MAITRE H.L.

ACQUIRED BY THE MUSÉE DU LOUVRE - PARIS - FRANCE - MASTER H.L - VIRGIN AND CHILD

MASTER H.L VIRGIN AND CHILD
Master H.L. and his Workshop
Painted Limewood Group of the Virgin and Child
Circa 1520-1530
H. 152 cm

Provenance : Ancienne Collection Claer, Mulhouse

DESIDERIO DA SETTIGNANO

ACQUIRED BY A FOREIGN PRIVATE COLLECTION - WORKSHOP OF DESIDERIO DA SETTIGNANO (1428-1464) - VIRGIN AND CHILD ( AFTER THE FOULC MADONNA )

WORKSHOP OF DESIDERIO DA SETTIGNANO (1428-1464)
VIRGIN AND CHILD ( AFTER THE FOULC MADONNA )
White marble relief
Florence
Vers 1500
H. 44 cm ; L. 35 cm (  H. 70 cm ; W. 61 cm  with frame )
 
Provenance: Michael Hall Collection

References ( Only two other versions of this model are recorded ) :

1/ DESIDERIO DA SETTIGNANO (1428-1464) - FOULC MADONNA - Marble relief - Florence - Early 1460's  - H. 59.1 cm ; W. 42.5 cm - Philadelphia Museum of Art (Inv. N° N.W. 30-1-2). 2/ DESIDERIO DA SETTIGNANO (1428-1464) - FOULC MADONNA - 1460-1461- Berlin, Staatliche Museen.

Literature:

New York, American Bible Society, Icons or Portraits? Images of Jesus and Mary from the Collection of Michael Hall, July 26 - Nov.15 2002, E. Heller ed., cat. no. 6, pp. 40-1. 
Florence, Bargello Museum, Desiderio da Settignano, 22 Feb. - 3 June 2007, M. Bormand, B.P. Strozzi and N. Penny, cat. no. 19.
 
Exhibited:

Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
New York, Mobile, Evansville and Sacramento, American Bible Society, Mobile Museum of Art, Evansville Museum of Arts and Sciences and Crocker Museum of Art, Icons or Portraits? Images of Jesus and Mary from the Collection of Michael Hall, July 2002 - Jan. 2004, cat. No 18. 


 

ACQUIRED BY THE MUSÉE DES BEAUX ARTS DE STRASBOURG - SAINTS ANTHONY AND MARGARET

THE SAINTS ANTHONY AND MARGARET
Polychromed and gilded limewood reliefs
Souabia
Late 15 th Century
Saint Anthony: H. 89.5 cm; D. 3 cm; W. 25.5 cm
Saint Margaret: H. 91 cm; D. 3 cm; W. 25 cm

The size and flat back of these important polychrome and gilded reliefs suggest an original placement in an altarpiece, pressed against two wing-panels. It was usual in late German Gothic sculpture to gather locally venerated male and female saints around the Virgin, chosen for their popularity or in relation to the donor’s devotion. The drapery style and facial type of these figures mark them as the work of a Swabian workshop at the end of the 15 th Century. Carved from a single board of wood, as traditionally in Swabia, Anthony and Margaret are nominated by their attributes, the pig and the dragon. The decorative elements and stylistic criteria derive from the Ulmish school, founded by Michel Erhart (active in Ulm around 1469-1522): The characteristic plaited drapery around the waist of Sainte Margaret, the sweet faces pigmented with pink carnations and the polychromy’s refinement are reminiscent of his work. However, the small figures placed at the feet, and finally the little anecdotal details recall the contemporary works under the influence of the Niklaus Weckmann the Elder (cited in Ulm around 1481-1526). Both faces combine elements defined by the sculptor, as the youthful face and wavy heavy locks in the Virgin of the Nativity panel at the Petit Palais in Paris. These Saint Anthony and Saint Margaret reliefs are to be considered as productions from Ulmish workshops of the early sixteenth Century, who maintain a traditional style in the sphere of influence of the great masters. It should be noted how remarkably preserved these polychromed flap reliefs are.

