Adriano Goby Art

This lavish portrait, painted circa 1695, is an exquisite example of the type of portrait in vogue during the last quarter of the seventeenth century. It is evident that the artist ...

This elegant portrait, presented by Titan Fine Art, depicts a beautiful young lady seated in a wooded area, resting one arm on a rock, before a landscape and a warm evening sky. She is wearing a white smock under russet-coloured silks, loosely held in place by an immense black diamond clasp on the sleeve, and her body is enveloped in a voluptuous swag of azure silk; the costly fabrics and jewels reveal that the sitter was a paragon of a wealthy and privileged society that she belonged to. Much of the attractiveness of this portrait resides in its graceful composition and the beauty of the youthful sitter. The flowing water in the left margin of the picture and the shell that she holds are compositional devises often used at the time to allude to her potential as wife and mother, recalling Proverbs, Chapter 5, Verse 18: “Let thye fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of thye youth”. Symbolism was a key component to many works of this period and contemporary viewers would have deciphered them immediately. Such images exude a sense of status and Augustan decorum, and were highly influential in transmitting these values into the first half of the eighteenth century. Held in a good quality and condition gilded antique frame. Herman Verelst was from a great dynasty of painters, with many members achieving great success. Specialising in portraits and still life paintings, he was one of the legions of foreign-born artists working in England at the time. Today, many of his pictures are given to other artists or are simply relegated to that term “circle of” which is a great disservice because he had an ability to render faces and drapery on par with some of the best artists at the time. Herman’s work is quite distinctive in the way he rendered faces and this particular pose was a favourite. His faces were portrayed with great skill often using the sfumato technique which gave them a very smooth feel to the skin with no hard lines, and many known works by him show that he could also render drapery with great affect. Our painting was painted in the 1690’s. His father, Pieter Hermansz Verelst...

Presented by Titan Fine Art, this painting formed part of a historic collection of an English aristocratic family, Lord and Lady Sandys at their magnificent baroque and Regency Grade-I listed family home, Ombersley Court. The house was among the most fascinating survivals of its kind in this country. The atmospheric interiors were distinguished above all for the works of art associated with two key moments in national history. The collection was acquired or commissioned over five centuries and remained at Ombersley Court until its recent sale, the first in 294 years. This portrait hung in the Grand Hall. This exquisite grand manner work is an evocative example of the type of portrait in vogue during a large part of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The artist has depicted an elegant lady, three quarter length and seated on porch with a luxurious crimson swag curtain by her side. The clothing – known as “undress” at the time, consists of red silk fastened at the front and sleeves by large gold and diamond jewels over a simple white chemise. In her lap she holds a blue wrap and in her other hand, at her chest, she clutches the end of a sheer gauzy scarf that has been draped around her body with the other end a type of headdress – this type of sheer scarf was often employed by Wissing in his portraits. The classical architecture signifies cultivation and sophistication and the luxurious swag curtain is a signifier of wealth. The portrait can be dated to circa 1680 based on the sitter’s attire, the “hurluberlu” hairstyle, and other portraits by Wissing using the same formula. This oil on canvas portrait has been well cared for over its life, which spans almost 350 years. Having recently been treated to remove an obscuring discoloured varnish, the finer details and proper colour can now be fully appreciated. Once owned by Evesham Abbey, the manor of Ombersley was acquired by the Sandys family in the early 1600s, when Sir Samuel Sandys, the eldest son of Edwin Sandys, Bishop of Worcester and later Archbishop of York, took a lease on the manor, before receiving an outright grant in 1614. The present house, Ombersley Court, dates from the time of Samuel, 1st Lord Sandys, between 1723 and 1730. The house itself is a fine example of an English Georgian country house set in rolling countryside and surrounded by Wellingtonias, planted to commemorate the Battle of Waterloo by Arthur Hill, 2nd Baron Sandys, who played a distinguished part in the battle and was one of the Duke of Wellington’s aides de camp. The Duke also stayed in the house and in the Great Hall, was the Waterloo banner which was brought to the house by Sir Arthur Hill, aide-de-camp to the Duke of Wellington, who succeeded his mother, the Marchioness of Downshire as 2nd Lord Sandys. Further Waterloo memorabilia are kettle drums from battle. The family had a strong tradition of military and political service, dating back to the 17th century, and this was also reflected in the fine collection of portraits and paintings in the house. In short, Ombersley represented a vital aspect of British history. The house and more especially the collection were of the greatest historical importance. Houses that have remained in the possession of the same family for as many as three centuries have become increasingly rare. Through this portrait, collectors have a chance to acquire a piece of British history and an evocative vestige of a glittering way of life, which is now gone. Much of the attractiveness of this portrait resides in its graceful manner and the utter beauty of the youthful sitter. Presented in a beautiful carved and gilded period frame, which is a work of art in itself. Willem Wissing was a Dutch artist who enjoyed a solid artistic training at The Hague under Arnold van Ravesteyn (c.1650-1690) and Willem Dougijns (1630-1697). He came to London in 1676 and most probably joined the studio or Sir Peter Lely as an assistant that same year. After Lely’s death in 1680 he effectively took over his business and he scaled the heights of patronage with extraordinary ease, creating an independent practise in 1687, and painted for very important aristocratic patrons. King Charles II was so impressed by a portrait Wissing painted of his son, the Duke of Monmouth, in 1683 that he commissioned his own portrait and that of his Queen Catherine...

