26 Works, November 13th. is Byam Shaw's day, his art, illustrated with footnotes #234

Byam Shaw  (1872–1919)
Love the Conqueror

Oil on canvas

I have no further description, at this time

107 famous historical and literary figures are indicated and are represented in the painting, all belonging to the army of the Conqueror Love.

John Byam Liston Shaw (13 November 1872 – 26 January 1919), commonly known as Byam Shaw, was a British painter, illustrator, designer and teacher.

Byam Shaw  (1872–1919)

Omphale, c. 1914

Watercolor and bodycolor

Height: 72.5 cm (28.5 in); Width: 29 cm (11.4 in)

Private collection

Dressed in skin of Nemean lion and holding Hercules' club; the labors of Hercules are in the background

In Greek mythology, Omphale was queen of the kingdom of Lydia in Asia Minor. In her best-known myth, she is the mistress of the hero Heracles during a year of required servitude, a scenario that offered writers and artists opportunities to explore sexual roles and erotic themes. More on Omphale

John Liston Byam Shaw, British 1872 - 1919

Diana of the Hunt

Oil on canvas

I have no further description, at this time

In Roman mythology, Diana was the goddess of the hunt, the moon and nature being associated with wild animals and woodland, and having the power to talk to and control animals. She was eventually equated with the Greek goddess Artemis, though she had an independent origin in Italy. Diana was worshipped in ancient Roman religion and is revered in Roman Neopaganism and Stregheria. Diana was known to be the virgin goddess of childbirth and women. She was one of the three maiden goddesses — along with Minerva and Vesta — who swore never to marry. More on Diane

Shaw was born in Madras; his father, John, was the registrar of the High Court at Madras. The family returned to England in 1878 where they settled in Kensington. He showed early artistic promise, and in 1887 his work was shown to John Everett Millais, who recommended that the 15-year-old should enter the St John's Wood Art School. There, he first met fellow artists Gerald Fenwick Metcalfe (also born in India) and Rex Vicat Cole. He also met Evelyn Pyke-Nott, his future wife, there. From 1890, Shaw studied at the Royal Academy Schools where he won the Armitage Prize in 1892 for his work The Judgement of Solomon.

John Byam Shaw

Goblin Market, c. 1899

Oil on panel

29 x 24 cm.

Private collection

Goblin Market (composed in April 1859 and published in 1862) is a narrative poem by Christina Rossetti. The poem tells the story of Laura and Lizzie who are tempted with fruit by goblin merchants. In a letter to her publisher, Rossetti claimed that the poem, which is interpreted frequently as having features of remarkably sexual imagery, was not meant for children. However, in public Rossetti often stated that the poem was intended for children, and went on to write many children's poems. When the poem appeared in her first volume of poetry, Goblin Market and Other Poems, it was illustrated by her brother, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti. More on Goblin Market

John Byam Shaw

THE LURE

Oil on panel

23 3/4 by 26 1/8 in.60.3 by 66.4 cm

Private collection

Kneeling at the tomb of her deceased husband, a grieving young widow is suddenly interrupted by the impish figure of Love, who mischievously beckons her away from her wifely duty to follow him. While the exact source of the scene is unknown, John Liston Byam Shaw sought artistic inspiration in literature and history and often painted compositions with a clear narrative or underlying moral. More on this painting

John Byam Liston Shaw, 1872-1919

A Dirge

And All Winds Go Sighing

Oil on canvas

1872 x 1919 cms | 737 x 755 1/2 ins

Private collection

"A Dirge" is a poem composed by Percy Bysshe Shelley. It was published posthumously in 1824 by his wife, Mary Shelley, in the collection Posthumous Poems. The text has been set to music.

