Click on the images below to enjoy a focused selection of short video clips featuring M&G paintings depicting the Easter story.
Tag Archives: M&G collection
ArtBreak: The Mysterious World of Old Masters
Whether you like delving into forensic evidence or prefer observing the patterns of human behavior these lectures are designed to awaken the sleuth in you. Referencing M&G’s collection, we’ll explore some of the “mysteries” of the art world—from the creative to the criminal.
Presented by M&G members, Glenn and Joyce Bridges and with additional support from M&G members, Scott and Kathy Hoster.
Dates: 3rd Tuesdays at Noon, during academic year
Location: The Davis Room, Dixon-McKenzie Dining Common on the campus of Bob Jones University
Parking: reserved spaces will be available in M&G’s parking lot.
Note: AVI Fresh Catering will provide a Deli Bar with the following spread: sliced oven-roasted turkey, roasted beef, and ham, and tuna; a cheese and relish tray; a variety of baked breads and rolls, two green salads, chips, assorted cookies, and beverages.
Cost:
- Member without lunch: FREE
- Member with lunch: $17.00
- Non-member without lunch: $6.00
- Non-member with lunch: $19.00
Registration: Click on the dates below to register.
Spring Lectures:
February 17: Gathering Clues
Conservation encompasses both the restoration and preservation of a collection. This week, conservator William P. Brown, a leader in the field of art preservation and an expert in the treatment of Old Master paintings, will share the artistic, creative, analytical, and problem-solving skills he uses in this fascinating “investigative” work.
March 17: What Lies Beneath
Register for lunch by Noon on Friday, March 6.
Why do artists abandon a work in progress, paint over a previous image or alter their original composition? The reasons are sometimes financial, artistic, political, or simply unknown. With a special focus on Florentine painter Andrea del Sarto, Dr. Nelda Damiano, the Pierre Daura Curator of European Art at the Georgia Museum of Art, will look at what has been uncovered about his artistic process and what remains a mystery.
April 21: Art of the Con vs. Art as Business
Register soon–there are a few lunches left!
Forgery is a process, not just of imitation, but of deception. It’s in the art of the con—the ability to manipulate others for personal and material gain. This week, M&G Director of Education Donnalynn Hess and Executive Director Erin Jones will zero in on the 20th-century’s most notorious forger. We’ll also explore how the business of art serves not only to authenticate the legitimate value of a masterwork but also to unmask “the art of the con.”
Falstaff Examining Prince Hal from Henry IV
Oil on canvas, c. 1789
Robert Smirke, R.A.
English, 1752–1845
Understanding the subject matter of a painting deepens one’s understanding and appreciation. In addition, understanding an artwork’s purpose at origination and its pathway to the present can enrich one’s esteem for the piece.
Such is the case for the Museum & Gallery’s painting, Falstaff Examining Prince Hal, by the artist Robert Smirke who memorializes a key scene in William Shakespeare’s play Henry IV (Part 1, Act 2, Scene 4). The wayward Prince Henry V (also known as Prince Harry or Hal) passes time with his drinking companions, listening to a tall tale from the corpulent old Falstaff. In the middle of this conversation a nobleman arrives at the door of the pub to tell Hal that his father, King Henry IV, wishes to see him at the palace the following morning. Hearing that a civil war is brewing, Falstaff offers to help Harry prepare for his audience with the king through role-play. Falstaff pretends to be King Henry IV (who watches this play-acting in the form of a royal portrait on the wall), scolding Hal for his frivolous living and rascal companions. This frozen moment in Shakespeare’s play brilliantly conveys the tension between Prince Harry’s irresponsible past and the expectations of his royal future.
It is fair for viewers of the painting to wonder why Robert Smirke, a member of the Royal Academy of Arts from 1786 to 1813, would choose to illustrate this play (or, indeed, any work by Shakespeare), and the answer points to a unique endeavor in the Golden Age of British art.
One man who became an engine for change was John Boydell (1720-1804). He was an engraver by training, publishing his first book of engravings in 1746, the first year of his own business. Boydell enlarged his business by buying plates from other engravers and selling their prints in addition to his own, a novel approach in his time. He also began importing prints from the Continent, most of which came from French artists (the undisputed masters of engraving at the time). Most pieces Boydell sold illustrated literary subjects and specific events in contemporary history.
Boydell recognized an imbalance between the desirability of British prints compared to French prints, and he set out to change it. He knew there would be no change until British engraving could compete on even footing. To do that, Boydell needed a “truly spectacular” print. He commissioned William Woollett, the leading British engraver of the time, to engrave a specific painting by Richard Wilson. The project was a tremendous success. Within ten years, Britain was exporting more prints than it imported from the Continent.
