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Tag Archives: oil on canvas

Object of the Month: June 2026

Sarah Taken to Pharoah’s House

Oil on canvas

Guillaume Courtois, called Il Borgognone

French (active in Italy), 1628-1679

There is little definitive documentation on Guillaume Courtois, the French painter of this vibrant High Baroque painting. We do know that he came from a family of painters; thus, his earliest training may have been under his father Jean-Pierre Courtois. Around 1636, however, Guillaume and his teenage brother Jacques left France (which had been devastated by the Thirty Years’ War) for Italy. According to some sources they spent time in Bologna, Florence, and Siena before settling in Rome in 1638.

At this time, artists were “pouring in from all over Europe to settle in the city [of Rome]. They all came to learn. Few came with prestigious contracts or appointments in their pockets. Most of them relied for work on the support of the most firmly established national communities (the French, the Dutch, and the Flemish). It was a disconcertingly, rich human panorama that offered an unprecedented opportunity for meetings, exchanges of opinion, and parallel developments of styles” (Zuffi, p. 64). In this eclectic environment both brothers flourished. Jacques went on to become a popular battle-scene painter, Guillaume a painter of religious and mythological scenes.

During his first few years in Rome, Guillaume devoted himself to studying and copying the works of prominent Roman artists like Giovanni Lanfranco and Andrea Sacchi. There is no record of his ever being trained by a specific master; though several historians suggest that he may have been a pupil of Pietro da Cortona in the 1650s. Others reject that claim. Regardless, in this work we do see the brilliant coloration, exaggerated movement, and theatrical “staging” typical of Cortona’s mythological scenes.

Notice how the saturated colors of the soldiers’ accoutrement (brilliant gold shield, silvery cuirasses, red sword sheath, and cloak) provide a vivid contrast to the soft hues of Sarah’s costuming. She is obviously the focal point of the picture. Her strong diagonal body position, sweeping gestures, and backward glance toward her husband Abraham are all in opposition to the soldiers’ dynamic movement toward the “castle-like” structure on the left. This is indeed an unfolding drama, illustrating what art historians like John Canaday describe as the “swooning emotionalism” of the High Baroque style. Although Courtois’ stylistic technique certainly adds power and beauty to the visual narrative, the Biblical text on which the painting is based is far more nuanced in unfolding the narrative’s historical and spiritual context.

In Genesis 12:9-28, Abraham is not a “background figure” but the catalyst for the narrative’s action. While journeying toward Canaan, the patriarch and his entourage encounter a severe famine. Rather than trust God’s continued provision, Abraham decides to “go down to Egypt.” But before entering this potentially hostile territory, he instructs his wife Sarah to equivocate regarding their relationship, explaining to her his rationale: “You are a beautiful woman, and I fear that when the Egyptians see you, they will learn that you are my wife, kill me, and let you live. Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared.” As expected, Pharoah’s officials did indeed take note of Sarah and praise her beauty to Pharaoh who (believing she was Abraham’s sister) took her into his harem and treated Abraham well for her sake. However, God’s judgment on the unsuspecting Pharaoh and his household was swift, and he soon discerned that Abraham had lied. Summoning the patriarch he demanded, “What is this you have done unto me? Why did you not tell me that she was thy wife? I might have taken her to me to wife: now therefore, . . . take her, and go thy way.” His actions had not only failed to provide refuge during the famine but won him a powerful enemy further complicating his situation! It was a valuable lesson.

Fig. 1 Adoration of the Magi

In the 1660s Guillaume moved toward a more Classical style of painting. During this stage in his career, he produced numerous preparatory studies for each work, generally drawn in red or black chalk. The preparatory sketch for the Adoration of the Magi illustrates not only the artist’s stylistic shift but also his considerable skill as a draughtsman. This study was completed for an engraving reproduced in a missal book printed in Rome in 1662. Such books (many of which are now lost) often included engravings by leading Italian painters of the time. Peter Vergo notes that Guillaume Courtois “shows himself to be a draughtsman of great distinction. His style of drawing is much enriched in his final years through the use of several colored chalk drawings upon tinted paper. Thereby providing pastel-like effects. His development broke off at its climax. He died at the age of 51.”

 

 

Donnalynn Hess, Director of Education

 

Works Cited:

John Canaday. Metropolitan Seminars in Art: Great Periods in Painting. Metropolitan Museum of Art Publications. 1959.

Ian Chilvers. Concise Dictionary of Art and Artists, 3rd edition. Oxford University Press. 2003.

