This painting, together with ' An Angel in Green with a Vielle' came from the same altarpiece as ' The Virgin of the Rocks' by Leonardo. It may have decorated the outside of a shutter on the right. Leonardo is likely to have played some part in the design but the execution is by an associate. ...

The painting is part of a series of Apostles & represents either Saint Thomas or Saint Matthias, both of whose attribute is a spear. Several other Apostles from the series are known. The gritty realism of the hand & dirty nails is typical of the work ...

The unidentified figure looking down from the spandrel of a painted arch is probably a fragment of a mural decoration. Such a figure is likely to represent a prophet or ancestor of Christ who prefigured the New Testament subject matter in the chapel below ...

The picture is a caprice including motifs drawn from the courtyard of the Doge's Palace in Venice, as seen from the south (or waterfront end). The staircase recalls the Scala dei Giganti & the building on the left the Arco Foscari. Three drawings by Guar ...

Various features of the scene are drawn from Venetian architecture. The arch itself recalls that of the Torre dell' Orologio & the building in the middle distance, with the staircase, is a free adaptation of the internal facade of the Doge's Palace & t ...

The fountain in the foreground is surmounted by a statue of Hercules fighting Hydra. Two of the other statues may represent Mercury & Minerva. The elegantly dressed figures are by another painter, perhaps Jan Olis (about 1610
- 1676) or Anthonie Palamedesz. (1601
- 1673). This type of finely executed painting, representing a fanciful architectural setting, carefully constructed according to perspectival rules & populated with very elegantly dressed people, was probably painted for aristocratic & courtly patrons connected with the Court of Orange in the Netherlands. Van Delen painted imaginary architecture, particularly church interiors & palaces, in a style influenced by that of Hendrick van Steenwyck the Younger (died 1649).

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This painting, signed on one of the stones to the left of the tree, is one of the most varied of van der Heyden's architectural fantasies. The dating to the late 1660s is confirmed by the costume of the figures, which may have been painted by Adriaen van de Velde (1636
- 1672). The architectural details appear to be largely imaginary, though they may incorporate features from real buildings. The classical stone gateway with its decoration of Corinthian pilasters, which is highlighted by the cloud formation in the sky, left of centre, may be intended as a reminiscence of one of the 17th-century gates of Amsterdam, although it does not resemble any of them closely. It is contrasted with the Gothic house of brick in the foreground & the dying tree. A new growth of trees & foliage covers the curved town wall on the right.
...

The celestial globe on the table in the background & the open book on the right suggest that the man wearing a scholar's cap & gown is an astrologer. The illustration of a hand in the book may refer to palmistry. According to a widespread belief in the 17th century the combination of astrology & palmistry could be used to foretell a person's fate. However, aware of the ultimate futility of his efforts, the scholar's slumped pose & absent gaze indicate a melancholic state of mind. As such his depiction exists within a tradition of images of scholars going back to Dürer (1471
- 1528), in which the subjects are shown contemplating the futility of their studies in view of the inevitability of their mortality.
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On the table is a celestial globe, & behind it a terrestrial one. The pose of the figure & his abstracted manner indicate that the painting may belong to the visual tradition of Melancholia, made famous by Durer's work, in which it was suggested that ...

Presumably the right wing of a diptych or triptych; the missing side, which would originally have been hinged to it, probably depicted the Virgin & Child. The subject appears to be an Augustinian friar. The background shows Bruges, where David worked. ...