Success gave Boydell the financial freedom to engage in other projects, and the final two decades of his life were devoted to a massive Shakespeare project (which was the impetus for M&G’s Falstaff Examining Prince Hal painting and many others).
The scope of the project was considerable, having three components. The primary focus was a newly edited and illustrated volume of Shakespeare’s plays. Boydell took on responsibility for the illustrations, while George Steevens, a prominent Shakespeare editor, oversaw the text. Boydell engaged numerous British artists for this undertaking.
The second component in the Shakespeare project was a public gallery of paintings depicting scenes from Shakespeare, employing some of the finest artists of the era (including Joshua Reynolds, Benjamin West, and Henry Fuseli). When the Shakespeare Gallery opened to the public in 1789, it had 34 paintings, growing to a total inventory of between 167 and 170 works. Robert Smirke, the artist behind M&G’s work, contributed 26 paintings, the largest number by any single artist.
The final portion of Boydell’s Shakespeare project was to produce a folio of prints based upon the paintings in the Shakespeare Gallery. It is through this folio that we know the rough inventory of the gallery, of which only about 40 paintings can be confidently identified today.
At this point the larger history of Europe intervenes. Due to the French Revolution and subsequent wars between France and its neighbors, Boydell’s trade with Europe became increasingly difficult. Eventually it fell off almost completely. For his business to survive, Boydell was forced to sell the Shakespeare Gallery, and he was almost bankrupt at the time of his death in December 1804.
The mechanism agreed upon for the sale was a lottery of 22,000 tickets, each costing three guineas. Every purchaser of a ticket was guaranteed to receive a print from Boydell’s stock, valued at a minimum of one guinea; 64 winners would receive more valuable prizes; and one person would win the grand prize of the gallery and its paintings. Although Boydell died before the January 1805 lottery was drawn, he had seen the sale of all 22,000 tickets.
William Tassie, a gem engraver and cameo modeler, won the gallery. Though he was approached with an offer to sell the gallery’s contents, thus preserving the collection, he insisted upon selling the individual paintings at the Christie’s 1805 auction from May 17-20.
Surviving documents illuminate the travels of Smirke’s Falstaff Examines Prince Hal from Day One of that May 1805 auction to its home in the Museum & Gallery collection. In fact, our painting went across the Christie’s sales floor two additional times—in 1830 and again in 1962. Between those sales, it spent 25 years in one private collection and 132 years with multiple generations of another British family. M&G is grateful to be its home, sharing such a storied piece in person and online.
Dr. Stephen B. Jones, M&G volunteer
Bibliography
Boydell, John. The Boydell Shakespeare Prints. Arno Press, 1979.
Shakespeare Illustrated: The Artists, Emory University
Christie’s. Important English Pictures and Drawings: c.1650-c.1960. Christie’s, November 1962. Auction Catalog.
Published 2026
Antiphonary
Italian, 16th century
Below the image, click play to listen.
This object is currently on display in Mack Library.
Below the image, click play to listen.
The Old Master Painting Collection
The Museum & Gallery’s Old Master painting collection provides a rare viewer experience outside European cities and metropolitan areas with beautiful masterworks by recognized artists and their students—all of which are aesthetically exhibited with period furniture, sculpture, and tapestries to lend a period ambiance to the galleries and give patrons a panoramic view of ages past. Of special note, M&G’s baroque paintings represent some of the most important artists and their works in the country.
The Collection is one of the largest and most interesting collections of European Old Master paintings in America. These works of art from the 14th through the 19th centuries beautifully trace the religious, artistic, and cultural history of Western Europe. Included are important works of many major artists such as Vannuccio, Botticelli, Cranach, Gerard David, Rubens, van Dyck, Reni, Domenichino, Guercino, Murillo, Ribera, Honthorst, and Doré. For a glimpse, view this virtual tour.
Patrons can also enjoy M&G’s Bowen Collection of Antiquities with artifacts that span 37 centuries and represent every day life from ancient Egyptian, Roman, and Hebrew cultures; and the Benjamin West Collection, a series of paintings housed in the War Memorial Chapel (on the campus of Bob Jones University).
M&G’s Russian Icon Collection, which dates from the 14th through 20th centuries and includes several icons once owned by members of the Romanov family, the last tsars of Russia.
While not all of the collections are available online, we continue to add more monthly. You can see some of the individual works and objects through articles, short video clips, and audio stops. OR view the variety of Collection objects currently available online here.
