14 Works, November 26th. is Antonio Carneo's day, his art, illustrated with footnotes #241

Carneo Antonio

Proof of poison, c. 1670-1680

Oil on canvas

175 x 178 cm

Ado Furlan Foundation

Depicting a young man who compresses his bowels in the presence of a group of bystanders who follow his spasms with apprehension or try to help him, it is described ab antiquo with the title with which it is still remembered today. However, since it is difficult to represent a generic poisoning scene (provoked or self-induced), one wonders whether the artist did not want to illustrate a specific character in the episode in question. Among the proposals advanced by scholars, that of the young Mithridates who undergoes the poison test in order to immunize himself remains one of the most plausible. More on this painting

Mithridates VI Eupator of Pontus (b. c. 134 BC) ruled a Black Sea Empire to rival the Roman Republic in a series of wars that lasted decades. As Rome’s most dangerous enemy until his death in 63 BC, Mithridates is recognized as the first experimental toxicologist for his extensive investigations into a vast number of poisons and antidotes. Fearing assassination by poison, he gathered a team of botanists, physicians, and shamans seeking to create a “universal antidote” that would protect him from all poisons. Influenced by traditional theriacs and previous investigators and with access to rich natural resources, Mithridates’ experiments resulted in a formulation of more than 50 ingredients combining animal, plant, and mineral toxins with antidotes. He made himself immune to normally fatal amounts of arsenic and enjoyed robust health until forced to commit suicide in his 70s. Efforts to replicate his famous Mithridatium made his antidote the most popular and long-lived prescription in history. More on Mithridates VI

Antonio Carneo (1637–1692) was an Italian painter, active in Friuli and Venice, and depicting both mythologic, allegoric, and religious canvases, as well as portraits.

Antonio Carneo (1637–1692) (attributed to)

Venus, Vulcan and Cupid

Oil on canvas

H 103.5 x W 139.4 cm

The Bowes Museum

The subject of this painting has not been securely identified. The elderly man could be Vulcan, Venus's husband, to whom she presents her baby son Cupid. The figures of the young woman and the child reveal the influence of Venetian painting. They are represented by means of soft, fluid brushstrokes and a warm, light palette. The naturalism and the contrasting light, which defines the figures of the man and the elderly woman in the background, can be associated with the Caravaggesque tradition, under whose influence Antonio Carneo worked during the years he spent in Udine between 1660 and 1689. More on this painting

He was born in Concordia Sagittaria, and trained under his father as a painter. He was active for many years in Portogruaro. Other sources cite him as a pupil of Giovanni Giuseppe Cosattini (1625-1699) in Udine, but his paintings appear best to model Tintoretto and Paolo Veronese.

Antonio Carneo  (1637–1692)

The Death of Lucretia, c. second half of 17th century

Oil on canvas

Height: 99 cm (38.9 in); Width: 82.5 cm (32.4 in)

National Museum in Warsaw

Lucretia, legendary heroine of ancient Rome. According to tradition, she was the beautiful and virtuous wife of the nobleman Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus. Her tragedy began when she was raped by Sextus Tarquinius, son of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the tyrannical Etruscan king of Rome. After exacting an oath of vengeance against the Tarquins from her father and her husband, she stabbed herself to death. Lucius Junius Brutus then led the enraged populace in a rebellion that drove the Tarquins from Rome. The event (traditionally dated 509 BCE) marks the foundation of the Roman Republic. The story is first found in the work of the earliest Roman historian, Fabius Pictor (late 3rd century BCE). Its classic form is Livy’s version (late 1st century BCE). Lucretia’s story is also recounted in Shakespeare’s narrative poem The Rape of Lucrece. More on Lucretia

Antonio Carneo, Concordia Sagittaria, Italy, 1637 - 1692, Portogruaro, Italy

The Death of Rachel

Oil on canvas

81.3 cm x 106.7 cm (32 in. x 42 in.)

