CMA: European Painting and Sculpture

Like many French portraitists active during the ancien régime, François-Hubert Drouais was skilled at veiling the physical imperfections of his subjects. This portrait certainly has this quality: the face has been idealized, smoothed, and perfected, but the focus of the painting is less on the Marquise and more on her elegant gown, which is a particularly fine rendering of eighteenth-century printed cloth, with the brilliant gold and white fabric strewn with meticulously detailed flowers and lace.

Portrait of the Marquise d'Aguirandes https://clevelandart.org/art/1942.638

Overdoor Painting

Overdoor Painting https://clevelandart.org/art/1942.2.15

In this work, originally forming an altarpiece, the graceful figures are colored with vitreous glazes, essentially a substitute for the more costly carved marble. The two shields below bear the arms of the Borgherini Family, and probably graced a chapel in Florence owned or endowed by this family. The artist, Benedetto Buglioni, was a sculptor of stature in early sixteenth century Florence. He learned the technique of glazed terracotta sculpture from the Della Robbia Family, examples of whose work may be seen nearby in this gallery.

Fragment https://clevelandart.org/art/1921.1180.f

Adoration of the Shepherds

Adoration of the Shepherds https://clevelandart.org/art/1968.22

The Holy Family is visited by the three kings, who have journeyed to adore the newborn king. The painting is filled with naturalistic details, as the riders struggle to keep the horses and mules still and a small dog urinates on a beam. Yet there are also references to antiquity, such as the horse's bent leg and the bowed head, which recall Roman sarcophagi. The CMA purchased the <em>Adoration of the Magi </em>in 1957 and three other versions by Titian exist, in the Ambrosiana in Milan and the Prado and Escorial in Madrid. Different from the other versions in numerous ways, the Cleveland version is the only one, for example, that includes a sunset. One of the four versions of <em>Adoration of the Magi</em> is said to be a copy made by Titian for Cardinal Ippolito of Florence, although the debate continues over which version is the copy. Partly for this reason, the Cleveland work has been attributed to both Titian and his workshop, as the workshops of artists often assisted in producing copies of works. Titian spent his whole life in Venice and his works exhibit Venetian qualities of color and light. Today, the bright colors in the costumes of the figures and in the sky have become dull and dark from age. Only through close examination can glimpses of the original pinkness of the sky be recognized. The underpainting of this work is visible, possibly due to age, damage, or because it was left unfinished by the artist.

Adoration of the Magi https://clevelandart.org/art/1957.150

Base for a Satyr and Satyress Group

Base for a Satyr and Satyress Group https://clevelandart.org/art/1950.375

Saint Sebastian

Saint Sebastian https://clevelandart.org/art/1972.23

Woman Reading

Woman Reading https://clevelandart.org/art/1964.288

Model for the Reverse of the Medal of Martin III Geuder

Model for the Reverse of the Medal of Martin III Geuder https://clevelandart.org/art/1956.26

Unlike the other painters whose work appears along this wall, Weenix lived in Rome for five years and painted Italianate landscapes, rather than local, Dutch subjects. The bright light, classical architecture, and exotic-looking garb of the figures all speak to this interest in foreign landscape.

Hunters Near Ruins https://clevelandart.org/art/1964.294

In this work, originally forming an altarpiece, the graceful figures are colored with vitreous glazes, essentially a substitute for the more costly carved marble. The two shields below bear the arms of the Borgherini Family, and probably graced a chapel in Florence owned or endowed by this family. The artist, Benedetto Buglioni, was a sculptor of stature in early sixteenth century Florence. He learned the technique of glazed terracotta sculpture from the Della Robbia Family, examples of whose work may be seen nearby in this gallery.

Fragment https://clevelandart.org/art/1921.1180.j

Catherine Gray, Lady Manners, rejected this portrait representing her as the goddess Juno, symbolized here by the peacock. To make up for the loss of sale, Lawrence exhibited the painting at the Royal Academy in 1794 "to be disposed of." It did not sell and remained in his collection until after his death. Despite the rejection, the painting displays all the hallmarks of Lawrence’s flamboyant style, dazzling brushwork, and innovative use of color that helped secure his role as successor to Joshua Reynolds.

Portrait of Catherine Grey, Lady Manners https://clevelandart.org/art/1961.220

The Crucifixion

The Crucifixion https://clevelandart.org/art/1977.147

Candelabrum Pair

Candelabrum Pair https://clevelandart.org/art/1942.58

Overdoor Painting

Overdoor Painting https://clevelandart.org/art/1944.466.1

Portrait of a Woman

Portrait of a Woman https://clevelandart.org/art/1940.1204

Apollo and Marsyas

Apollo and Marsyas https://clevelandart.org/art/1969.261

This large altarpiece was in the artist's studio when he died, and parts of the composition appear incomplete. Some figures lack color, and Reni never finished the wooden structure. The silvery ground layer appears everywhere, as do his changes to the composition, such as the dog's head above the angel's right knee and the adjustment to Christ's right leg, covered in blue. However, Reni's death does not fully explain the unfinished quality. Toward the end of his career, he increasingly painted in a loose and sketchy manner-popular with collectors at the time-an approach implying that concrete forms could never depict the ideal, spiritual world Reni aimed to present.

