Precious Time: The Roman Charity Watch and Case, 1680-1700

Watch and Case
Switzerland, 1680-1700
This and all related images from:
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This watch is housed in a copper gilt case which, along with the timepiece, has been enameled with a variety of Italian scenes including “Roman Charity” and “Lucretia.” Made in Geneva, Switzerland, the movement is signed “Baccuet.” Created between 1680 and 1700, the enameling was done by the family team of Jean Pierre (1655-1723) and Ami Huaud (1657-1724). Their competent enamel work on the scene of “Roman Charity” was based on an engraving by Claude Mellan which itself was after a painting by Simon Vouet. 

Painting of the Day: A View of Snow Hill, Windsor Great Park, 1799

Click image to enlarge.
View of Snow Hill, Windsor Great Park
Benjamin West, 1799
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Benjamin West (1738-1820) is notable as the first American-born artist to gain international renown. He famously was appointed as Historical Painter to King George III and was granted the position of the second President of the Royal Academy.

West was decidedly ambitious and, in many ways, ruthless in his pursuit of prestige. Later in life, both he and his work became affected by a melodramatic grandiosity which was both charming and repulsive.

Upon his death, he left behind a legacy of nearly 750 paintings of which only about thirty were landscapes. Therefore, this canvas from 1799 is particularly special. Entitled, “A View of Snow Hill, Windsor Great Park” depicts West himself, at the left, sketching. He is joined by his friend and companion, James Dyer, a former soldier in the Horse Guards who would later become a life model at the Royal Academy Schools. Furthermore, Dyer served as West's valet for fifty years. This painting is one of a group of seven views in and around Windsor which were created by West. West rented a house in Windsor, circa 1780, in large part because he had been commissioned for a series of paintings in the Royal Chapel in Windsor Castle.

Unusual Artifacts: A Polychrome Wax Model, c. 1791

Click image to wax poetic.

Wax Model
Samuel Percy
The Victoria & Albert Museum

The work of Samuel Percy (1750-1820), this wax model was made around 1791 and was displayed in the famous Racksrow’s Museum in Fleet Street, London. At the museum, it was one of only a few models of daily life amongst a collection of mostly anatomical figures.

The scene depicts a woman with three children who are engaged in playing under an apple tree. One of the children is seated in the tree. Another catches applies in his hat and the third screams and cries because she wants an apple. A landscape of a river has been set against a painted background.

The polychrome wax scene is set into a wooden frame. 

Painting of the Day: Cardplayers in a Sunlit Room, 1658

Cardplayers in a Sunlit Room
Pieter de Hooch, 1658
Acquired by King George IV
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Pieter de Hooch (Rotterdam 1629-Amsterdam 1684), the great Dutch master produced this painting in 1658. Typical of Dutch painting of the era, and also demonstrative of de Hooch’s body of work, the finely rendered composition gives us a glimpse at an interior scene frozen in time.

The piece was acquired by King George IV (1762-1830) in 1825. The painting is notable because it’s illustrative of that brief moment in time when de Hooch and Vermeer were working simultaneously on similar subjects. While similar in approach and style, the two artists—when comparing respective works of this same year—clearly tackled their pieces with different spirits.

De Hooch’s masterful exploration of the quality of light is evident here. The fall of the filtered light on the detailed floor almost gives the composition a sense of being a landscape. This comparison is reinforced by the presence of a landscape on the wall.

This is one of two de Hooch paintings which were recorded in the inventory of King George IV’s personal residence, Carlton House. 

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: A Landscape with a Ruined Castle and a Church, Jacob Van Ruisdael, 1665-70

Landscape with a Ruined Castle and a Church
Jacob Van Ruisdael, 1665-1670
The National Gallery, Britain

Inspired by a view he’d seen in the Dutch town of Haarlem, celebrated landscape painter produced one of his most famous paintings. A Landscape with a Ruined Castle and a Churchwas such a well-received scene that Van Ruisdael repainted the landscape in several smaller versions.

Here, he shows his mastery of composition. The banks of clouds balance the painting while a diagonal slash of sky simultaneously draws the viewer into the painting and stops the viewer’s gaze at the spire of the church as it appears to pierce the sky. Van Ruisdael was careful to give the painting a natural scale. By incorporating the human figures (probably painted by another artist) into the canvas, he’s given us a sense of the epic sweep of the land.

This painting as well as some of the variations on it are on display at the National Gallery in London.

