10 Works, Today, June 13th. is Jan Victors' day, his story, illustrated with footnotes #161

Jan Victors (Dutch, 1619 - after 1676)

The Angel Taking Leave of Tobit and His Family, c. 1649

Oil on canvas

104.1 × 131.8 cm (41 × 51 7/8 in.)

Getty Center

After curing Tobit's blindness, returning the family's wealth, and making it possible for Tobit's son Tobias to marry his beloved Sarah, the Archangel Raphael has dropped his disguise and revealed himself as an angel, saying, "I was not acting on my own will, but by the will of God." Such a scene of miraculous intervention was especially attractive to Protestants in Holland, who believed in doctrines of faith, mercy, and divine grace.

Jan Victors took his subject from the Book of Tobit, among the Apocrypha in the Old Testament. Borrowing elements from his teacher Rembrandt van Rijn's 1637 rendition of the subject, Victors set his figures before and within an architectural setting and opened the composition to a clouded landscape on one side. Strong contrasts of light and dark and a foreshortened angel, flying away on a diagonal and viewed from the back, give the scene animation and urgency. Victors's characteristically careful interpretation of surface details includes beautifully rendered highlights on the costumes and Tobias's head. More on this painting

Jan Victors or Fictor (bapt. June 13, 1619 – December 1679) was a Dutch Golden Age painter mainly of history paintings of Biblical scenes, with some genre scenes. He may have been a pupil of Rembrandt. He probably died in the Dutch East Indies.

Jan Victors  (1619–1676)

Esau Sells Jacob the Right of Seniority for a Bowl of Lentils, c. 1653

Oil on canvas

109 x 137 cm

Royal Lazienki Museum, Warsaw

In Genesis, Esau returned to his brother, Jacob, being famished from the fields. He begged his twin brother to give him some "red pottage". Jacob offered to give Esau a bowl of Lentils in exchange for his birthright (the right to be recognized as firstborn) and Esau agreed.

Esau acts impulsively: "Esau demonstrates that he does not deserve to be the one who continues Abraham's responsibilities and rewards under God's covenant, since he does not have the steady, thoughtful qualities which are required... Jacob shows his willingness as well as his greater intelligence and forethought... What he does is not quite honorable, though not illegal. The title that he gains is at least partially valid, although he is insecure enough about it to conspire later with his mother to deceive his father so as to gain the blessing for the first-born as well." More on Jacob and Esau

Jan Victors  (1619–1676)

Jacob Seeking the Forgiveness of Esau, c. 1652

Oil on canvas

70-1/4 x 81-1/2 in.

Indianapolis Museum of Art

When they grow older, Jacob, with the help of his mother Rebekah, tricks his father Isaac into blessing him, instead of his older brother. Discovering this duplicity, Esau then swears that he will kill his brother after their father dies. So Jacob flees, again with help from his mother, to live with his Uncle Laban in Haran. There Jacob marries Laban’s daughters Leah and Rachel, takes concubines, and has 12 sons and one daughter. Jacob prospers, but finally, at God’s behest, Jacob leaves Haran to return to the land of his birth, where he must confront his brother. 

The subject of this painting is taken from the book of Genesis and depicts the moment before the reconciliation of the brothers, Jacob and Esau. Following the biblical text, Jacob has divided the children of his two wives and his handmaids, putting the latter in front. He asks for forgiveness from Esau who, unseen in this painting, advances at the head of four hundred men. The principal characters in this drama are portraits of an unidentified family. More on Jacob Seeking the Forgiveness of Esau

Victors, Jan (1619-po 1676)

Joseph’s Bloodied Coat is Shown to Jacob, c. 1649

Oil on canvas

96,9 x 112,9 cm

Royal Lazienki Museum, Warsaw

The Old Testament story of Joseph fueled the imagination of Dutch artists, not only for the marvelous exploits of the young leader, but also for the jealousies, deceits and betrayals that mark the complex narrative of his life.1 The cause of many of those jealousies was the coat of many colors that his father, Jacob, had presented to him as a sign that he was the favored son. The tragic consequences, when Joseph’s brothers turned against him. His brethren conspired to kill him. However, Reuben, one of the brothers, dissuaded them from committing fratricide and, instead, they threw Joseph into a pit. Although Reuben intended to rescue Joseph and return him to his father, Joseph was taken to Egypt after the others sold him to passing Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. Reuben, upon discovering that Joseph was missing, then conspired with his brothers to deceive Jacob into believing that Joseph had been eaten by a wild beast. To feign his death they dipped Joseph’s coat in the blood of a goat, which they then took to the aged patriarch. Seeing the bloody coat, Jacob tore his garments in grief, donned sackcloth, and, taking no comfort in his family’s consolations, mourned Joseph’s loss. More on Joseph’s Bloodied Coat

