15 Works, RELIGIOUS ART - 15 & 16th Century Carvings & Sculpture from the Bible! With Footnotes - 4

French sculpture

St. Joseph and Jesus, c. 18th century

Carved, lacquered and painted wood in patina

H 116 x L 84 x P 36

The Holy Virgin and child

polychrome decorated walnut

Northern France, 18thC

H 89,5 - W 54 cm 

Gilded terracotta statue of Madonna with Child

26.00 x 6.00 x 5.00 inches*

Weight: 12.50 lbs*

Made in Spain w. Maker's Mark and stamp

Holy Virgin and Child

Ivory and Makassar ebony, partly polychrome decorated, 

H 21,5 cm 

Weight: ca. 400 g

An 18thC/19thC 

Virgin and Child, 17thC

A polychrome decorated limewood Holy 

H 91 cm

15th century AD. 

A carved wooden architectural figure of a saint or dignitary in loose robes, with neat beard and styled hair, right hand clasped to the chest; later suspension loop to the reverse with old collector's paper inked label stating 'Mediaeval Figure / Ripon Cathedral / 15th century'. 1.1 kg, 35.5cm (14"). 

19th century AD. 

Mary standing on a plinth, with flowing robes and infant Jesus held in her left hand

hollow to the underside

A bronze statuette

191 grams

12cm (4 3/4").

ARTIST OF THE TUSCAN XV CENTURY 

Christ

SILVER 

Size cm: 25 x 10

ARTIST OF THE CENTURY XVI 

Cross Stilofila. 

GOLDEN BRONZE 

Size cm: 26 x 21

At the front of the crucified Christ with the four evangelists. At the direction of San Giovanni Battista with Tetramorph.

ITALIAN ARTIST OF THE CENTURY XVIII 

Bas relief in bronze depicting Christ and the Samaritan woman at the well.

Bronze chiseled 

Size cm: 34 x 60

5th-7th century AD. A sandstone tympanum with scene carved in high relief depicting the Adoration of the Magi; to the lower left, a column with rosette, part of a cradle or throne with three kneeling robed figures extending across the lower panel; above, a wheel or nimbus and arches or vaulted ceiling; above and to the right, an arch with inscriptions 'IVO(N)' and 'VIT' flanking a nimbate winged angel. 9.9 kg, 41cm (16 1/4"). 

The majority of Visigothic reliefs are religious in nature and mostly known from churches, cathedrals and funerary monuments. By the end of the sixth century the royal court was styling itself on Byzantine models, which included the depiction of the king as a Byzantine emperor and the decoration of churches in the Byzantine fashion. Plaques or slabs with this type of decoration have been found as part of friezes, chancels and altar tables. Visigothic art is distinctive in that although it was heavily influenced by Byzantine culture it retains its Germanic styles of form that depict images from nature, as well as the human figure, in a schematic fashion

Spain, late sixteenth-early seventeenth century

RILIEVO RAFFIGURANTE LA SACRA FAMIGLIA

A WOODEN, GILT AND CARVED RELIEF

carved wood, painted and gilded 

67,5x51,5x11 cm.

7th-10th century AD. A bronze weight inlaid in silver with the bust of two saints with cross above and two Greek gamma letters beneath. 106 grams, 37mm (1 1/2"). Property of a London gentleman; acquired before 1970. Cf. Buckton, D. (ed), Byzantium: Treasures of Byzantine Art and Culture, London, 1994, pp. 86-87, for similar inlaid weights.

9th-11th century AD. A silver cruciform pendant with bilinear border, pierced lug; high-relief robed Corpus Christi to one face. 6.82 grams, 48mm (2").

North Africa, 6th-7th century AD. A pottery figure of the Virgin Mary wearing gown decorated with incised lines, veil with radiating lines along the edges; Christ child on her lap wearing necklace of incised dots; to the rear a round topped throne indicated by incised lines and dots. 98 grams, 95mm (3 3/4")

Acknowledgement: TimeLine Auctions, Capitolium Art Casa D'Aste, 

Images are copyright of their respective owners, assignees or others

Genius of Art Deco: Erte exhibition in the State Hermitage

Genius of Art Deco: Erte exhibition in the State Hermitage

07 Paintings, RELIGIOUS ART - Paintings from the Bible by the Old Masters, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo; the Prodigal Son, with footnotes, 22