Blanton Museum of Art

Genesis 35: The Death of Rachel: Despite God’s admonition to remain at Bethel, a few verses later, Jacob and his entourage are on the move. While still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel goes into labor. This is the first indication that she is pregnant. The text states that the labor is hard; the birth is difficult. The midwife comforts and encourages her by saying she is having a son. The child is born, and with her dying breath, Rachel names him Benoni, which means “son of my misfortune” or “son of my sorrow.” This is the woman who once had said she would die if she didn’t have sons. Now she is dying because she is giving birth to a son. The irony hurts. She lives only long enough to give him a name. More on The Death of Rachel

Antonio Carneo, Concordia Sagittaria, Italy, 1637 - 1692, Portogruaro, Italy

Cleopatra

Oil on canvas

112 × 92 cm

Szépművészeti Múzeum

Cleopatra VII Philopator (69 – August 12, 30 BC), was the last active pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt, briefly survived as pharaoh by her son Caesarion. After her reign, Egypt became a province of the recently established Roman Empire.

Cleopatra was a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, a family of Macedonian Greek origin that ruled Egypt after Alexander the Great's death. The Ptolemies spoke Greek throughout their dynasty, and refused to speak Egyptian, which is the reason that Greek as well as Egyptian languages were used on official court documents such as the Rosetta Stone. By contrast, Cleopatra did learn to speak Egyptian and represented herself as the reincarnation of the Egyptian goddess Isis.

Cleopatra originally ruled jointly with her father Ptolemy XII Auletes, and later with her brothers Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV, whom she married as per Egyptian custom, but eventually she became sole ruler. As pharaoh, she consummated a liaison with Julius Caesar that solidified her grip on the throne.

After Caesar's assassination in 44 BC, she aligned with Mark Antony in opposition to Caesar's legal heir Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (later known as Augustus). With Antony, she bore the twins Cleopatra Selene II and Alexander Helio. Antony committed suicide after losing the Battle of Actium to Octavian's forces, and Cleopatra followed suit. According to tradition, she killed herself by means of an asp bite on August 12, 30 BC. More on Cleopatra

Circle of Antonio Carneo Concordia Sagittaria 1637-1692 Portogruaro

Rebecca at the Well

Oil on canvas

29¼ x 41¾ in. 74.3 x 108.6 cm.

Private collection

Abraham went about finding a wife for his son Isaac. He commanded his servant to journey to his birthplace of Aram Naharaim to select a bride from his own family, rather than engage Isaac to a local Canaanite girl. Abraham sent along expensive jewelry, clothing and dainties as gifts to the bride and her family. 

The servant devised a test in order to find the right wife for Isaac. As he stood at the central well in Abraham's birthplace with his men and ten camels laden with goods, he prayed to God: "And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also" — Genesis 24:14

To his surprise, a young girl immediately came out and offered to draw water for him to drink, as well as water to fill the troughs for all his camels. Rebecca continued to draw water until all the camels were sated, proving her kind and generous nature and her suitability for entering Abraham's household. The servant immediately gave her a golden nose ring and two golden bracelets. After hosting the party overnight, however, the family tried to keep Rebecca with them longer. The servant insisted that they ask the girl herself, and she agreed to go immediately.

As Rebecca and her entourage approached Abraham's home, they spied Isaac from a distance in the fields praying. Seeing such a spiritually exalted man, Rebecca immediately dismounted from her camel and asked the accompanying servant who he was. When she heard that this was her future husband, she modestly covered herself with a veil. Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, married her, and loved her. More on Rebecca

Attributed to Antonio Carneo (1637 Concordia Sagittaria - 1692 Portogruaro)

Rebecca and Eliezer at the Well

Oil on canvas

75 x 95 cm

Private collection

Circle of Antonio Carneo Concordia Sagittaria 1637-1692 Portogruaro

Samson and Delilah

Oil on canvas

120.5 by 93.5 cm.; 47 1/2 by 36 3/4 in.

Private collection

Samson  is one of the last of the judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. According to the biblical account, Samson was given supernatural strength by God in order to combat his enemies and perform heroic feats. Samson had two vulnerabilities—his attraction to untrustworthy women and his hair, without which he was powerless. These vulnerabilities ultimately proved fatal for him.

 

Samson eventually fell in love with a woman named Delilah. The Philistines bribed Delilah with 1,100 silver pieces from each of the Philistine leaders, to get her to figure out the secret of Samson's strength and tell them. 

 

After asking him several times what the secret to his strength is: "Finally he disclosed to her all his heart and said to her: 'A razor has never come upon my head, because I am a Naz′i·rite of God from my mother’s belly. If I did get shaved, my power also would certainly depart from me, and I should indeed grow weak and become like all other men.'" 