Hanno-Walter Kruft. “Drawings by Borgognone and Baciccia in the Dusseldorf Kupoferstichkabinett,” The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 119, No. 887 (Feb., 1977).

Stefano, Zuffi (Ed.). Baroque Painting: Twenty Centuries of Masterpieces from the Era Preceding the Dawn of Modern Art. Electa. 1999.

 

Published 2026

An Angel Appearing to Hagar in the Wilderness, Lodovico Gimignani

Roman painter Lodovico Gimignani came from a family of painters. In this moving work, we see the simplicity of design and composition that typified his fresco style.

Object of the Month: May 2026

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

 

You can see this painting in person in M&G’s current exhibition, Who Needs Shakespeare?, on view in the Gustafson Fine Arts Center on the campus of Bob Jones University.

 

Bibliography

Boydell, John. The Boydell Shakespeare Prints. Arno Press, 1979.

Shakespeare Illustrated: The Artists, Emory University

Christie’s. Catalogue of the That Magnificent and Truly Valuable Collection of Pictures, the Productions of the Great Artists of the British School Known as the Collection of The Shakespeare Gallery, Formed under the Spirited Directions, and with Unbounded Expence, by Those Distinguished Promoters of the Fine Arts, the Messrs. Boydell’s. Christie’s May 17, 1805, Auction Catalog.

Christie’s. Important English Pictures and Drawings: c.1650-c.1960. Christie’s, November 1962. Auction Catalog.

 

 

Published 2026

Object of the Month: March 2026

St. Veronica

Oil on canvas

Claude Vignon

French, 1593-1670

The legend of St. Veronica is a tangled one. Whether she is based on a woman named Berenice, the woman with the issue of blood, or merely a weeping woman of Jerusalem, the important thing is that there is no Biblical foundation to her story. Veronica is said to be a widow who pitied the Savior and offered Him her veil to wipe His sweaty, bloodstained face. He accepted, and when He returned the veil, it bore His likeness.

In the world of art, her iconography includes the face-imprinted cloth, as in M&G’s painting by Claude Vignon. The religious have long sought relics of biblical personages. This veil with its miracle-produced image is considered the vera icon or “true image” to distinguish it from all other images of Christ. Over time the cloth became known as a veronica (also a sudarium) and the woman as “Veronica.”

Luke 23:28 states that Christ tells the mourning women following Him to Calvary, “Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.” These are not the devoted Galilean women; these are women of Jerusalem who doubtless heard of or even participated in the mob cry, “Let his blood be upon us and our children” outside Pilate’s palace. Christ denies their pity for Himself; His death is a permanent payment for sin, but He will rise again. Instead, He confronts them with the consequences of their nation’s rejection of the Son of God (Luke 23:29-30). Whether He foretells the cruel Roman destruction of Jerusalem (A.D. 70) or the ultimate judgment of the earth when the Jews recognize fully their sin in rejecting Him (Revelation 6:16) or both destructions, Jesus’ words point up the irony that their sympathy should lie with the living, not the soon-dead, innocent One (the “green tree” in Luke 23:31).

Vignon painted another work with a veronica, this time with angels holding the cloth. It is intriguing to consider the variations of the face of Christ. M&G’s St. Veronica depicts a corpse-like appearance similar to a death mask with a face drained of color, eyes closed, and a marked lack of blood from both the crown of thorns and the soldiers’ abuse. It is clearly not a true image of Christ on His way to Calvary, though His blood loss must have been severe. However, the visage on the cloth that the two angels display is much more like the face the women saw—a man abused, yet fully aware. Why Vignon painted such different versions of the vera icon, aside from being ironic, is a mystery.

Two Angels Presenting the Holy Face, Claude Vignon
Musee des Beaux-Arts, Rouen, France

The vibrant colors and use of chiaroscuro suggest the influence of the Caravaggisti that Vignon encountered in Rome during his travels. The different coloring between these two works highlights the variety that is found in Vignon’s style in general and causes the viewer to understand the validity of one critic’s comment that “a wealth of hues plays a large part in the poetry of the work of Claude Vignon.”

He was employed by King Louis XIII as well as Cardinal Richelieu, commissions that speak to his skill and popularity. A man of varied talents (painter, etcher, and art salesman), Vignon drew together the influences of Mannerism, Colorism, Caravaggism, and even of Rembrandt and produced works that mark him as “one of the most important and most distinctive French painters of his generation.”