The dominant themes of the poem are isolation, loneliness, and death. It is a scene of desolation and despair. The wind moans in a grief that cannot be expressed in words; the rain storm billows in vain; the trees are barren and their branches strain under the unceasing onslaught. A gloom pervades the world. More ob ta Dirge

JOHN BYAM LISTON SHAW (BRITISH, 1872-1919)

Ophelia

Watercolour heightened with bodycolour

30 x 25cm (11 13/16 x 9 13/16in)

Private collection

Ophelia is a character in William Shakespeare's drama Hamlet. She is a young noblewoman of Denmark, the daughter of Polonius, sister of Laertes and potential wife of Prince Hamlet, who, due to Hamlet's actions, ends up in a state of madness that ultimately leads to her drowning. More on Ophelia

JOHN BYAM LISTON SHAW (BRITISH, 1872-1919)

Detail; Ophelia

Watercolour heightened with bodycolour

30 x 25cm (11 13/16 x 9 13/16in)

Private collection

Byam Shaw  (1872–1919)

The Arrested Spear, c. 1916

Oil on Canvas

157.50 cm x 183.00 cm

 City Art Gallery, Vancouver

Byam Shaw's most important painting unconnected with the War consisted of his large picture in the Academy of 1916, The Arrested Spear from a scene in Parsifal. It was purchased after his death by the late Lord Leverhulme and presented by him to the City Art Gallery, Vancouver.

Parsifal, hero of Richard Wagner’s opera of the same name, was a knight of the Arthurian Legend, finder of the Holy Grail. The scene portrays Parsifal standing in the garden of the evil magician Klingsor. The Flower Maidens lie at his feet, rejected by his indifference to their temptations. He seizes and holds suspended in mid-air the Sacred Spear, which Klingsor has hurled at him. As Parsifal makes the sign of the cross, Klingsor’s domain falls in ruins. More on this painting

Throughout his career Byam Shaw worked competently in a wide variety of media including oils, watercolour, pastels, pen and ink and deployed techniques such as dyeing and gilding. He was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites and took many of his subjects from the poems of Rossetti. He exhibited frequently at Dowdeswell and Dowdeswell's gallery in New Bond Street, where he had at least five solo exhibitions between 1896 and 1916.

John Byam Liston Shaw, 1872-1919

The Angel Before Adam

Oil on panel

45.7 x 34.3 cms | 17 3/4 x 13 1/2 ins

Private collection

The Angel offering the fruits of the Garden of Eden to Adam and Eve

Byam Shaw  (1872–1919)

The Woman, the Man and the Serpent, c. 1911

Oil on canvas

Height: 182.3 cm (71.7 in); Width: 54.1 cm (21.2 in)

Private collection

Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman and the ancestors of all humans. The story of Adam and Eve is central to the belief that YHWH created human beings to live in a paradise on earth, although they fell away from that state and formed the present world full of suffering and injustice. It provides the basis for the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. It also provides much of the scriptural basis for the doctrines of the fall of man and original Sin, important beliefs in Christianity, although not generally shared by Judaism or Islam. More on Adam and Eve

John Byam Liston Shaw (1872–1919)

The Prodigal's Return

Oil on canvas

H 89.5 x W 64 cm

Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum

The Parable of the Prodigal Son is one of the parables of Jesus Christ, which he shares it with his disciples, the Pharisees and others.

 

In the story, a father has two sons. The younger son asks for his inheritance and after wasting his fortune, becomes destitute. He returns home with the intention of begging his father to be made one of his hired servants, expecting his relationship with his father is likely severed. The father welcomes him back and celebrates his return. The older son refuses to participate. The father reminds the older son that one day he will inherit everything. But, they should still celebrate the return of the younger son because he was lost and is now found. More on the prodigal son

John Byam Liston Shaw, 1872-1919

The Judgement of Solomon

'And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? Yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have showed myself wise.'

Oil on panel

40 x 25.1 cms | 15 1/2 x 9 3/4 ins

Private collection

The Judgement of Solomon is a story from the Hebrew Bible in which Solomon ruled between two women both claiming to be the mother of a child. Solomon revealed their true feelings and relationship to the child by suggesting the baby be cut in two, each woman to receive half. With this strategy, he was able to discern the non-mother as the woman who entirely approved of this proposal, while the actual mother begged that the sword might be sheathed and the child committed to the care of her rival. Some consider this approach to justice an archetypal example of an impartial judge displaying wisdom in making a ruling. More on The Judgement of Solomon

John Byam Liston Shaw (1872–1919)

Jezebel, c. 1896

Oil on canvas

H 148.5 x W 81 cm

Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum

Jezebel (fl. 9th century BCE) was a queen, identified in the Book of Kings as the daughter of Ithobaal I of Sidon and the wife of Ahab, King of Israel.