Painting of the Day: Young Man Playing the Violin, c. 1750

Young Man with Violin
From the "Scaramouche Parlour" at Belvedere House
Andien De Clermont, c. 1750
The Victoria & Albert Museum

If you were a wealthy land owner in Britain in the Eighteenth Century (rather as it is now—anywhere), you wanted the people around you to know just how rich and prosperous you were. Your house, your carriage, your horses, your clothes, your jewels—these were all status symbols. But, the real indicator of wealth was your ability to decorate your house. The more you could spend on your interiors, the better you looked. And, the real icing on the decorating cake was the paintings you displayed in your home. Portraits—sure, they were great. But, the best thing of all was to commission a painting of your family in your home. And, even better—a mural, right there on the wall, forever.

Of course, even mural painting was subject to levels or pretension. If you could get a foreign painter—you were the top dog! Painters from France, Italy and the Netherlands were brought into the stately homes of England to adorn the walls with scenes from mythology, allegorical motifs, fantastic designs and bucolic views—most of which would incorporate the visages of the homeowner and his family.

Here we see one such mural which was carefully removed from its original location. Thankfully, the murals were painted on canvas which had been applied to the walls, conveniently allowing them to be removed two centuries later. This is one of a series of 16 panels which were commissioned by Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore, in 1742 to decorate the “Scaramouche Parlour” in his house, Belvedere, in Kent. Each of the panels depicted scenes from the Italian Commedia dell'Arte and showcase the knock-about comedy’s most famous characters: Capitano, Arlecchino, Pulcinella (who, as we know, inspired the English Punch), Pedrolino (later Pierrot) and Colombine. 

The mural group is the work of Andien de Clermont (active 1716-1783), a French artist who arrived in Britain in 1716. Clermont was, certainly, the most avant-garde and highly-inventive decorative artist working in Britain during the Rococo period.

This mural sets the scene for the antics of Pulcinella and his friends. An unnamed young man is depicted playing the violin. He stands in profile in the foreground of a landscape with a grand building showing in the background. To his right are two dancing figures. The whole is en-framed by foliage border.

Painting of the Day: “Diana and Calisto,” Richard Wilson, 1757

Diana and Calisto
Richard Wilson, 1757
The Lady Lever Art Gallery
Liverpool



Painter Richard Wilson adapted the ideals of French Seventeenth Century landscape painting into his canvases which were celebrated for their majesty and tranquility. Here, Wilson depicts a landscape of Lake Nemi in Italy, not far from Rome. Lake Nemi long had an association with the goddess Diana. Diana was said to have seen her reflection in the still lake, and a temple was erected at the spot in her honor.


Wilson alludes to the goddess by including a small figural scene of Diana casting her maid, Calisto, out after discovering the young woman’s pregnancy by Zeus. The figural scene is secondary to the grandeur of the landscape which was applauded wildly when exhibited.

Painting of the Day: A View of Snow Hill, Windsor Great Park, 1799

Click image to enlarge.
View of Snow Hill, Windsor Great Park
Benjamin West, 1799
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Benjamin West (1738-1820) is notable as the first American-born artist to gain international renown. He famously was appointed as Historical Painter to King George III and was granted the position of the second President of the Royal Academy.

West was decidedly ambitious and, in many ways, ruthless in his pursuit of prestige. Later in life, both he and his work became affected by a melodramatic grandiosity which was both charming and repulsive.

Upon his death, he left behind a legacy of nearly 750 paintings of which only about thirty were landscapes. Therefore, this canvas from 1799 is particularly special. Entitled, “A View of Snow Hill, Windsor Great Park” depicts West himself, at the left, sketching. He is joined by his friend and companion, James Dyer, a former soldier in the Horse Guards who would later become a life model at the Royal Academy Schools. Furthermore, Dyer served as West's valet for fifty years. This painting is one of a group of seven views in and around Windsor which were created by West. West rented a house in Windsor, circa 1780, in large part because he had been commissioned for a series of paintings in the Royal Chapel in Windsor Castle.

Print of the Day: Blackheath Park, 1852

Click image to enlarge.Blackheath Park
William Mulready, 1852
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Chances are, you don’t spend as much time poking around the collections of the V&A as I do. Maybe you do. If you were to do so, you’d notice that a good many of the paintings were given to the Victoria & Albert Museum by one John Sheepshanks. Sheepshanks was a hugely prolific collector of art and we owe him a debt of gratitude for his dogged dedication to preserving these masterpieces.

