THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH (1727-1788) William Wollaston (1758) Oil on canvas (121 x 98 cm) Christchurch Mansion, Ipswich, UK To enlarge the image, right-click on it and then "Open in a new tab" According to Nicola Kalinsky: "This portrait must have been one of the last Gainsborough undertook in Suffolk before he moved from Ipswich. Wollaston (1730-1797). …
An Irish Peer
HUGH DOUGLAS HAMILTON (1739-1808) Robert Stewart, 1st Marquess of Londonderry Oil on canvas (74 x 61 cm) Mount Stewart, Co. Down, Northern Ireland To enlarge the image, right-click on it and then "Open in a new tab" Within the last few years the art of Hugh Douglas Hamilton has begun to attract attention in the …
The Wood Nymph
JEAN RANC (1674-1735) Vertumnus and Pomona (c. 1710-1720) Oil on canvas (171 x 119 cm) Musée Fabre, Montpellier To enlarge the image, right-click on it, then "Open in a new tab" Jean Ranc was initially trained by his father, Antoine, a Montpellier portraitist with a good reputation, and then by Hyacinthe Rigaud (1659-1743) in Paris, …
Madame Crozat
JACQUES-ANDRE-JOSEPH AVED (1702-1766) Portrait of Madame Crozat (1741) Oil on canvas (138 x 100 cm) Musée Fabre, Montpellier To enlarge the image, right-click on it, the "Open in a new tab" Aved was one of the greatest French portraitists of the mid-18th century, ranking with Louis Tocqué (1696-1772), Jean-Marc Nattier (1685-1766), Hubert Drouais (1699-1766), Maurice …
Bacchus and Ariadne
JEAN-FRANCOIS DE TROY (1679-1752) Bacchus and Ariadne (1725) Oil on canvas (163 x 130 cm) Musée Fabre, Montpellier To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and "Open in a new tab" Jean-Francois de Troy, the most important and gifted member of a family of painters from Toulouse, was taught by his father, Francois de Troy …
Saint Sebastian
FRANCOIS-XAVIER FABRE (1766-1837) The Dying Saint Sebastian (1789) Oil on canvas (196 x 147 cm) Musée Fabre, Montpellier To enlarge the image, right-click on it and then "Open in a new tab" Born in Montpellier on 1 April 1766, Fabre was one of the first students to benefit from the education provided by Montpellier's Societe …
A Masterpiece
NICOLAS DE LARGILLIERE (1656-1746) Self-Portrait (c. 1726) Oil on canvas (80 x 64 cm) Musée Fabre, Montpellier To enlarge the picture; right-click on it, then "Open in a new tab" Largillière, a Parisian educated in Antwerp showed at an early age great aptitudes for painting and was apprenticed to Antoine Goubau (1616-1698). He became a …
Alphonse Leroy
JACQUES-LOUIS DAVID (1748-1825) Portrait of Alphonse Leroy (c. 1783) Oil on canvas (73 x 95 cm) Musée Fabre, Montpellier To enlarge the picture, right-click on it, the "Open in a new tab" A student of Joseph-Marie Vien, David was awarded the Prix de Rome in 1774 and went there with Vien from 1775 to 1780. …
An Old Roman Soldier
FRANCOIS ANDRE VINCENT (1746-1816) Belisarius (1776) Oil on canvas (98 x 130 cm) Musee Fabre, Montpellier Vincent initially trained with his father, Francois Elie, a miniaturist from Geneva that had settled in Paris. He was then taught by Joseph-Marie Vien. At the age of 22, he won the Prix de Rome and spent the years …
A Scholar and a Gentleman
ALLAN RAMSAY (1713-1784) Robert Wood (1755) Oil on canvas (98 x 74 cm) National Gallery, London Robert Wood (1716-1771), was a classical scholar, archaeologist and politician; educated at the University of Glasgow. After early travels in France, Italy and the Middle East. he joined John Bouverie and James Dawkins on their expedition to Asia Minor and Greece, …
Old Masters 