According to the Hebrew Bible, Jezebel incited her husband King Ahab to abandon the worship of Yahweh and encourage worship of the deities Baal and Asherah instead. Jezebel persecuted the prophets of Yahweh, and fabricated evidence of blasphemy against an innocent landowner who refused to sell his property to King Ahab, causing the landowner to be put to death. For these transgressions against the God and people of Israel, Jezebel met a gruesome death – thrown out of a window by members of her own court retinue, and the flesh of her corpse eaten by stray dogs.

Jezebel became associated with false prophets. In some interpretations, her dressing in finery and putting on makeup led to the association of the use of cosmetics with "painted women" or prostitutes. More on Jezebel

The painting, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1896, originally depicted Jezebel nude, flanked by her hand-maidens. The model was Rachel Lee, a close friend of Byam Shaw. Unable to sell the painting, he later reworked it so that the central figure was shown clothed.

Byam Shaw  (1872–1919)

The Greatest of All Heroes is One, c. 1905

I have no further description, at this time

John Byam Shaw

'The Greatest of All Heroes is One

Pencil sketch

48.5 x 74.5cm 

Private collection

Later in his life his popularity as an artist waned, and he turned to teaching for his living. He taught at the Women's Department of King's College London from 1904 and in 1910, with Rex Vicat Cole, he founded the Byam Shaw and Vicat Cole School of Art later renamed simply the "Byam Shaw School of Art". Evelyn Shaw had an active role in the new school, teaching the miniatures class, her area of expertise. Shaw had had a long association with the artist and illustrator Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale, who taught at the new school.

John Byam Liston Shaw (1872-1919)

The Queen of Hearts, c. 1896

Oil on canvas

36 x 28 in. (91.4 x 71.1 cm.)

Private collection

The Queen of Hearts is a picture from the artist’s playful imagination. Its heroine is his fiancée, Evelyn Pyke-Nott, who he was to marry three years after this picture was painted. They met at the Royal Academy schools. Clearly already deeply in love with her, Byam Shaw has presented her as the Queen of Hearts from the children’s nursery rhyme. All gallery visitors at that date would have known this piece of verse, having been raised on the illustrations of Randolph Caldecott. Presented in a frame of the artist’s own design, she steps out from a pack of playing cards, moving forward as if to break through the picture plane. To anchor the narrative further, her sister, the artist Isabel Codrington, holds a plate of jam tarts behind her. More on this painting

John Byam Shaw (British, 1872–1919)

The Queen of Spades , c. 1898

Pencil, watercolour, and bodycolour heightened with gum arabic and with scratching out on paper

178 x 91.5 cm. (70.1 x 36 in.)

Private collection

Executed in 1897-1898 after the success enjoyed with The Queen of Hearts (see lot 5) the previous year it continues to personify the Queens in a pack of playing cards. Sadly the Queens of Clubs and Diamonds were never attempted. As with The Queen of Hearts, the narrative of the nursery rhyme is not closely followed although the spirit of the queen’s character is portrayed. According to cartomancy, (the custom of fortune telling with cards), the Queen of Spades is often personified as a widow who is cold and calculating. More on this painting

Attributed to John Byam Shaw, A.R.W.S., R.I. (1872-1919)

The triumph of love

Oil on canvas

12 x 16 1/3 in. (30.5 x 41.6 cm.)

Private collection

John Byam Shaw (British, 1872–1919)

'Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit...'

Oil on Panel

35.6 x 24.8 cm. (14 x 9.8 in.)

Private collection

1 Corinthians

 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.

Byam Shaw  (1872–1919)

Rising Spring, c. before 1911

Private collection

Kristina Anapau recreates John Byam Liston Shaw's "Rising Spring"

John Byam Liston Shaw (1872–1919)

The Fool Who Would Please Every Man, c. 1903

Oil on canvas

H 98.7 x W 128.6 cm

Laing Art Gallery

The man who wanted to please everyone has ended up making a ridiculous journey. He has the effort of carrying his donkey, and the donkey is uncomfortably tied upside down to a carrying pole. The story was told in the Fables by the ancient Greek writer Aesop.

John Byam Liston Shaw

Boer War (1900–1901), Last Summer Things Were Greener, c. 1901

Oil on canvas

H 101.8 x W 76 cm

Birmingham Museums Trust

The subject is the artist's sister, Margaret Glencairn. She is depicted mourning her cousin George killed in the Boer War, South Africa.