Jan Victors (Dutch, Amsterdam 1619–1676/77 East Indies)

Abraham's Parting from the Family of Lot, ca. 1655–65

Oil on canvas

58 x 65 1/8 in. (147.3 x 165.4 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Abraham and his nephew Lot have journeyed from Egypt to the plain of Jordan, where there is a dispute between their respective herdsmen about grazing land. Abraham generously tells Lot to choose whatever territory he would prefer.

In the painting, Lot's well-known strain of weakness is written plainly on his face and in his posture. Like his daughters, who will eventually seduce him, Lot sits idly at the dinner table, while Abraham, in a fur-lined robe, gestures with Mosaic decisiveness. Lot's wife, who later becomes the pillar of salt, appears to smile at the patriarch's largess. In the background, herders debate the issue, while sheep as thick as cotton graze the land that was "not able to bear them". More on this painting

Victors only painted scenes from the Old Testament, which distinguishes him among contemporary Dutch artists, who, as protestants, did not altogether abandon painting Christological subjects, although they painted Old Testament themes more frequently. According to Debra Miller, the reason for such an approach should be sought in Victors’ orthodox Calvinism, which is why he remained strictly within the rules for the veneration of religious images. The painter was more interested in the underlying didactic meaning of his compositions than in their artistic merits. Victors’ idea was that his Old Testament paintings were to be an interpretation of the biblical content that was as accurate as possible. 

Jan Victors (Dutch, Amsterdam 1619–1676/77 East Indies)

Market Scene with a Quack at his Stall, c. 1650

Oil on canvas

79 x 99 cm

Szépmûvészeti Múzeum, Budapest

This painting was painted about 1650 but the style and manner of presentation are those of an earlier period. This was the beginning of the great period of middle-class genre painting when artists were developing a style quite different from Victor's over-familiar anecdotical approach.

The market-place is in fact limited to the quack's table with an awning over it, and the group of simple people crowding round the stall. The church and houses round the market-square are outlined behind the group of onlookers and the village street with figures can be seen in the distance. The peasant sitting barefooted, one of his shoes discarded beside him, the charlatan in his finery, and the colourful company of villagers around them are characters in an anecdotical story which is indeed worthy of the painter's brush. Victors was a pupil of Rembrandt, and his figures are clearly derivative but they are smooth and superficial compared with the character studies of the great master. More on this painting

Victors, Jan. 1619-1676

Diogenes with a Lantern at a Market Square, c. second half of the 1650s

Oil on canvas

109,5x160 cm

The State Hermitage Museum

Diogenes of Sinope (l. c. 404-323 BCE) was a Greek Cynic philosopher best known for holding a lantern (or candle) to the faces of the citizens of Athens claiming he was searching for an honest man. He rejected the concept of "manners" as a lie and advocated complete truthfulness at all times and under any circumstance. More on Diogenes

Jan Victors

Nourrir les orphelins/ Feeding the orphans, c. 1659-1560

Oil on canvas

146 x 221 cm,

Musée Historique d'Amsterdam, Amsterdam

Victors, Jan. 1619-1676

Ferry, c. 1660s

Oil on canvas

85x118 cm

The State Hermitage Museum

The representation of a ferry transporting peasants and livestock is the most favourite subject in Jan Victors’ oeuvre. As D.Miller [1985] notes, such outdoor anecdotal genre scenes were much sought after in the art market and were quite often copied by the artist’s contemporaries. Out of the six works by Victors on this subject, the only piece with the author’s date (1653) is displayed in the National Museum in Poznan. Some characters present in the Hermitage painting – a boy trying to catch a duck, a young peasant woman in a boat - harken back to the master’s earlier canvas. (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool). In D. Miller’s opinion [1985], a group of paintings representing ferry crossing was probably created in 1646–1654. More on this painting

