Italian 1494-1557 Jacopo Pontormo Galleries
Italian painter and draughtsman. He was the leading painter in mid-16th-century Florence and one of the most original and extraordinary of Mannerist artists. His eccentric personality, solitary and slow working habits and capricious attitude towards his patrons are described by Vasari; his own diary, which covers the years 1554-6, further reveals a character with neurotic and secretive aspects. Pontormo enjoyed the protection of the Medici family throughout his career but, unlike Agnolo Bronzino and Giorgio Vasari, did not become court painter. His subjective portrait style did not lend itself to the state portrait. He produced few mythological works and after 1540 devoted himself almost exclusively to religious subjects. His drawings, mainly figure studies in red and black chalk, are among the highest expressions of the great Florentine tradition of draughtsmanship; close to 400 survive, forming arguably the most important body of drawings by a Mannerist painter. His highly personal style was much influenced by Michelangelo, though he also drew on northern art, primarily the prints of Albrecht Derer. Related Paintings of Jacopo Pontormo :. | Madonna and Child with Saints | Joseph in Egypt | Madonna Child with St.Joseph and St.John the Baptist | Deposition 02 | The birth of the Baptist | Related Artists:
robert john thorntonRobert John Thornton (1768-1837) was an English physician and botanical writer, noted for "A New Illustration of the Sexual System of Carolus Von Linnæus" (1797-1807) and "The British Flora" of 1812. He was the son of Bonnell Thornton and studied at Trinity College, Cambridge. Inspired by Thomas Martyn's lectures on botany and the work of Linnaeus he switched from the church to medicine. He worked at Guy's Hospital in London, where he later lectured in medical botany. After spending some time abroad, he settled and practised in London. Robert inherited the family fortune after the death of both his brother and mother.
The most ambitious part of the "New Illustration of the Sexual System of Linnæus" was Part III, the "Temple of Flora" (1799-1807). The first plates were engraved by Thomas Medland (1755-1833) in May 1798 from paintings by Philip Reinagle. Between 1798 and 1807 they produced a total of thirty-three coloured plates, engraved in aquatint, stipple and line. When he planned the project, Thornton had decided to publish seventy folio-size plates. Lack of interest from the general public spelled disaster for the scheme, and the holding of a lottery could not save it from financial ruin, neither did a page in the work dedicated to the spouse of George III, Queen Charlotte, patroness of botany and the fine arts??Thornton died in destitution.
Philips Koninck1619-1688
Dutch
Philips Koninck Gallery
Little is known of his history except that he was said to be a pupil of Rembrandt, whose influence is to be seen in much of his work. He painted chiefly broad, sunny landscapes, full of space, light and atmosphere; they are seen from a high perspective, allowing a prominent view of the sky. Portraits by him, somewhat in the manner of Rembrandt, also exist (e.g. see Joost van den Vondel); there are examples of these in the galleries at Copenhagen and Oslo. Of his landscapes, the principal are View at the mouth of a river at the Hague, with a slightly larger replica in the National Gallery, London; Woodland border and countryside (with figures by Adriaen van de Velde) at Amsterdam; and landscapes in Brussels, Florence (the Uffizi), Berlin and Cologne. Koninck, a prosperous businessman, appears to have painted few pictures during the last decade of his life.
Several of his works have been falsely attributed to Rembrandt and many more to his namesake and fellow townsman Salomon de Koninck (1609-1656), also a disciple of Rembrandt, whose paintings and etchings consist mainly of portraits and biblical scenes.
Both of these painters are to be distinguished from David Koninck (1636?-1687), also known as Rammelaar. David Koninck was born in Antwerp and studied there under Jan Fyt. He later settled in Rome, where he is stated to have died in 1687; this, however, is doubtful. His pictures are chiefly landscapes with animals and still life.
Master of the Saint Ursula LegendFlemish Northern Renaissance Painter, active 1475-1500