Allegorical, mythological Batoni

Now most remembered for his portraits - more specifically, his elegant images of young British noblemen, posed while in Rome in the midst of their "Grand Tour" of the Continent - Batoni - with the aid of his studio - was remarkably prolific, devoting much energy to religious, allegorical, and mythological subjects, all of which were considered much more "serious" than mere money-making portraits.

Allegory of Peace and War, 1776.

Vulcan in his Forge, 1750.

Venus and Cupid (The Education of Cupid), 1785.

Atalanta Crying over the Body of Meleager, 1743.

Allegory of the Arts, 1740.

 Apollo with the Muses of Music and Poetry, circa 1760. (Likely a studio copy.)

Thetis Entrusting Achilles to the Centaur Chiron, 1746.

Thetis Entrusting Achilles to the Centaur Chiron, 1770. (The same subject, painted twenty-four years later.)

Peace and Justice, 1745.

Mercury Crowning Philosophy as the Mother of the Arts, 1747.

The Education of Achilles, 1746.

Venus Caressing Cupid, 1774.

Time Orders Old Age to Destroy Beauty, 1746.

The Marriage of Cupid and Psyche, 1756.

Prometheus Modeling Man from Clay, 1743.

Truth and Mercy, circa 1745.

Diana and Cupid, 1761.

"Circle of the duc d'Aumale" - perhaps

I found this group of images somewhere on the internet; I've long since forgotten where. Their clothing is datable to the 1850s and, possibly, the 1860s, so if they are indeed individuals attached to the family of the duc d'Aumale, it seems that these photographs would have to have been taken in England, as that is where the family had resided since the overthrow of the duc's father, Louis-Philippe, in 1848. When I found them, the images were attributed to Pierre-Louis Pierson. But I can't find any reference to the French photographer working in England during this period. And by the mid-1850s he was busy taking the portraits of members of the succeeding régime in France, that of Napoléon III, and had embarked on his forty year collaboration with the infamous comtesse de Castiglione.

Though I'm not at all convinced of the information that labeled the images of these otherwise unidentified figures, I think these photographs are very interesting - both for the sharp-focus, detailed illustration of the fashion of the day, and for the precise and particular characterization of their subjects - and certainly still worth sharing... whoever the people are, whoever it was who took their portraits.

Religious and historical flesh, allegorical flesh - a selection of paintings by Guido Cagnacci

Maddalena Svenuta (The Fainting Magdalene), 1663.

I made a post about this wonderful artist not too long ago having, at the time, just "discovered" him. Two David and Goliaths, two versions using the same pose and the same model. Here are further examples of his work. He certainly has a way with depicting flesh and, more specifically, he's a virtuoso of the breast...!

The Death of Cleopatra, 1658.

The Drunken Noah, circa 1650.

The Death of Cleopatra, circa 1645-55.

The Death of Lucretia, 1657.

Saint Jerome, circa 1659.

Allegory of Time (or of Life), circa 1650.

David With the Head of Goliath, circa 1650. (One of the two paintings I featured in the previous post; I find this version ravishing.)

The Death of Lucretia, circa 1657.

The Death of Lucretia, circa 1660.

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The Penitent Magdalene, circa 1660-63. Certainly Cagnacci's masterpiece, I think this is quite a remarkable painting.