Jan Victors  (1619–1676)

Young woman at a window, c. 1640

Oil on canvas

Height: 93 cm (36.6 in); Width: 78 cm (30.7 in)

Louvre Museum 

Victors was born in Amsterdam. He was described in a Haarlem tax listing in 1622 as a student of Rembrandt van Rijn. Though it is not certain that he worked for Rembrandt, it is clear from his Young girl at a window (See above) that he had looked carefully at Rembrandt's paintings. He was only twenty when he painted this scene, and the look of expectation on the girl's face shows a remarkable study of character. He seems to have abandoned painting well before the rampjaar of 1672, when, like many painters in Amsterdam, he fell onto bad times and took a position as ziekentrooster ("comforter of the sick"), a role as professional nurse and cleric, with the Dutch East India Company in 1676. He probably died soon after arrival in Indonesia, then the Dutch East Indies. More on Jan Victors

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09 Works, June 12th. is Pierre Henri Révoil's day, his story, illustrated with footnotes #160

Pierre Henri Revoil (French, Lyon 1776–1842 Lyon)

The Tournament, c. 1812

Oil on canvas

H. 133.5; L. 174.3cm

Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon

Pierre Révoil aimed to create a detailed reconstruction of a mediaeval tournament. He chose to depict a jousting tournament which took place in Rennes in 1337, which was famous for the participation of the young Bertrand Duguesclin in anonymous armour, despite his father prohibiting it. The painter chose the moment at which the last man to fall manages to raise the victor's visor to reveal his identity. The herald in the foreground calls out the victory signal; in the background, one of the four judges brandishes a silver swan, the trophy for the jousting contest. More on this painting

Bertrand du Guesclin (Breton: Beltram Gwesklin; c. 1320 – 13 July 1380), nicknamed "The Eagle of Brittany" or "The Black Dog of Brocéliande", was a Breton knight and an important military commander on the French side during the Hundred Years' War. From 1370 to his death, he was Constable of France for King Charles V. Well known for his Fabian strategy, he took part in six pitched battles and won the four in which he held command. More on Bertrand Duguesclin

Pierre Henri Révoil (12 June 1776, in Lyon – 19 March 1842, in Paris) was a French painter in the troubadour style.

His father was a furrier. Although he was needed at home, his family allowed him to receive a proper education. He first studied art at the École centrale in Lyon, under the direction of Donat Nonnotte. In 1793, increasing poverty forced his family to send him to work with a manufacturer of patriotic wallpapers. Two years later, he managed to find a place at the studios of Jacques-Louis David at the École des Beaux-arts.

Pierre Henri Revoil (French, Lyon 1776–1842 Lyon)

Joan of Arc Imprisoned in Rouen, c. 1819

Pen and brown ink, watercolor, and wash on two sheets of laid paper, mounted together on a sheet of laid paper

18 7/8 x 26 7/8 in. (48 x 68.2 cm.)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Revoil was a leading proponent of the Troubadour style, which favored historicizing subjects. This highly finished sheet is a study for Revoil's painting Joan of Arc in Prison (Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rouen) (See below), exhibited at the Salon of 1819. The composition owes a debt to David's Neoclassical manner in its planar arrangement and legible poses, but Revoil also clearly delighted in rendering details of medieval architecture and costume. More on this painting

Pierre Révoil  (1776–1842)

Jeanne d’Arc prisonnière à Rouen, c. 1819

Oil on canvas

Height: 137 cm (53.9 in); Width: 174.5 cm (68.7 in)

Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen

‘I am certain that these English will put me to death, thinking, after I am gone, to gain the Kingdom of France. But were they a hundred thousand gluttons more than they are at present, they would not possesses the kingdom,' says Joan of Arc, defying the traitor Jean de Luxembourg. 'The Earl of Stafford, indignant, half unsheathed his dagger, but the Earl of Warwick, seizing his arm, prevented the execution of his purpose.’ In her gloomy prison tower, she stands up to the Burgundians and the English who have come to see her in the presence of her jailer and his five brigand guards.

