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Allegory of Navigation with an Astrolabe
Artist: Paolo Caliari Veronese (Italian, 1528-1588)
Date: 1555-1560
Medium: Oil on canvas
Collection: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA, United States
#allegorical art#male figure#artwork#allegory of navigation#astrolabe#drapery#classical ruins#older man#white beard#painting#oil on canvas#fine art#oil painting#italian culture#italian art#paolo caliari veronese#italian painter#european art#16th century painting#los angeles county museum of art
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Triumph of the Sun
Artist: Johann Heiss (German, 1640-1704)
Date: 17th century
Medium: Oil on canvas
Collection: Gallery Neuse, Bremen, Germany
Description
This multi-figure, allegorical painting by Johann Heiss is a lesson in German Baroque painting. At least twenty divine beings allegorise the four elements – fire, water, air and earth – and the four seasons. The all-encompassing driving force is the sun, which stands as the god Sol in a triumphal chariot in the centre of the composition.
“The power of the sun over the seasons, the times of the day and the elements are symbolized in the form of a complex pictorial riddle. Sol-Helios dominates from clouds, standing in a quadriga and storming ahead of the morning star and the aurora, announcing the on break of day. Behind him is the winged night, in the darkness of which a faun and a woman indulge their lust in the shadows. Above them, Selene the moon goddess follows behind Sol.
#allegorical art#german baroque#artwork#the four elements#fire#water#air#earth#sun#triumphal chariot#sol helios#clouds#allegorical figures#morning star#aurora#winged night#faun#woman#selene#moon goddess#mythology#basket#flowers#male figures#female figures#drapery#putti#fruits#painting#fine art
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An Allegory of Fruitfulness
Artist: Jacob Jordaens (Flemish, 1593-1678)
Date: c. 1620-1629
Medium: Oil on canvas
Collection: The Wallace Collection, London, United Kingdom
#allegorical art#fruitfulness#artwork#satyrs#woman#cornucopia#grapes#symbolism#roman mythology#abundance#allegorical scene#allegorical figures#female figures#nude figures#landscape#bacchus#drapery#painting#oil on canvas#fine art#oil painting#flemish culture#flemish art#jacob jordaens#flemish painter#european art#17th century painting#the wallace collection
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Allegory of Europe
Artist: Jean-Baptiste Oudry (French, 1686–1755)
Date: 1722
Medium: Oil on canvas
Collection: The Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Houston, TX, United States
#allegorical art#allegory of europe#bust#potted plant#cards#musical instrument#warrior bust#allegorical figures#curtain#music sheets#bird#allegorical scene#painting#oil on canvas#fine art#oil painting#french culture#artwork#french art#jean baptiste oudry#french painter#european art#18th century painting#the museum of fine arts houston
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Allegory of Rhetoric
Artist: Laurent de La Hyre (French, 1606–1656)
Date: 1650
Medium: Oil on canvas
Collection: Private Collection
#allegorical art#allegory of rhetoric#artwork#female figure#chair#tunic#drapery#table#books#olive wreath#red cloth#distant landscape#painting#oil on canvas#fine art#oil painting#french culture#french art#laurent de la hyre#french painter#european art#17th century painting#private collection
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Vigilance Embracing Peace
Artist: Jacob de Backer (Flemish, c. 1555 – c. 1591)
Date: 16th century
Medium: Oil painting
Collection: Private Collection
#allegorical art#allegorical scene#vigilance#peace#embrace#globe#flowing drapery#cherub#floating#laurel wreath#stork#hills#female figures#nude figure#painting#fine art#oil painting#artwork#flemish culture#flemish art#jacob de backer#flemish painter#european art#16th century painting#private collection
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Allegory of Spring
Artist: Johann Heiss (German, 1640-1704)
Date: 17th century
Medium: Oil on canvas
Collection: Private Collection
#allegorical art#allegorical scene#artwork#allegory of spring#landscape#female figures#male figures#hills#trees#conversation piece#narrative art#gown#drapery#potted plant#fountain#fruits#painting#oil on canvas#fine art#oil painting#german culture#german art#johann heiss#german painter#european art#17th century painting#private collection
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Victory of Virtue over Vice
Artist: Francesco Conti (Italian, 1681-1760)
Date: c. 1709
Medium: Oil on canvas
Collection: Private Collection
#allegorical art#victory of virtue over vice#female figure#symbolism#moral excellence#triumphal figure#narrative art#artwork#allegorical figures#putti#victory#vice#wings#white gown#drapery#painting#oil on canvas#fine art#oil painting#italian culture#italian art#francesco conti#italian painter#european art#18th century painting#private collection
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Messina Returned to Spain
Artist: Luca Giordano (Italian, 1634-1705)
Date: 1678
Medium: Oil on canvas
Collection: Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, Spain
Description
This allegorical scene symbolizes Spain in the figure of a woman who is being crowned and enthroned over the four cardinal virtues (Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and Temperance), the pillars of the country´s good government. they are accompanied by their attributes and by multiple cupids. On the left of the composition, Fortune, also personified by a female figure, keeps a warrior representing France from coming onboard. This painting is the only surviving member of a set of four large canvases Giordano made for Carlos II to commemorate the Monarch´s victory over the French army at Messina. These works led Palomino to qualify the Italian artist as “the father of History with a brush.”