Majolica Vases
Glazed terracotta
Italian, 16th or 17th century
Earthenware that has been coated with a white glaze and then decorated with other pigmented glazes was first made in Africa around the 6th century. By the 13th century multi-colored designs were possible. A final clear glaze added luster and insured the pieces were watertight. Large quantities of decorative earthenware were produced in Africa and Spain and passed through ports on the island of Majorca on their way to Italy. Thinking the colorfully painted pieces had originated in Majorca, Italians called them majolica.
By the 16th century, techniques for producing majolica had reached Italy. As would be expected, Italian ceramicists stretched the artistic limits of the medium. Although many early majolica pieces were purely functional and received little decoration, others were elaborately decorated and served as status symbols. In wealthy homes large collections of vibrant dishes, bowls, platters, pitchers, jars, and vases were displayed and used to impress guests.
However, many Renaissance majolica containers were used for storage. In the kitchen, these useful jars stored liquids, grains, nuts, dried fruits and the like. What an apothecary of the period might keep in one can only be imagined. Generally larger majolica containers did not have lids. They usually have a short neck, and the opening has an everted edge, allowing the jar to be covered with cloth, paper, or leather and tied in place over the mouth with a string or strap around the jar’s neck.
Smaller Renaissance majolica containers were rectangular boxes or cylinders with concave sides. The lack of handles permitted them to be stored close together on a shelf, and their shape allowed handling without slipping. Larger vessels were generally spherical or, like M&G’s, ovoid with the smaller end toward the bottom. Today these larger containers are often called majolica vases, though their original purpose wasn’t decorative.
Smaller majolica vases could be picked up by putting hands under the wide part of the vase. M&G’s 15½-inch tall and 13-inch diameter vases are considered large. Each vase weighs nearly 12 lbs. and holds about 4.5 gallons of liquid. A full vase would weigh nearly 50 lbs., which would require considerable strength and balance to lift and carry.
M&G’s Majolica Vases have a 5-inch diameter opening. Although the rounded lips would aid in pouring, the mouth is wide enough for a hand or a ladle to access the contents.
The decoration on M&G’s vases includes white, daisy-like flowers with a blue ring around the darker center. These flowers with scrolling foliage (sometimes protruding through the flower) and swirling, plume-like shapes are common on Italian Renaissance containers. The blue background would have been painted after the design of the floral decoration. The short, irregular white curves were inscribed into the blue areas before it was fired. Because of the stability of the pigments and the clear glaze, the colors are still vibrant.
Prior to the 1800s few European ceramics have an identifying mark or a signature, and it is extremely rare for any Italian Renaissance piece to be signed or dated. Documented provenance would help determine age and origin or perhaps a design with a family crest or istoriato (having a portrait or a historical or biblical image). However, typical of most such pieces, M&G’s vases lack marks and embellishments, and their provenance extends to just under 100 years.
The opinions of museum curators and experts which specialize in the genre are the primary remaining source for information. M&G’s vases have been examined by experts, who believe the vases were made in Sicily during the late 16th or early 17th century.
Renaissance majolica is strong, but it can easily be broken. For a pair of large vases to have endured 400 years is remarkable, especially surviving their practical role and years spent in cellars and storerooms. Today museums proudly display glued-together objects of Italian Renaissance majolica, even if they are missing sections of the piece. M&G’s large and unbroken Majolica Vases are a treasure indeed.
William Pinkston, retired educator and M&G volunteer
Special thanks to students from the Honors Geometry classes of Bob Jones Academy for determining the vase volume and weight.
Published 2023
Pentecost
Oil on canvas
Charles Le Brun
French, 1619–1690
Though perhaps not as well known today, the fame of this French artist outlasted his years for at least a century, if not longer. Charles Le Brun was born February 24, 1619 and died twelve days before his 72nd birthday in 1690.
Le Brun was recognized for his prodigious talent at only 11 years of age, when he was noticed by the Chancellor of France, Louis Seguier. The Chancellor connected Charles with Simon Vouet, one of France’s most important painters of the seventeenth century (and also represented in M&G’s collection by two works, King David Playing the Harp and Salome with the Head of John the Baptist). He furthered his artistic study in Rome under fellow countryman Nicolas Poussin, developing a more classical Baroque style.
Charles had the skill and opportunities to develop political connections with French nobility and royalty, earning commissions and support from the most powerful of the French court. He was one of the twelve founding directors of the French Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, accepting leadership of it under the Sun King, Louis XIV and his powerful advisor, First Minister of State Jean-Baptiste Colbert. Unfortunately, as Charles’ successes increased, he snubbed his teacher Vouet, excluding him from involvement in the academy.