A concern for historical accuracy (the torn garment hem, raggedy sheet, straw, shackles, crust of bread, pitcher, broken bottles and pointed shoes) is combined with the simple symbolism of the innocent girl with the white panache, dressed in royalist colours, rising up in the light before a central column. This work, painted in a restricted palette of cool colours, belongs to the 'troubadour" genre – halfway between story and history – and sets out to move viewers through the power of virtue. More on this painting

Initially, he found himself fascinated by Greek vase paintings and found some notoriety for his scenes of the Revolution. He also did many large-scale religious paintings, but soon focused almost exclusively on historical scenes from the Middle Ages, in what would later be somewhat derisively called the "Troubadour Style".

Pierre Révoil  (1776–1842)

La Convalescence de Bayard/ The Convalescence of Bayard, c. 1817

Oil on canvas

Height: 135 cm (53.1 in); Width: 178 cm (70 in)

Louvre Museum 

Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard (c. 1476 – 30 April 1524) was a French knight at the transition between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, generally known as the Chevalier de Bayard. Throughout the centuries since his death, he has been known as "the knight without fear and beyond reproach". 

In 1502 Bayard was wounded at Canossa. More on Bayard

Pierre Révoil  (1776–1842)

René d'Anjou at Palamède de Forbin, c. 1820

Oil on canvas

Private collection

René of Anjou (Italian: Renato; Occitan: Rainièr; Catalan: Renat; 1409–1480) was Duke of Anjou and Count of Provence from 1434 to 1480, who also reigned as King of Naples as René I from 1435 to 1442 (then deposed as the preceding dynasty was restored to power). Having spent his last years in Aix-en-Provence, he is known in France as the Good King René. More on René of Anjou

The painting was commissioned in 1820 by Count Auguste de Forbin, the director of the royal museums and a friend of the artist. Forbin was particularly interested in this subject because King René's host, Palamède, was his ancestor.

King René (King of Sicily and cousin of French King Charles VI) traveling through his estates in Provence, spent the night in the château de La Barben. In the morning, before leaving his hosts, he testified that he was satisfied with their reception and traced on the door of the vestibule his portrait. Palamède threw himself at the feet of the King to thank him for this sign of favor. More on this painting

Pierre Révoil  (1776–1842)

Mary, Queen of Scots, Separated from Her Faithfuls, c. 1822

Oil on canvas

Height: 57 cm (22.4 in); Width: 70 cm (27.5 in)

Private collection

Mary Stuart's tragic life and courageous death held a particular fascination for educated French society during the Bourbon Restoration. Her devotion to her Catholic faith and a series of unwise alliances resulted in her imprisonment, and, ultimately, execution in 1587 on the orders of her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I of England. The poignant history and romantic drama of Mary's life and death were utilized to recall the execution of another Queen, Marie-Antoinette, who for the old aristocracy and members of the Bourbon court had become a symbol of royal martyrdom.

Révoil's painting depicts the moment when Mary is being taken to the place of execution and separated from the faithful followers who had shared her imprisonment. More on this painting

In 1802, when Napoleon, laid the foundation stones for the Place Bellecour, Révoil celebrated the occasion with a large allegorical drawing, "Napoleon Rebuilding the Town of Lyon", which became the basis for a painting exhibited at the Salon in 1804. Three years later, he was named a Professor in the École des beaux-arts at the palais Saint-Pierre (now the Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon).

By 1811 he had amassed a huge collection of Medieval armor, chests, vases, wall hangings, paintings and manuscripts. This personal museum was used as a teaching tool for his students at the École. By this time, it was also quite famous and was described in detail for the Magasin encyclopédique by Aubin-Louis Millin de Grandmaison. He also wrote Medieval-style chansons, some of which became popular in the Lyon region.

Pierre Révoil  (1776–1842) 

François 1er armant chevalier son petit-fils François II/ François I knighting his grandson François II, c. 1824

Oil on canvas

Height: 140 cm (55.1 in); Width: 180 cm (70.8 in)

Musée Granet, Aix-en-Provence 

Francis I "le Roi Chevalier" (12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once removed Louis XII, who died without a son.