Titan Fine Art present this striking portrait, which was painted by one of the most talented artists working in England during the last half of the 17th century, John Greenhill. Gre...

During the Counter-Reformation, the traditional cult of saints was encouraged, and spiritual exercises were recommended to come closer to God. In the pai...

Painted in the 19th century, this exquisite miniature portrait wonderfully exemplifies realism in traditional oil painting. The small artwork is painted in the conventional portraiture style of the Old Masters, and achieves soft realism with fine brushwork and a subdued, neutral palette. The half length portrait depicts a fine Victorian woman dressed in all black with a delicate lace collar and bonnet. She wears a ruby broach...

Portrait of a Lady in an Elaborate Stone Cartouche c.1675-80 Mary Beale (1632-1699) Titan Fine Art present this superb portrait where the sitter has been portrayed wearing a low-cut white chemise under a gold silk robe with a draped light...

This magnificent oil on panel portrait, presented by Titan Fine Art, is a splendid example of the sumptuous female portraits that were painted for members of the upper echelons of society during the early part of the 1600’s. The artist has rendered this portrait with meticulous attention to detail and the surface effects of the fine materials. The elaborate lace coif and cuffs are painstakingly delineated, as is the bold black damask, and sumptuous gold decoration of her skirt and stomacher, which is wonderfully preserved and quite remarkable considering the age of the work and the fact that darker pigments are particularly vulnerable to fading and wear. This work with its spectacular depiction of costume is of absolute quality, it can be rated as one of the best works in the artist’s oeuvre and as such it is an important and splendid example of Dutch portraiture. The Dutch Golden Age of painting was a period in Dutch history, roughly spanning the 17th century, in which Dutch trade, science, military, and art were among the most acclaimed in the world. Dutch explorers charted new territory and settled abroad. Trade by the Dutch East-India Company thrived, and war heroes from the naval battles were decorated and became national heroes. During this time, The Dutch Old Masters began to prevail in the art world, creating a depth of realistic portraits of people and life in the area that has hardly been surpassed. The Golden Age painters depicted the scenes that their discerning new middleclass patrons wanted to see. This new wealth from merchant activities and exploration combined with a lack of church patronage, shifted art subjects away from biblical genres. Dress was a key component in portraits, and the exuberant attire reiterates the incredible wealth of this woman. The sitter will have visited the artist’s workshop and inspected examples on display. They would have chosen the size and the sort of composition and on that basis negotiated the price – which would have also been determined by the complexity of the clothing and the jewels that were to be depicted, and by the materials to be used. When all was considered, this portrait would have cost the sitter (or her husband) a substantial sum. The colour black was regarded as humble and devout yet at the same time refined and sophisticated and the most expensive colour of fabric to dye and to maintain. Citizens spent fortunes on beautiful black robes. Such uniformity must also have had a psychological side-effect and contributed to a sense of middle-class cohesion; the collective black of the well-to-do burgess class will have given its members a sense of solidarity. The colour was always an exciting one for artists and when this portrait was painted there were at least fifty shades of it, and as many different fabrics and accoutrements. Artists went to great lengths to depict the subtle nuances of the colour and the fabrics and textures and how they reflected light and it was an ideal background against which gold and crisp white lace could be juxtaposed to dramatic effect. The sitter is either a married women or a widower as is evident by the clothing that she wears and the position, toward her right, it