John Byam Liston Shaw (1872–1919)

Such Is Life, c. 1907

Oil on canvas

H 129.5 x W 174.6 cm

Leeds Art Gallery, Leeds Museums and Galleries

John Byam Liston Shaw (1872–1919)

The Entrance of Mary I with Princess Elizabeth into London,1553, c. 1910

Oil on canvas

H 205.7 x W 210.8 cm

Parliamentary Art Collection

The original scheme for the East Corridor as set out by the Fine Art Commission in 1847 was very different to how it is today. It was thought to be a good space to illustrate events from before Christianity and after the Revolution. However the scheme was abandoned and it was not until 1907 that renewed interest arose for the east corridor under a new and more liberal government. It was decided that the decoration of this corridor was a priority and the select committee suggested that the Tudor period would be suitable for the illustrated scheme. Individual artists were commissioned to paint each section and to keep visual unity a colour scheme of predominantly black, red and gold was employed and the height of the characters was defined at 1.68m. This illustration depicts Queen Mary I with Princess Elizabeth entering London in 1553. More on this painting

John Byam Liston Shaw (British, 1872-1919)

Cleopatra

Oil on panel

12 x 9 7/8 in. (30.5 x 25.1 cm.)

Private collection

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. More on Cleopatra

At the outbreak of the First World War Byam Shaw and Vicat Cole enlisted in the Artists Rifles although Shaw soon transferred to the Special Constabulary. He produced war cartoons that were published in many newspapers and also found work with memorial commissions. Not long after the war ended, Shaw collapsed and died at age 46 in the 1918-1919 influenza epidemic and was interred at Kensal Green Cemetery. His funeral was held at St Barnabas', Addison Road. Years before, he had designed two yellow-hued stained glass windows for this church, depicting Saints Cecilia and Margaret.] An ornate red, green and gilt monument to his life, in a 15th-century style, still stands there. More on Byam Shaw

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20 Works, Today, June 7th. is Anton Maulbertsch's day, his story, illustrated with footnotes #156

Franz Anton Maulbertsch

Éliézer et Rebecca

Oil on canvas

30 x 40 cm. 11 13/16 x 15 ¾ in. 

Private collection

After the death of Sarah, Isaac, her son, was lonely; and as he was now old enough to marry, Abraham went about finding a wife for  Isaac, who was already 37 years old. He commanded his servant, Eliezer of Damascus, to journey to his birthplace of Aram Naharaim to select a bride from his own family. 

As Eliezer stood at the central well in Abraham's birthplace with his men and ten camels laden with goods, 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. 

The servant recounted the oath he made to Abraham and all the details of his trip to and meeting with Rebecca in fine detail, after which her brother Laban and her father Bethuel agreed that she could return with him. Her family sent her off with her nurse, Deborah, and blessed her. More on Rebekah's  journey to Canaan

Franz Anton Maulbertsch (7 June 1724 – 8 August 1796) was the son of a painter. He studied in Vienna with Peter van Roy and in 1741 enrolled at the academy, where he received the painting prize in 1750. Maulbertsch became a member of the academy in 1759 and a professor there in 1770, for which occasion he produced his Allegory of the Destiny of Art.

Franz Anton Maulbertsch

Gideon, c. between 1795 and 1796

Oil on canvas

233 × 263 mm

Szépművészeti Múzeum, Budapest

Gideon was a military leader, judge and prophet whose calling and victory over the Midianites are recounted in chapters 6 to 8 of the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible.

Gideon was the son of Joash, from the Abiezrite clan in the tribe of Manasseh and lived in Ephra (Ophrah).[2] As a leader of the Israelites, he won a decisive victory over a Midianite army despite a vast numerical disadvantage, leading a troop of 300 'valiant' men. More on Gideon

Although Maulbertsch produced easel paintings of great beauty (Holy Kindred, St. Narcissus, Self-portrait), he is chiefly and justly famous for his frescoes. In Vienna and other cities of Austria, Bohemia, Moravia, and Hungary he created scores of vibrantly dramatic and brilliantly colored frescoes filled with an intense and highly personal religious feeling, beginning with the dome (1752) of the Church of Maria Treu in Vienna. Only the most outstanding can be mentioned here: the frescoes in the churches at Heiligenkreuz-Gutenbrunn (1757) and Sümeg in Hungary (1758), in the archepiscopal palace (1758-1760) at Kremsier (Kroměříž) in Moravia, and in the church (1765; destroyed in World War II) at Schwechat near Vienna. These examples of his early period are characterized by agitated compositions, shifting, fragmented color, and elongated ecstatic figures.

