26 Works, December 3rd. is Lord Frederic Leighton's day, his art, illustrated with footnotes #244

Frederic Leighton (1830–1896)

And the Sea Gave Up the Dead Which Were in It, exhibited 1892

Oil on canvas

H 228.6 x W 228.6 cm

Tate Britain

This is one of the most dramatic and powerful works, painted in the dark and solemn style of Leighton's late career. Leighton's tondo shows the resurrection of the dead, as described in the Book of Revelation: 'And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.' (Revelation 20:13) It is a terrifying yet essentially optimistic image, meditating on the theme of spiritual salvation.

The central group depicts a man, woman and child in various stages of 'awakening': 'The man is alive, his pulses are beating again, his flesh is reddening. His wife wears the greenish ghastly hue of death: his boy is breathing, but still pale and only half alive' (Edgcumbe Staley, quoted in Wilton & Upstone, p.259). All around them, the dead arise from newly-opened graves, some exposing their bodies to the light, others wrapped, mummy-like, in pale shrouds. More on this painting

Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton, PRA (3 December 1830 – 25 January 1896), known as Sir Frederic Leighton between 1878 and 1896, was a British painter, draughtsman, and sculptor. His works depicted historical, biblical, and classical subject matter in an academic style. His paintings were enormously popular, and expensive, during his lifetime.

Frederic Leighton

The Death of Brunelleschi, c. 1852

Oil, canvas

183 x 254 cm

Leighton House Museum

Leighton was keen on Brunelleschi's death by following the proceedings as they happened in a certain building in Florence. Filippo Brunelleschi was instrumental in the southern renaissance, a great figure in the architectural and civil engineering spheres.

 In the foreground of the painting, there is a building located in Florence, whose view reveals the view of the dome of the cathedral. Brunelleschi is shown a semi-recumbent in extremis in a chair accompanied by an array of buildings in the painting’s background that are seemingly defy the correctness in the projection of perspective. More on this painting

Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton  (1830–1896)

The Painter's Honeymoon, c. 1864

Oil on canvas

83.8 × 76.8 cm (32.9 × 30.2 in)

Museum of Fine Arts

In this romantic image, love is equated with art. In its evocation of the past and its precise, controlled style, the painting epitomizes the officially sanctioned academic practice of the late 19th century.

The Italian man who sat for the newly married painter occurs often in Leighton's work: he was apparently one of the artist's favorite models. Importantly, his hands are painted in fine detail, emphasizing how crucial they are to his work. The soft tones and accuracy with which Leighton painted the couple contrasts obviously with the harshness of the orange tree behind them. Leighton appears to have had difficulty in painting it – on close inspection, the oranges look as though they have been enameled. Generally, the composition and glowing color of the picture reflect the influence of such 16th-century Venetian painters as Giorgione and Titian. More on this painting

Frederic Leighton (1830–1896)

Mother and Child, c. 1865

Oil on canvas

H 48 x W 82 cm

Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery

Frederic, Lord Leighton

After Vespers, c. 1871

Oil on canvas

111.5 x 71.5 cm (43 7/8 x 28 1/8 in.)

Princeton University Art Museum

After Vespers epitomizes the delicacy and refinement that Leighton’s Victorian clients appreciated. The setting features mosaics evoking the interior of St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice. The painting’s subject, however, is less the magnificent sanctuary than an enigmatic young woman. Her gold earrings and beads mark her elevated social status, and she gently lifts her skirt to keep it off the dusty floor. Her melancholy expression hints, perhaps, at unrequited love. More on this painting

Frederic, Lord Leighton, P.R.A.

Portrait of Amy Augusta, Lady Coleridge, c. 1888

Oil on canvas

Private collection

Portrait of Amy Augusta Jackson, Lady Coleridge; almost full length, seated and directed to left, looking full face; holding and touch feathered fan on her lap; wearing corset and undergarments

The sitter was the daughter of Henry Baring Lawford of the Bengal Civil Service. She met the widowed Lord Coleridge on his return from a tour of America undertaken in 1883 as a guest of the New York Bar Association. They were married in London two years later. By then Lord Coleridge had risen to the very height of his profession, having been made Lord Chief Justice of England in 1880 by his friend Gladstone. The year this stunning portrait was exhibited he was presiding over the celebrated racing libel case Wood vs Cox. Three years later he famously called H.R.H. The Prince of Wales to the stand in the great Baccarat case, Gordon-Cummings vs. Wilson. More on this painting

Lord Frederic Leighton, British, b.1830, d.1896

Teresina, c. 1874

Oil on canvas board

604 x 495mm

Christchurch Gallery

A young Roman woman, Teresina, was first shown at the Royal Academy in 1876, and came to New Zealand for the Christchurch International Exhibition thirty years later. Its purchase by Canterbury Society of Arts was regarded as a notable coup.

Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton  (1830–1896)

The Music Lesson, c. 1877

Oil on canvas

93 × 95 cm (36.6 × 37.4 in)

Guildhall Art Gallery

The architecture depicted in The Music Lesson is based on studies Leighton completed during his 1873 journey to Damascus. The costumes worn by the women were most likely made of luxe; lustrous fabrics purchased by the artist on this trip. The instrument, a Turkish ‘saz’, was probably his own. These non-Western elements provide an exoticising flair to the work. More on this painting

Frederic, Lord Leighton, P.R.A., R.W.S

Catarina, c. 1878

Oil on canvas

Private collection

Catarina depicts an olive-skinned Italian model dressed in a traditional Campagna smock-shirt, with amber beads at her throat and jasmine flowers in her hair. The composition is beautifully simple, being free of all incidental detail or anecdotal association, nor is any information given about the identity or personality of the sitter.

Catarina lends itself to a purely aesthetic response, allowing the spectator to take delight in the softly-lit physiognomy, the colour of her blushed skin and pink lips reciprocated by the rich colouring and sfumato of her hair and the background. More on this painting

Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton  (1830–1896)

Light of the Harem, circa 1880

Oil on canvas

60 x 32 7/8 inches (152.4 x 83.8 cm)

Private collection

The Light of the Harem was painted in 1880 and depicts a woman arranging a scarf of Damascus silk around her hair while looking into a mirror held by a younger girl. It was one of the first appearances of Leighton's most celebrated model, Ada Alice Pullan who was known by her stage-name, Dorothy Dene. The model for the younger girl is sometimes identified as Connie Gilchrist, a girl who had been 'discovered' as she worked as a skipping-rope dancer at the Gaiety Theatre and who later became Countess Orkney. More on this painting

FREDERIC, LORD LEIGHTON, P.R.A. 1830 - 1896

A NILE WOMAN

Oil on canvas

56 by 30.5cm., 22 by 12in.

Private collection

Sold for  £ 11,353 in Jun 2002

Leighton went to Egypt in 1868, the year before the opening of the Suez canal. He travelled as far south as Aswan and painted over forty landscapes. The viceroy Ismail Pasha placed a steamer at Leighton's disposal, probably on the recommendation of Edward, Prince of Wales who was given the present picture - perhaps in thanks for his introduction.

Leighton cleverly captured the heat of the last light of the day as the solitary Egyptian woman makes her way home through the sand. The careful rendering of her robes is typical of Leighton and the pose of a woman carrying a water-jar appears in several important later works by the artist, including Captive Andromache of 1886 (See below). More on this painting

Leighton was the bearer of the shortest-lived peerage in history; after only one day his hereditary peerage became extinct upon his death

Frederic, Lord Leighton 1830 - 1896

Cimabue's Celebrated Madonna is carried in Procession through the Streets of Florence, c. 1853-5

Oil on canvas

222 x 521 cm

Royal Collection

The picture shows a scene from the 16th century art historian Giorgio Vasari's description of the 13th century procession of an altarpiece of the Madonna and Child through the streets of Florence. The Madonna is being carried from the studio of the Florentine artist Cimabue to the church of Santa Maria Novella. Cimabue himself is depicted immediately in front of the Madonna wearing a laurel wreath upon his head. He is followed by a group including several leading Florentine artistic figures of the day, including his pupil Giotto, the poet Dante Alighieri (leaning on the wall at right), the architect Arnolfo di Cambio, the painters Gaddo Gaddi, Andrea Tafi, Buonamico Buffalmacco and Simone Memmi; the sculptor Nicola Pisano, and on horseback at the right edge of the image, the King of Naples, Charles of Anjou. More on this painting

The Madonna depicted, seen at a very narrow angle in the centre of the painting, is actually not by Cimabue, but instead it is the Rucellai Madonna by Sienese artist Duccio di Buoninsegna. 