A prodigious patron of the arts, he promoted the emergent French Renaissance by attracting many Italian artists to work for him, including Leonardo da Vinci, who brought the Mona Lisa with him, which Francis had acquired. Francis' reign saw important cultural changes with the growth of central power in France, the spread of humanism and Protestantism, and the beginning of French exploration of the New World. Jacques Cartier and others claimed lands in the Americas for France and paved the way for the expansion of the first French colonial empire. More on Francis I

When the First Empire fell, he rallied to the cause of the Restoration and destroyed his painting of Napoleon. The following year, he married the eighteen-year-old daughter of a cousin and moved to Provence in 1818. He returned to Lyon in 1823 and served as Director of the École until 1830. Some of his best-known students there were Claude Bonnefond, Hippolyte Flandrin and Victor Orsel. In 1828, he donated his collection to the Louvre and had just finished transferring it to Paris when the July Revolution broke out. This put an end to his career and he left for Provence again, never to return to Lyon. Years later, alone and penniless, he moved into a loft on the Rue de Seine in Paris, where he died.

Pierre-Henri Revoil

The coronation of the Duke of Burgundy, c. 1840

Oil on canvas

45 x 58in (114 x 147.5cm)

Private collection

Duke of Burgundy was a title used by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, from its establishment in 843 to its annexation by France in 1477, and later by Habsburg sovereigns of the Low Countries (1482–1556).

The Duchy of Burgundy was a small portion of the traditional lands of the Burgundians west of the river Saône which, in 843, was allotted to Charles the Bald's kingdom of West Franks. Under the Ancien Régime, the Duke of Burgundy was the premier lay peer of the kingdom of France. Beginning with Robert II of France, the title was held by the Capetians, the French royal family. It was granted to Robert's younger son, Robert, who founded the House of Burgundy. When the senior line of the House of Burgundy became extinct, it was inherited by John II of France through proximity of blood. John granted the duchy to his younger son, Philip the Bold. The Valois Dukes of Burgundy gradually ruled over a vast complex of territories known as the Burgundian State, and became dangerous rivals to the senior line of the House of Valois. More on Duchy of Burgundy

Pierre Révoil  (1776–1842)

Philip Augustus raising the oriflamme on 24 June 1190, c. 1841

Oil on canvas

71 × 79 cm (27.9 × 31.1 in)

Palace of Versailles

Philip II (21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223), byname Philip Augustus, was King of France from 1180 to 1223. His predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks, but from 1190 onward, Philip became the first French monarch to style himself "King of France". The son of King Louis VII and his third wife, Adela of Champagne, he was originally nicknamed Dieudonné (God-given) because he was a first son and born late in his father's life. Philip was given the epithet "Augustus" by the chronicler Rigord for having extended the crown lands of France so remarkably. More on Philip Augustus

The Oriflamme was the battle standard of the King of France in the Middle Ages. It was originally the sacred banner of the Abbey of St. Denis, a monastery near Paris. When the oriflamme was raised in battle by the French royalty during the Middle Ages, most notably during the Hundred Years War, no prisoners were to be taken until it was lowered. Through this tactic they hoped to strike fear into the hearts of the enemy, especially the nobles, who could usually expect to be taken alive for ransom during such military encounters, More on Oriflamme

His sister was the poet Louise Colet and his son, Henri Révoil, was a well-known architect who restored many churches and other public buildings. More on Pierre Henri Révoil

Please visit my other blogs: Art Collector, Mythology, Marine Art, Portrait of a Lady, The Orientalist, Art of the Nude and The Canals of Venice, Middle East Artists, 365 Saints, 365 Days, and Biblical Icons, also visit my Boards on Pinterest

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I don't own any of these images - credit is always given when due unless it is unknown to me. if I post your images without your permission, please tell me.

I do not sell art, art prints, framed posters or reproductions. Ads are shown only to compensate the hosting expenses.

If you enjoyed this post, please share with friends and family.

Thank you for visiting my blog and also for liking its posts and pages.

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16 Works, Today, June 11th. is Joseph Heintz the Elder's day, his story, illustrated with footnotes #159

Joseph Heintz the Elder  (1564–1609)

The Rape of Proserpina, circa 1595

Oil on copper

63 x 94 cms | 24 3/4 x 37 ins

Gem‰ldegalerie, Dresden, Germany

Proserpina, or Proserpine is an ancient Roman goddess whose cult, myths and mysteries were based on those of Greek Persephone and her mother Demeter, the Greek goddess of grain and agriculture. The Romans identified Proserpina with their native fertility goddess Libera, daughter of the grain and agriculture goddess Ceres and wife to Liber.

