Arthur Spooner

Tuscan painter active towards the end of the 16th century Portrait of Captain Niccolò Orsini (Pitigliano, 1442 - Lonigo, 1510), count of Pitigliano and Nola. Tuscany, end of the 16th century Oil on canvas, 64 x 47 cm., Framed 89 x 73 cm. The portrait we present to you shows the effigy of a vigorous high-ranking male figure in armor, in the most typical Renaissance pose, half-length and taken in profile, with his face and gaze turned to the side; the serious and intense expression and the facial features evoke at first glance the portraiture of early Florentine mannerism. He is Niccolò III Orsini (Pitigliano, 1442 - Lonigo, 1510), count of Pitigliano and Nola and son of Aldobrandino Orsini, famous leader and captain (or capitano di ventura) who lived between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, who served for the state Pontifical in Naples and Florence and above all for the Republic of Venice. Portraiture with these characters, which derives from ancient coinage, was used in the sixteenth century in the sequences of Portraits of Illustrious Men, both in painting and in sculpture. The profile portrait was in fact a genre reserved, according to the Renaissance tradition, for celebrations, presenting those characteristics of imperturbability typical of the military role covered. Our painting is a work created by an author active in Tuscany towards the end of the sixteenth century, adhering to those pictorial styles made famous by the portraitist Cristofano di Papi dell'Altissimo (1530-1605), a pupil of Bronzino and then of Pontormo, known for having created a collection of about 500 portraits of illustrious men, known as the 'Gioviana Series' (now in the Uffizi Gallery); and among these it is possible to identify one dedicated to Niccolò Orsini. Our painting is inspired, in particular, by a print taken from the collection of prints...

Modern Contemporary Fauvist Autumnal Landscape by Michael William Eggleston Stunning contemporary fauvist autumnal oil painting landscape by San Francisco artist Michael William Egg...

Alfred Wahlberg was a distinguished Swedish landscape painter whose career spanned Germany, France, and Sweden. During his early years, he resided in D...

A rare 19th-century oil by the aristocratic painter and distinguished collector, Count Charles Gaston Esmangart de Bournonville de Saint-Maurice. It depicts an equestrian gathering ...

Landscape with the river. 1992, cardboard, oil, 49x68 cm Edgars Vinters (1919-2014) Edgars Vinters is working in oil, watercolor and monotype techniques. He paints landscapes in dif...

Partly Sunny is a new oil on panel painting just completed in the studio. The painting exudes the rich qualities of oil paint with bright strong color, a variety of lost and found ed...

Early Autumn Farm oil on canvas/panel 10 x 16 image size unframed, 15.38 x 21.38 x 1 framed Early Autumn Farm is a beautiful impressionistic landscape oil painting that I did on loca...

A lovely portrait of a turn-of-the-century elegant woman, perhaps commissioned by a devoted husband (she has a ring on her right hand, which is more common as a wedding ring in north...

Well painted 19th-century portrait of a young boy possible in a School Uniform. With the label on the reverse being from Scottish panel makers, we bel...

A superb example of a Barbizon inspired landscape painted by the "Catford Corot" from the late 19th Century. This very striking image shows the artist at the absolute peak of his abi...

Edward Dufner Road in the Mountains No. 33, circa 1910 Signed lower left; signed and titled on the reverse Oil on board 8 x 10 inches With a long-time career as an art teacher and ...

A three-quarter length portrait of Anne, Lady Russell, later Countess of Bedford (1615-1684), in a blue dress. Attributed to Sir Anthony Van Dyck.  Anne C...