Leda and the Swan by the workshop of Francois Boucher (Paris 1703 - 1770)

ca. 1750

This painting depicting the suicide of Lucretia intrigues us with its strangeness. Although inspired by the artworks of the Master of Female Half-Lengths, it differs from them in its...

Jan van Haensbergen was a painter of the Dutch Golden Age and a pupil of Cornelius van Poelenburgh (Utrecht 1594 - 1667). The painting we are presenting is inspired by Poelenburgh’s landscapes from his Italian sojourn. The dreamlike atmosphere of this Gathering in antique ruins appealed to us. Against a backdrop of antique ruins, three draped characters (perhaps bathers) are sitting in a circle, greeting a fourth character walking towards them. Their tranquility contrasts with the bustle of the other characters in the background. They constitute a vivid illustration of otium, this leisure time that allows us to realize our full potential. With this Arcadian landscape, Jan van Haensbergen invites us in turn to leave the hustle and bustle of everyday life behind, to take a break, to enjoy the present moment chatting with close friends… 1. Jan van Haensbergen, a landscape and portrait painter of the Dutch Golden Age Jan van Haensbergen was born in 1642 in Gorinchem, a town in southern Holland to the east of Rotterdam. He was a pupil of Cornelius van Poelenburgh, and began by painting landscapes inspired by those of his master, in an Italianate style. Between 1668 and 1669, he was registered at the Guild of Saint Luke in Utrecht. In 1669, he moved to The Hague, where he joined the Confrérie Pictura, an artist society founded in 1656. His portraits, which became his main activity as a painter after settling in The Hague, were strongly influenced by Caspar Netscher (Prague or Heidelberg 1639 - The Hague 1684), whom he met in The Hague and whose son Constantijn became his son-in-law by marrying his daughter Magdalena. In addition to his work as an artist, Van Haensbergen was also an art dealer, probably helped by his appointment as Dean of the Confrérie Pictura, where he also teached. 2. Description of the artwork and related paintings This painting seems to us to be a kind of allegory of otium, that quiet bliss promised by Epicurus. It might even evoke an Epicurean proverb: "It is better to lie on the naked ground and be at ease, than to have a golden carriage and a rich table and be worried" . Three draped young people - two men and a woman in the background - are seated in a circle, greeting a fourth figure walking towards them, hair disheveled and body draped in a towel as if drying off after a bath, indicating the need for prior purification to fully enjoy this rest. Their nonchalance contrasts with the bustle of the various characters in the background. The composition is punctuated by successive diagonals, and opens onto a landscape on the right, with a succession of mountainous planes. This painting is typical of the Italianate works produced by Van Haensbergen in the 1660s under the influence of Cornelis van Poelenburgh...

In this masterly painting, Francesco de Mura presents the meeting of Erminia and the shepherds, a famous episode taken from the seventh canto of Torquato Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered....

In an intimate atmosphere dominated by warm colors, Nicolas Loir offers us here a first thought, tightly focused and rigorously arranged, of the Adoration of the Shepherds in the Louvre Museum, in which he expresses his admiration for the art of Nicolas Poussin. 1. Nicolas Loir, a 17th-century Parisian artist inspired by Bourdon and Poussin Nicolas Loir was born in Paris in 1623. His father, a goldsmith, first placed him with Simon Vouet and then with Sébastien Bourdon. At the age of 23, in 1647, he left for Rome, where he stayed for two years, drawing inspiration from the classicism of Raphael and, above all, Nicolas Poussin, whom he met and deeply admired. On his return to France in 1649, he received his first major commissions for religious paintings for Parisian churches, the most prestigious of which was the May of Notre Dame for the year 1650. He also received numerous secular commissions for hotels and châteaux in the Paris region. Admitted to the Academy in 1663, he joined Le Brun's team and participated in the decoration of the royal castles of Vincennes, the Tuileries, and Versailles. Appointed professor at the Academy in 1666, then assistant to the rector in 1668, he died in 1679. He married Marguerite Cotelle, daughter of the painter Jean I Cotelle, a specialist in monochrome paintings, and sister of the painter Jean II Cotelle. Dezallier d'Argenville, who owned several of his drawings, tells us that he was a man of gentle and modest temperament, deeply honest, and highly esteemed by his contemporaries, including as a portrait painter. We can see his amiable character features reflected in his portrait by Jean Tiger, which is kept at the Palace of Versailles (4th photo in the gallery). 2. Description of the painting and related artworks Our painting depicts the adoration of the Holy Child, presented in the center of the composition on a pristine white cloth that catches the eye, by the shepherds. While the figure draped in yellow on the left is likely Saint Joseph, the Virgin Mary is depicted from the front, contemplating the Child with her right hand raised, her fingers spread as if to indicate her amazement at the realization of this Mystery. The five figures on the left, all dressed quite simply, are the shepherds who have come to worship the Child, as evidenced by the kid goat lying at his feet. Two cherubs carrying phylacteries fly in the sky and complete the composition. Our Nativity was painted in oil on canvas coated with a brown-red preparation, visible in the two upper corners left unpainted, which is typical of French painting in the mid-17th century and found in the work of Nicolas Poussin. The overall atmosphere of the painting reveals Poussin's decisive influence, whether through the color palette dominated by primary colors (the blue of the Virgin's cloak, the orange-red of the shepherds' cloaks on the right, the bright yellow of St. Joseph's cloak on the left), the rather tubular treatment of the figures, but also through numerous direct references to Poussin's paintings. Examples include the two cherubs, which seem to be inspired by those above the Martyrdom of Saint Erasmus...