The Ptolemy Painting? Alexander's “right-hand man” and the origins of the Alexander Mosaic

This article revisits the origins of the Alexander Mosaic at Pompeii by focusing on the figure standing at Alexander's right hand. The starting point is Andreas Rumpf's suggestion that this “right-hand man” may be the patron of the original painting, who wished to advertise his own role in the represented battle. It is argued that Ptolemy I is perhaps the strongest candidate on historical grounds, and that interesting connections can be drawn between the mosaic and the historian Kleitarchos, who worked at the Ptolemaic court. Circumstantial support for a Ptolemaic connection is supplied by other finds from the House of the Faun, three of which are briefly re-examined.

Madonna del Libro in the Collection of the Sverdlovsk Regional Museum of Local Lore: The First Data of Attribution and Technical Study of the Picture

This article is devoted to the attribution of the Madonna and Child painting from the collection of the Sverdlovsk Regional Museum of Local Lore (Yekaterinburg), corresponding to the image of Madonna del Libro distributed in Italy in the sixteenth century. Referring to works of Italian researchers, the author reveals the original source that served as the basis for creating the iconographic work, i.e. a work of Perino del Vaga, an Italian artist. Further research helps establish the fact that the Ural canvas is a copy of an original painting of the Spanish artist Pedro de Rubiales who worked in Italy in the 1640s–1660s and reinterpreted P. del Vaga’s work. However, a technological analysis of the Ural canvas demonstrates that it was created much later, between the second quarter and the mid-nineteenth century. The unknown author of the picture studied in the article made attempts to reconstruct the technology of the original, but the discrepancies between them and the materials and methods of the Italian painting from between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries revealed in the analysis of the canvas, ground, the stratigraphy of the paint layer, and paint binder make it possible to speak about the author’s insufficient awareness of the principles of painting of the era and region he referred to in his reinterpretation. Thus, the work in question demonstrates the peculiarities of creating imitations of sixteenth-century works at a later time. The article also proposes a version on the place and time of restoration of the painting, formulated on the basis of comparing data on the use of duplication technology, the design of the subframe, the presence of a signature on the subframe, and the correlation of said features with records from the catalogue of the Nizhny Tagil collection of paintings by D. P. Shorin. They suggest that work to improve the preservation of the painting was performed in the workshops of the imperial Hermitage by restorer N. A. Sidorov.

“Grisaille reconstitution” as a colourless visible retouching method: the case of Les Puys d’Amiens, a set of paintings dating from the 16th century

An innovative visible retouching method was successfully attempted on a set of seven paintings, the Puys d’Amiens, amongst which three of them presented large losses. The challenge was to find a retouching solution that would enable presenting all seven paintings together, improve understanding of the damaged paintings while maintaining discernibility of the retouching. After several digital simulations, the most promising ones were attempted on the loss of the Puy 1518. Based on archives, the agreed solution was baptised “grisaille reconstitution” and consists in reconstituting figures, outlines and values of the original painting whilst purposely omitting multi-colour restitution. This method has been carried out onto the three damaged paintings.

Enlarged paintings: a proposal for classification

The concept of enlarged painting refers to the technique of extending the support of an easel painting as well as its compositional space, to simulate a continuity with the original painting. Enlargements of support are considered historical additions with a huge documentary weight, so making decisions about their conservation entails great responsibility. Furthermore, additions can be key for a painting to fulfil its function within a certain social assemblage or network, so to promote correct decision making, it is vital to know the reasons why a painting was enlarged. The aim of this research has been to develop a classification of enlarged paintings, according to the purpose of the enlargement. The classification includes the following categories: updating pictures, adaptation to a new space and/or a new frame, completing mutilated paintings, changes in iconography, enlargement in order to create independent works, and grouping paintings together.

The Artworks of Boris Grigoriev (1886–1939) at Sotheby’s and Christie’s Auctions in the 1980s–2010s

This article discusses the introduction of artworks by a Russian émigré artist, Boris Grigoriev, to the Western art market during the 1980s–2010s, using the examples of Russian art sales at Sotheby’s and Christie’s auction houses. The history of Grigoriev’s artwork sales at the major auctions, peaks and slumps of interest in them, together with the stylistic preferences of buyers and other factors, are addressed less as market phenomena and more as a result of art historical research, expert appraisal of the artist’s practice, and, at the same time, as a basis for further investigations contributing not only to economic value, but also to a symbolic component. Keywords: Boris Grigoriev, Russian art, art market, expert appraisal, auction sales, original painting, forged artworks

Od narcystycznej identyfikacji do zdystansowanej uważności: refokalizacja w apokryficznych ekfrazach i ekfrastycznych apokryfach Rembrandtowskiej Lekcji anatomii doktora Tulpa

The paper presents the strategy of refocalization in apocryphal ekphrases and ekphrastic apocrypha, and more specifically, the shift from the perspective that dominates the original painting into the perspective and narrative that are valid in the literary text(s) inspired by this painting. The precise subject of this study are works related to Rembrandt’s The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp – Jacek Dehnel’s Po wyjściu malarza, Jacek Kaczmarski’s Lekcja anatomii (według Rembrandta), Nina Siegal’s Anatomy Lesson and a fragment of W.G. Seblad’s novel The Rings of Saturn.