Adoration of the Magi https://clevelandart.org/art/1969.132

Jean Warin revolutionized the production of medals by introducing the raised edge, allowing greater ease in striking (mechanically pressing) medals. He composed numerous medals of Queen Anne of Austria (1601–1666), the regent queen of France before her son Louis XIV was old enough to assume the throne.

Medal of Anne of Austria (obverse) and (reverse) https://clevelandart.org/art/1987.195

The French sculptor Claude Michel, called Clodion (1738–1814), constructed much of his work in terracotta. After firing, the unglazed color of the clay can vary widely, so each of Clodion's works in this medium has a slightly different hue, in this case a smooth reddish gray. Clodion depicts a mother nursing her newborn with painstaking attention to detail, from the tendrils of hair that cascade gracefully down to the mother's shoulders to the brilliant bouquet at the pair's feet.

Young Woman and Child at Play https://clevelandart.org/art/1942.783

Portrait of a Man

Portrait of a Man https://clevelandart.org/art/1940.1212

This work has long been called Journey of a Patriarch in the belief that the artist intended no specific subject. Recent research by graduate student Tamara Durn of Case Western Reserve University suggests that the painting instead depicts a moment in the Old Testament book of Genesis. Abraham secures a pledge from his servant to find a wife for Abraham’s son Isaac. The servant wears a zamt, a goatskin cap common in North Africa in the 1600s, here dyed an unusual shade of blue, a color associated with faith and trust, symbolizing his sacred oath.

The Oath of Abraham’s Servant https://clevelandart.org/art/1969.1

With just a few flowers, Verelst created a composition of great sophistication and balance. A simple glass flask is filled with a large rose, a red anemone, and a white narcissus tinged with pink. These flowers are surrounded by a scattering of smaller blossoms. Like many still-life painters, Verelst depicted a window reflected in the glass vase, but here he did not show the window's precise structure. He did, however, use another common device: the depiction of a few chips in the stone surface to make the material seem more tangible. Early in his career, Verelst moved from Holland to London, where he worked for the court of King James II and was extravagantly praised for the realism of his flower paintings.

Flowers in a Vase https://clevelandart.org/art/1982.246

One of the most influential landscape painters of the early modern era, Lorrain was a master of the “ideal landscape,” which combined lush foliage and a tranquil atmosphere with allusions to an idyllic, imaginary past. The intention was to create views more beautiful and harmonious than nature itself. In the foreground of this soaring landscape, the Holy Family rests on a shady bank as kneeling angels offer fruit to the Christ Child. Landscape paintings like this were much in demand among wealthy collectors throughout Europe, for whom these expansive idealized scenes represented a calm retreat from their hectic city lives.

Rest on the Flight into Egypt https://clevelandart.org/art/1962.151

Figures leading livestock descend the winding rocky landscape in the background while in the foreground, a crowd gathers before the Holy Family. The traveling figures compose the majority of this plaque, communicating the haste and urgency on their journey to see Christ. Above the Holy Family, a rustic hut creates a canopy. The Madonna and Child sit prominently at the right on a Renaissance bench, receiving the Three Kings. The first king kneels as the Christ Child bends to accept the gift. Joseph stands cross-armed behind the Madonna with two winged angels at his side. Behind him are the heads of an ox and an ass, traditional elements of nativity scenes. To the left three children play while a youth leans on a pagan altar. The torso of an ancient sculpture lies on the ground before it, demonstrating that Christ has come to replace the ancient gods. This low-relief plaque was once believed to have been destroyed in 1914 but is now thought to have been a part of the Count W. Pourtalès collection in St. Petersburg, Russia. Adoration of the Magi resembles a 1506 relief by Riccio made for the Easter Candle in the Basilica of St. Anthony in Padua.

Adoration of the Magi https://clevelandart.org/art/1954.601

Portrait of Mary Frances (Fanny) Swinburne

Portrait of Mary Frances (Fanny) Swinburne https://clevelandart.org/art/1941.553

In the spirit of the Italian Renaissance, Erasmus of Rotterdam (c. 1466–1536), the celebrated Dutch humanist and scholar, embraced ancient Greek and Roman literature and incorporated much of its moral and ethical messages into his own work. Holbein here conflates Erasmus’s features with Terminus, the Roman god of boundaries, who defied Jupiter by maintaining his position atop Capitoline Hill. Erasmus adopted Terminus, along with the motto <em>concedo nulli </em>(I concede to no one), as a personal symbol for devotion and steadfastness.

Terminus, the Device of Erasmus https://clevelandart.org/art/1971.166

Altarpiece with Relics - Angel, lower left

Altarpiece with Relics - Angel, lower left https://clevelandart.org/art/1964.357.g

This picture interprets one of Aesop’s ancient Greek fables (or probably the more contemporary interpretation by Jean de la Fontaine, even more famous at the time), which warns of the dangers of flattery. A monkey sweet-talks a cat into pulling scalding chestnuts out of the fire. The cat finishes the risky and painful task to discover that the monkey has already gobbled up nearly all of them.

The Monkey and the Cat https://clevelandart.org/art/1979.82

In a sketchy manner, Gainsborough convincingly singled out the various elements comprising this sweeping landscape—meadow, rocks, trees—by only slightly varying colors and brushstrokes. At the same time, however, a great sense of unity prevails. Although the bulk of Gainsborough's artistic output was portraits, he insisted that landscape was his first love.

Rocky, Wooded Landscape with a Dell and Weir https://clevelandart.org/art/1984.59