Venus, in order to bring love to Pluto, sent her son Amor (also known as Cupid) to hit Pluto with one of his arrows. Proserpina was in Sicily, at the Pergusa Lake near Enna, where she was playing with some nymphs and collecting flowers, when Pluto came out from the volcano Etna. He abducted her in order to marry her and live with her in the underworld of which he was the ruler.

Her mother Ceres went looking for her across all of the world, and all in vain. She was unable to find anything. In her desperation, Ceres angrily stopped the growth of fruits and vegetables, bestowing a malediction on Sicily. Ceres refused to return to Mount Olympus and started walking the Earth, creating a desert with each step.

Worried, Jupiter sent Mercury to order Pluto to free Proserpina. Pluto obeyed, but before letting her go he made her eat six pomegranate seeds, because those who have eaten the food of the dead could not return to the world of the living. This meant that she would have to live six months of each year with him, and stay the rest with her mother. More on Proserpina

Joseph Heintz (or Heinz) the Elder (11 June 1564 – 15 October 1609) was a Swiss painter, draftsman and architect.

Heintz was born in Basle. He appears to have been a pupil of Hans Bock, and to have educated himself by diligent practice in copying the works of Hans Holbein the younger. Between 1585 and 1587 he lived in Rome, registering himself a pupil; to Hans von Aachen. 

Joseph Heintz the elder (1564–1609)

The Four Elements

Oil on panel

H 40 x W 28 cm

Southampton City Art Gallery

Joseph Heintz the Elder (circle of) Basel, 1564 – Prague, 1609

Allegory of Redemption, ca. 1600

Oil on canvas

88 × 101 cm

Szépművészeti Múzeum 

Joseph Heintz the Elder

Sacco di Roma/ Sack of Rome

Oil on copper

18.5 x 32.5 cm

Private collection

The Sack of Rome on 24 August 410 AD was undertaken by the Visigoths led by their king, Alaric. At that time, Rome was no longer the capital of the Western Roman Empire, having been replaced in that position first by Mediolanum in 286 and then by Ravenna in 402. Nevertheless, the city of Rome retained a paramount position as "the eternal city" and a spiritual center of the Empire. This was the first time in almost 800 years that Rome had fallen to a foreign enemy, and the sack was a major shock to contemporaries, friends and foes of the Empire alike. More on the Sack of Rome

Pieter Bruegel the Elder (Netherlandish, Breda (?) ca. 1525–1569 Brussels)

The Harvesters, c. 1565

Oil on wood

45 7/8 x 62 7/8 in. (116.5 x 159.5 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

In this work, the viewer is transported to a hot summer day in the Netherlands. It belongs to a series, commissioned by the Antwerp merchant Niclaes Jongelinck for his suburban home. The cycle originally included six paintings showing the times of the year. Apart from The Harvesters, which is usually identified as representing July–August, four other paintings of the group have survived (now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, and Lobkowicz Collection, Prague). Bruegel’s series is a watershed in the history of Western art. The religious pretext for landscape painting has been suppressed in favor of a new humanism, and the unidealized description of the local scene is based on natural observations. More on this painting

He also studied ancient art and copied paintings by Renaissance artists such as Raphael, Michelangelo, and Polidoro da Caravaggio. In 1587 he traveled to Florence and Venice, absorbing the styles of Tintoretto, Titian, and Paolo Veronese.

Joseph Heintz the Elder  (1564–1609)

Diana and Actaeon, c. 1590s

Oil on copper plate

Height: 40 cm (15.7 in); Width: 49 cm (19.2 in)

Kunsthistorisches Museum, 

In his Metamorphoses, Ovid recounts how Actaeon stumbled upon Diana, the chaste goddess of the hunt, and her nymphs bathing. She punished his transgression by turning him into a stag, and he was then devoured by his own hunting dogs. Compared to the refined poses beloved of his fellow-painters Spranger and von Aachen, the numerous bathing nudes in this composition bear witness to Heintz 'interest in verisimilitude. Diana and Actaeon