(Circle) Franz Anton Maulbertsch (1724 Langenargen - 1796 Vienna)

The judgment of Solomon, c. 1785/1790

Oil on canvas

150 × 115 cm

Austrian Gallery Belvedere

The Judgement of Solomon is a story from the Hebrew Bible in which Solomon ruled between two women both claiming to be the mother of a child. Solomon revealed their true feelings and relationship to the child by suggesting the baby be cut in two, each woman to receive half. With this strategy, he was able to discern the non-mother as the woman who entirely approved of this proposal, while the actual mother begged that the sword might be sheathed and the child committed to the care of her rival. Some consider this approach to justice an archetypal example of an impartial judge displaying wisdom in making a ruling. The Judgement of Solomon

Franz Anton Maulbertsch (1724 Langenargen - 1796 Vienna)

The beheading of John the Baptist, c. 1755

Oil on canvas

59 x 41 cm

Austrian Gallery Belvedere

John the Baptist (sometimes called John in the Wilderness; also referred to as the Angel of the Desert) was the subject of at least eight paintings by the Italian Baroque artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571–1610).

 

The story of John the Baptist is told in the Gospels. John was the cousin of Jesus, and his calling was to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah. He lived in the wilderness of Judea between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea, "his raiment of camel's hair, and a leather girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey." He baptised Jesus in the Jordan.

According to the Bible, King Herod's daughter Salome requested Saint John the Baptist's beheading. She was prompted by her mother, Herodias, who sought revenge, because the prophet had condemned her incestuous marriage to Herod. More John the Baptist

Franz Anton Maulbertsch (1724 Langenargen - 1796 Vienna)

Susanna before the judges, around 1750/1755

Oil on canvas

57 x 68 cm

 Austrian Gallery Belvedere

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

Franz Anton Maulbertsch (workshop) (1724 Langenargen - 1796 Vienna)

Farewell to the apostles Peter and Paul before their torture death, before 1767

Oil on canvas

45 x 32 cm

 Austrian Gallery Belvedere

Self-appointed apostle of Jesus, whom he never met, Paul was born Saul in Tarsus and was probably a Roman citizen. He was definitely a devout Jew, and among those who persecuted the early followers of Jesus for breaking Jewish law. He changed his name to Paul after a revelation convinced him of the truth of Jesus' divinity-this is often called his conversion, though it did not require him to deny Judaism in any way. Paul spent the rest of his life spreading the new faith, and his letters to the various congregations around the Eastern Mediterranean are the only contemporary records from the movement.

Friend and disciple of Jesus, Peter was a fisherman from Galilee. He is sometimes called "Cephas," the Aramaic form of his name, which means "rock." He is often called the leader of the twelve apostles, and by some accounts was the first to call Jesus "Messiah." Immediately following the crucifixion of Jesus, he left Jerusalem, returned after having a vision of Jesus' resurrection. He was present at the revelation of the holy spirit at Pentecost, and imprisoned for his beliefs. According to tradition, he traveled to Rome and served as the first Bishop of Rome before being crucified upside-down. More on Peter and Paul 

Franz Anton Maulbertsch  (1724–1796)

The Last Supper, circa 1754

Oil on canvas

Height: 135 cm (53.1 in); Width: 223 cm (87.7 in)

Residenzgalerie Salzburg

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

Franz Anton Maulbertsch  (1724–1796)

Erecting the Cross, circa 1757/1758

Oil on canvas

Height: 147 cm (57.8 in); Width: 113 cm (44.4 in)

 Austrian Gallery Belvedere

Circle Franz Anton Maulbertsch

Christ on the Cross

Oil on canvas, mounted on cardboard

92.5 x 63.5 cm

Private collection

Franz Anton Maulbertsch

Christ on the Cross, c. 1758–1759

Oil on canvas

74.5 × 49.5 cm

Szépművészeti Múzeum, Budapest

Attributed to Franz Anton Maulbertsch (Austrian, 1724–1796)

Déposition de Croix

Oil on canvas

56 x 38 cm. (22 x 15 in.)