 

Dr. Karen Rowe Jones, M&G Board Member

 

Published 2026

Moses Ordaining Aaron and His Sons into the Priesthood, Benjamin West

This beautiful modello preserves the near final version of one of Benjamin West’s lost paintings.

 

To learn more about the entire series to which this study image belongs, visit here.

God’s Covenant with Noah, Unknown Roman

This work by an unknown 17th-century Italian painter beautifully unfolds the message of unmerited grace offered to mankind by a holy God.

The Adoration of the Shepherds, Pier Francesco Sacchi

In this lovely Adoration of the Shepherds we see one of the worshipers playing a musical instrument–an instrument used for village celebrations during the painter’s lifetime.

Object of the Month: November 2025

The Triumph of David

Oil on canvas, c. 1630s

Jacopo Vignali

Florentine, 1592-1664

Italian art scholar Howard Hibbard once observed, “Florentine seventeenth-century art has a fascination and beauty worthy of our attention: it is a sensuously colorful and romantic school of painting, sometimes even magical or mystical.” The Museum & Gallery’s Triumph of David by Jacopo Vignali is a case in point. Described as one the most “poetic and sensitive” of the Florentine painters, Vignali began his career at 13 under the tutelage of Matteo Rosselli. In his early twenties he joined several other noteworthy artists in the decoration of the Casa Buonarotti—the most important commission in Florence at that time. By his early thirties, he was not only a member of the Academy but also one of the leading artists in Florence.

Rosselli’s superb tutelage provided Vignali with the technical and artistic skills necessary for his later success. However, as Vignali’s style matured, he became more eclectic, incorporating Counter-Mannerism with the grandeur, drama, and emotional intensity of the emerging Baroque aesthetic. This diversity is clearly apparent in The Triumph of David.

Seventeenth-century paintings on the life of David had been prevalent since the 15th century when the innovative, stunning sculptures of Donatello, Verrocchio, and later Michelangelo elevated this biblical figure into a civic symbol. Interestingly, our M&G painting was originally attributed to Vignali’s teacher Rosselli. Joan Nissman notes: “The answer to this problem of attribution, as Del Bravo suggests, seems to be that it is an early work painted while Vignali was still under the influence of his master. Vignali, in this painting, shares his master’s solid and smooth technique as well as his concern for details of costume.” However, a comparison of Rosselli’s treatment of the subject [fig. 1] with Vignali’s highlights why Carlo del Bravo’s attribution of the work to Vignali (rather than Rosselli) has now won general acceptance.

fig. 1 THE TRIUMPH OF DAVID, Matteo Rosselli

Notice that in Rosselli’s rendering we see the coloration, composition, and scale indicative of the classical Baroque style popularized by the Carracci. In contrast, Vignali’s more dynamic composition, vivid coloration, and careful use of scale reflect his mature style which favored the integration of Counter-Mannerist techniques with the dramatic realism of Baroque naturalism. For example, High Mannerist paintings were often characterized by strained poses, distortion of the human form, crowded compositions, garish coloration, and unusual (sometimes bizarre) elements of scale.

In this scene, however, Vignali manipulates these common characteristics to create a “restrained” but equally dramatic effect. For example, the composition is “crowded” but the poses elegant, the figures without distortion. The coloration is vivid but not garish, carefully integrated to create focus and highlight the triumphant mood of the scene (e.g., David’s bright red stockings draw the eye to Goliath’s head while the bright red sleeves of the woman’s costume create an implied horizontal line that guides the viewer’s eye back to the hero’s face).

Vignali also carefully manipulates scale. The extreme elongation of the sword and the enormous head of Goliath subtly serve to reinforce the power of the biblical narrative. Scripture notes that Goliath was about 9 feet tall, and although we are not told specifically how much his sword weighed, we do know that the head of his spear weighed about 15 pounds! In addition, the soft modeling of the faces, the contemporary dress, and the morbidly gruesome severed head highlight Baroque naturalism’s penchant not just for realism but also for the “bizarre and strident” (David Steel).

Although Vignali’s contributions to the early Baroque period are significant, he remains less well-known than either his teacher Matteo Rosselli or his most famous student Carlo Dolci. Joan Nissman attributes this lack of name recognition to the fact that, unlike Roselli and Dolci, the great seventeenth-century Florentine biographer, Filippo Baldinucci, did not write of Vignali’s life. Regardless, this work has long been praised as one of the finest treatments of The Triumph of David ever produced.