 

She relayed this to the Philistine axis lords, got Samson to fall asleep, and while he was sleeping, had his head shaved. The Philistines then took him captive, put out both his eyes, and made him their slave. 

 

One day as they are having a great party to worship their false god Dagon, the Philistines bring Samson out so they can make fun of him. By that time, Samson's hair has grown out again. Samson has a young boy lead him to the pillars that hold the building up, prays to Jehovah for strength, takes hold of the pillars, and cries out: "Let my soul die with the Philistines."

 

There are 3,000 Philistines on the roof of the building alone, and many more inside (the axis lords are all there as well), and when Samson pushes against the pillars, the building falls down and kills all of them, including Samson. More Samson

Antonio Carneo, Concordia Sagittaria, Italy, 1637 - 1692, Portogruaro, Italy

The Holy Family

Oil on canvas

79 x 75 cm

Private collection

The Holy Family consists of the Child Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and Saint Joseph. Veneration of the Holy Family was formally begun in the 17th century by Saint François de Laval, the first bishop of New France, who founded a Confraternity.

Matthew and Luke narrate the episodes from this period of Christ's life, namely his Circumcision and later Presentation, the Flight to Egypt, the return to Nazareth, and the Finding in the Temple.[Joseph and Mary were apparently observant Jews, as Luke narrates that they brought Jesus with them on the annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem with other Jewish families. More on The Holy Family

Antonio Carneo, Concordia Sagittaria, Italy, 1637 - 1692, Portogruaro, Italy

Christ and the Adulteress

oil on canvas

115.5 x 147.5 cm

Private collection

In the passage, Jesus was teaching in the Second Temple after coming from the Mount of Olives. A group of scribes and Pharisees confronts Jesus, interrupting his teaching. They bring in a woman, accusing her of committing adultery, claiming she was caught in the very act. They tell Jesus that the punishment for someone like her should be stoning, as prescribed by Mosaic Law.[1] Jesus begins to write something on the ground using his finger. But when the woman's accusers continue their challenge, he states that the one who is without sin is the one who should cast the first stone at her. The accusers and congregants depart, realizing not one of them is without sin either, leaving Jesus alone with the woman. Jesus asks the woman if anyone has condemned her and she answers no. Jesus says that he, too, does not condemn her, and tells her to go and sin no more. More on Christ and the Adulteress

Antonio Carneo, Concordia Sagittaria, Italy, 1637 - 1692, Portogruaro, Italy

Dead Christ held by two angels

Oil on canvas

110 x 94 cm. (43¼ x 37 in.)

Private collection

Antonio Carneo, Concordia Sagittaria, Italy, 1637 - 1692, Portogruaro, Italy

The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian

With Saint Roch and an Angel in the background,

Oil on canvas

171.5 x 114.5 cm, 

Private collection

Saint Sebastian (died c. 288 AD) was an early Christian saint and martyr. Sebastian had prudently concealed his faith, but in 286 was detected. Diocletian reproached him for his betrayal, and he commanded him to be led to a field and there to be bound to a stake so that archers from Mauritania would shoot arrows at him. "And the archers shot at him till he was as full of arrows as an urchin is full of pricks, and thus left him there for dead." Miraculously, the arrows did not kill him.

Sebastian later stood by a staircase where the emperor was to pass and harangued Diocletian for his cruelties against Christians. This freedom of speech, and from a person whom he supposed to have been dead, greatly astonished the emperor; but, recovering from his surprise, he gave orders for his being seized and beat to death with cudgels, and his body thrown into the common sewer. A pious lady, called Lucina, admonished by the martyr in a vision, got it privately removed, and buried it in the catacombs at the entrance of the cemetery of Calixtus, where now stands the Basilica of St. Sebastian. More St. Sebastian

The present painting relates to a panel of the Averoldi Altarpiece by Titian from the 1520s in the Collegiata dei Santi Nazaro e Celso in Brescia. The figure of Saint Sebastian is reproduced fairly accurately, but in the rendering of the landscape there are differences from Titian’s original. More on this painting

Antonio Carneo

Episode from the life of Sant Antonio Abate

Oil on canvas, unframed

202 x 221 cm.