Le Brun’s influence and administrative ability enabled him to direct and determine the style of painting and design from a royal perspective. His texts, theories, and styles would be followed for at least a century. He is credited with making Paris the center of the art world, eclipsing the position first held by Rome. Many other works for which he was responsible as either artist or director are found in the great edifices of Versailles and Vaux-le-Vicomte.
Acquired in 1965, M&G’s Pentecost is a modello or final color study for a large altarpiece of the same subject Le Brun painted for the chapel of the seminary of St. Sulpice (now St Honoré-d’Eylau) in Paris. Engraved copies exist and attest to Le Brun’s ability and popularity. On the middle left, the figure looking out at the viewer is none other than the artist himself—Charles Le Brun, around 37 years old and in the prime of his career. By including himself in this occasion, he not only reveals himself as the artist but also as a disciple inviting the viewer to participate in the event. Le Brun transported the believers and the spectators of the painting to a classical architectural representation of the upper room for the place of the Spirit’s descent.
Christ told His disciples to stay in Jerusalem until the Comforter or the Holy Spirit came. Acts 2 gives account of the fulfillment of Christ’s promise. The coming of the Spirit was the source of comfort and power for the early church to successfully carry out the work that Christ commissioned them to do in Matthew 28:18-20. Pentecost was not only a Jewish feast in the Old Testament, but it was the beginning of the Holy Spirit’s work that continues today. It was more than a historical event. True believers today are also indwelt by the same Spirit and commanded to be Spirit-filled as the apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:18.
As you consider this painting and Le Brun’s invitation, may you also remember his February birthday and the wonderful truths of God’s Word that the Comforter has indeed come. “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” John 14:26.
John Good
M&G volunteer and former M&G docent and Security Manager
Published 2023
St. Sebastian
Oil on panel, c. 1529–30
Andrea d’Agnolo, called del Sarto (studio of)
Florentine, 1486–1530
Andrea d’Agnolo grew up in Florence and was nicknamed del Sarto meaning “of the tailor” after his father’s profession. Like other early Renaissance artists, he initially trained with a goldsmith, then studied under a series of three separate painters until he began producing his own works in 1506. He spent most of his life in Florence—except for a visit to Rome and a brief stint as court painter to King François I at Fontainebleau in 1518.
As the son of a tailor, del Sarto’s works reveal a unique understanding and love of fabrics—even seen in his 1517-1518 Portrait of a Young Man in London’s National Gallery, which may be a self-portrait (on right). Notice the finishes of the puffed sleeve, ruched white undershirt, and the vest’s seam at the shoulder.
Andrea was also influenced by his contemporaries who outlived him: Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael. Once these masters left Florence for other parts of Italy, Andrea became Florence’s leading artist in the early 1500s. He is overlooked in art history; yet he is equal in skill and quality to the three greats, and his works are beautiful and still revered today. Julian Brooks, curator of drawings at the Getty, recognizes del Sarto as the “revolutionary engine of the Renaissance and the transformer of draughtsmanship” due to his careful and creative preparatory drawings, a practice which inspired the next generations of artists to follow.
However, he has been underappreciated, even to the point of his students overshadowing him to become famous including Rosso Fiorentino, Jacopo da Pontormo, and Giorgio Vasari, biographer of contemporary Renaissance artists. Vasari records details about his teacher as related to M&G’s work. A Florentine charitable organization for plague victims, the Company of St. Sebastian commissioned Andrea del Sarto to paint a picture of St. Sebastian, the patron saint for plague victims. He became a member of the Company in February 1529, perhaps as a result of negotiations surrounding the commission. Ironically, shortly after completing the painting in 1530 during Florence’s plague epidemic, del Sarto died from the plague at 44 years old.
Several 17th-century documents list the original St. Sebastian as the property of the Company of St. Sebastian. Publications in 1759 and 1770 mention that the painting moved to the Pitti Palace in Florence. By the early 19th century, writers could no longer trace the location of the original painting—apparently it was removed from the Pitti Palace and lost.
M&G acquired St. Sebastian in 1970 from the former great British collection of the Cook family. In 2005, the National Gallery of Canada requested St. Sebastian to participate in an exhibition, and we sent our work in advance for study and conservation. The conservator Stephen Gritt found, “In its materials and construction, the painting is entirely consistent with one from Sarto’s workshop. The complete absence of any change in the design from the drawing stage on the panel through to the painting would indicate perhaps that the design had reached a point of satisfactory refinement by the time this version was produced. While this may mean that some artist other than Sarto could have painted the work, it does not exclude his participation in its production as a supervisor.”