 

Donnalynn Hess, Director of Education

 

Works Cited:
Steel, David, Baroque Paintings from the Bob Jones University Collection. North Carolina Museum of Art.1984.
Hibbard, Howard and Nissman, Joan, Florentine Baroque Art from American Collections. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1969.

 

Published 2025

Object of the Month: October 2025

The Trial of Queen Catherine

Oil on canvas, 1880; signed lower left

Laslett John Pott, RBA

English, 1837–1898

 

The Victorian period is known for its diverse richness as an era of scientific and technological innovation, industry, the development of the novel, the rise of the middle class, incredible social reforms, the expansion of the British empire, and . . . the golden age of English painting.

For us to appreciate the breadth and influence of art during the time, Denys Brook-Hart writes, “the galaxy of artistic talent and endeavour which rose to its peak in the 19th century in Britain had not previously been rivalled in any other country or period. For proof of sheer quantity one needs only to mention the 25,000 professional artists who exhibited in London alone. For quality it is amply sufficient to quote the names of Turner and Constable in their places at the head of a long list of distinguished and truly marvellous artists, many of whom had the rank of genius.”

While being a member and/or an exhibitor of the Royal Academy (founded during King George III’s reign) was considered the height of honor, many other art societies developed before and during Victoria’s rule to train and exhibit artists. Approved by King George IV in 1824, the Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) was organized and began to exhibit annually. Painter Laslett John Pott later became an elected member.

Pott was a child prodigy. Biographers Clare Erskine Clement and Laurence Hutton relate that he “drew cleverly when not more than five years old.” His skill, particularly as a history painter, gave him opportunity to exhibit at least 40 paintings at London’s Royal Academy, beginning in 1860 when he was only twenty-three and including M&G’s painting, The Trial of Queen Catherine in 1880.

Here, Pott conflates two parts of the historical telling into one scene. According to the eyewitness account of Cardinal Wolsey’s gentleman-usher and biographer George Cavendish, Catherine was called to appear before the Legatine Court at Blackfriars where Henry sat upon a canopied dais to watch. Rather than addressing the court, which she felt would legitimize their purpose, she made a rational and impassioned appeal on knee to her seated husband only, then arose, curtsied to the king, and left the hall. The council summoned her to return, but she refused on the grounds that they had already decided against her. Cavendish recounts that later Wolsey met with Catherine for further discussion; however, she strongly and loudly rebuked him for his action motivated by political ambition.

The painting dramatizes the nobility of Catherine of Aragon. She holds her skirt as if she has just risen from kneeling and is preparing to leave after she finishes confronting those from church and state who would declare her marriage of twenty-four years to Henry VIII void—namely, Cardinal Wolsey (standing at the table) and the pope’s emissary, Cardinal Lorenzo Campeggio (seated).

Catherine, the youngest daughter of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, had married Arthur, heir to England’s throne, when she was fifteen. Four months later she was a widow. When she married the next heir to the throne, Henry, she was twenty-three, he only eighteen. Her primary duty as queen, to produce a male heir, was tragically unsuccessful; although she bore six children, none except Mary lived longer than a few months.

Henry argued that the marriage was null since he had violated church law by marrying his brother’s widow, although the pope had granted approval for the marriage. Now desperate for a male heir and enamored with the young Anne Boleyn, the king pressured Wolsey and Campeggio to convince Catherine to agree to their demands. After her refusal, Henry took matters into his own hands and declared himself, not the pope, head of the Church in England, annulled the marriage, and married Anne (who only produced a daughter—Elizabeth). Of course, Henry in pursuit of a male heir found reasons to escape his marriage to Anne, then Jane Seymour, and three subsequent wives.

 

Erin R. Jones, Executive Director

 

Sources:

Johnson, Jane. Works Exhibited at the Royal Academy of British Artists 1824-1893 and the New English Art Club 1888-1917w:  An Antique Collectors’ Club Research Project. 1974

Erskine, Clara and Hutton, Laurence. Artists of the Nineteenth Century and Their Works. A Handbook Containing Two Thousand and Fifty Biographical Sketches. Boston, 1875

Graves, Algernon. A Dictionary of Artists Who Have Exhibited Works in the Principal London Exhibitions of Oil Paintings from 1760 to 1880. 1884.

 

Published 2025

The Holy Family with St. John the Baptist: Michel Corneille, the Younger

In this beautifully tranquil scene, Michel Corneille includes a variety of traditional symbols highlighting Christ’s sacrifice for our sin.

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