a languid, almost disinterested expression.

It has also been argued on the basis of iconography that the work in fact depicts another story--that of Artemisia, the wife of Mausolus, a prince in Asia Minor. Artemisia succeeded her husband on his death and erected a great monument to his memory at Halicarnassus, from which the term "mausoleum has been derived. As a further tribute to her dead husband, Artemisia mixed the ashes of Mausolus in liquid and then drank them--thereby making herself a living, breathing tomb. For these reasons, she was seen as having epitomized a widow's devotion to her husband's memory. The depiction of the mausoleum-like structure in the left


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background seems to support the view that the picture may, in fact, depict the story of Artemisia, rather than Sophonisba. This ultimate ambiguity in the iconography, however, makes the painting all the more interesting. (MAA 12/95)


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Luca Giordano (Italian, 1637-1705) The Apparition of the Virgin to St. Bernard of Clairvaux, 1681-1683 Oil on canvas 67.68 Museum Purchase

Published: Handbook, no. 130 David Butler, "Two Aspects of Baroque

Painting in Italy," Muse 16 (1982) 56-65.

St. Bernard, a Cistercian monk who lived in the twelfth century and founded a monastery at Clairvaux, France, was an outstanding spiritual leader of his day. Representations of him often emphasized the mystical aspects of his character, particularly his devotion to the Virgin. He was therefore a common subject in painting of the Counter-Reformation, the Catholic response to Protestant splitting off, and an attempt to re-assert the affective or emotional side of Catholic faith.

This work depicts one of Bernard's mystical visions, which Giordano renders as a throng of heavenly figures, angels and putti. The Madonna and Child appear to the Saint in clouds of heavenly majesty, as he kneels below wearing the white habit, or robe, of the Cistercian Order.

This painting is typical of a later phase of Baroque painting, when churches all over Italy were decorated with illusionistic trompe l'oiel ("fool the eye") ceilings, painted to look as if the roof had lifted away to reveal a heavenly event. Giordano specialized in these hyper-illusionistic paintings. He was also one of the most important artists of the later seventeenth century and was in demand by the ruling houses of Europe. The patron of this painting was Vittoria della Rovere, mother of Pope Cosimo III, and the work was to be eventually executed in the church of Santa Maria della Pace in Florence. This small version of the ceiling is a preparatory sketch, called a bozzetto in Italian, done for the approval of the patron. Such sketches were also sometimes made after the creation of the actual work as a momento for friends of the artist or commissioner.

Because of his extraordinary skill in rapidly executing these sketches, the artist acquired the nickname "Luca fa presto," or "Speedy Luca." Though the lively and "unfinished" look of the bozzetto is quite appealing to modern viewers, prior to the eighteenth century (or even the nineteenth), only a few collectors appreciated such work. Those who collected and preserved Luca's bozzetti thus foreshadowed the revolution in taste which eventually led to the looser and lighter style of Rococo painting. (MAA 12/95)


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Circle of Rubens (Flemish, 1577-1640) Noli Me Tangere, ca. 1630 Oil on canvas 69.114 Museum Purchase


After the Resurrection, Christ appeared to Mary Magdalene as she stood by the empty tomb, weeping. When she recognized him he asked that she not touch him ("Noli me tangere," means "Do not touch me" in Latin) but instead go to the disciples with the message that he was now risen. In depictions of this event the Magdalene is usually shown kneeling or bending forward towards Christ who gently draws back from her outstretched arms. In this artist's variation, however, the Magdalene clasps her arms to her breast, while Christ motions toward her. The still life of vegetables in the lower right and the spade held by the risen Christ first appeared in this scene during the Middle Ages. These refer to the Magdalene's initially mistaking Christ for a gardener as reported in the gospel of John.

Mary Magdalene was a favorite subject of seventeenth-century artists. She is generally shown as she is here, a beautiful, richly-dressed (if somewhat disheveled), young woman with reddish hair. For the seventeenth-century viewer, she offered the consolation that even the wickedest sinner could be redeemed by God's love.

Peter Paul Rubens was by far the most important of the Flemish artists. While we do not have a specific artist's name to attach to this picture, it certainly comes from a painter close to Rubens, who employed many artists in his studio. Similar to Rubens' style are the robust figures, the lush, romantic landscape and the fluent, almost effortless application of paint. This painting shows especially well how Rubens and his circle used veils of transparent color over an opaque underpainting, a technique perfected by the Venetians and learned from them by Rubens.