Private collection

Antonio abate is one of the most illustrious hermits in the history of the Church. Born in Coma, in the heart of Egypt, around 250, at the age of twenty he abandoned everything to live first in a deserted land and then on the shores of the Red Sea, where he led an anacoretic life for more than 80 years: he died, in fact, over a hundred years old in 356. Already in his life, pilgrims and needy people from all over the East flocked to him, attracted by the fame of holiness. Constantine and his sons also sought his advice. His story is told by a disciple, Saint Athanasius, who helped to make his example known throughout the Church. More on Antonio abate

He worked in eastern Veneto and Friuli , especially in Udine , where he was hosted for more than twenty years by Count Leonardo and Giovanni Battista Caiselli and for which he created numerous paintings. According to Guarienti's testimony, though his father was his first teacher, he would  later perfected himself in the diligent study of Venetian masters in the sixteenth century. An admirer of Flemish models, their "darkness" and their naturalistic accents, and the works of Bernardo Strozzi and Luca Giordano , he was appreciated for the natural chromaticism of the paintings. Its for the mix of realistic figurative patterns and rustic tastes, for the swirling and imaginative butterfly penetration.

Antonio Carneo

The Temperance

Oil on canvas

cm 73x61

Private collection

Temperance (XIV) is the fourteenth trump or Major Arcana card in most traditional Tarot decks. It is used in game playing as well as in divination.

Temperance (Italian: La Temperanza) appears in the oldest Italian decks where it is numbered VI or VII. In the Tarot de Marseille and in most contemporary decks the card is numbered XIV. In the Thoth Tarot and decks influenced by it, this card is called Art rather than Temperance.

A woman mixing water into wine was a standard allegory of Temperance in European iconography. 

Temperance is almost invariably depicted as a person pouring liquid from one receptacle into another. Historically, this was a standard symbol of the virtue temperance, one of the cardinal virtues, representing the dilution of wine with water. In many decks, the person is a winged angel, usually female or androgynous, and stands with one foot on water and one foot on land. More on The Temperance 

In Portogruaro, he painted an altarpiece depicting the Charity of St Thomas of Villanova for the church of Santa Lucia. In the town castle chapel, he painted a Christ and saints. For the other rooms he painted the Redeemer with St Marck and donors and a St Peter Martyr. He painted a Last Supper for the town convent. For the church of San Rocco, he painted the main altarpiece depicting St Francis and companions. In 1604, he painted four altarpieces for the church of San Francesco.

There was another painter Giacomo Carneo subsequently active in Friuli. More on Antonio Carneo

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23 Works, November 1st. is Cornelis Cornelisz's day, his art, illustrated with footnotes #229

Circle Cornelis Cornelisz. van Haarlem

The Last Supper

Oil on Panel

76 x 108 cm.

Private collection

The Last Supper is based on a late 15th-century mural painting by Leonardo da Vinci in the refectory of the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan. It is one of the world's most famous paintings.

The painting represents the scene of The Last Supper of Jesus with his disciples, as it is told in the Gospel of John, 13:21. Leonardo has depicted the consternation that occurred among the Twelve Disciples when Jesus announced that one of them would betray him. More on the The Last Supper

Cornelis Cornelisz. van Haarlem (1562 - Haarlem - 1638) who himself added ‘van Haarlem’ to his name, was one of the leading figures of Dutch Mannerism, together with his townsman Hendrick Goltzius and Abraham Bloemaert from Utrecht. He was born in 1562 in a well-to-do Catholic family in Haarlem, where he first studied with Pieter Pietersz. At the age of seventeen he went to France, but at Rouen he had to turn back to avoid an outbreak of the plague and went instead to Antwerp, where he remained for a year with Gilles Coignet. 

