Something Beautiful

Wood sculptures

Just discovered this wonderful page on wood sculptures at the Rijksmuseum site.  

Illuminated Women (Getty)

The Getty Museum is having an exhibition about women in illuminated manuscripts.   Wish we could all go!   In the absence of that ability, I'll post some links here.  :-)  

• Mary Magdalene, in the Spinola Hours (c. 1520)  
• St. Anne teaching Mary to read, from a Book of Hours (c. 1430)
• Denise Poncher before an image of Death, from the Poncher Hours, c. 1500

 

Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

Look at these wonderful illuminated manuscripts at the Fitzwilliam Museum, in Cambridge, England. 

Matisse (and Pascal)

Love this Still Life with Pascal's 'Pensees', by Henri Matisse, 1924.   At the Minnesota Institute of Art.  

Book of Hours (BNF)

Yet another lovely Book of Hours at the Bibliotheque Nationale de France, beautifully displayed at the Gallica site. Here is Jesus teaching the elders in the temple. One does not often see one of these in a Book of Hours.

Lukas site [Death of the Virgin (van der Goes)

Lukas site

Search: Artist, Century, Collection

Example:  this extraordinary Death of the Virgin, c. , by Hugo van der Goes.  Check out the zoom and you'll see what I mean. 

Same: Altarpiece of St. Nicholas, by the Master of the Legend of St. Lucia

Ghent Altarpiece, by Jan van Eyk

Death of Peter Paul Rubens  1800s?

20th-century Last Supper 

Collections

Themes

 

Lamentation (G. David)

In my opinion, this Lamentation by Gerard David is simply exquisite.   

The Lure of the West

An exhibition at the Smithsonian Museum of American Art.  The paintings are outstanding, although the images are a bit small.  

Christmas (Ghirlandaio)

Here is a longtime Christmas favorite -- Domenico Ghirlandaio's Adoration of the Magi, 1488.   I especially like the angels, and the musical notes, near the top.  -- Adoration of the Magi.

(Here's a close-up  of the angels.)

(And here are many more details from the painting.)

Note: This painting is more than nine feet tall!  and approximately 8 feet wide. 

Adoration of the Shepherds

Adoration of the Shepherds

(Note: Some of the links below need to be updated.)

Adoration of the Shepherds and Adoration of the Magi, 1500-20, by an Unknown Master, Flemish (multiple scenes). 

L'Adoration des bergers, ca. 1420, Robert Campin. 

The Adoration of the Shepherds, shortly after 1450, by Andrea Mantegna.

The Adoration of the Shepherds, 1476-79, by Hugo van der Goes.  (The picture shows the central panel of the Portinari Triptych.)

Adoration of the Shepherds, ca. 1480, by Hugo van der Goes.  "Through an opening in the wall in the right background one has a glimpse of the shepherds in the fields, receiving the glad news. On the left side of the picture, two of them rush in, baring their heads as they enter. The entire scene is revealed to the observer by two prophets in the foreground, who draw the curtains back and create the illusion of 'unveiling' it."

Adoration of the Shepherds, post-van der Goes, by Lorenzo di Credi; very nice.

Adoration of the Shepherds, 1470-80, by an Unknown Master, German; lovely, interesting details.

Adoration of the Shepherds, 1482-85, by Domenico Ghirlandaio. According to Vasari, Ghirlandaio "painted in tempera, as a companion to this work, a Nativity of Christ which must excite the wonder of every thinking man, introducing his own portrait and some heads of shepherds, which are considered divine."

The Adoration of the Shepherds, ca. 1490, by Ercole de' Roberti.

The Adoration of the Shepherds, 1496, by Luca Signorelli.   

*   *   *

"The Adoration of the Shepherds, ca. 1500, by Francesco Marmitta; unusual, interesting. 

Adoration of the Shepherds, 1505-10, by Giorgione. 

Adoration of the Shepherds, 1510, by Ridolfo Ghirlandaio. 

The Adoration of the Shepherds, ca. 1510-15, by Luca Signorelli. 

Nativity (Holy Night), 1528-30, by Corregio (Adoration of the Shepherds?)

The Adoration of the Shepherds, 1530s, by Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo.  Adoration of the Shepherds, 1535-40, by Agnolo Bronzino. 