ACQUIRED BY FONDATION GANDUR POUR L'ART, GENEVE - IMPORTANT MEDIEVAL FIGURE FROM THE MEDIEVAL LORRAIN SCHOOL

APOSTLE
Limestone with traces of polychromy and gilt
Lorraine 1330 -1340
H. 90 cm
 

BENEDETTO BRIOSCO

ACQUIRED BY THE ALANA COLLECTION, Newark, Delaware, USA - BENEDETTO BRIOSCO ( 1460 - 1517 ) - PORTRAIT OF LUDOVICO IL MORO

BENEDETTO BRIOSCO ( 1460 - 1517 )
PORTRAIT OF LUDOVICO IL MORO
White marble high-relief medallion
Lombardy
Circa 1500
Diam. 55 cm
 

ACQUIRED BY THE PALAIS FESCH - Musée des Beaux-Arts ( Ajaccio ) - THE DEPOSITION FROM THE CROSS

THE DEPOSITION FROM THE CROSS
Painting on slate (with it's box)
Roman School Escuela Romana
Inicios del siglo 17
44 cm x 56 cm x 5 cm 
Provenance : Fesch Collection

ACQUIRED BY THE KATOEN NATIE ART FOUNDATION - ANTWERPEN - NETHERLANDS

MEMENTO MORI
Eastern
France
Sandstone
17 th Century
H. 105 cm

This Allegory of Death is part of the tradition of the "Medieval Death Dances" of the late fifteenth century and the first decades of the sixteenth century, where the main idea is that of "Memento Mori" (Remember that you will die), omnipresent in the piety of the time. The skeleton, or transi, is widespread in the Lorraine tradition of the Renaissance, embodied by Ligier Richier, and in the Germanic culture, as seen in the famous compositions of Hans Baldung Grien and Albrecht Dürer.
In France, the German influence of this theme, extensively treated in the funerary monuments of the Renaissance, notably by Hans Schenck (c.1500-1566), extends across Lorraine and Haute-Marne: the most important work famous being Richier's Transi in St. Stephen's Church in Bar-le-Duc.

The place of this Allegory in the context of the tomb remains difficult to define; Be that as it may, the figure standing, wrapped in a drapery, seems to be connected with the type of the funerary monument, probably with the effigy of the deceased or an epitaph.
Since the Middle Ages, the Triumph of Death has reflected religious meditations on the nothingness of earthly life and its inevitable brevity. Here, the skeleton participates in the great ceremonial of the death of the baroque age: the time that brings the human being closer and closer is evoked by the hourglass tight in the left hand which perfectly expresses the passage of time. Consistent with this staging, the drape fulfills the function of a theater curtain opening on the spectacle of death.

ANONYMOUS FRENCH ARTIST

DONATION TO THE MUSÉE NATIONAL DE LA RENAISSANCE - ECOUEN - FRANCE - Esau selling his birthright to Jacob or "The Lentil Stew"

ESAU SELLING HIS BIRTHRIGHT TO JACOB OR THE " LENTIL STEW "
Silk embroidery
France, Paris ?
First third of the 17th century
H. 18.5 cm ; W. 23 cm

Despite the richness of the textile fund of the National Museum of the Renaissance, rare are the embroidered pieces of preserved historical scenes. In addition to the corporal adorned with a Lamentation on the Dead Christ close to the art of Jean Cousin the father (E.C. 13224), the oval medallion depicting Adoration of the Golden Calf (E.Cl. 1488) and the green embroidered taffeta piece of Parnassus (E.C. 13046), the National Museum of the Renaissance preserves few fabrics entirely covered with embroidery.

The scene represents a passage from Genesis (XXV, 29-34) concerning the twins of Isaac and Rebekah during which Esau, exhausted from the fields, agreed to sell his birthright to his brother Jacob for a dish. of lentils. This excerpt from the Old Testament was frequently produced by painters in the 16th and 17th centuries. Two other scenes from the story of Jacob and Esau adorn the chimneys of the Connétable apartment at the Château d'Ecouen. Its moral significance has also made it a favorite scene in the decorative arts, particularly in the textile field.

The technical implementation is remarkable: applied on a cream taffeta, the stitch of embroidery (flat past and encroaching past) commonly referred to as the "needle painting" is here perfectly mastered. On the reverse, the remains of paper also testify to the technique, because the embroiderers often reinforced the fabric with stiff paper to make it more resistant to the passage of needles.

Visibly too big to come from a liturgical garment, this embroidered fragment could be part of an altar decoration (antependium), a religious ceremony (canopy, wall hanging), a piece of furniture or a secular whole. Although different in its composition, the engraving on the same subject in the illustrated Latin Bible of Théodore de Bry (1627) shows characters wearing the same type of clothing, the same hats and wearing very similar flexible attitudes. The model of the embroiderer is probably to look in the entourage of this engraver.

This donation enriches the typology of embroidery of the fonds, as well as the knowledge of the technique of "needle painting" carried to its highest degree of excellence at the end of the sixteenth century and the beginning of the seventeenth century.