Rubens and his circle were working in Flanders, the southern part of the Netherlandish provinces, or modern-day Belgium. While the images produced in Holland, the northern part of these provinces, was predominantly secular during this period (see Heermans' Wintersport and van Goyen's River Scenes), artists in Catholic Flanders continued to produce religious imagery. (MAA 12/95)


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Attributed to Andrea Vacarro (Italian, 1575-1635) David with the Head of Goliath, ca. 1610-1615 Oil on canvas 69.115 Museum Purchase

Published: Handbook, no. 129 Skoglund, Margaret, “David with the

Head of Goliath and the Beginnings of the Baroque in Napes,” Muse 27-28 (1993-1994) 30-40.

This subject was a popular one among Italian painters of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and is based on the biblical account in I Samuel 17: 48-51. The story is of the unlikely contest between the young Israelite, David, and Goliath, the champion of the Philistine army, against which the Israelites were engaged in battle. Against the odds, the young and unarmored David kills the giant Goliath with a single strategic blow from his sling shot. David quickly severs Goliath's head with the giant's own sword. In this image, he appears to contemplate the head somewhat reservedly, though the tense grip of his left hand and his raised right arm hint at his underlying tension.

The current attribution of this painting to the artist Vacarro is by no means certain. Over the years, the names of several artists from Naples--where Vacarro worked--have been attached to it. Naples in the early seventeenth century was an important artistic center with many first-rate artists. It is extremely difficult to identify works with these different artists on the basis of style alone. Artists were often not only "influenced" by others, they frequently and openly imitated each other. While this may seem to imply a "lack of originality" to twentieth-century viewers, it was acknowledged at the time that even in the process of copying, an artist's unique disposition would show through.

David and Goliath is also significant in that it is an excellent and very typical example of the influence of the artist Caravaggio on Neapolitan painting. Vacarro's work was done very close to the time of Caravaggio's short stay in Naples in the first decade of the century. Caravaggio showed the Neapolitans a new way of seeing, using simple, easy-to-read compositions, a somewhat brutal realism, and dramatic contrasts of light and shadow (called "tenebrism"). These techniques combined to convey a dramatic spiritual or psychological state.

Vacarro utilized such techniques in this picture. Not only does David have a very vivid


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physical presence, but we also sense something of his interior, psychological conflict as he contemplates the consequences of his action. This is achieved, for example, through the play between relaxation and tenseness in the figure's body. Such a focus on internal drama is seen in many seventeenth-century works of art. (MAA 12/95)


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Hans Rottenhammer (German, 1564-1625) The Baptism of Christ, late 16th to early 17th century Oil on copper panel 71.5 Museum Purchase

Published: Dan Ewing, "The Baptism of Christ by Hans Rottenhammer," Muse 20: 66-88.

This painting depicts the Baptism of Christ by Saint John the Baptist in the river Jordan. During the event the Holy Spirit descended from Heaven in the form of a dove and God the Father spoke out, "Thou art my Son, my Beloved; on thee my favor rests." According to the gospel of Mark, people had flocked from the whole Judaean countryside and the city of Jerusalem to be baptized by John. During the Baroque period, artists often used the Baptism as a means for depicting large numbers of nude figures, with Christ appearing as one of many.

While the many figures in their overly elegant, ballet-like positions and the female nudes along the riverbank must have delighted Rottenhammer's refined patrons, the meaning of the Christian story is obscured by the extraneous activity. It must be remembered, however, that the painting was not created for religious use, but to be enjoyed in a well-appointed, private interior.

Rottenhammer's small, technically proficient and richly detailed pictures (many, like this one, painted on copper) were perfectly suited to the precious taste of his aristocratic patrons. Born in Munich, Rottenhammer was a truly international artist, studying and working in Italy before settling at the court of Augsburg in Germany in 1606. This painting shows the artist's knowledge of Italian art (especially the Michelangelo-like nudes), though the crowded composition and fussy detail is very much in the northern tradition.

The artist employed several formal devices in composing the scene. Typical of other Baroque and Mannerist works was the compositional use of interlocking ovals. Here the figures in the foreground form a vertical oval which intersects with the horizontal oval of figures surrounding Christ on the ground. Rottenhammer's depiction of paired oppositions--as in the figures of St. John and Christ, between the woman and man with gray turban in the left foreground, or between the two mothers and their children--also marks his work as Mannerist.