Private collection

Franz Anton Maulbertsch (1724 Langenargen - 1796 Vienna)

The stoning of St. Stephen, around 1782/1783

Oil on canvas

35 x 20 cm

 Austrian Gallery Belvedere

Stephen or Stephan; traditionally venerated as the first martyr of Christianity, was, according to the Acts of the Apostles, a deacon in the early church at Jerusalem who aroused the enmity of members of various synagogues by his teachings. Accused of blasphemy, at his trial he made a long speech denouncing the Jewish authorities who were sitting in judgment on him and was then stoned to death. His martyrdom was witnessed by Saul of Tarsus, a Pharisee who would later himself become a follower of Jesus. More on Saint Stephen

From about 1770 a change in Maulbertsch's style can be discerned, with a calmer, more static composition, cooler color, and clearer contours, all the result of his attempts to adjust to the new classicizing ideas becoming popular at the time. In the paintings in the church at Korneuburg (1773) and the frescoes in the Riesensaal (1775) of the Hofburg in Innsbruck and in Mühlfrauen (Dyje) in Bohemia, he shows the influence of these ideas. In his later works, as in the church at Pápa (1782-1783), the archbishop's palace (1783) at Steinamanger (Szombathely) in Hungary, and the library (1794) at Strahov near Prague, his attempts to vitalize the new rationalistic style with reminiscences of his earlier style do not succeed and result in works of high intellectual complexity and great accomplishment but which lack the emotional and visual appeal of those of his youth.

Franz Anton Maulbertsch  (1724–1796)

Victory of Saint James of Compostela over the Saracens at the Battle of Clavigo, c. from 1762 until 1764

Oil on paper

Height: 32 cm (12.5 in); Width: 48 cm (18.8 in)

Belvedere palace, in Vienna, Austria

James the Great, also known as James, son of Zebedee or as Saint James the Greater, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Saint James is the patron saint of Spain.

The 12th-century Historia Compostelana provides a summary of the legend of St. James, as it was believed at Compostela at that time. Two propositions are central to it: first, that St. James preached the gospel in Spain, as well as in the Holy Land; second, that after his martyrdom at the hands of Herod Agrippa, his disciples carried his body by sea to Iberia, where they landed at Padrón on the coast of Galicia, then took it inland for burial at Santiago de Compostela.

An even later tradition states that he miraculously appeared to fight for the Christian army during the legendary battle of Clavijo, and was henceforth called Santiago Matamoros (Saint James the Moor-slayer). More on Saint James of Compostela

Franz Anton Maulbertsch (1724 Langenargen - 1796 Vienna)

Glorification of Emperor Joseph II, c. 1781

Oil on canvas

79 x 59 cm

Belvedere palace, in Vienna, Austria

Joseph II (13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 1780 until his death.

He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Emperor Francis I, and the brother of Marie Antoinette.

Joseph was a proponent of enlightened absolutism; however, his commitment to secularizing, liberalizing and modernizing reforms resulted in significant opposition, which resulted in failure to fully implement his programs. Meanwhile, despite making some territorial gains, his reckless foreign policy badly isolated Austria. More on Joseph II

Private collection

The glorification of Constantine the Great

Oil on canvas

37 x 28¼ in. (94 x 71.7 cm.)

Private collection

Constantine I (27 February c. 272 – 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from 306 to 337. He was the son of Flavius Constantius, a Roman army officer born in Dardania, who became one of the four emperors of the Tetrarchy. His mother, Helena, was Greek and of low birth. Constantine served with distinction under emperors Diocletian and Galerius, campaigning in the eastern provinces against barbarians and the Persians, before being recalled west in 305 to fight under his father in Britain. After his father's death in 306, Constantine was acclaimed as emperor by the army at Eboracum (York). He emerged victorious in the civil wars against emperors Maxentius and Licinius to become sole ruler of the Roman Empire by 324. More on Constantine I

Franz Anton Maulbertsch (Austrian, Langenargen am Bodensee 1724–1796 Vienna)

The Glorification of the Royal Hungarian Saints, ca. 1772–73

Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 27 1/2 x 19 7/8 in. (70 x 50.5 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