Regarding del Sarto’s workshop practice, Julian Brooks notes that “Andrea would have been closely involved in the production of all versions, or at least those produced in his workshop during his lifetime, and these were produced side by side in the studio.” He also made, used, and reused partial cartoons.
It is difficult to confidently confirm if M&G’s St. Sebastian is the missing painting by the master, thus the current attribution, studio of Andrea del Sarto. At the least, someone very close to del Sarto painted the work. Found in Italy, Spain, England, and Austria, more than 10 other variants of the St. Sebastian exist. Even so, M&G’s is considered by specialists as the “best surviving reflection of the original.”
Erin R. Jones, Executive Director
Resources:
- Getty: www.getty.edu/art/collection/person/103JXC
- Julian Brooks’ lecture for the 2019 exhibition at the Frick, Andrea del Sarto: The Tailor’s Son and the Making of Masterpieces: www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJSkeIJgdzw
- Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and the Renaissance in Florence, edited by David Franklin
- Andrea del Sarto: The Renaissance Workshop in Action, Julian Brooks with Denise Allen and Xavier F. Salomon
Published 2023
The Virgin Annunciate and The Archangel Gabriel
Oil on canvas, Monogrammed: AV (lower left)
Andrea Vaccaro
Neapolitan, c 1605-1670
Andrea Vaccaro initially trained with the mannerist artist Girolamo Imparato, but was influenced by several other prominent artists of the time: Stanzione, Reni, Ribera, and van Dyck as well as the early Neapolitan Caravaggisti. During his lifetime he was in demand for church altarpieces, public works, and private commissions by the wealthy. According to historian Anna Kiyomi Tuck-Scala, he was elected “first prefetto of the renewed Corporation of Painters” in Naples in 1665, making “him a model religious painter of the period.”
Vaccaro’s pendant paintings portray the moment that the angel Gabriel announces that God has chosen Mary to be the Messiah’s earthly mother, a role that had been aspired to by countless Jewish maidens since the Fall of Man. Traditionally addressed by Gabriel in her bedchamber, Mary is usually reading Scripture, doing needlework. The angel often brings white lilies, signifying Mary’s purity.
Here Vaccaro instead focuses on the two actors. Since the Messiah is God’s Son come to earth to redeem humanity through His life, death, and resurrection, Vaccaro presents His mother as both exquisitely beautiful and devout. The sculptural smoothness of her face and neck, the delicate skin tones and the rich jewel colors of her attire combine to portray her as the ideal daughter of Israel. Though her upraised left hand betrays her startlement, her face remains serene. Being found at her devotions shows a spirit as lovely as her figure. Perhaps she is reading the book of Isaiah where the prophecy of the Messiah’s coming is given? Gabriel’s reverent facial expression reveals him to be cognizant of his role—and his news.
While the figures are on separate canvases, the single light source and the chiaroscuro so associated with Caravaggio unite them in submission to God’s will: he as messenger, Mary as handmaid of the Lord. The earthly and heavenly come together, pre-figuring the Incarnation itself.
Similar works are also attributed to Vaccaro. The Ackland Art Museum at Chapel Hill has a more “standard” Gabriel who holds a stalk of lilies. His hands are the long-fingered Mannerist hands of Vaccaro’s early training. Artnet’s version of Mary’s portrait appears to use the same model as M&G’s, but the addition of the neck drape on M&G’s Mary creates a more elegant, idealized portrait.
The treatment of both Marys’ hands is intriguing. The left hands are similarly posed, but the right hand of Mary in the M&G’s collection (see above) is much fleshier, contrasting with the elongated fingers of the left. According to Riccardo Lattuada, Vaccaro used his monogram (clearly seen on Mary’s book) only during his “first mature stage, 1636-1640.” Perhaps the contrasting hands indicate the artist’s transition from his mannerist roots. If as Marchesa Vittoria Colonna suggests that “contemplation of religious paintings . . . encourage[s] meditation on the kingdom of heaven,” these companion works by Vaccaro indeed picture a beautiful moment in the history of the world—and of eternity—to ponder.
Dr. Karen Rowe Jones, M&G Board Member & volunteer
Sources Cited:
Marchesa Vittoria Colonna, Marchesa Vittoria. The Bob Jones University Collection of Religious Paintings, 1962.
Tuck-Scala, Anna Kiyomi. “The Documented Paintings and Life of Andrea Vaccaro (1604-1670),” 2003.
Published 2022