This was Leighton's first major work, painted in Rome. It was shown at the Academy in 1855. It was an immediate success, and Queen Victoria bought it for 600 guineas on opening day. More on this painting

Lord Leighton PRA (1830 - 1896)

St Jerome, c. 1869

Oil on canvas

1845 mm x 1420 mm x 40 mm

Royal Academy of Arts

Jerome (Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus, c.  347 – 30 September 420) was a priest, confessor, theologian and historian. He was the son of Eusebius, born at Stridon, a village near Emona on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia, then part of northeastern Italy. He is best known for his translation of most of the Bible into Latin (the translation that became known as the Vulgate), and his commentaries on the Gospels. His list of writings is extensive.

The protégé of Pope Damasus I, who died in December of 384, Jerome was known for his teachings on Christian moral life, especially to those living in cosmopolitan centers such as Rome. In many cases, he focused his attention to the lives of women and identified how a woman devoted to Jesus should live her life. This focus stemmed from his close patron relationships with several prominent female ascetics who were members of affluent senatorial families.

He is recognised as a Saint and Doctor of the Church by the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Lutheran Church, and the Anglican Communion. His feast day is 30 September. More on Jerome

Frederic Leighton had two sisters including Alexandra who was Robert Browning's biographer. He was educated at University College School, London. He then received his artistic training on the European continent. At age 17, in the summer of 1847, he met the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer in Frankfurt and drew his portrait, in graphite and gouache on paper — the only known full-length study of Schopenhauer done from life. When he was 24 he was in Florence; he studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti, and painted the procession of the Cimabue Madonna through the Borgo Allegri. From 1855 to 1859 he lived in Paris, where he met Ingres, Delacroix, Corot and Millet.

Frederic, Lord Leighton 1830–1896

An Athlete Wrestling with a Python, c. 1877

Bronze

1746 × 984 × 1099 mm, 290 kg

Tate

The idea of a heroic male nude struggling with a python came to Leighton as he was working on his huge canvas of the 'Daphnephoria' (now in the Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight, UK). He was making clay models of some of his figures in the painting to help work out the composition, so he modelled this figure in clay as well. The figure was studied from life.

Leighton looked to antiquity for inspiration, to the perfectly poised and proportioned male nude of Greek sculpture, and invested it with a new vitality achieved through close attention not only to the skeletal and muscular structure of the body, but even to such details as veins. More on this sculpture

This is the earlier of Frederic Leighton’s only two life-size sculptures. In subject and scale it was intended as a challenge to one of the greatest classical sculptures, The Laocoön, which shows three men being crushed by sea serpents.  More on this sculpture

In 1860, he moved to London, where he associated with the Pre-Raphaelites. He designed Elizabeth Barrett Browning's tomb for Robert Browning in the English Cemetery, Florence in 1861. In 1864 he became an associate of the Royal Academy and in 1878 he became its President (1878–96). His 1877 sculpture, Athlete Wrestling with a Python (See above), was considered at its time to inaugurate a renaissance in contemporary British sculpture, referred to as the New Sculpture. American art critic Earl Shinn claimed at the time that "Except Leighton, there is scarce any one capable of putting up a correct frescoed figure in the archway of the Kensington Museum." His paintings represented Britain at the great 1900 Paris Exhibition.

Frederic, Lord Leighton, P.R.A.

Venus and Cupid

Oil on canvas

Private Collection

Sold for 375,000 USD in Nov 2017

Cupid is the god of desire, erotic love, attraction and affection. He is often portrayed as the son of the love goddess Venus and the war god Mars, and is known in Latin also as Amor (. His Greek counterpart is Eros. More on Venus and Cupid

Venus and Cupid represents Leighton’s first foray in painting the nude. Works such as The Bath of Psyche (See below) demonstrate Leighton’s continued exploration of the subject, and his influence on its a resurgence in British. More on this painting

Frederic Leighton (1830–1896)

The Fisherman and the Syren, 1856–1858

Oil on canvas

H 66.4 x W 48.9 cm

Bristol Museum & Art Gallery

This early work both illustrated and was inspired by a poem by Goethe, which tells the story of a mermaid who rises from the waters to complain to a fisherman that he is enticing her children to death. Gradually the mermaid's own beauty lures the fisherman into the water and to oblivion. A contemporary critic noted the 'irresistible seductiveness' of the mermaid but he observed also that this 'young artist has plainly drunk long and eagerly at the fount of beauty that assuaged the thirst of Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael'. It was in exactly that spirit that Leighton was to be so much admired. More on this painting

Frederic, Lord Leighton, P.R.A.