Cornelis Cornelisz van Haarlem
THE WEDDING OF PELEUS AND THETISTHE WEDDING OF PELEUS AND THETIS, c. 1593

Oil on canvas

246 x 419 cm

Frans Hals Museum

A classical story of the gods: the wedding of the sea goddess Thetis and the human Peleus, to which all the gods were invited except Eris, the goddess of discord. In revenge she threw (above left) a golden apple (of discord) ‘for the most beautiful’ of the goddesses present. The shepherd Paris was asked to choose among them (above right): Hera, who promised him wealth, Athena, who offered wisdom, and Aphrodite, who promised him the most beautiful woman in the world: Helen of Troy. Paris’ choice of Aphrodite was the indirect cause of the Trojan War. The painting was intended as a warning against discord. More on this painting

Cornelis Cornelisz van Haarlem
A MONK AND A NUN, c. 1591

Oil on canvas

116 x 103 cm

Frans Hals Museum

According to legend a nun was accused of having become pregnant. To verify this a monk had to squeeze her breast and if it produced milk she was guilty. But instead of milk she produced wine — the reason for the wine glass on the table. Instead of proving the nun’s guilt the miracle was witness to her faith. Yet the legend may not have been the real subject of the painting. Pictures of amorous monks and nuns were a popular genre in the late 16th century. This may in fact be a satire on the immorality of the cloisters and the Catholic Church. More on this painting

 Cornelis Cornelisz. from Haarlem

Monk and nun embrace each other

Oil on oak panel

60 x 49 cm

Private collection

Cornelis van Haarlem

The Choice Between Young and Old, c. 1597

Oil on canvas

73 x 89 cm

Private collection

In the 1580s, Cornelis van Haarlem was one of the principal exponents of the Mannerist style which enjoyed a brief but intense flowering in Haarlem. By the mid 1590s, however, when the present picture was painted, Cornelis's work was shifting towards a more temperate approach. The violent contortions and exaggeratedly muscular nudes which typified his earlier style, gave way in favour of more restful poses and figure types, more akin to classical ideals of proportion and harmony. More on this painting

Cornelis Cornelisz. van Haarlem (Dutch, 1562 - 1638)

Allegory on the Brevity of Life, c. 1617

Oil on panel

47 x 58.5 cm

Statens Museum for Kunst

A young couple, virtually naked, sit in a natural setting, almost like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Absorbed by vanity, they are lost in contemplating their own reflection in a mirror held up to them by a bearded man. The man is Father Time. We see something the young couple do not. Behind them an arrow points directly towards them. The arrow of Cupid? No, of Death. Here Death has not been personified as a skeleton with all its bones picked clean; it is a far more uncanny apparition: a so-called “transi” – a half-rotted corpse. In its own day the painting served to remind observers of the inevitability of death: it comes to us all, young and old, rich and poor, and this is intended to urge us to live in accordance with Christian virtues. More on this painting

The artist returned to Haarlem in 1581, and two years later, in 1583, he received his first important commission for a group portrait of a Haarlem militia company (See below) (now in the Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem). From roughly 1586 to 1591 Cornelis, together with Goltzius and Flemish émigré Karel van Mander formed a sort of “studio brotherhood” which became known as the ‘Haarlem Academy’.

Cornelis van Haarlem

The Banquet of the Officers of the St. Adrian Militia Company, c. 1583

Oil on panel

135 x 233 cm

Frans Hals Museum

Banquet of a platoon of the St. George Civic Guard, Haarlem. The man at the top left looking at the viewer is a selfportrait of Cornelis van Haarlem, the man below left looking at the viewer is his brother Hans, and the man in the center looking at the viewer is the artist Pieter Pietersz. The man with the flag is Ensign Joost van Heussen. The man in white doublet with left hand touching his heart and right hand shaking hands with the left hand of a man holding his right hand op to swear an oath, is Cornelis Jabosz. Schoudtgen. This gesture in the painting shows a man making a business deal, and it also illustrates the guild rule about the guild's "wijncoop", or wine purchase. According to the saying that is painted on the mantelpiece above which this painting once hung, there shall be no business deals made while in this schutter's hall - if a man regrets his decision the next day, he can be relieved of his promise by making the wine purchase. More on this painting

Cornelis Engelsz  (1575–1650)

Feast of the Cloveniers in Haarlem, portraying the men serving from 1615-1618, c. 1618

Oil on canvas

171 cm x 247,5 cm

Frans Hals Museum

In the 1590’s he continued to receive many important commissions from the Municipality and other institutions. Before 1603, he married the daughter of a Haarlem burgomaster. In 1605, he inherited a third of his wealthy father-in-law’s estate; his wife died the following year. From an illicit union with Margriet Pouwelsdr, Cornelis had a daughter Maria in 1611. Around 1630, Maria married the silversmith Pieter Bega, and in 1631/32 their son was born, Cornelis Bega, who became a painter. After a very successful career, Cornelis died in 1638, leaving all the red chalk drawings and half of his estate to his only child Maria, while the other half went to Margriet Pouwelsdr. He had at least nine pupils of whom Gerrit Pietersz Sweelink, Cornelis Jacobsz Delff and Salomon de Bray are the best known.