Adoration of the Shepherds, 1574, by Pieter Pourbus; bound lamb; shepherd dog. *   *   *
The Adoration of the Shepherds, 1508, by Pieter Paul Rubens (applet). Adoration of the Shepherds, 1609, by Caravaggio.  Note the straw on the floor, and the loaf of bread and Joseph's carpenter's tools in a basket. 
The Adoration of the Shepherds, 1609-13, by Juan Martinez Montanez.  In wood; very fine.
Adoration of the Shepherds ca. 1610, by El Greco.  With bound lamb.
The Adoration of the Shepherds, ca. 1614, by El Greco.
Adoration of the Shepherds, 1612, by Fray Juan Bautista. This Adoration of the Shepherds has a companion-piece, the Adoration of the Kings.  Both ere painted as altarpieces.
Adoration of the Shepherds, by 1612, by Abraham Bloemaert.  With bound lamb; Joseph restraining the ox?
Adoration of the Shepherds, ca. 1618, by Bernardo Strozzi.
Adoration of the Shepherds, 1622, by Gerrit van Honthorst.  With manger.  The Adoration of the Shepherds, ca. 1630, by Philippe de Champaigne.  c. 1630. 
The Adoration of the Shepherds, 1638-39, by Francisco de Aurbaran.  With bound lamb.
The Adoration of the Shepherds, ca. 1640, by Guido Reni.
The Adoration of the Shepherds, ca. 1640, by Le Nain brothers.
Adoration of the Shepherds, ca. 1644, by Georges de la Tour.  Lamb, manger.
Adoration of the Shepherds, 1646, by Rembrandt. 
Adoration of the Shepherds, 1650-55, by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo.  With bound lamb.
The Adoration of the Shepherds, 1667, by Barent Fabritius. 
Adoration of the Shepherds, 1689, by Charles Le Brun.  Shepherds accompanied by their families. 
Adoration of the Shepherds, 1690s, by Carlo Maratti.  Numerous shepherds. Adoration of the Shepherds 1750, by François Boucher. 

 

The power of longing (reprise)

Antoine de Saint-Exupery says,

If you want to build a ship, don't herd people together to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.

 

Book of Hours (Royal Library, Netherlands)

I discovered this Book of Hours a long time ago, during my earliest years on the Internet.  It belongs to the Royal Library of the Netherlands.  It might not look all that special but I've always loved this illustration of the Descent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. 

Census at Bethlehem

Today is December 1st. I'd like to try posting one Advent work for each day until Christmas.   To start off, here is  The Numbering at Bethlehem, 1566, by Pieter Breughel the Elder. This painting shows Joseph and Mary arriving in Bethlehem where their child will be born.  They are at the bottom of the painting, near the center.   The arrival in Bethlehem is an usual subject and this painting is probably the best-known on this theme. 

A second work, titled Census at Bethlehem, c. 1605, is very similar and is by the Workshop of Pieter Breughel the Younger.  

Danish Artists in Rome (Blunck, Hansen)

I've very much liked this painting of A Group of Danish Artists in Rome ever since discovering it on Google Art several years ago.  It was done in 1837 by the Danish painter Constantin Hansen.  

This morning I found a similar painting titled Danish Artists in the Osteria La Genosa in Rome.  It was also painted in 1837, by the artist Ditlev Blunck.     It is, in my opinion, an attractive and surprisingly modern-looking artwork.  

The existence of these two paintings with such similar titles and subjects, both painted in the same year, suggests a story behind them.  A contest of some kind perhaps?  or just a competitive feeling between the two artists?   It would be interesting to know more.   

Nativity

Tonight I was looking for the word 'bagpipe' at Google Art, and came across this Nativity in an illuminated manuscript by Don Silvestro dei Gherarducci, c. 1395.  Take a close look - it's pretty special.   

Days later:  The Metropolitan Museum of Art has another leaf by the same artist. 

 

King David at Prayer

I love depictions of King David in medieval psalters.   He is shown at prayer in the Book of Hours illuminated by the Master of Guillebert de Mets, c. 1450

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Spinola Hours

You can see 36 sides from the Spinola Hours, c. 1510, illustrated by the Master of James IV of Scotland at the Google Art site. 

Saint Barbara with a Tower

A gorgeous page, showing St. Barbara with a tower, by the Workshop of the Master of the First Prayerbook of Maximilian, c. 1510.  

L. A. Ring

Laurits Andersen Ring (1854-1933) was a Danish artist whose work I like very much.   Google Art has 8 paintings by him.  

Quilts

I love these 12 album quilts at the Google Art project.