Allendale Nativity
The ''Adoration of the Shepherds'', sometimes still known as the ''Allendale Nativity'', after a former owner, is a painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Giorgione, completed in about 1505 to 1510. The attribution is now usual, although not universal; the usual other view is that it is an early Titian. It is certainly a Venetian painting of that period. It is displayed in the National Gallery of Art of Washington, D.C., United States. A group of paintings is sometimes described as the "Allendale group", after the ''Allendale Nativity''. This group includes another Washington painting, the ''Holy Family'', and an ''Adoration of the Magi'' predella panel in the National Gallery, London. This group, now often expanded to include another ''Adoration of the Shepherds'' in Vienna, and sometimes further, are usually included (increasingly) or excluded together from Giorgione's oeuvre. Composition Giorgione portrayed the main scene on the right, in front of a dark grotto, while ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Giorgione
Giorgione (, , ; born Giorgio Barbarelli da Castelfranco; 1477–78 or 1473–74 – 17 September 1510) was an Italian painter of the Venetian school during the High Renaissance, who died in his thirties. He is known for the elusive poetic quality of his work, though only about six surviving paintings are firmly attributed to him. The uncertainty surrounding the identity and meaning of his work has made Giorgione one of the most mysterious figures in European art. Together with his younger contemporary Titian, he founded the Venetian school of Italian Renaissance painting, characterised by its use of colour and mood. The school is traditionally contrasted with Florentine painting, which relied on a more linear disegno-led style. Life What little is known of Giorgione's life is given in Giorgio Vasari's '' Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects''. He came from the small town of Castelfranco Veneto, 40 km inland from Venice. His name sometimes appe ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fra Angelico
Fra Angelico (born Guido di Pietro; February 18, 1455) was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance, described by Vasari in his '' Lives of the Artists'' as having "a rare and perfect talent".Giorgio Vasari, ''Lives of the Artists''. Penguin Classics, 1965. He earned his reputation primarily for the series of frescoes he made for his own friary, San Marco, in Florence. He was known to contemporaries as Fra Giovanni da Fiesole (Brother John of Fiesole) and Fra Giovanni Angelico (Angelic Brother John). In modern Italian he is called ''Beato Angelico'' (Blessed Angelic One); the common English name Fra Angelico means the "Angelic friar". In 1982, Pope John Paul II proclaimed him "blessed" in recognition of the holiness of his life, thereby making the title of "Blessed" official. Fiesole is sometimes misinterpreted as being part of his formal name, but it was merely the name of the town where he took his vows as a Dominican friar, and was used by contemporaries to distingu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Old Masters (play)
''The Old Masters'' is a play by Simon Gray about the art critic Bernard Berenson and the art dealer Joseph Duveen. It is set over one evening in Berenson's Italian home, Villa I Tatti, near Florence, in 1937. Characters *BB (Bernard Berenson) *Mary, Berenson's wife *Nicky Mariano, Berenson's secretary *Fowles, Duveen's assistant *Joseph Duveen Synopsis The play opens on the garden of Villa I Tatti near Florence. The famous art critic Bernard Berenson, referred to as ‘BB’, is fearful of the rising power of Mussolini, who he refers to as ‘the Duck’, and increasingly anxious about the state of his finances. His wife, Mary, is in poor health while he continues having an affair with his secretary, Nicky. Duveen's assistant Fowles arrives to deliver a copy of a painting, and to tell Berenson that Duveen would like him to reconsider his attribution of a painting, ''The Adoration of the Shepherds''. Berenson has already declared it to be by Titian, but Duveen would like him to ch ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bernard Berenson
Bernard Berenson (June 26, 1865 – October 6, 1959) was an American art historian specializing in the Renaissance. His book ''The Drawings of the Florentine Painters'' was an international success. His wife Mary is thought to have had a large hand in some of the writings. Berenson was a major figure in the attribution of Old Masters, at a time when these were attracting new interest by American collectors, and his judgments were widely respected in the art world. Personal life Berenson was born Bernhard Valvrojenski in Butrimonys, Vilnius Governorate (now in Alytus district of Lithuania) to a Litvak family – father Albert Valvrojenski, mother Judith Mickleshanski, and younger siblings including Senda Berenson Abbott. His father, Albert, grew up following an educational track of classical Jewish learning and contemplated becoming a rabbi. However, he became a practitioner of Haskalah, a European movement which advocated more integration of Jews into secular society. After ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Joseph Duveen
Joseph Duveen, 1st Baron Duveen (14 October 1869 – 25 May 1939), known as Sir Joseph Duveen, Baronet, between 1927 and 1933, was a British art dealer who was considered one of the most influential art dealers of all time. Life and career Joseph Duveen was British by birth, the eldest of thirteen children of Rosetta (Barnett) and Sir Joseph Joel Duveen, a Dutch-Jewish immigrant who had set up a prosperous import business in Hull. The Duveen Brothers firm became very successful and became involved in trading antiques. Duveen Senior died in 1908; Joseph took over the business, working in partnership with his late father's brother Henry J. Duveen. He had received a thorough and stimulating education at University College School. He moved the Duveen company into the risky, but lucrative, trade in paintings and quickly became one of the world's leading art dealers due to his good eye, sharpened by his reliance on Bernard Berenson, and skilled salesmanship. His success is famousl ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Wentworth Beaumont, 2nd Viscount Allendale