Sheepshanks, being a patron of the arts, enjoyed friendships with many of the greatest artists of the Victorian era. Among them was the Irish-born William Mulready (1786-1863).

Mulready created this piece in 1852, especially for Sheepshanks. The painting depicts the view across the park from the gate of John Sheepshank’s commodious home in Blackheath, South London. Sheepshanks loved this view of fields, trees and water and was especially pleased with the painting which a critic described as “a refreshing green bit of nature.”

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: Landscape with Donkey, 1846

Landscape with Donkey
E.J. Verboeckhoven
Belgium, 1846
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Belgian painter Eugène Joseph Verboeckhoven (1798-1881) was learned the principles of art at the knee of his father, the sculptor Barthélemy Verboeckhoven. Later, he attended the Ghent Academy where he was a pupil of the landscape painter Balthasar-Paul Ommeganck (1755-1826). By 1827, the artist had become the director of the Musée de Bruxelles and later a teacher at the Académie Royale.

Verboeckhoven was known for his careful depictions of animals silhouetted against flat landscapes. This painting from 1846 is an excellent example of his style. Here, we see a donkey set against a white and blue sky. This same donkey appears in several of Verboeckhoven’s compositions. Obviously, he was a favorite subject of the artist.

Painting of the Day: Young Man Playing the Violin, c. 1750

Young Man with Violin
From the "Scaramouche Parlour" at Belvedere House
Andien De Clermont, c. 1750
The Victoria & Albert Museum

If you were a wealthy land owner in Britain in the Eighteenth Century (rather as it is now—anywhere), you wanted the people around you to know just how rich and prosperous you were. Your house, your carriage, your horses, your clothes, your jewels—these were all status symbols. But, the real indicator of wealth was your ability to decorate your house. The more you could spend on your interiors, the better you looked. And, the real icing on the decorating cake was the paintings you displayed in your home. Portraits—sure, they were great. But, the best thing of all was to commission a painting of your family in your home. And, even better—a mural, right there on the wall, forever.

Of course, even mural painting was subject to levels or pretension. If you could get a foreign painter—you were the top dog! Painters from France, Italy and the Netherlands were brought into the stately homes of England to adorn the walls with scenes from mythology, allegorical motifs, fantastic designs and bucolic views—most of which would incorporate the visages of the homeowner and his family.

Here we see one such mural which was carefully removed from its original location. Thankfully, the murals were painted on canvas which had been applied to the walls, conveniently allowing them to be removed two centuries later. This is one of a series of 16 panels which were commissioned by Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore, in 1742 to decorate the “Scaramouche Parlour” in his house, Belvedere, in Kent. Each of the panels depicted scenes from the Italian Commedia dell'Arte and showcase the knock-about comedy’s most famous characters: Capitano, Arlecchino, Pulcinella (who, as we know, inspired the English Punch), Pedrolino (later Pierrot) and Colombine. 

The mural group is the work of Andien de Clermont (active 1716-1783), a French artist who arrived in Britain in 1716. Clermont was, certainly, the most avant-garde and highly-inventive decorative artist working in Britain during the Rococo period.

This mural sets the scene for the antics of Pulcinella and his friends. An unnamed young man is depicted playing the violin. He stands in profile in the foreground of a landscape with a grand building showing in the background. To his right are two dancing figures. The whole is en-framed by foliage border.

Masterpiece of the Week: “Sportsmen in the Dunes,” Jan Wijnants, 1669

Masterpiece of the Week: “Sportsmen in the Dunes,” Jan Wijnants, 1669

Sportsmen in the Dunes
Jan Wijnants, 1669
Acquired by King George III
The Royal Collection

King George III’s much-documented love of collecting was not limited to English and French design. He also amassed an impressive array of Dutch paintings. Dutch painters of the Seventeenth Century were celebrated for their dramatic landscape paintings. King George III seemed to favor these epic compositions. Jan Wijnants’ 1669 canvas, Sportsmen in the Dunes is the perfect example of the grand landscape work of the Dutch.