Cornelis Cornelisz. van Haarlem (Dutch, 1562 - 1638)

The Fall of the Titans, c. 1588-1590

Oil on canvas

239 x 307 cm

Statens Museum for Kunst

We see a number of naked men falling, shouting and screaming, into an abyss. The figures whirl and spin down towards us, helpless. The artist has done much to showcase his skill in depicting the body from all angles. Having lost the struggle for dominion over earth to the Olympian gods, the Titans are hurled down into Tartarus, an underworld located even further down than Hades in Greek mythology. At the time the painting was created the titans were viewed as symbolic figures representing those who could not control their urges. The figures' genitals are covered by butterflies and dragonflies, which may be symbols denoting homosexuality. The Titans are being cast into the underworld, but here it appears as if they are being cast down to us, and the depiction is full of both intensity and pity. More on this painting

Cornelis painted mainly religious and mythological subjects and portraits, and between 1588 and 1602 produced designs for 22 prints. In the last years of his life he abandoned the life size figures in his work and, instead, chose to paint small scale histories and genre scenes.

Cornelis Cornelisz. van Haarlem, (1562 - Haarlem - 1638)

Venus, Cupid and Ceres, c. 1604 

Oil on canvas

96.7 x 109.2 cm

Private collection

A newly discovered work by Cornelis Cornelisz. van Haarlem, this colorful painting interprets the ancient witticism, “Without food and drink, love grows cold.” Venus, Roman goddess of love, is joined by Cupid and Ceres, goddess of grain; Bacchus, god of wine, is present symbolically through the grapes. The supple, translucent flesh demonstrates the interest in naturalism that blossomed in Northern Europe in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, which led artists to work increasingly “from life,” that is, from observation of models. More on this painting

Cornelis van Haarlem

Mars and Venus, c. 1609

Oil on sheet metal

48,8 x 68,8

Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie

Naked Venus lies on a slight hill, leaning against Mars sitting next to her. The lovers are having a conversation, which may be indicated by the goddess's hand raised in a rhetorical gesture. The fact that this is not a serious dispute is evidenced by the behavior of her companion, who embraces her breast in love. Next to them, in a forest clearing, putti belonging to the goddess of love's entourage play with the attributes abandoned by the god of war. They wave a large white banner, play the snare drums, briefly display each other's weapons. A couple in love completely ignores the frolics of this group.

The painting "Mars and Venus" was painted by Cornelis Cornelisz in 1609. It belongs to a group of erotic performances inspired by the mannerist art of the court of Rudolf II. The models were provided, among others, by the works of the imperial court painter - Bartholomeus van Spranger. The artist used themes from ancient mythology as a pretext enabling him to smuggle in erotic content. Following the example of ancient sculptures, they were shown in nudes, exposing the beauty of the human body, but also - stimulating the senses of viewers. Aleksandra Janiszewska

Cornelisz. van Haarlem, Cornelis (1562-1638) 

Venus, Bacchus and Ceres, c. 1614

Oil on canvas

154 x 184 cm

Old Masters Picture Gallery

Love can only thrive with wine and good food when rapport and harmony also prevail. This message is conveyed by bringing together Venus, the goddess of love accompanied by Amor, with Ceres, the goddess of fertility, and Bacchus, the god of wine, who is playing a lute. The image was inspired by a proverb, popular in the Baroque period, which was attributed to the Roman comic dramatist Terence. Cornelisz. has arranged the large figures in a balanced composition that seems like a coloured relief. More on this painting

Cornelis van Haarlem

Two Followers of Cadmus devoured by a Dragon, c. 1588

Oil on canvas stuck on oak

148.5 x 195.5 cm

National Gallery

Cadmus, a prince of Tyre, travelled to the Delphic Oracle after his sister Europa was stolen away by Zeus, chief of the Greek gods. There he was told that, instead of searching for his sister, he should ‘follow the cow outside and wherever it rests, build a new city’.