Venus Disrobing for the Bath, c. 1867

Oil on canvas

Private collection

Sold for 1,874,500 USD in Oct 2009

From the late 1860s onward, nudes were an important part of Leighton's oeuvre, with Venus Disrobing a portender of the art world's appreciation of the body alone as a beautiful object. More on this painting

Frederic Leighton

Actaea, the Nymph of the Shore, c. 1868

Oil on canvas

57.2 x 102.2 cm

National Gallery of Canada 

In Greek mythology, Actaea was one of the Nereids or sea nymphs, the fifty daughters of the sea god Nereus, who lived in the Aegean. She is portrayed watching her dolphin companions from the shore. Such classical references allowed the Victorians to accept this erotic image. The distant coastline is one that the artist recorded while visiting Rhodes in 1867. More on this painting

Frederic Leighton

Icarus and Daedalus, c.1869

Oil on canvas

138.2 x 106.5 cm

The Faringdon Collection

In Greek mythology, Icarus was the son of the master craftsman Daedalus, the creator of the Labyrinth. Icarus and Daedalus attempt to escape from Crete by means of wings that Daedalus constructed from feathers and wax. Daedalus warns Icarus first of complacency and then of hubris, instructing him to fly neither too low nor too high, lest the sea's dampness clog his wings or the sun's heat melt them. Icarus ignores Daedalus’s instructions not to fly too close to the sun, causing the wax in his wings to melt. He tumbles out of the sky, falls into the sea, and drowns. More on Icarus and Daedalus

Frederic Leighton

Hercules Wrestling with Death for the Body of Alcestis

Oil on canvas

Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art

The artworks Hercules wrestling with death over the body of Alcestis portrayed a story about the Hercules and the wife of Admetus who was ready to sacrifice her life for the sake of her husband. Admetus' wife knew that her husband really had angered Artemis but she was willing to sacrifice in order for her husband the king to live. The moment Admetus' wife died, Hercules arrived as a guest in the palace and he didn’t wait but goes on and wrestle with the death over the body of Admetus' wife and shockingly, Hercules was able to win her back. More on this painting

Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton  (1830–1896)

Nausicaa, circa 1879

Oil on canvas

Height: 57 in (144.7 cm); Width: 26.3 in (66.9 cm)

Private collection

Nausicaa was a female character in Greek mythology, who appeared in the Homeric epic Odyssey. She was the daughter of King Alcinous and Queen Arete of Phaeacia. In the Odyssey, the ship of Odysseus was destroyed and washed ashore on the island of Phaeacia. On the shore, Nausicaa and her handmaidens washed their clothes, and the shipwrecked hero was awoken by their laughter and games. He appeared in front of them without wearing any clothes, and asked for help; the handmaidens ran off scared, but Nausicaa offered him some clothes and brought him to the edge of the town. There, she told him that she would go first, so people wouldn't see her walking with a stranger, and that he should then go straight to her father's palace, and speak to her mother first. Odysseus indeed went and spoke to Arete, won her trust, and was accepted as a guest at Alcinous' home. He recounted his numerous adventures and after a few days, Alcinous offered him the necessary ships in order to reach his final destination, More on Nausicaa

Frederic Leighton (1830–1896)

Captive Andromache, c.1888

Oil on canvas

H 197 x W 407 cm

Manchester Art Gallery

Girls and women dressed in flowing drapery process from the left along a raised stone walkway on their way to collect water from a high rectangular well on the right. In the centre stands Andromache, a woman draped in black, her face, neck and foot just visible. She looks pensively towards a family group at the bottom right, where a baby sits on its mothers knee and touches its fathers face. To the front left are two men in deep maroon robes holding wooden staffs, one of whom wears a red cap and gestures with his thumb towards Andromache. A partially draped man in the foreground with his back to the viewer also carries a staff and looks towards her. In the bottom left corner sits an old woman who is spinning. She too gazes at Andromache. A mountainous landscape framed by trees is visible behind Andromache. More on this painting

In Greek mythology, Andromache was the wife of Hector, daughter of Eetion, and sister to Podes. The name means 'man battler' or 'fighter of men.