Joseph Heintz the Elder

Zeus and Callisto

Copperplate engraving

40 x 31 cms | 15 1/2 x 12 ins

Kunsthistorisches Museum, Wien, Austria

We may assume that in this small painting, produced more or less at the same time as Leda, Heintz depicts another of the loves of Zeus, the father of the gods, here identified by his traditional attributes, eagle and thunderbolt. The hounds and the bow and arrow suggest it is the story of Callisto, a chaste nymph whom Zeus lured into his embrace disguised as Artemis, the goddess of the hunt. More on this painting

Joseph Heintz the Elder  (1564–1609)

Diana and Callisto

Oil on copper

Height: 47 cm (18.5 in); Width: 33 cm (12.9 in)

Private collection

In Greek mythology, Callisto was a nymph, and one of the followers of Artemis (Diana for the Romans) who attracted Zeus. According to some writers, Zeus transformed himself into the figure of Artemis to lure Callisto and seduce her. She became pregnant and when this was eventually discovered, she was expelled from Artemis's group, after which a furious Hera, the wife of Zeus, transformed her into a bear. Later, just as she was about to be killed by her son when he was hunting, she was set among the stars as Ursa Major ("the Great Bear"). She was the bear-mother of the Arcadians, through her son Arcas by Zeus. More on Callisto

Joseph Heintz the Elder  (1564–1609)

The Fall of Phaeton, c. 1596

Oil on wood

122.5 x 66.5 cms | 48 x 26 ins

Museum der Bildenden Kunste, Leipzig, Germany

Phaethon, the son of the Oceanid Clymene and the sun god Helios, challenged by Epaphus and his playmates, sought assurance from his mother that his father was the sun god Helios. She gave him the requested assurance and told him to turn to his father for confirmation. He asked his father for some proof that would demonstrate his relationship with the sun. When the god promised to grant him whatever he wanted, he insisted on being allowed to drive the sun chariot for a day. According to some accounts Helios tried to dissuade Phaethon, telling him that even Zeus was not strong enough to steer these horses, but reluctantly kept his promise. Placed in charge of the chariot, Phaethon was unable to control the horses. In some versions, the Earth first froze when the horses climbed too high, but when the chariot then scorched the Earth by swinging too near, Zeus decided to prevent disaster by striking it down with a thunderbolt. Phaethon fell to earth and was killed in the process. More on  Phaethon

Joseph Heintz the Elder

Leda and the Swan, c. 1605

Oil on copperplate

45 x 37 cm

Private collection

Leda, in Greek legend, usually believed to be the daughter of Thestius, king of Aetolia, and wife of Tyndareus, king of Lacedaemon. She was also believed to have been the mother (by Zeus, who had approached and seduced her in the form of a swan) of the other twin, Pollux, and of Helen, both of whom hatched from eggs. Variant legends gave divine parentage to both the twins and possibly also to Clytemnestra, with all three of them having hatched from the eggs of Leda, while yet other legends say that Leda bore the twins to her mortal husband, Tyndareus. Still other variants say that Leda may have hatched out Helen from an egg laid by the goddess Nemesis, who was similarly approached by Zeus in the form of a swan.The divine swan’s encounter with Leda was a subject depicted by both ancient Greek and Italian Renaissance artists; Leonardo da Vinci undertook a painting (now lost) of the theme, and Correggio’s Leda (c. 1530s) is a well-known treatment of the subject. More Leda and The Swan

Joseph Heintz the Elder

Leda and the Swan, c. 1605

Preparatory sketch

I have no further description, at this time

Leda and the Swan by Joseph Heintz the Elder (Basel 1564 – 1609 Prague) was lost for centuries and only recently rediscovered. The artist worked at the imperial court from 1591, and, as the date below his monogram tells us, he produced this painting in 1605 for Emperor Rudolf II (ruled 1576 – 1612). The Habsburg monarch resided at Prague and had a penchant for erotic-mythological subject matters. More on this painting

Attributed to Joseph Heintz the Elder

Glauco and the sorceress Circe

Oil on Canvas

50 X 41 cm

Private collection

In Greek mythology, Glaucus was a Greek prophetic sea-god, born mortal and turned immortal upon eating a magical herb. It was believed that he came to the rescue of sailors and fishermen in storms, having earlier earned a living from the sea himself.