When the cow stopped Cadmus’s followers went in search of water. A dragon was guarding the spring they found; it slaughtered them all. Cadmus managed to kill it, and the goddess Athena told him to sow its teeth in the ground. Armed men sprang from them – and fought each other. Five survived to help Cadmus build the city of Thebes.

Here, the dragon sinks its teeth into a man’s cheek. Its claws seem to tear his flesh, but a closer look reveals that the legs and torso belong to a second person flung across his hips. A glimmer of hope is offered by a distant view of Cadmus fighting the dragon.

This previously unrecorded painting, dating from 1604, is a mid-period work by Cornelis van Haarlem and is characteristic of the moderate classicism which informed his work from around 1600 onwards. It represents a stark contrast to the exuberant Mannerism of his youthful oeuvre, exemplified by his early masterpiece, The Massacre of the Innocents (See below), now in the Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem. More on this painting

Cornelisz. van Haarlem, Cornelis (1562-1638)

Adam and Eve under the tree of knowledge

Oil on copper

14 x 10 cm

Old Masters Picture Gallery

Cornelis, Cornelisz. Haarlem van (1562-1638)

Adam and Eve, c. 1599

Oil on canvas

183,3 x 139

Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie

The first parents were shown next to a tree with the serpent wrapped around the branch. Leafy twigs cover their nakedness only in intimate areas. According to tradition, they are located in the Garden of Eden, with the scene of Eve's creation from Adam's rib in the background. Divine intervention is symbolized by a ray of light descending from heaven. We can recognize several species of birds that inhabit paradise. More on this painting

Cornelis van Haarlem  (1562–1638)

Susanna at her Bath, c. 1590

Oil on canvas 

Germanisches Nationalmuseum

A fair Hebrew wife named Susanna was falsely accused by lecherous voyeurs. As she bathes in her garden, having sent her attendants away, two lustful elders secretly observe the lovely Susanna. When she makes her way back to her house, they accost her, threatening to claim that she was meeting a young man in the garden unless she agrees to have sex with them.

She refuses to be blackmailed and is arrested and about to be put to death for promiscuity when a young man named Daniel interrupts the proceedings, shouting that the elders should be questioned to prevent the death of an innocent. After being separated, the two men are questioned about details of what they saw, but disagree about the tree under which Susanna supposedly met her lover. In the Greek text, the names of the trees cited by the elders form puns with the sentence given by Daniel. The first says they were under a mastic, and Daniel says that an angel stands ready to cuthim in two. The second says they were under an evergreen oak tree, and Daniel says that an angel stands ready to saw him in two. The great difference in size between a mastic and an oak makes the elders' lie plain to all the observers. The false accusers are put to death, and virtue triumphs. More about Susanna

Cornelis van Haarlem  (1562–1638)

Feast of the prodigal son, c. 1615

Oil on canvas

65.5 x 107.5 [98 x 140.5 x 6.5]

Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie

A group of naked figures gathered around a sumptuously set table. Men and women indulge in the pleasures of the flesh. The musical trio, placed deep in the composition on the right, makes their time more pleasant. The scene takes place in the open air at the edge of the forest. The barely visible figure on the left is probably a servant preparing the next dishes. The subject of this composition was interpreted in various ways by researchers. Due to the considerable amount of nudity and eroticism, it was sought to depict a feast of ancient gods or a scene of the fall of humanity that was to precede the deluge. Both paths turned out to be wrong. First, there were no attributes that would allow the characters to be interpreted as individual deities. Second, the fall of mankind required the presence of Noah's ark in the background, heralding the coming flood. More on this painting

Cornelis van Haarlem  (1562–1638)

Bathsheba at her Toilet, c. 1594

Oil on canvas

height 77.5 cm × width 64 cm

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

The beautiful Bathsheba bathes out of doors assisted by two maidservants. King David spies the young woman from the roof of his palace and instantly falls in love. Although he is not depicted in the painting, David’s presence is suggested by the castle in the distance. Curiously, the servant seen from behind has a male body. More on this painting