#allegorical art#messina returned to spain#allegorical scene#allegorical figures#symbolism#spain#crown#throne#four cardinal virtues#pruden#justice#fortitude#temperance#cupids#attributes#warrior#france#body of water#female figures#armour#helmet#shield#robe#drapery#nude figure#painting#oil on canvas#fine art#oil painting#italian culture
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The Union of Love and Friendship
Artist: Pierre-Paul Prud'hone (French, 1758-1823)
Date: c. 1793
Medium: Oil on canvas
Collection: Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
#roman god cupid#allegorical art#artwork#union of love and friendship#female figure#landscape#allegorical scene#trees#putti#fire#nude figures#drapery#love#friendship#painting#oil on canvas#fine art#oil painting#french culture#french art#pierre paul prud'home#french painter#european art#18th century painting#minneapolis institute of art
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Omnia Vincit Amor, or The Power of Love in the Three Elements
Artist: Benjamin West (American, 1738–1820)
Date: 1809
Medium: Oil on canvas
Collection: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, NY, United States
Description
"Omnia vincit Amor," (Love triumphs over Everything) is a quotation from Virgil’s Eclogues. Venus, the goddess of love, is shown at the left with her attributes the doves and with her small son, Amor, armed with bow and arrows, clinging to her draperies. A young deity, presumably Hymen, god of marriage, brandishes a flaming torch with his right hand and grasps in his left cords that leash an eagle. The eagle symbolizes all the creatures living in the element Air, a hippocampus stands for those of the Water, and a lion for those on Earth. The fourth element, Fire, is implicit in the goddess herself, in the winged Amores, or little Loves, and most particularly in Hymen’s flaming torch.
#allegorical art#allegorical scene#mythology#mythological characters#the power of love#the three elements#venus#goddess of love#doves#cupid#bow#arrows#drapery#hymen#god of marriage#flaming torch#eagle#element of air#hippocampus#lion#fire#clouds#painting#oil on canvas#fine art#oil painting#artwork#american culture#american art#benjamin west
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The Fountain of Love
Artist: Jean Honore Fragonard (French, 1732-1806)
Date: c. 1785
Medium: Oil on canvas
Collection: Getty Museum Collection, Los Angeles, CA, United States
#allegorical art#fountain of love#artwork#verdant forest#young man#young woman#fountain's basin#putti#billowing spray#cup#lovers#nature#trees#foliage#painting#oil on canvas#fine art#oil painting#french culture#french art#jean honore fragonard#french painter#european art#18th century painting#getty museum collection
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Allegory of Smell
Artist: Louis-Jean-Francois Lagrenée (French, 1725-1805)
Date: 1775
Medium: Oil on canvas
Collection: Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, Spain
Description
Lagrenèe, a member of the Paris Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, trained under Carle van Loo (1705-1765). He travelled in Italy, and worked for the French and Russian courts. This painting is one of a series -the Five Senses- which included the Allegory of Touch, also in the Prado. Both were commissioned by a British nobleman.
#allegorical art#allegory of smell#artwork#allegorical figures#women#nude figure#gown#drapery#posy#roses#smelling#clouds#aesthetic#painting#oil on canvas#fine art#oil painting#french culture#french art#louis jean francois lagrenee#french painter#european art#18th century painting#museo nacional del prado
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Allegory of Earth
Artist: Jan Brueghel the Younger (Flemish, 1601-1678), Hendrik van Balen (Flemish, c. 1573–1575-1632)
Date: 1630-1635
Medium: Oil painting
Collection: Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
Description
In Allegory of Earth, we see depictions of a rich and fertile landscape, and nature’s bounty in the blooming flowers and fruitful harvest. This lushness is highlighted with a celestial, religious scene in the sky. Both the earthly and heavenly beings appear set to partake: the earthlings harvesting food, and those in heaven sat down at a table. Those on earth work to pass the bounty heavenward, where the gods are prepared to feast.
#allegorical art#allegory of earth#landscape#abundance#nature#blooming flowers#fruitful harvest#sky#allegorical figures#table#male figures#female figures#putti#gown#drapery#mythological gods#allegorical scene#painting#artwork#fine art#oil painting#flemish culture#flemish art#rennaisance art#jan brughel the younger#flemish painter#hendrik van valen#european art#17th century painting#utah museum of fine arts
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Four Continents: Europe
Artist: Antonio Zucchi, RA (Italian, 1726-1796)
Date: 1767
Medium: Oil on paper laid into plaster (overdoor)
Collection: National Trust Collections, London, United Kingdom
#allegory#europe#allegorical art#artwork#allegorical narrative#allegorical figures#horses#hills#architecture#carriage#gown#drapery#female figures#warriors#male figures#four continents#painting#oil on paper#fine art#oil painting#italian culture#italian art#antonio zucchi#italian painter#european art#18th century painting#national trust collections
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Minerva as Patroness of the Arts
Artist: Johann Heiss (German, 1640-1704)
Date: n. d.
Medium: Oil on canvas
Collection: Private Collection
Description
A classic painting showcases a regally dressed woman seated on an ornate throne, surrounded by a diverse array of individuals, including warriors and children. The vibrant colors and detailed attire, along with various classical objects like a shield, helmet, and urn, evoke a scene from antiquity, rich with narrative and symbolism.
#allegorical art#mythology#minerva#ornate throne#classical arts#allegorical figures#patroness of the arts#warriors#children#shield#helmet#urn#narrative art#symbolism#red canopy#rug#curtain#column#globe#open book#bust#white gown#drapery#nude figure#female figures#male figures#painting#oil on canvas#fine art#oil painting
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Allegorical Portrait of an Artist in Her Studio
Artist: Michiel van Musscher (Dutch, 1645-1705)
Date: ca. 1675–1685
Medium: Oil on canvas
Collection: North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC, United States
#allegorical art#allegorical portrait#artist#studio#female figure#easels#paintings#table#cloth#flowers#vase#sculpture#curtains#winged figures#woman#costume#bust#laurel wreath#ribon#sitting#chair#full length#sheets of paper#palette and brush#painting#oil on canvas#fine art#oil painting#artwork#dutch culture
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