During the Trojan War, after Hector was killed by Achilles and the city taken by the Greeks, the Greek herald Talthybius informed her of the plan to kill Astyanax, her son by Hector, by throwing him from the city walls. This act was carried out by Neoptolemus who then took Andromache as a concubine and Hector's brother, Helenus, as a slave. When Neoptolemus died, Andromache married Helenus and became Queen of Epirus. In Epirus Andromache faithfully continued to make offerings at Hector’s cenotaph. Andromache eventually went to live with her youngest son, Pergamus in Pergamum, where she died of old age. Andromache was famous for her fidelity and virtue; her character represents the suffering of Trojan women during war. More on Andromache

Frederic, Lord Leighton

The Bath of Psyche, exhibited 1890

Oil paint on canvas

1892 × 622 mm

Tate

Psyche's beauty was so great that no man dared to approach her as a suitor. An oracle told her parents to dress her for marriage and sacrifice her, but she was transported instead to the golden palace of Cupid, the god of love. She lived there in a blissful state, waited on by slaves, and each night Cupid would make love to her, but without his identity being revealed. He later abandoned Psyche when, encouraged by her jealous sisters, she gazed on his sleeping form by the light of a lamp and inadvertently dropped hot oil on his body.

The painting shows Psyche undressing herself in order to bathe before Cupid's arrival. She is completely self-absorbed, and her narcissism is emphasised by her reflection, captured in the smooth surface of the water. The woman's pose, with arms raised to reveal her naked body, derives more specifically from the Callipygian Venus, a famous Greek statue that Leighton would have seen in the Capodimonte Museum in Naples. More on this painting

Frederic, Lord Leighton

Perseus and Andromeda

Oil on canvas

 235 x 129.2 x 12 cm

National Museums Liverpool

Perseus and his mission to kill the Medusa was one of the most renowned ancient legends in the Victorian era. Perseus, the son of Danaë and Zeus, was ordered to fetch the head of the Gorgon Medusa, whose magical power caused all who saw it to be turned to stone. 

Perseus is shown riding here on a winged horse, carrying the Medusa’s head. He has come to the rescue of Andromeda, who is chained to a rock as sacrifice to Poseidon, God of the Sea. Leighton has infused drama in the scene. Perseus’s arrow has just struck the dragon whose body continues to ensnare Andromeda. More on this painting

Leighton was knighted at Windsor in 1878, and was created a baronet, of Holland Park Road in the Parish of St Mary Abbots, Kensington, in the County of Middlesex, eight years later. He was the first painter to be given a peerage, in the 1896 New Year Honours. The patent creating him Baron Leighton, of Stretton in the County of Shropshire, was issued on 24 January 1896; Leighton died the next day of angina pectoris.

Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton  (1830–1896)

The feigned death of Juliet, c. from 1856 until 58

Oil on canvas

Height: 113.60 mm (4.47 in); Width: 175.20 mm (6.89 in)

Art Gallery of South Australia

The scene opens early on Wednesday morning. The Nurse enters Juliet's room and discovers her seemingly lifeless body on the bed. The Nurse tries to wake her, but believing her to be dead, cries out to the family in desperation. The Capulets, Friar Laurence, and Paris enter the room in response to the Nurse's cries. They dramatically mourn Juliet's loss while the Friar maintains his deception by offering words of support about Divine Will, comforting the family by expressing the belief that Juliet is in heaven. He then arranges for Juliet's body to be taken to the family vault. Capulet orders that the wedding preparations be changed to funeral preparations. More on The feigned death of Juliet

Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton  (1830–1896)

Greek Girls Picking up Pebbles by the Sea, c. 1871

Oil on canvas

84 x 130 cm

The Pérez Simón Collection, Mexico

On his death his barony was extinguished after existing for only a day; this is a record in the Peerage. His house in Holland Park, London has been turned into a museum, the Leighton House Museum. A blue plaque commemorates Leighton at Leighton House Museum. More on Frederic Leighton

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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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