Cornelis van Haarlem

Bathsheba

Oil on canvas

102 x 130 cm

Staatliche Museen, Berlin

In this depiction of Bathsheba not only is she completely nude, but so are two of her attendants. This painter's sinuous figures are close to those painted in his Haarlem Academy, in Prague, and in the Loire Valley. Theirs is a figure style derived from the later painters of Fontainebleau. More on this painting

Cornelis van Haarlem

The Preaching of Saint John the Baptist, c. 1602

Oil on canvas

100 x 180 cm

 The National Gallery

The central character of this painting is hidden in the shadows: a man with long hair and a beard who seems to draw the attention of the people gathered before him. This is Saint John the Baptist, standing on what looks like an improvised pulpit. The large crowd is divided between conversation and close attention to John’s announcement of the coming of Christ. The Gospel of Matthew recounts how people flocked from Jerusalem, Judea and ‘all the region round about Jordan’ to hear John’s message and to be baptised by him. Cornelis took great care to depict a variety of people, some looking like his Haarlem contemporaries, others dressed more exotically.

Cornelis seems to have adopted the large-scale landscape with a biblical subject from the Flemish painter Karel van Mander. The subject of Saint John preaching was popular in Netherlandish art of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, possibly reflecting contemporary debates about open-air sermons by Calvinist preachers. More on this painting

Cornelis Cornelisz. van Haarlem, (1562 - Haarlem - 1638)

The Massacre of the Innocents, c. 1590

The infanticide in Bethlehem. Massacre outside the gates of the city. Naked soldiers kill the children with knives and swords.

Oil on canvas

height 245 cm × width 358 cm

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

When Herod, the King of Judea, learned that a child destined to become ‘King of the Jews’ would be born in Bethlehem, he ordered the slaughter of all boys under the age of two. The painter portrayed the massacre as a gruesome nightmare. Horror follows upon horror: at lower left a soldier slits a child’s throat, while above them a woman gouges out a soldier’s eyes. More on this painting

Cornelis Cornelisz. van Haarlem, (1562 - Haarlem - 1638)

The Baptism of Christ

Oil on copper

Height: 0.45 m; Width: 0.33 m

Louvre Museum

The naked couple is perhaps a symbolic resumption of that of Adam and Eve since Christ by his baptism regenerates and remakes the humanity evoked here by the First couple. - To date around 1599, in the typical calm Mannerist phase that has been that of Cornelis since the end of the 1590s. More on this painting

Cornelis van Haarlem  (1562–1638)

The Baptism of Christ, c. 1588

Oil on canvas

Height: 170 cm (66.9 in); Width: 206 cm (81.1 in)

Louvre Museum

The oldest, most Mannerist in style and largest in dimensions of the ten Baptisms of Christ known today in the painted work of Cornelis (among others those of St. Petersburg, 1616, Dessau, 1619, Karlsruhe, 1623, Haarlem, Douai, Mainz, Moscow, etc.), and certainly one of his masterpieces. - Old copy in Utrecht. More on this painting

Cornelis Cornelisz. van Haarlem, (1562 - Haarlem - 1638)

Christ with the cross and the chalice, c. 1591-1592

Oil on canvas

135,5 x 106 [166 x 134,5 x 9]

Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie

Here Cornelisz represents Christ in his entire form, and without traces of torment on the body, and at the same time seated between the tools of the Passion and biblical prophets. In Cornelis's painting, the clear Catholic meaning of this engraving is suppressed by limiting the details and presenting against a neutral background three key elements of the Passion and Eucharist: the cross, body and blood of Christ (in the chalice). This is probably related to the situation of the artist who, being a Catholic himself, worked in a Calvinist-dominated environment. Even this approach was interpreted as meeting the expectations of not only the Catholic, but also the Calvinist clientele, who could seek to emphasize the purely symbolic nature of the Eucharist and the ritual of receiving it in two forms. More on this painting

In the 1580s, Cornelis, together with the poet, painter and art theorist, Karel van Mander, and the painter and engraver, Hendrick Goltzius, was one of the principal exponents of Mannerism which saw a brief but intense flowering in Haarlem. By the mid 1590s, however, Cornelis’s work was already becoming more temperate, in response to Gotzius’s own rejection of Mannerism. The violent contortions and exaggeratedly muscular nudes which typified his Mannerist period, gave way in favour of more restful poses and figure types, more akin to classical norms of proportion and harmony. More on Cornelis Cornelisz

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