When one thinks of Dutch landscape painting, the mind automatically conjures images of windmills. Windmills were, indeed, a common theme in Dutch painting. However, equally common were depictions of sand dunes. Both windmills and dunes were symbols of Dutch pride in their nationality and their ability to maintain their land. Here, Wijnants emphasizes the importance of the dunes by showing how they block the sea. A toppled tree adds drama to the scene and reinforces the idea that these dunes are protecting the land from the violence of natural forces. The large, dominant tree which rises in the center of the canvas shows that the land has been triumphant against the dangers of the sea. Meanwhile, the figures of the men are painted to show their wealth and prosperous nature—proving that man holds dominion over the land. Wijnants’ strength was the painting of the landscapes themselves and it is well known that he often employed other artists to paint human figures into his scenes.

Such a scene would be attractive to King George III who, himself, worried about issues of domination and threats of many kinds to his kingdom. Such a victorious painting would have offered comfort during trying times. It’s no wonder that he found this painting to be so inspirational. 

Object of the Day: Landscape with a Waterfall, early 19th C.

Oil Painting
After Pynacker
The Victoria & Albert Museum

The Dutch Italianates, a group of “Netherlandish” artists, were known for their monumental landscape paintings which demonstrated an intimate knowledge of Italy. The group thrived from the 1650s onward. Adam Pynacker (1615-1673) was a major force within the group and his works of misty waterfalls combined the ideals of Italian landscape paintings with the themes favored by Seventeenth Century Dutch painters.

This wooded landscape with a waterfall and atmospheric hills, at first glance, gives the impression of being the work of Pynacker, but closer inspection reveals a lack of Pynacker’s usual attention to detail, light and shadow. Still an attractive painting, this landscape is devoid of the atmospheric touches which were the hallmarks of Pynacker’s hand. Probably dating to the early Nineteenth Century, this painting is clearly the work of an artist who was trying to master the style of the Dutch Italianates. While it falls short, and wants a certain depth, the ambitious composition is an interesting study in its own right.

Unusual Artifacts: A Polychrome Wax Model, c. 1791

Click image to wax poetic.
Wax Model
Samuel Percy
The Victoria & Albert Museum

The work of Samuel Percy (1750-1820), this wax model was made around 1791 and was displayed in the famous Racksrow’s Museum in Fleet Street, London. At the museum, it was one of only a few models of daily life amongst a collection of mostly anatomical figures.

The scene depicts a woman with three children who are engaged in playing under an apple tree. One of the children is seated in the tree. Another catches applies in his hat and the third screams and cries because she wants an apple. A landscape of a river has been set against a painted background.

The polychrome wax scene is set into a wooden frame. 

The Home Beautiful: The Copeland Ewer, 1850

Porcelain Ewer
W. T. Copeland, 1850
Stoke-on-Trent, England
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Made in 1850 by the famed firm of W.T. Copeland of Stoke-on-Trent, England, this ornate ewer--in the classical shape associated with the French Renaissance--was not created to be used, but was rather meant primarily as a decorative object. In fact, this special piece was truly made as a means of demonstrating the proficiency and skill of Copeland’s modelers and decorators. The vessel boasts handsome Italian landscape scenes on each side. Copeland's chief painter, Daniel Lucas, is responsible for these handsome landscapes which nod at Eighteenth Century French porcelain.

Perhaps this ewer was a prototype for some of the pieces which Copeland displayed at the Great Exhibition of 1851. Copeland enjoyed considerable success at the Crystal Palace. There, the firm was awarded a prize medal for the “general excellence” of its fine porcelain. Of particular note was a vase with similar gilt ornamentation and landscape scenes which garnered much praise. For the next fifty-one years, this lovely ewer was in the collection of London’s Museum of Practical Geology before being transferred, along with a host of other objects, to the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1901. The Museum of Practical Geology listed the piece in its 1855 catalogue of pottery and porcelain as “a single-handled porcelain vase, gilt and painted with landscapes.” The ground color was described as “The Queen’s Lilac.” 

Masterpiece of the Week: “Diana and Calisto,” Richard Wilson, 1757

Diana and Calisto
Richard Wilson, 1757
The Lady Lever Art Gallery
Liverpool



Painter Richard Wilson adapted the ideals of French Seventeenth Century landscape painting into his canvases which were celebrated for their majesty and tranquility. Here, Wilson depicts a landscape of Lake Nemi in Italy, not far from Rome. Lake Nemi long had an association with the goddess Diana. Diana was said to have seen her reflection in the still lake, and a temple was erected at the spot in her honor.