is highly likely that this portrait was once a pendant that hung on the right-hand side of her husband’s portrait as was convention at the time. She wears a vlieger which was a type of sleeveless over-gown or cape worn by well-to-do married women in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Variations with short sleeves or high shoulder rolls are known. Sometimes sleeves were attached with aiglets, and often slits were made to allow belts or the hands to pass through. Three-piece vlieger costumes of this kind were standard items of clothing in portraits of the women of the civic elite in the period 1600-40 and was a variant of the Spanish ‘ropa’ and served as a trademark of well-to-do married burgher women. Girls and unmarried woman, including beguines, wore a bouwen (a dress with a fitted bodice and a skirt that was closed all round) instead. This clear distinction between apparel for married and unmarried women is clear not only from inventories and trousseau lists, but also from contemporary sources such as the Dutch Spanish dictionary published by Juan Rodrigues in 1634. In it, a bouwen is described as a ‘ropa de donzella’ (over-gown worn by a virgin) and a vlieger as a ‘ropa de casada’ (overgown worn by a married woman). It is striking how few women are depicted wearing a bouwen, unless they are part of a group, family or children’s portrait and it can therefore be assumed that independent portraits of unmarried women were seldom commissioned. It is also believed that the clothing worn in these portraits existed and were faithfully reproduced when cross-referenced with the few exact documents. These sources also demonstrate that clients wanted their clothing to be depicted accurately and with this in mind precious garments and jewels were often left in the painter’s studio. The prominent white lawn molensteenkraag (or millstone ruff) is held up by a wire supportasse and was reserved only for the citizens that could afford this luxurious item that often required 15 meters of linen batiste. The fabulous wealth of this sitter is also evident by the elaborate lace coif and cuffs which have been exquisitely depicted; lace was often literally copied by artists in thin white lines over the completed clothing. The gold bracelet with jewels is a type that was evidently fashionable as it is seen in a number of portraits during the 1610s and 1620. Clothing and jewellery were prized possessions and were often listed in inventories of estates and passed down from generation to generation. There were a great number of jewellers of Flemish origin working at all the courts and cities of Europe, competing with the Italians, and then the French, adapting themselves to the tastes and positions of their patrons and the raw materials available in the country where they worked. The fashion for jewels “in the Flemish style” succeeded that of the Italian style. Cornelis van der Voort, who was probably born in Antwerp around 1576, came to Amsterdam with his parents as a child. His father, a cloth weaver by trade, received his citizenship in 1592. It is not known who taught the young Van der Voort to paint, but it has been suggested that it was either Aert Pietersz or Cornelis Ketel. On 24 October 1598 Van der Voort became betrothed to Truytgen Willemsdr. After his first wife’s death he became betrothed to Cornelia Brouwer of Dordrecht in 1613. In addition to being an artist, Van der Voort was an art collector or dealer, or both. In 1607 he bought paintings from the estate of Gillis van Coninxloo, and after an earlier sale in 1610 a large number of works he owned were auctioned on 7 April 1614. Van der Voort is documented as appraising paintings in 1612, 1620 and 1624. In 1615 and 1619 he was warden of the Guild of St Luke. He was buried in Amsterdam’s Zuiderkerk on 2 November 1624, and on 13 May 1625 paintings in his estate were sold at auction. Van der Voort was one of Amsterdam’s leading portrait painters in the first quarter of the 17th century. Several of his group portraits are known. It is believed that he trained Thomas de Keyser (1596/97-1667) and Nicolaes Eliasz Pickenoy (1588-1650/56). His documented pupils were David Bailly (c. 1584/86-1657), Louis du Pré...

