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| Adam Elsheimer Witch riding backwards on a Goat ca. 1596-98 oil on copper Royal Collection, Great Britain |
"First recorded in the 1639 inventory of Charles I, this little copper, still so fresh and vivid, was stolen in 1969. It appeared in a sale at Christie's that same year and was duly restored to the Royal Collection. It originally featured in the 'newly erected cabbonett' in the King's Private Lodgings, where Charles installed 73 of his smaller pictures, sculptures and books. It is thought to have been acquired by Sir Arthur Hopton, British ambassador to Spain, on his travels through Europe (either 1629 or 1635), presumably when passing through Germany; one assumes the previous owner would have supplied the attribution and information, which reads, "said to be done by Elsheimer before hee went to Italie." The painting would originally have been commissioned as a kind of charm intended, on the owner's part, to ward off evil. . . . Britain was a major centre for collecting Elsheimer's rare and precious works, which perfectly suited the seventeenth-century collector's cabinet. Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel, the Duke of Buckingham, and Charles I all owned a number of Elsheimers. In his Considerazioni sulla Pittura (ca. 1614-21), Giulio Mancini writes, "one sees so little of his work because he produced little and this little is in the hands of princes and those persons who, in order that they should not be taken from them, keep them hidden." Charles I would certainly have kept the Witch "hidden" away in his cabinet at Whitehall."
– from curator's notes at the Royal Collection
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| Lavinia Fontana Portrait of Ginevra Aldrovandi Hercolani ca. 1595 oil on canvas Walters Art Museum, Baltimore |
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| Luca Fontana Annunciation ca. 1590 oil on copper Walters Art Museum, Baltimore |
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| Leandro Bassano Portrait of sculptor Tiziano Aspetti holding a Statuette ca. 1592-93 oil on canvas Royal Collection, Great Britain |
"This is almost certainly a portrait of Tiziano Aspetti, one of the leading sculptors in Venice at the end of the sixteenth century. In 1590 Aspetti and Girolamo Campagna were commissioned to carve colossal figures to flank the entrance to the Public Mint. The statuette here is probably the wax model for Aspetti's Hercules, and the portrait may mark the completion of the work."
– from curator's notes at the Royal Collection
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| Scipione Pulzone Portrait of an Architect ca. 1582-85 oil on canvas Walters Art Museum, Baltimore |
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| Francesco Vanni Holy Family with infant St John the Baptist ca. 1580-86 oil on copper Walters Art Museum, Baltimore |
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| Santi di Tito Annunciation ca. 1580 oil on panel Walters Art Museum, Baltimore |
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| Jan Soens Rinaldo and Armida in the Enchanted Garden ca. 1580 oil on panel Walters Art Museum, Baltimore |
In 1581 Torquato Tasso published Gerusalemme Liberata, an instantly popular epic poem set during the Crusades. It was written as a romantic fantasy, recounting Satan's efforts to create obstacles for the heroic Christian knights, particularly the noble Rinaldo. The beautiful sorceress Armida enticed Rinaldo to enter the lush garden of her castle. There she kept him besotted with sensual pleasures. Soens depicts him holding Armida's crystal mirror to her face while declaring that her worth and beauty are more perfectly painted in his heart. In the background his Crusading comrades are shown about to burst in and show him a polished shield, in which he will perceive his "wanton habits." Ashamed, Rinaldo then abandons Armida to return to the battle.
– based on curator's notes at the Walters Art Museum
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| Anonymous artist working in Venice St Christopher ca. 1575 oil on canvas Walters Art Museum, Baltimore |
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| Anonymous artist working in Venice Battle Scene 16th century oil on panel Walters Art Museum, Baltimore |
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| Giorgio Vasari Jacob's Dream 1557-58 oil on panel Walters Art Museum, Baltimore |
This large panel, apparently intended for a ceiling, was executed in 1558 by the painter, architect and writer Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574) for his Florentine patron Marsilio degli Abizi. The figures of God the Father and Jacob are based on famous frescoes by Michelangelo and Raphael in the Vatican. In his monumental Lives of the Painters, Vasari praised these Roman frescoes as the culmination of the art of painting.
– based on curator's notes at the Walters Art Museum
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| Pieter Huys Last Judgment ca. 1553-54 oil on panel Walters Art Museum, Baltimore |
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| Giulio Romano Ceiling of the Room of the Giants 1532-34 fresco Palazzo del Te, Mantua |
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| Giovanni Bellini and workshop Madonna and Child with St Peter, St Mark and three Venetian Procurators 1510 tempera and oil on canvas, mounted on panel Walters Art Museum, Baltimore |
Giovanni Bellini (1430-1516) was the leading Venetian artist of his era, and particularly known for his naturalistic depiction of light. He and members of his workshop painted this work as a commemorative piece to adorn the rooms of the Procuratia di Ultra, one of the most important public offices of the Republic of Venice. The procurators, high-ranking officials who administered public affairs and resolved judicial disputes, were depicted as kneeling donors. The painting was intended as a votive offering, thanking the Virgin for her protection of the Venetian Republic.
– based on curator's notes at the Walters Art Museum