Wentworth Henry Canning Beaumont, 2nd Viscount Allendale, (6 August 1890 – 16 December 1956) was a British peer, Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland, and army captain. Origins He was the son of Wentworth Beaumont, 1st Viscount Allendale by his wife Lady Alexandrina Louisa Maud Vane-Tempest. Education He was educated at Eton College and graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge in 1912. Military service Allendale was commissioned into the Territorial Force in 1912 and transferred to the 2nd Life Guards in 1913. He fought in the First World War, serving with the Guards Machine Gun Regiment, and rose the rank of Captain in 1915. From 1918 to 1919 he was an Acting Major while commanding a company. Political career Allendale succeeded his father in the viscountcy in 1923 was a Lord in Waiting between 1931 and 1932 in Ramsay MacDonald's ministry. From 1949 to 1956 he served as Lord-Lieutenant of Northumberland. In 1951, he was awarded an honorary doctorate of Civil Law from ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Wentworth Beaumont, 1st Viscount Allendale
Wentworth Canning Blackett Beaumont, 1st Viscount Allendale PC, JP, DL (2 December 1860 – 12 December 1923), styled The Hon. Wentworth Beaumont between 1906 and 1907, and Lord Allendale from 1907, was a British Liberal politician. Background and education Beaumont was born at Bywell Hall, Northumberland, the son of Wentworth Beaumont, 1st Baron Allendale, by his first wife Lady Margaret Anne de Burgh, daughter of Ulick de Burgh, 1st Marquess of Clanricarde, and his wife Harriet Canning, daughter of George Canning. He was baptised in London. He attended Eton and graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge with an MA in 1888. Political career Beaumont was Member of Parliament for Hexham from 1895 to 1907 and served under Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman as Vice-Chamberlain of the Household from 1905 to February 1907, when he succeeded his father in the barony of Allendale. He was appointed Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard in April 1907 and was sworn of the Privy Council the fo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Wentworth Beaumont, 1st Baron Allendale
Wentworth Blackett Beaumont, 1st Baron Allendale (11 April 1829 – 13 February 1907), was a British industrialist and Liberal politician. Background and education Allendale was the eldest son of Thomas Beaumont and his wife Henrietta Jane Emma, daughter of John Atkinson, and was educated at Harrow and St John's College, Cambridge. Business and political career Allendale was the owner of major estates and mines in Northumberland and also sat as Member of Parliament for Northumberland South from 1852 to 1885 and for Tyneside from 1886 to 1892. In 1906 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Allendale, of Allendale and Hexham in the County of Northumberland. Family Lord Allendale married firstly Lady Margaret Anne, daughter of Ulick de Burgh, 1st Marquess of Clanricarde, and his wife the Honourable Harriet, daughter of George Canning, in 1856. They had three sons and three daughters. Their youngest son the Honourable Hubert Beaumont was Liberal Member of Parliament for Eastbo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bretton Hall, West Yorkshire
Bretton Hall is a country house in West Bretton near Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It housed Bretton Hall College from 1949 until 2001 and was a campus of the University of Leeds (2001–2007). It is a Grade II* listed building. History In the 14th century the Bretton estate was owned by the Dronsfields and passed by marriage to the Wentworths in 1407. King Henry VIII spent three nights in the old hall and furnishings, draperies and panelling from his bedroom were moved to the new hall. A hall is marked on Christopher Saxton's 1577 map of Yorkshire. The present building was designed and built around 1720 by its owner, Sir William Wentworth assisted by James Moyser to replace the earlier hall. In 1792 it passed into the Beaumont family, (latterly Barons and Viscounts Allendale), and the library and dining room were remodelled by John Carr in 1793. Monumental stables designed by George Basevi were built between 1842 and 1852. The hall was sold to the West Riding County ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Thomas Wentworth Beaumont
Thomas Wentworth Beaumont (5 November 1792 – 20 December 1848) of Bretton Hall, Wakefield in Yorkshire, and of Bywell Hall in Northumberland, was a British politician and soldier. In 1831, at the time he inherited his mother's estate, he was the richest commoner in England. Origins He was born in Old Burlington Street in Mayfair, London, the eldest son of Thomas Richard Beaumont by his wife Diana Wentworth, daughter of Sir Thomas Wentworth, 5th Baronet. Career Beaumont was educated at Eton College and St John's College, Cambridge, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1813. He served as lieutenant-colonel of the Northumberland Militia, but resigned in 1824. In 1826, he fought a duel with John Lambton later 1st Earl of Durham. He was president of the Literary Association of the Friends of Poland and a member of the Royal Yacht Squadron. In 1816 Beaumont stood as Member of Parliament (MP) for Northumberland, the same constituency his father had represented before. He l ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Guineas
The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from the Guinea (region), Guinea region in West Africa, from where much of the gold used to make the coins was sourced. It was the first English machine-struck gold coin, originally representing a value of 20 Shilling (British coin), shillings in Coins of the United Kingdom, sterling specie, equal to one Pound (currency), pound, but rises in the price of gold relative to silver caused the value of the guinea to increase, at times to as high as thirty shillings. From 1717 to 1816, its value was officially fixed at twenty-one shillings. In the Great Recoinage of 1816, the guinea was Legal tender#Demonetization, demonetised and the word "guinea" became a colloquial or specialised term. Although the coin itself no longer circulated, the term ''guin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Christie's
Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is owned by Groupe Artémis, the holding company of François-Henri Pinault. Sales in 2015 totalled £4.8 billion (US$7.4 billion). In 2017, the ''Salvator Mundi (Leonardo), Salvator Mundi'' was sold for $400 million at Christie's in New York, at the time List of most expensive paintings, the highest price ever paid for a single painting at an auction. History Founding The official company literature states that founder James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie (1730–1803) conducted the first sale in London, England, on 5 December 1766, and the earliest auction catalogue the company retains is from December 1766. However, other sources note that James Christie rented auction rooms from 1762, and newspaper advertisements for Christi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |