#museum of fine arts ghent

[lionofchaeronea]

Allegory of Night, Léon Frédéric, 1891

[royalty-nobility]

Portrait of Empress Josephine

Artist: Joseph Paelinck (Belgian, 1781-1839)

Date: c. 1807-1808

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: Museum of Fine Arts Ghent, Ghent, Belgium

Joséphine de Beauharnais

Joséphine Bonaparte (23 June 1763 – 29 May 1814) was the first wife of Emperor Napoleon I and as such Empress of the French from 18 May 1804 until their marriage was annulled on 10 January 1810. As Napoleon's consort, she was also Queen of Italy from 26 May 1805 until the 1810 annulment. She is widely known as Joséphine de Beauharnais

[empirearchives]

Allegory of the Birth of the King of Rome, 1811

Ernest Joseph Bailly

Museum of Fine Arts Ghent

[artandthebible]

Jaël Killing Sisera in his Sleep

Artist: Anonymous Master, Netherlands

Date: 17th-18th century

Medium: Oil paint on canvas

Collection: Museum of Fine Arts, Ghent, Belgium

The Story of Jael, Book of Judges

Jael in the Bible was the wife of a man named Heber, who was a Kenite. The Kenites were related to the Midianites. Jael features in the book of Judges as a heroic woman who killed Sisera, the leader of King Jabin’s Canaanite army. Jabin was trying to conquer Israel, which was at that time under the leadership of Deborah, a prophetess and the only female to judge the nation of Israel.

When Sisera and his army came against Israel, Deborah sent word to Barak of the tribe of Naphtali that he was to fight the Canaanites and deliver Israel from Jabin’s hand. Barak was unwilling to go into battle without Deborah by his side. Deborah agreed to go with him but told him that, because of his reticence, a woman would get the honor of killing Sisera, the captain of Jabin’s army (Judges 4:4–7).

As the Israelites were winning the battle, as prophesied by Deborah, Sisera left his decimated army at the Kishon River and fled on foot (Judges 4:16–17). He came to Heber’s property and sought refuge there, knowing that Heber was in alliance with King Jabin. Heber’s wife, Jael, welcomed Sisera with the words “Come, my lord, come right in. Don’t be afraid” (Judges 4:18). She brought Sisera into her tent, covered him with a blanket, and gave him some milk to drink (verses 18–19). Jael was kind and hospitable, but she had an ulterior motive. After Sisera had eaten well and was asleep, Jael took a tent peg and a mallet and sneaked up on Sisera. She placed the tent peg’s point on his temple and hit the peg with the mallet, driving it through his temple with such force that it stuck in the ground on the other side of his head. Thus Sisera died (Judges 4:21).

Deborah’s prophecy was fulfilled: the honor of killing the captain of Jabin’s army went to a woman. That woman was Jael. As Barak pursued Sisera, he came to Heber’s settlement. Jael went to meet him and brought him into the tent to show him what she had done - Sisera’s body was lying there with a tent peg in his temple (Judges 4:22). Later, Barak and Deborah sang a song of the battle, and in the song they honored Jael by name:

“Most blessed of women be Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, most blessed of tent-dwelling women. He asked for water, and she gave him milk; in a bowl fit for nobles she brought him curdled milk. Her hand reached for the tent peg, her right hand for the workman’s hammer. She struck Sisera, she crushed his head, she shattered and pierced his temple. At her feet he sank, he fell; there he lay. At her feet he sank, he fell; where he sank, there he fell - dead” (Judges 5:24–27).

