Sir Frederic William Burton | Hellelil and Hildebrand, the Meeting on the Turret Stairs, 1864

The subject is taken from a medieval Danish ballad translated by Burton’s friend Whitley Stokes in 1855, which tells the story of Hellelil, who fell in love with her personal guard Hildebrand, Prince of Engelland.

Her father disapproved of the relationship and ordered her seven brothers to kill the young prince.

Rembrandt | Old Woman Cutting Her Nails,1655-60

Once well known as a Rembrandt🎨, this large canvas has also been attributed to the master's pupil, Nicolaes Maes (1643-1693), and to Abraham van Dijck (ca. 1635?-1680?).

The two artists were closely associated in Dordrecht, the southern Dutch city from which several Rembrandt🎨 followers came.

Whatever its authorship, the painting must date from about 1655-60.

Othello and Desdemona's painting

Desdemona (The Song of the Willow) is based on a print, part of a suite of etchings by Chassériau illustrating Shakespeare’s Othello, which was published in Paris in 1844.

It depicts act 4, scene 3 of the play, a final moment of calm preceding Desdemona’s murder by her husband, Othello.

Desdemona’s maid, Emilia, who was complicit in orchestrating the crime, shrinks away, cringing at the knowledge of what is about to occur.

The lyre Desdemona holds was not described by Shakespeare; Chassériau observed it in an 1836 production in which the role was performed by the celebrated singer Maria Malibran Garcia (1808–1836), called La Malibran. | © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Théodore Chassériau | Desdemona (The Song of the Willow) 1849 | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Moise Kisling | Pittore post-impressionista

Moïse Kisling, nato Mojżesz Kisling (Cracovia, 22 gennaio 1891 - Sanary-sur-Mer, 29 aprile 1953), è stato un pittore Polacco naturalizzato francese. La più ampia raccolta delle opere di Kisling è esposta al Museo del Petit Palais di Ginevra.

Nato e cresciuto a Cracovia in una famiglia ebraica ashkenazita, studiò presso la Scuola delle Belle Arti, dove fattosi notare per il suo talento venne incoraggiato a trasferirsi a Parigi, il centro della creatività artistica dell'epoca. Nel 1910 dimorò nel quartiere di Montmartre per poi trasferirsi, qualche anno più tardi, a Montparnasse.

Allo scoppio della Prima guerra mondiale, si arruolò volontario nella Legione straniera, così come l'artista italiano Ugo Giannattasio, e nel 1915 rimase gravemente ferito al petto nella battaglia della Somme, motivo per il quale fu premiato con la cittadinanza francese.

Luigi Rossi | Symbolist / Genre painter

A Swiss painter Luigi Rossi (1853-1923) was born in Cassarate, Lugano. Having studied at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts under the guidance of Giuseppe Bertini, Rossi made his artistic debut in 1871, inaugurating a repertoire of Genre scenes🎨 with a subtle vein of social criticism that was to be a distinctive feature of his work.

Le Pho | Impressionist Still Lifes

The sensitive, subtle beautiful paintings by Vietnamese artist, Lê Phổ / 黎谱 (1907-2001) are a fascinating blending of Oriental artistry with influences of contemporary Western art.

For the most part this artist specialized in semi-Impressionist studies of flowers and figures and handled them with delicacy and an unusually fluid transparency of color.

Early Years of Le Pho’s Art Career

In his early years, Le Pho preferred painting on silk instead of canvas, and to do so, developed a technique all his own.

Johannes Rosierse | Genre painter

Johannes Rosierse (Dordrecht, 1818 - 1901) was a Dutch painter🎨 - from the Netherlands, who mostly painted portraits, genre scenes🎨 and candlelight-pieces.

His most important subject were interior images with staffage.

He focused on individual figures, or on groups arranged by candlelight in dark interiors.

He frequently painted kitchens, presenting a synopsis of food such as fruits and vegetables en passant.

Johannes Rosierse passed away in 1901.

Works of the artist can be seen in the museum of his hometown Dordrecht, as well as in Musée Fabre in the Southern French Montpellier.