Copper plates, used in great numbers by print makers, began to be used by Netherlandish painters during the 1570s, as its smooth surface facilitated the creation of precise detail, in addition to a free-flowing application of paint. Such plates also lent the finished work a sense of refinement and intimate scale--qualities desired by Rottenhammer's wealthy patrons. (MAA 12/95)


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Thomas Heermans, (Dutch, 1640-1697) Wintersport by the City Wall, ca. 1660-1697 Oil on canvas 73.1 Museum Purchase

During the seventeenth century, artistic production in Holland was at an all-time high. Though few large pictures were produced--since the Protestants, especially the Calvinists, frowned upon decorating church interiors, and there was no hereditary aristocracy--there was a great demand for smaller "living-room-sized" works. Not only did wealthy commercial families suddenly want pictures to hang in "kunstkammers," or art cabinets (the Baptism of Christ is another picture of this type)--so did everybody else. Even those who had never before been able to afford anything more than a crude wood-block print wanted to buy pictures. Under such conditions, minor artists such as Heermans flourished.

Like van Goyen's River Scene with Ruined Tower and River Scene with Hay Wagon, Wintersport is an example of Dutch landscape. The people populating the scene, as in van Goyen's works, are engaged in common-place activities, though Heermans' image is crowded with a greater number of such figures. Rather than depicting narratives or allegorical scenes, Dutch painters generally concentrated on images of daily life and the immediate environment, much like Netherlandish painters of the late Middle Ages had done (Pieter Bruegel the Elder, for example).

But there is an important difference between the types of scenes artists chose to paint. Whereas the late medieval naturalists had depicted peasants plowing and harvesting, there are fewer representations of (male) economic activity in the seventeenth-century Dutch works. People did not wish to look at images of work and production because they spent most of their days engaged in labor. They instead demanded depictions of leisure-time enjoyment (much like nineteenth-century patrons who longed to escape from the drudgeries of the industrial world through images of nostalgic or far-away lands). Heermans, therefore, has portrayed happy figures, most engaged in skating or riding in horse-drawn sledges. (MAA 12/95)


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Peeter Neefs the Elder (Flemish, ca. 1578-1656/1661) Interior of a Gothic Church, ca. 1620 Oil on copper 78.25 Gift of Museum Associates

Peeter Neefs was born in Antwerp and trained with the architectural painter Hendrik van Sttwyck. Together with his teacher, Neefs was among the first generation of Dutch genre painters who specialized in images of church interiors. Along with landscapes and still-lifes, these scenes became popular in the Low Countries as Calvinism became a political force in the region in the mid-to-late 1500s. Calvinists disapproved of religious imagery, so artists begin to cater to secular markets.

Neefs worked in the southern Netherlands, which returned to Catholic rule in 1578. Despite this political change, the fashion for genre interiors continued, and Interior of a Gothic Church was probably painted for a Catholic patron. In the Low Countries, Calvinist taste had created a fashion for whitewashed walls and clear glass windows in both Catholic and Protestant churches. However the architectural focuses of the two types of ecclesiastic buildings differed, and these differences were often reflected in Dutch and Flemish genre paintings. In Protestant churches the altar was often de-emphasized, and the focus was on the pulpit or on some other part of the building. In Catholic interiors, the focus was on the view down the nave towards the choir screen and sanctuary where the all-important sacrifice of the Mass took place. Neefs presents such a nave view in Interior of a Gothic Church, which probably represents an imaginary Catholic church or a free interpretation of Antwerp cathedral. (MAA 12/95)


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Jan Both (1618-1652), Nikolaus Knupfer and Jan Baptist Weenix (Dutch) Mercury, Argos and Io in an Italianate Landscape, ca. 1650 Oil on panel 81.48 Gift of the Unrestricted Development Fund-UMC


Io was a priestess of the goddess Hera. Zeus, Hera's husband, fell in love with her, and began to fear Hera's jealousy. In order to deceive Hera, Zeus transformed lo into a white heifer. Upon seeing the animal, however, Hera saw through Zeus's ploy, and cunningly asked to have it as a gift, knowing that her husband could not refuse. To protect her new possession, Hera had Argus, the multi-eyed and all-seeing monster, keep Io under surveillance. Zeus then sent Mercury to lull Argus to sleep by playing his flute and telling him stories. Once the monster fell asleep, Mercury killed him, allowing Io to escape. When Hera heard of this, she sent flies to torment the animal. Io thus wandered the world in misery, until she eventually reached Egypt where she was returned to her human form, and found peace.