Like those of most of the characters in Greek mythology Glaucus very numerous, but the best known is the one that starred alongside the Nymph Scylla and the witch Circe . Glauco was in love with the nymph Scylla, but after his transformation by Triton, she rejected it, horrified by his new appearance. Glaucus went to the witch Circe to provide him with a potion that would make him recover his lost love. Contrary to expectations, Circe did not help him because she fell in love with him. Glaucus rejected her and she retaliated by poisoning the water in which Scylla was bathing and turned her into a monstrous being with six dog heads. More on Glauco and the sorceress Circe

He next settled in Bohemia in 1591, and was at once appointed court painter to Rudolf II, but he remained in Prague for two years only, as in 1593 he was commissioned to make some copies from the antique for the emperor, and for that purpose went to Rome, where he spent some years. In 1604 we hear of him in Augsburg, and from the time we know little of his history, until his decease is recorded in a village near Prague. He was buried at the graveyard of the church of St John the Baptist in the Lesser Town of Prague.

Joseph Heintz the Elder Ä. (1564 Basel - 1609 Prague) 

Salome with the head Johannes d. Baptist, c. around 1600/1605

Oak wood

86.1 cm × 59.9 cm × 2 cm

Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, picture gallery

To complement his great collection of old German painting, Emperor Rudolf II did not shy away from copies or sensitive new creations. The "Salome" painted by Joseph Heintz is a reinterpretation of the "Judith" Cranachs the Elder (See below). The severed head is now arranged on a plate, the sword is missing and the image format and details of the clothing have been changed. In terms of color, Heintz succeeded in closely following Cranach's, but his painting is smoother and more painterly. More on this painting

Lucas Cranach the Elder (German, Kronach 1472–1553 Weimar)

Judith with the Head of Holofernes, ca. 1530

Oil on linden

35 1/4 x 24 3/8 in. (89.5 x 61.9 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Jewish heroine Judith presents the severed head of the Assyrian general who besieged her city, having seduced and then beheaded him with his own sword. Appropriately, she is "dressed to kill" and wears an elaborate contemporary costume that would have appealed to Cranach’s courtly patrons. The painter and his workshop produced several versions of this successful composition, which contrasts the gruesome head and the serene beauty of the biblical heroine. At the lower right is Cranach's insignia: a crowned winged serpent with a ring in its mouth. More on this painting

After the composition of Joseph Heintz the Elder

The Lamentation, c. 1628

Oil on canvas

132 × 96.5 cm

Szépművészeti Múzeum

The Lamentation of Christ is a very common subject in Christian art from the High Middle Ages to the Baroque. After Jesus was crucified, his body was removed from the cross and his friends mourned over his body. This event has been depicted by many different artists.

 

Lamentation works are very often included in cycles of the Life of Christ, and also form the subject of many individual works. One specific type of Lamentation depicts only Jesus' mother Mary cradling his body. These are known as Pietà (Italian for "pity") More The Lamentation of Christ

After Joseph Heintz the Elder (German/Swiss, 1564–1609)

The Entombment

Oil on copper

43.4 x 33.4 cm. (17.1 x 13.1 in.)

Private collection

The burial of Jesus refers to the burial of the body of Jesus after crucifixion, described in the New Testament. According to the canonical gospel accounts, he was placed in a tomb by a man named Joseph of Arimathea. In art, it is often called the Entombment of Christ. More on The Entombment

Heintz's paintings included religious images, portraits, and, following the emperor's taste, erotic mythological themes. They were at one time in high demand, but later on suffered an eclipse. Among them are a family portrait in Bern and that of Rudolf II in Vienna. He was constantly investigating subtle questions of light, and almost all of his landscapes show the interest he took in this technical matter. A notable work by him is the Rape of Proserpine (See top), which hangs in the Dresden Gallery, and was engraved by Lukas Kilian; in the same gallery are two other works, Lot and His Daughters and Ecce Homo. Finally there is his portrait of Constance of Austria. He had a son Joseph, who signed with the same name, and who painted a few religious pictures; several of these works hitherto attributed to the son are now believed to be late productions by the father. More on Joseph Heintz the Elder

Please visit my other blogs: Art Collector, Mythology, Marine Art, Portrait of a Lady, The Orientalist, Art of the Nude and The Canals of Venice, Middle East Artists, 365 Saints and 365 Days, also visit my Boards on Pinterest

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