TERILLI FRANCESCO

ACQUIRED BY A PRIVATE FOREIGN COLLECTION - FRANCESCO TERILLI ( ACTIVE BETWEEN 1596 AND 1633/5) - EXCEPTIONAL SIGNED PAIR OF IVORY FIGURES OF MARY AND SAINT JOHN

FRANCESCO TERILLI ( ACTIVE BETWEEN 1596 AND 1633/5) 
EXCEPTIONAL SIGNED PAIR OF IVORY FIGURES OF MARY AND SAINT JOHN 
Northern Italy 
Circa 1600 
H. 18 cm ; H. 18 cm

Native from Feltro in Veneto, Francesco Terilli (known between 1596 and 1633 to 1635 ) was a versatile sculptor of the early Baroque period working wood, bronze and earth. Particularly active in Feltre as in Venice, some of his productions can be seen in the Basilica of San Giovanni and San Paolo and the Chiesa Redentore, on the Island of Giudecca. The treatment of Terilli's figures are characterized by the sculptor's search of contrast between technical sophistication and deep expressiveness. 

There are a very limited number of ivory statuettes signed by Terilli or that can be assigned to him unambiguously such as the two Crucified Christs at the Museo Civico of Feltre and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (No. Inv. S28S2), and the Scourged Christ kept at the Musée du Louvre ( Inv. N° OA3917), all dated towards 1600. Luckily, Francesco Terilli monogrammed some of his ivories "FTF" or "FFF", a common practice in Germanic countries. No such practice occurs in Italy, which partly explains the lack of knowledge of Italian ivories from the 17th and 18th centuries. 

Our two figures, Mary and Saint John, each have a monogram stamped under their base. Saint John is accompanied by the monogram "FFF" ( Francisco Feltrensis Fecit ) and Mary is accompanied by the monogram "FTF" ( Francisco Terilli Fecit ). They belong to the same typology as the pair signed by Francesco Terilli kept at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna ( Inv. N° KK - 4534 and KK - 4536), as our figures share the same quality of execution, plastic density, scale forms and softness of the features. They differ only in a few minor variations. 

The scarcity of existing signed works by Francesco Terilli make the discovery of this pair of ivories all the more important due to its historical and artistic interest. 



 

PRIVATE COLLECTION - U.S.A - FORMER YVES SAINT LAURENT AND PIERRE BERGE COLLECTION FROM THE CHÂTEAU GABRIEL

PAIRE OF CARYATIDES
Polychrome walnut
Venice Mid 16 th Century
H. 204 cm

These caryatids have been designed to fit into an interior design for the  unique  purpose of decorating the room.
Represented by three quarters, wrapped in drapes and accompanied by garlands of flowers and fruit, both figures lift their arms asymmetrically. Their attitude has been designed according to a common vision and a common point of view, showing that they were intended to remain detached . This makes an  assumption of a destination for a single structure likely because their small bases have limited  surfaces and make it necessary to fix them on a wall due to balance issues. 
Our pair of caryatids truly marks the transition from Mannerism to the Baroque : built on a pattern of contortion and Michelangelesque monumentality, the theatrical mise en scène imposes itself spectacularly.
The Moorish features and the style of these sculptures take us to Venice, a city where sculptors and craftsmen specialized in these great achievements brought to life by a generation working around the fantastic and prolific Andrea Brustolon (1662-1732). The spectacular Altar of souls (1685) in the church of San Floriano in the  municipality of Pieve di Zoldo, is a reference in the matter .
In a general way, and in particular the proportions of the bodies, these two caryatids are comparable to the famous caryatids in the Scuola Grande di San Rocco (1665-1670) and those of Pietro Morando  (1662-1672) in the church of San Pietro Martire in Murano. It is also possible to connect them to the typology of the telamons developed by  Giacomo Piazzetta (1640-1705) in the Chapel of the Rosary in San Giovanni e Paolo, dated from the 1680s , or his  Telamons at the  Ca'd'Oro, whose arrangement of the drapery are reflected in ours.
However, the softer contours of the body, the use of gilding and ornamental vocabulary combining geometric and plant motifs, allow earlier dating to the years 1630-1650, a period in which we find these features on the site of the parish church of San Pietro Martire. Another comparison of interest is a frame from Murano carved in 1634 by Francesco Mezzanotte, and now visible in the Old Sacristy of Santa Maria della Salute, in which we can recognize  the same scrolls and garlands of fruit and flowers than in our caryatids.
A second frame decorated with a pair of figures comparable to ours, exhibited at the Civic Museum of Padua, shows these same similarities as well as the extravagance of the attitudes and the combination of dark wood and gilding .

F. ROUCOURT

ACQUIRED BY THE MUSÉE DES ARTS DÉCORATIFS DE NAMUR - ALLEGORY OF CHARITY

Patinated terracotta
Signed and dated at the back : 1794/Roucourt
H. 87 cm, Diam. 53 cm

 

ACQUIRED BY THE TASSENMUSEUM HENDRIKJE - MUSEUM OF BAGS AND PURSES - AMSTERDAM - NETHERLANDS

CLUTCH BAG
Velvet
Renaisance period