#16th century european art

[collectionstilllife]

Joris Hoefnagel (Flemish, 1542-1601) • Still Life with Flowers, a Snail and Insects • 1589

[canvasmirror]

Carravagio (Italian, 1571-1610) • Bacchus • c. 1596 • Uffizi Gallery, Florence

This cannot be Carravagio, you say? You are correct. The self-portrait is hidden in the wine flask which is part of the composition of Carravagio's famous Bacchus painting, shown above.

Via an infrared technique called multispectral reflectography, researchers were able to identify a tiny man which they're fairly sure is Carravagio. He's at the easel holding a paintbrush. One can faintly see the outline the head.

More here

“All works, no matter what or by whom painted, are nothing but bagatelles and childish trifles… unless they are made and painted from life, and there can be nothing… better than to follow nature”

– Carravagio

[resplendentoutfit]

Joos van Cleve (Dutch, c. 1485-1540/1541) • Portrait of Eleanor of Austria • c. 1530 • Musée Condé, Oise, France

Details

The Resplendent Outfit: The outrageous, extravagant, sometimes humorous and often beautiful outfits worn by subjects of old portraits; captioned, as an attempt at satire; a little history occasionally thrown in the mix.

Outrageous

Extravagant ✅️

Humorous

Beautiful ✅️

[arthistoryanimalia]

For #GuineaPigAppreciationDay, the two earliest examples I've found of guinea pigs in the European visual record:

1. Painting attributed to Giovanni da Udine, n.d., artist active early 1500s to death in 1564

2. Drawing from the Felix Platter album, collected sometime between 1546-54

Attributed to Giovanni da Udine (Italian, 1487–1564) Head of a Guinea Pig oil on canvas laid on panel 6.5 x 7 in. (16.5 x 17.8 cm.) From Duke's Fine Art Auction catalog, 11th April 2013, Lot 215

Drawing collected by Felix Platter, to be used in Gessner's Historiae animalium. The drawings were made by several artists, mostly anonymous, and were collected between 1546 and 1558 (this one must date to no later than 1554 as it served as a reference for Gessner's woodcut published that year). Bijzondere collectie Universiteit van Amsterdam collection.

[solcattus]

Designs for a Dagger and Sheath, 1543

By Augustin Hirschvogel

[virgocurator]

The Book of Hours, The Trinity

Ink, pigments and gold on vellum

illuminated manuscript, ca. 16th century

[artandthebible]

Risen Christ

Artist: Francesco Napoletano (Italian, 1470-1501)

Date: c. 1500

Medium: Oil on wood

Collection: The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Florida, United States

Description

As his name indicates, Francesco Napoletano was born in Naples, but he became one of the early followers of Leonardo da Vinci in Milan around 1490. Though this work shows elements derived from Leonardo’s style, especially the shading of Christ’s torso, the lone figure of the risen Christ was likely inspired by Venetian examples. This painting was probably made for a church in Venice, toward the end of Francesco’s life.

[royalty-nobility]

Duke Albert V (1528-1579) of Bavaria with a Lion

Artist: Hans Mielich (German, (1516-1573)

Date:1556

Medium: Oil painting

Collection: Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Austria

Albert V, Duke of Bavaria

Albert V (German: Albrecht V.) (29 February 1528 – 24 October 1579) was Duke of Bavaria from 1550 until his death. He was born in Munich to William IV and Maria Jacobäa of Baden.

Albert was educated at Ingolstadt by Catholic teachers. On 4 July 1546 he married Anna of Austria, a daughter of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary (1503–1547), daughter of King Ladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary and his wife Anne de Foix. The union was designed to end the political rivalry between Austria and Bavaria. In 1550, Albert succeeded his father as duke of Bavaria.

[katiajewelbox]

Cupid and Psyche by Jacopo Zucchi (1589).

[artemlegere]

Portrait of Dante Alighieri

Artist: Florentine School

Date: c. 1540

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: Private collection, southern Germany

Dante Alighieri

Dante Alighieri (c. May 1265 – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian poet, writer, and philosopher.His Divine Comedy, originally called Comedìa (modern Italian: Commedia) and later christened Divina by Giovanni Boccaccio, is widely considered one of the most important poems of the Middle Ages and the greatest literary work in the Italian language.

Dante is known for establishing the use of the vernacular in literature at a time when most poetry was written in Latin, which was accessible only to educated readers. His De vulgari eloquentia (On Eloquence in the Vernacular) was one of the first scholarly defenses of the vernacular. His use of the Florentine dialect for works such as The New Life (1295) and Divine Comedy helped establish the modern-day standardized Italian language. His work set a precedent that important Italian writers such as Petrarch and Boccaccio would later follow.

Dante was instrumental in establishing the literature of Italy, and is considered to be among the country's national poets and the Western world's greatest literary icons. His depictions of Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven provided inspiration for the larger body of Western art and literature. He influenced English writers such as Geoffrey Chaucer, John Milton, and Alfred Tennyson, among many others. In addition, the first use of the interlocking three-line rhyme scheme, or the terza rima, is attributed to him. He is described as the "father" of the Italian language, and in Italy he is often referred to as il Sommo Poeta ("the Supreme Poet"). Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio are also called the tre corone ("three crowns") of Italian literature.

[mythologypaintings]

Odysseus and Circe

Artist: Bartholomäus Spranger (Flemish, 1546-1611)

Date: 1586-1587

Medium: Oil

Collection: Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria

Description

Odysseus travels to Circe's island, where he is warned by Hermes about Circe's magic and given an herb to protect himself. Odysseus ends up sleeping with Circe instead of being enchanted by her. Circe's advice.

[cimmerianweathers]

I went to the museum today.

[allegorypaintings]

Allegory of Vanity

Artist: Paris Bordone (Italian, 1500-1571)

Date: 16th Century

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: Private collection

[galleryofart]

A Woman Holding an Apple

Artist: Titian (Venetian, 1488/1490 - 1576)

Date: c. 1550

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, United States

Description

A striking young woman - with loose, untied hair and sleeves and a richly jeweled but informal gown - returns the viewer’s gaze. In her time, a viewer would have seen her as being in a state of semi undress. She cradles an apple in her hands, which in art often connotes female sexuality.

Despite the painting’s portrait like format, Titian probably did not depict a specific person here. He and other Venetian artists of the day painted many pictures representing beautiful young women, but it is often unclear whether such pictures are meant to be recognizable portraits of members of contemporary society or idealized images of anonymous beauties. Although the images may reflect Venetian courtesan culture of the period, there is no evidence that real courtesans had themselves portrayed in this way. Rather, such pictures may be interpreted as fanciful portrayals of female beauty, designed to appeal to the eyes of the painting’s owner.

[arthistoryanimalia]

#FrogFriday 🐸:

Pendant: enameled gold and ruby ​​toad 1585/1600 (end of 16th c.) H: 7.5 cm (with chain); W: 2.5 cm Musée du Louvre OA 2321

[solcattus]

The bridal jewelry. Venetian women in the 16th century, 1872

By Cesare Dell'acqua