[galleryofart]

Robber's Wife with Child on the Run

Artist: Adolphe Bernard (Belgian, 1812-1890)

Date: 1834

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: Museum of Fine Arts Ghent, Belgium

[lubentina]

Alfred Stevens (Belgian, 1823–1906)

Maria Magdalena [Sarah Bernhardt], 1887, Museum voor Schone Kunsten

Oil on canvas

[hildegardavon]

Charles Picqué, 1799-1869

Hebe, ca.1826, oil on canvas, 260x197 cm

Museum of Fine Arts Ghent, Belgium Inv. 1826-A

[artthatgivesmefeelings]

Louis Maeterlinck (Belgian, 1846-1926) Cruel Love, 1889 Museum of Fine Arts, Ghent

[lionofchaeronea]

Title: Brussels in the Rain Artist: Gustave Den Duyts (Belgian, 1850-1897) Date: unknown Genre: cityscape Medium: oil on panel Dimensions: 26.9 cm (10.5 in) high x 38 cm (14.9 in) wide Location: Museum of Fine Arts Ghent (MSK), Belgium

[royalty-nobility]

Emperor Charles and His Mistress Johanna Van der Gheynst at the Cradle of their Daughter Margaret

Artist: Théodore-Joseph Canneel (Belgium 1817-1892)

Date: 1844

Medium: Oil paint on canvas

Collection: Museum of Fine Arts Ghent, Belgium

Description

In this genre scene, Théodore Jozef Canneel gives us a romanticized picture of the emperor’s private life. In 1522, Johanna van der Gheynst, the daughter of a tapestry-weaver in the region of Oudenaarde, gave birth to a daughter who later became Margaret of Parma. Canneel’s work is sober, with an eye for detail, but unlike Henry Leys, his historic realism is always secondary to the story. In addition to portraits, historical work and genre scenes, Canneel also focused on monumental painting.

[canvasmirror]

Charles Picqué (Belgian, 1799-1869) • Self-Portrait • 1833 • Museum of Fine Art, Ghent, Belgium

Charles Picqué was a Belgian painter, lithographer and engraver known for his neo-classical and romantic works. He was distinguished in several fields: portraiture, landscape, still-life, sacred art and history painting. – Wikipedia

As I was looking into this artist I came upon this painting by him and was struck by the resemblance of the sitter to the artist's self-portrait. The tilt of the head, the facial features, as well as the right hand – the artist holding a brush, the woman her long hair.

Woman at her toilet • 1827

[mythologypaintings]

The Beautiful Anthia Leading her Companions into the Temple of Diana in Ephesus

Artist: Joseph Paelinck (Netherlandish, 1781-1839)

Date: c. 1820

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: Museum of the Fine Arts, Ghent, Belgium

Description

In The Beautiful Anthia Joseph Paelinck depicts an episode in an ancient Greek tale. During a parade in the temple of Artemis in Ephesus the proud warrior Abrocomeus met the beautiful Anthia. Eros, the god of love, was vexed by Abrocomeus’s indifference and contrived to make him fall passionately in love with the young woman. They married, but Eros’s revenge continued to persecute them. They were kidnapped by pirates, sold as slaves, separated from one another but eventually their love and fidelity helped them overcome their trials and tribulations. The story lends itself perfectly to propagating the nineteenth-century bourgeois moral values. The painting depicts the parade with Anthia in the centre and Abrocomeus to the right in his red coat. The theme, the balanced composition and the careful rendition contribute to making this painting an excellent example of the Classic ideal of Paelinck and other followers of Jacques-Louis David.

[eddy25960]

Louis Maeterlinck (Belgian, 1846-1926)

Cruel Love, 1889

Museum of Fine Arts, Ghent

[beautiful-belgium]

Fernand Khnopff - Landscape at Fosset, between circa 1890 and circa 1895, Museum of Fine Arts Ghent (MSK)

[miscellaneous-art]

Anonymous master, Portrait of Philip the Fair and Isabella of Portugal, c. 1550 Museum of Fine Arts Ghent

[hildegardavon]

Joseph Stallaert, 1825-1903

Polyxena sacrificed on Achilles' pyre, 1875, oil on panel, 77.5x57.5 cm

Museum of Fine Arts Ghent, Belgium Inv. 1877-E