This is an example of a specific type of Dutch painting, the Italianate or classical lope. In Italy itself during the Renaissance, mythological themes had flourished, while in the north such representations remained relatively rare. As contact with Italy increased over the course of the sixteenth century, the interest in themes from antiquity also grew. There is no evidence to prove that Both executed this or other paintings in Italy, though he, like many northern painters, had studied in Rome. It was instead common for such pictures to be based loosely on a romantic, somewhat idealized conception or memory of the country.

The sunny evocations of the warm South, flooded with hazy, golden light, and populated with figures from ancient myth, were highly valued by the Dutch. This episode from the story of lo emphasizes the pastoral aspects of the myth and does not hint at the violent death of Argus at the hands of Mercury. That is, the setting and nostalgic mood are the subject more than the narrative itself.

Dutch artists often specialized in rendering certain subjects (see also Neeffs' Interior of a Gothic Cathedral). In this painting, Both (pronounced like “wboat") painted the landscape, Knupfer the figures, and Weenix the animals. (MAA 12/95)


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David Le Marchand (French active in Britain, 1674-1726) Madonna and Child, ca. 1680s Ivory 69.1023 Gift of Miss Sarah Catherine France in honor of her brother Charles B. France

Famed for his ivory carvings, David Le Marchand came from Dieppe, France, which was a busy center for the practice of this art. Coming from a Huguenot (Protestant) family, he fled France because of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 and subsequent persecution of non-Catholics. In 1696 he was granted permission to open a shop in Edinburgh, Scotland, and train local apprentices. By 1700 he had moved to London where he enjoyed great success.

Carved images of the Madonna and Child in ivory have been popular since the Middle Ages. A precious commodity since ancient times, the ivory would have been imported from Africa, and in this instance, most likely shipped from a French trading post on the West African Coast. Inspired by the bending and tapering shape of the ivory tusk, Le Marchand shaped the Virgin’s body into an elegant swaying curve, reminiscent of the S-curve of Gothic carvings of the same subject. At the same time, Le Marchand innovatively shows the Madonna offering the Christ child to the beholder.

The flowing lines, deeply scooped folds, and clearly modeled features evidence Le Marchand’s complete mastery of the ivory medium. Unlikely to have been commissioned by a British Protestant, the piece could have been made for a Roman Catholic, who refused to attend services of the Church of England, or for a supporter of the deposed Stuart king James II, who staunchly adhered to the Roman Catholic faith. (MAA 5/08)


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Adam Colonia (Dutch, 1634–1685) Italianate Landscape, 17th century Oil on canvas 72.7 Gift of Wunsch Americana Foundation

Born in Rotterdam, Adam Colonia was descended from a family of artists. Both his father Isaac and grandfather Adam Louisz were painters. His son Adriaan also took up the family profession, as did his daughter Huberta, who married the Dutch painter Adriaen van Diest. A Dutch Baroque painter, Colonia is best known for his nighttime scenes, which he learned studying with Egbert van der Poel, who was important in the development of this genre.

Colonia moved to London in the early 1670s when landscape painting was experiencing a new level of popularity. Working in the Italianate tradition in this instance, Colonia infused this painting with a feeling of the Roman “campagna” or countryside. Lit with a softly glowing golden light, leaves shimmer in shades of brown, gold, and green due to the artist’s masterful tonal control.


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Attributed to Carlo Francesco Nuvolone (Italian, 1609–1661) Portrait of Giovanni Battista Silva, ca. 1660 Oil on canvas 61.79 Gift of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation

This painting has been attributed to the Milanese painter Carlo Francesco Nuvolone, based on its stylistic similarities to known works by the artist. The sitter is identified by the Italian inscription on the letter he holds. A translation of the inscription reads: “For your most illustrious Lordship Giovanni Battista Silva my master.” Below this are the words “Sue Mani,” which means “Your Hands,” indicating that the letter has been delivered directly into Silva’s hands.

During the Baroque period, portrait artists became increasingly interested in the use of gesture and expression to engage the audience. Nuvolone’s painting reflects this interest, portraying Silva gazing at the viewer while holding the letter, his hat, and his right glove. His gestures also reflect his elevated social status, as gentlemen removed their hats and gloves when greeting other persons of rank. Silva appears to greet the viewer, thus encouraging a typically Baroque interaction between the audience and the painting. (MAA 1/2005)


follower of rembrandt van rijn (dutch, 1606 -1669) …...17th century follower of rembrandt van rijn...

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