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (born late December 1617, baptized January 1, 1618 – April 3, 1682) was a Spanish Baroque painter. Although he is best known for his religious works, Murillo also produced a considerable number of paintings of contemporary women and children. His lively, realist portraits of flower girls, street urchins, and beggars constitute an extensive and appealing record of the everyday life of his times. More

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617–1682)

The Prodigal Son Receives His Rightful Inheritance

27 x 34 cm

Oil on canvas

Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid

The Parable of the Prodigal Son is one of the parables of Jesus. It appears in Luke 15:11-32. Jesus shares it with his disciples, the Pharisees and others. In the story, a father has two sons. The younger son asks for his inheritance before the father dies, and the father agrees. 

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617–1682)

The parting of the prodigal son, c. 1660

Oil on canvas

27 x 34 cm. 

Madrid, Prado Museum

Bartolome Esteban Murillo (1617–1682)

The dissipation (Feasting) of the Prodigal Son, circa 1660

Oil on Canvas

7 × 34 cm

Prado Museum

Prodigal Son is at a table holding a lady by the shoulders. He is feasting on a banquet. He is the centre of all attention, as a rich young man spending lavishly would naturally be. The painting is in bright colours and in the texture of the rough canvas. Murillo knew as any master the play of light and shadow and its dramatic effects. He used it to create depth in his picture. The music player on the left remains thus in the dark, against the white area of the table linen. This white patch emphasises the rich orange colour of the shirt of the son. The small dog peering from under the table adds an element of genre. More

The younger son, after wasting his fortune (the word "prodigal" means "wastefully extravagant"), goes hungry during a famine, and becomes a destitute

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617–1682)

The Prodigal Son Driven Out, c. 1660

Oil, canvas

104.5 x 134.5 cm

National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617–1682)

The Prodigal Son Feeding Swine, c. 1660s

Oil on canvas

National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland

The son is now praying to God among the swine. He holds one hand to his heart; his other hand is outstretched. The gestures of the man in the two pictures, the ‘Feast’ and the ‘Feeding the Swine’ are the same: left arm bent and right arm stretched. But of course the whole scenery has changed. This ‘Feeding the Swine’ is all gloom and desolation. The sky is heavy and closed from the sun, the barn is in ruins, and the ground is dark and menacing. The man looks at long, thin trees that swing to the skies. Murillo has expressed the loneliness of a person who has been abandoned by everybody and who is entirely throwing his fate to the Lord. More

So destitute he longs to eat the same food given to hogs, unclean animals in Jewish culture. He then returns home with the intention of repenting and begging his father to be made one of his hired servants, expecting his relationship with his father is likely severed. 

Bartolomé Esteban MURILLO (Seville, 1618 - Seville, 1682)

Return of the Prodigal Son, (1667-1670)

Oil on canvas

236 x 262 cm

National Gallery of Art, Washington

Murillo selected the essential elements of the story's climax: the penitent son welcomed home by his forgiving father; the rich garments and ring that signify the errant son's restoration to his former position in the family; and the fatted calf being led to the slaughter for the celebratory banquet. The larger-than-life, central, pyramidal grouping of father and son dominates the picture, while the richest color is reserved for the servant bearing the new garments. The Return of the Prodigal Son was one of eight canvases painted for the Church of the Hospital of Saint George in Seville, a hospice for the homeless and hungry.

Regardless, the father finds him on the road and immediately welcomes him back as his son and holds a feast to celebrate his return, which includes killing a fattened calf usually reserved for special occasions. 

Bartolomé Esteban MURILLO (Seville, 1618 - Seville, 1682)

The Return Of The Prodigal Son, c. 1660

Oil, canvas

Location: National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland

Murillo's model was the life around him; part of the appeal of this canvas lies in its human touches -- the realism of the prodigal's dirty feet, the puppy jumping up to greet his master, and perhaps most of all, the ingenuous smile of the little urchin leading the calf. More

The older son refuses to participate, stating that in all the time he has worked for the father, he never disobeyed him; yet, he did not even receive a goat to celebrate with his friends. The father reminds the older son that the son has always been with him and everything the father has belongs to the older son (his inheritance). But, they should still celebrate the return of the younger son because he was lost and is now found. More