This work, with its sophisticated spatial organization, was executed for the Hungarian Cathedral Basilica of Gyor (Raab) by Maulbertsch, the outstanding Austrian exponent of the Venetian tradition embodied by Tiepolo. Saint Ladislaus I (1040–1095), king of Hungary, appears at lower left, while an earlier king, Saint Stephen (975–1038) and his son, Saint Emeric, are shown at the summit of clouds. Careful use of a subtle range of whites and light gray creates the illusion that the Trinity hovers in the heaven, far above the space. More on this painting

For all of his frescoes Maulbertsch produced oil sketches, which are among the most prized and popular of his works, filled with the expressionistic qualities associated with his name. The most famous is the Victory of St. James at Clavigo (See above), made for the Schwechat frescoes. His etchings, such as the Allegory of Tolerance (1785), glorifying the edict of toleration of Emperor Joseph II (1781) (See above) and the Charlatan and the Peep-show Man (1785), mirrored the new interests in social reform and folklore of the late 18th century. In his Self-portrait (between 1767 and 1794) Maulbertsch created one of the most intriguing, searching Self-portraits in the history of art.

Franz Anton Maulbertsch (1724 Langenargen - 1796 Vienna)

The death of Dido, c. 1786

Oil on wood

70.5 x 54 cm

Austrian Gallery Belvedere

One of the Trojan heroes, Aeneas wandered for six years after the fall of Troy and reached Carthage for some rest. The queen Dido welcomed them whole-heartedly and heard their story. During his stay, Aeneas and Dido fell in love with each other and Dido declared him her lord and began to rule Carthage together.

But, Aeneas had many tasks to accomplish yet. He was contacted by Jupiter through Mercury to remind him of his yet to complete tasks. The religious Aeneas had no other choice but obey him. 

Dido felt betrayed and ashamed against all her citizens and relatives. At that moment, she cursed Aeneas and declared the enmity between Carthage and Rome which ultimately led those cities into the infamous Punic wars.

After piling a wooden effigy of her deceased husband in their matrimonial bed atop her own funeral pyre, Dido, the queen of Carthage, stabs herself with her lover Aeneas's sword. More on Aeneas and Dido

Franz Anton Maulbertsch

Hector's Farewell from Andromache and Astynax

Oil on canvas

25.5 x 42 cm. 

Private collection

The literary source for Hector’s and Andromache’s taking leave of each other is the 6th book of Homer’s Iliad: the heroic Trojan prince Hector, referred to as “the saviour of the city”, is to go to war and is taking leave of his wife Andromache and his son Astyanax. She has a presentiment that her husband will lose his life in the war and with tears in her eyes she tries to keep him back. Hector, meanwhile, is not to be stopped, and Andromache’s worst fears are realised. Hector is killed, the city falls, and as though this were not enough, Astyanax, their son, is thrown from the city wall and dies. According to Homer, at the moment of his departure, Hector wishes for his little son that he might one day become an even greater hero than he himself. More on Hector's Farewell 

Little is known of the artist's personality, though he was apparently a man of simple, good-natured character, strangely at odds with his very dramatic painting. He lived the life of a quietly successful but not phenomenally wealthy citizen of Vienna. His wife of 34 years died in 1779; they were childless. The next year he married Katherina Schmutzer, the 24-year-old daughter of Jakob Schmutzer, head of the Engravers' Academy in Vienna and his old friend. Two sons were born of this marriage.

Franz Anton Maulbertsch, Austrian, 1724-1796

Pastoral Serenade, c.1752

Oil on wood panel

9 3/4 x 13 3/8 in. (24.8 x 34 cm.)

The Baltimore Museum of Art

Franz Anton Maulbertsch, Austrian, 1724-1796

Allegorical Sketch for a Ceiling, c. ca. 1759–1760

Oil on canvas

30.3 x 53.7 cm

Szépművészeti Múzeum, Budapest

Maulbertsch was active in the artistic life of Vienna, participating in academic affairs and helping to found and direct the Pensionsgesellschaft bildender Künstler in 1788, a society created by artists to ensure financial security. He was elected an honorary member of the Academy of Fine Arts of Berlin the same year. While preparing to continue his work at Steinamanger in the decoration of its Cathedral, he died on Aug. 8, 1796, in Vienna, the last of the great Austrian painters of the 18th century, a relic of the rococo in a new epoch in history. More on Anton Maulbertsch

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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