Wilson alludes to the goddess by including a small figural scene of Diana casting her maid, Calisto, out after discovering the young woman’s pregnancy by Zeus. The figural scene is secondary to the grandeur of the landscape which was applauded wildly when exhibited.

Painting of the Day: A Landscape with a Ruined Castle and a Church, Jacob Van Ruisdael, 1665-70

Landscape with a Ruined Castle and a Church
Jacob Van Ruisdael, 1665-1670
The National Gallery, Britain

Inspired by a view he’d seen in the Dutch town of Haarlem, celebrated landscape painter produced one of his most famous paintings. A Landscape with a Ruined Castle and a Churchwas such a well-received scene that Van Ruisdael repainted the landscape in several smaller versions.


Here, he shows his mastery of composition. The banks of clouds balance the painting while a diagonal slash of sky simultaneously draws the viewer into the painting and stops the viewer’s gaze at the spire of the church as it appears to pierce the sky. Van Ruisdael was careful to give the painting a natural scale. By incorporating the human figures (probably painted by another artist) into the canvas, he’s given us a sense of the epic sweep of the land.

This painting as well as some of the variations on it are on display at the National Gallery in London.

Unfolding Pictures: The English Garden Fan, 1760-1770

Click image to see startlingly large grapes.
Hand Fan
England, 1760-1770
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Scenes of lush, elegant English gardens were considered suitable and fashionable adornment for hand fans in the late Eighteenth Century. Take, for example, this one, made between 1760 and 1770, which offers a lovely vignette of such a garden populated by a ruined classical colonnade as well as a folly in the shape of a pyramid. It’s quite possible that his folly is also an icehouse.

What’s curious about this fan, making it unlike other British fans of the era, is the fact that the central vignette of the landscape is surrounded by a strangely disproportionate still-life of grapes, peacocks and a spaniel. Still, it’s an attractive fan and in remarkable condition when one considers its age. The leaf is made of vellum and the guards and sticks of carved, painted and gilt ivory.

Painting of the Day: A Landscape with a Ruined Castle and a Church, Jacob Van Ruisdael, 1665-70

Landscape with a Ruined Castle and a Church
Jacob Van Ruisdael, 1665-1670
The National Gallery, Britain

Inspired by a view he’d seen in the Dutch town of Haarlem, celebrated landscape painter produced one of his most famous paintings. A Landscape with a Ruined Castle and a Churchwas such a well-received scene that Van Ruisdael repainted the landscape in several smaller versions.


Here, he shows his mastery of composition. The banks of clouds balance the painting while a diagonal slash of sky simultaneously draws the viewer into the painting and stops the viewer’s gaze at the spire of the church as it appears to pierce the sky. Van Ruisdael was careful to give the painting a natural scale. By incorporating the human figures (probably painted by another artist) into the canvas, he’s given us a sense of the epic sweep of the land.

This painting as well as some of the variations on it are on display at the National Gallery in London.

Painting of the Week: “Sportsmen in the Dunes,” Jan Wijnants, 1669

Sportsmen in the Dunes
Jan Wijnants, 1669
Acquired by King George III
The Royal Collection

King George III’s much-documented love of collecting was not limited to English and French design. He also amassed an impressive array of Dutch paintings. Dutch painters of the Seventeenth Century were celebrated for their dramatic landscape paintings. King George III seemed to favor these epic compositions. Jan Wijnants’ 1669 canvas, Sportsmen in the Dunes is the perfect example of the grand landscape work of the Dutch.


When one thinks of Dutch landscape painting, the mind automatically conjures images of windmills. Windmills were, indeed, a common theme in Dutch painting. However, equally common were depictions of sand dunes. Both windmills and dunes were symbols of Dutch pride in their nationality and their ability to maintain their land. Here, Wijnants emphasizes the importance of the dunes by showing how they block the sea. A toppled tree adds drama to the scene and reinforces the idea that these dunes are protecting the land from the violence of natural forces. The large, dominant tree which rises in the center of the canvas shows that the land has been triumphant against the dangers of the sea. Meanwhile, the figures of the men are painted to show their wealth and prosperous nature—proving that man holds dominion over the land. Wijnants’ strength was the painting of the landscapes themselves and it is well known that he often employed other artists to paint human figures into his scenes.

Such a scene would be attractive to King George III who, himself, worried about issues of domination and threats of many kinds to his kingdom. Such a victorious painting would have offered comfort during trying times. It’s no wonder that he found this painting to be so inspirational.