This exquisite Grand Manner work, presented by Titan Fine Art, was painted circa 1693 and formed part the Legh family collection at their magnificent home, Adlington Hall. Adlington was built on the site of a Saxon hunting-lodge and became the home of the Legh family during the reign of Edward Il, thus cementing the family's custodianship of Adlington for the next 700 years. Our portrait can be seen hanging in the Drawing Room in a photograph taken by Country Life magazine in 1905 (see photo). Through this portrait, collectors have a chance to acquire an evocative vestige from a glittering aristocratic way of life that is fast disappearing. It is a good example of portraiture of aristocratic and wealthy women in England during the last quarter of the seventeenth century. Beautifully composed, the sitter is seated in a woodland with a rocky outcrop and a sky just visible through the trees. This arcadian setting draws from the tradition of pastoral literature where life in the country was perceived as peaceful, contemplative, free of worry, and a time to pursue pleasure. By the early seventeenth century, Arcadia was already a popular theme in art and all educated individuals were familiar with Latin and Greek pastoral poetry. As such, the topic was so ingrained in society that, contemporary audiences would have instantly recognised its meaning when viewing this portrait. The sitter was born Lady Isabella Robartes in 1674. She was the daughter of The Honorable Robert Robartes, Lord Viscount Bodmin (1634-82) who was an English politician and ambassador to Denmark. The Robartes were a Cornish family who resided in Truro for many generations and had acquired great wealth through trading in wool and tin in Tudor times. Robert’s father had suffered considerable losses during the war as his house in Cornwall was occupied by the royalists, his estates were assigned to Sir Richard Grenville, and Robert and his siblings were detained as prisoners with the king. Upon the premature death of Lady Isabella’s father, her mother was later granted the use of the title Countess of Radnor, as she would have been had her husband survived. On 18 July 1693 Lady Robartes married John Legh of Adlington Hall (1688-1739] who was a colonel of militia, and sheriff of the county in 1705. The couple had three children, Elizabeth (c.1694-burried Westminter Abbey 1734), Lucy Frances Legh (1695-1728), and Charles Legh (1697-1781), Charles succeeded his father in 1739. Charles was a friend of the composer Handel who composed the Musical ‘Blacksmith’ whilst on a visit to Adlington. The sitter died in 1725. The ancient family of Legh stand high amongst the distinguished lines of Englishmen anciently established in Cheshire which has been called by one old writer “the mother and nurse of gentility”. The Legh family were already an established family in Cheshire having been granted many estates by William the Conqueror after the Norman Conquest in 1066, from John de Legh and Ellen de Corona stem the numerous branches of the family including the Leghs of Lyme and the Leighs of Stoneleigh - both created prominent houses which still exist today. In 1596 Sir Urian Legh joined the earl of Essex in Elizabeth I’s expedition against the Spaniards and having taken a leading part in the siege of Cadiz, received the honour of knighthood on the field. Adlington in Cheshire is one of that county’s oldest landholdings. Tradition has it that the roof of the famed Great Hall is supported my two pillars hewn from oak trees which still have their roots planted in the Cheshire soil beneath. Set within its sprawling estate, it has a rich history spanning over 700 years and is a reflection of the changing social, architectural, and political landscapes of England. Adlington is mentioned in the Domesday survey as Edulvinstane, which was owned before the Conquest by the Saxon Earl Edwin and then by Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester and nephew of William the Conqueror. On Lupus’s death, the manor reverted to the Crown and, early in the 13th century, was granted to the Norman family of de Corona. The last member of the family to own it, having no heir, gave the manor to his sister, Ellen, and her husband, John de Legh and has been the seat of the Legh family since 1315. The great hall rises uninterruptedly from floor to roof, and has a minstrel's and a lady's gallery opening into it. It is 45’ long, 26’ wide, and about 25’ heigh. The open hammer-beamed roof is richly panelled and each panel is adorned with an armorial shield. The heraldic insignia of the seven Norman earls of Chester, and of their eight barons, are displayed in the first three rows. During the Civil War the Legh’s, like so many of the Cheshire gentry, embraced the side of Charles, and fought his battles zealously. Adlington being garrisoned for the king, the