Acknowledgement: Wikimedia

Images are copyright of their respective owners, assignees or others

RELIGIOUS ART - Icons from the Bible, MÈRE ET ENFANT, c. 1917, with footnotes, 6

Tsuguharu Foujita, 1886-1968

MÈRE ET ENFANT, c. 1917

Watercolor, pen and ink and gold leaf on paper mounted on artist's board

13 by 5 3/4 in. 33 by 14.7 cm

Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita (November 27, 1886 – January 29, 1968) was a Japanese–French painter and printmaker born in Tokyo, Japan who applied Japanese ink techniques to Western style paintings. He has been called "the most important Japanese artist working in the West during the 20th century". His Book of Cats, published in New York by Covici Friede, 1930, with 20 etched plate drawings by Foujita, is one of the top 500 rare books ever sold, and is ranked by rare book dealers as "the most popular and desirable book on cats ever published". More

The earliest story tells of Saint Monica in the fourth century, distraught with grief and anxiety for her wayward son, Augustine, confiding her distress to the Mother of God, who appeared to her dressed in mourning clothes but wearing a shining cincture around her waist. As a pledge of her support and compassion, Our Lady removed the cincture and, giving it to Monica, directed her to wear it and to encourage others to do the same. Monica gave it to her son, who in turn gave it to his community, and so the Augustinian devotion to the wearing of a cincture as a token of fidelity to our Mother of Consolation came into being.

The tradition of praying to the Mother of God for the gift of consolation dates back to the early centuries. The first written evidence of prayer to the Mother of God, Mary, the Theotokos ("Birth-Giver of God" ), is written in Greek on a scrap of Egyptian papyrus dating from between 300-540. In that prayer, she is invoked as the compassionate one More

Saint Monica (AD 331 – 387), also known as Monica of Hippo, was an early Christian saint and the mother of St. Augustine of Hippo. She is remembered and honored in most Christian denominations for her outstanding Christian virtues, particularly the suffering caused by her husband's adultery, and her prayerful life dedicated to the reformation of her son, who wrote extensively of her pious acts and life with her in his Confessions. Popular Christian legends recall Saint Monica weeping every night for her son Augustine.

Saint Catherine of Alexandria, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, who was martyred in the early 4th century at the hands of the pagan emperor Maxentius. According to her hagiography, she was both a princess and a noted scholar, who became a Christian around the age of fourteen, and converted hundreds of people to Christianity. She was martyred around the age of 18. Over 1,100 years following her martyrdom, St. Joan of Arc identified Catherine as one of the Saints who appeared to her and counselled her. More

Cretan School describes an important school of icon painting, which flourished while Crete was under Venetian rule during the late Middle Ages, reaching its climax after the Fall of Constantinople, becoming the central force in Greek painting during the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. The Cretan artists developed a particular style of painting under the influence of both Eastern and Western artistic traditions and movements; the most famous product of the school, El Greco, was the most successful of the many artists who tried to build a career in Western Europe, and also the one who left the Byzantine style farthest behind him in his later career. More

RELIGIOUS ART - Icons from the Bible, Mother of Consolation Veneto-Cretan, with footnotes, 5

The theme of the Madonna and Child was rare in the first centuries of early Christian art (c. 3rd–6th century). In 431, however, the establishment of Mary’s title of Theotokos (“Mother of God”) definitively affirmed the full deity of Christ. Thereafter, to emphasize this concept, an enthroned Madonna and Child were given a prominent place in monumental church decoration. More

Madre della Consolazione, Veneto-Cretan, 17th century. Mother of Consolation Veneto-Cretan, wooden single panel. Tempera on chalk ground, background gilded. Image-filling representation of the half-length Mother of God; depicted half-length wearing a blue tunic and a brown maphorion.. She holds the Christ Child in her left arm. He has raised his right hand in blessing and holds with his left the globe. His himation is decorated with a gold-Chrysographie. Next to them, the Saint Catherine appears. , Embossed haloes. Color losses. 16.5 x 23 cm 

Saint Catherine of Alexandria, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, who was martyred in the early 4th century at the hands of the pagan emperor Maxentius. According to her hagiography, she was both a princess and a noted scholar, who became a Christian around the age of fourteen, and converted hundreds of people to Christianity. She was martyred around the age of 18. Over 1,100 years following her martyrdom, St. Joan of Arc identified Catherine as one of the Saints who appeared to her and counselled her. More