After the Original: Hollar and Leonardo’s Salvator

Chapter 12 reviews the Bohemian artist Wencelaus Hollar’s 1650 etching of Leonardo’s Salvator Mundi, which, he stated, was made from the original painting. Can we identify Hollar’s model, and on what basis did he attribute it to Leonardo? From a comparison with the closest extant compositions—the Cook, Naples, and Ganay paintings—the chapter examines the consonances and dissonances between the respective paintings and the etching. Since the Ganay painting has been championed (without acceptance) as Leonardo’s original, a history of the scholarly appraisal of this painting, together with some clarifications of its pre-twentieth-century provenance, is presented here. Hollar’s etching is dated 1650, but the location of execution is not given. Can we pinpoint the location in 1650 of any of the prime contenders, and if so, can Hollar be placed in proximity? The chapter proposes that Hollar, perhaps acting for the agent of Cardinal Mazarin, copied Leonardo’s Salvator Mundi at the Commonwealth Sale in 1650.

Obraz Matki Boskiej Częstochowskiej z daru króla Jana Kazimierza w Rajczy

ABSTRAKT Łaskami słynący obraz Matki Boskiej Miłosierdzia Kazimierzowskiej w Rajczy (64 x 45,8 cm), malowany jest w technice olejnej na ręcznie kutej blasze miedzianej. Niezachowaną, pierwotnie hebanową ramę z podpórką, pozwalającą umieszczać dzieło na domowym ołtarzyku, zastąpiła nowa, profilowana i złocona rama. Obraz znajduje się w głównym ołtarzu kościoła parafialnego pw. Św. Wawrzyńca, diakona i męczennika i św. Kazimierza, królewicza w Rajczy. 1 VII 2017 wizerunek został ukoronowany koroną biskupią. Obraz o najwyższej klasie artystycznej, stanowi najlepszą znaną obecnie kopię cudownego obrazu Matki Boskiej Częstochowskiej jaka powstała w drugiej ćwierci XVII w. Wizerunek namalowano bezpośrednio z oryginału, za czym przemawiają jego cechy formalne, m.in. z precyzyjnym uwzględnieniem tzw. koron władysławowskich, jakie w latach1625-1633 ufundowano dla ozdoby jasnogórskiego oryginału. Kopia najprawdopodobniej powstała w malarni jasnogórskiej, a jej autorem być może był paulin o. Jan Felicjan Ratyński. Obraz, co potwierdzają źródła historyczne, podarował do mającego się zbudować w Rajczy nowego kościoła król Jan II Kazimierz Waza (1609-1672), właściciel dóbr żywieckich. Stało się to po jego abdykacji w drodze do Francji w Żywcu 4 lipca 1669 r. Od 1684 r. wizerunek jest przechowywany w Rajczy – najpierw w drewnianym kościele, a po jego rozbiórce wobecnym nowym. Pomiędzy majem 2016, a lutym 2017 roku przeprowadzono specjalistyczną konserwację oraz badania fizyczno-chemiczne podobrazia, co zwiększyło naszą wiedzę o obrazie. Cudowny wizerunek Matki Boskiej Kazimierzowskiej poprzez swój związek z królem Janem Kazimierzem, będąc również kopią jednego z najbardziej rozpoznawalnych polskich obrazów maryjnych, zajmuje w polskiej sztuce miejsce wyjątkowe. Jego wartość artystyczno-historyczna idzie w parze wraz z wartością kultową, stanowiąc ważny punkt odniesienia dlachrześcijańskiej pobożności. SUMMARY A miraculous painting of Our Lady of Mercy of Kazimierz in Rajcza (64 x 45.8 cm) was painted in oil technique on handforged copper sheet. Unpreserved, originally an ebon frame with a support, allowing to place the masterpiece on a home altar, was replaced with a new, profiled, gilded frame. The painting is placed in the main altar of the parish church of St. Lawrence, a deacon and martyr and St. Casimir in Rajcza. On July 1, 2017 the painting was crowned with an episcopal crown. The painting recognized as of the highest artistic class is the best-known copy of a miraculous painting of Our Lady of Częstochowa that originates from the second quarter of the 17th century. There are some features such as precise mapping of the so-called crowns of Władysław IV, founded to adorn the original painting from Jasna Góra Monastery, that make scientists believe that while making the painting for the King, the artist was directly looking at the original painting of Our Lady of Częstochowa. The copy was most likely created in the Jasna Góra painting house, and its author may be a Pauline Father, JanFelicjan Ratyński. It is confirmed by historical sources that King John II Casimir Vasa (1609–1672), the owner of Żywiec estates, gave the painting to a new, soon-to-be built church in Rajcza. The King did it after his abdication, on July 4, 1669, in Żywiec when he was on the way to France. Since 1684 the painting has been placed in Rajcza, first in the wooden church, and after its removal, in a current one. Between May 2016 and February 2017 specialized conservation as well as physical and chemical tests of canvass stretcher were carried out to update the knowledge about the painting. Through its relations with King John II Casimir Vasa and the fact that it is the copy of one of the most recognizable Polish Marian paintings, the miraculous painting of Our Lady of Mercy of Kazimierz holds a unique place in Polish art. Its artistic and historical value goes hand in hand with a cultural value, constituting an important point of reference for Christian piety.

Mappa Mundi: An Interactive Artistic Mind Map Generator with Artificial Imagination

We present a novel real-time, collaborative, and interactive AI painting system, Mappa Mundi, for artistic Mind Map creation. The system consists of a voice-based input interface, an automatic topic expansion module, and an image projection module. The key innovation is to inject Artificial Imagination into painting creation by considering lexical and phonological similarities of language, learning and inheriting artist’s original painting style, and applying the principles of Dadaism and impossibility of improvisation. Our system indicates that AI and artist can collaborate seamlessly to create imaginative artistic painting and Mappa Mundi has been applied in art exhibition in UCCA, Beijing.