moat was put to its proper defensive use when the estate was besieged by parliamentary forces, but they held out bravely for a fortnight, but eventually forced to surrender. The toll this period took on the collection is still evident in a double portrait of Thomas Legh the Elder and his wife Anne Gobarte which was defaced by sword-slashes made by billeted parliamentarians – and bullet holes in three or four places in the massive oak door to the Hall. Six miles nearby is the ‘lordly house of Lyme,” which carries back the mind to the days of chivalry, for it was in recognition of services in the wars with France that the domain was bestowed upon Sir Piers Legh, a younger son of the house of Adlington. This branch of the family was seated there for 600 years until 1946. Inscribed on the canvas verso: “The Rt Hon. Lady Isabella Legh, Sister to Charles Earl of Radnor, Wife of John Legh of Adlington Esq. Sr G. Kneller”. The elegant modelling of the hands and arms, the slight turn of the head, and the lock of hair trailing down her neck help to imbue the portrait with a sense of elegance and sophistication. This type of portrait was often used by Kneller and his contemporaries as an archetypal example of what wealthy patrons in England wanted - and these portraits lined the walls of many great halls in stately manors throughout the Britain. From a technical point of view, Kneller’s technique of painting on a blue ground and allowing passages of it to be visible in order to suggest darker flesh tones is evident. Held in its original gilded period frame. Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723) was one of the most prominent portrait painters in England at the end of the seventeenth century. He painted seven British monarchs (Charles II, James II, William III, Mary II, Anne, George I and George II) and in 1715 was the first artist to be made a Baronet (the next was John Everett Millais in 1885). He was born in Germany but trained in Amsterdam and studied in Italy before moving to England in 1676. Towards the end of the century, after the deaths of Peter Lely and John Riley, Kneller became the leading portrait painter in Britain and the court painter to English and British monarchs from Charles II to George I. He dominated English art for more than thirty years. His over 40 "Kit-cat portraits" and the ten "beauties" of the court of William III are most noteworthy. He ran a large, busy and successful studio in London and employed many assistants thereby establishing a routine that enabled a great number of works to be produced. His name became synonymous with British portraiture at the time and he rose to great notoriety; and there were countless other artists that strove to emulate his style. He died of a fever in London in 1723 and a memorial was erected in Westminster Abbey. In Kneller’s will he left 500 unfinished pictures to his chief assistant Edward Byng (c.1676-1753) who in Kneller’s words had "for many years faithfully served me". Byng lived with him at a house in Great Queen Street. Kneller gave him a pension of £100 a year, and entrusted him to complete these pictures, for which he was to receive the payments for them. Kneller had been paid only by half for these; whether his clients were not as expeditious to pay as they were to sit or whether Kneller’s death came first, the reason being unknown. Byng also inherited drawings in Kneller's studio, many now in the British Museum. He later lived at Potterne, near Devizes, where he died in 1753 and was buried. His brother Robert was also a painter and many works have been jointly attributed to both brothers. According to Edward’s will his estate was divided after his sister Elizabeth's death between his nephew’s William Wray, Robert Bateman Wray and Charles Wray (not, as some have suggested, to Robert Bateman Wray and his sister Mary). Provenance: Probably commissioned by the sitter's husband, John Legh, and thence by decent at Adlington Hall for approximately 330 years Literature: 'Adlington Hall, Cheshire: The Seat of Mr. A.M.R. Legh', Country Life, 29 July 1905, p. 130, 'The Drawing-Room'; Country Life, Nov 28, Dec 5, and Dec 12, 1952; G. Nares, 'Adlington Hall, Cheshire - III: The home of Mrs. Legh', Country Life, 12 December 1952, p. 1960, fig. 2 'The mid-Georgian staircase...

Portrait of Frances, Viscountess Scudamore in a Silver Dress and Blue Cloak c.1709-1719 By Charles Jervas (1675-1739) This elegant and graceful portrait, presented by Titan Fine Ar...

In 1607, the Delft city council decided to commission a portrait of Stadholder Maurits of Nassau for the town hall, with Michiel van Mierevelt as the chosen artist due to the passing...

Portrait of a Gentleman in Armour beside a Table with Helmut c.1685 Follower or circle of Johann Kerseboom (d.1708) This exquisite Grand Manner work, presented by Titan Fine Art, wa...