Symbolist Dutch Painter Antoon van Welie (1866-1956)

The artist was also a draftsman and well-known portrait painter - in 1900s, Antoon van Welie was very popular as a portraitist of the elite in Europe, when he lived in Paris, London and Rome. Among his famous clients are the Popes Pius X, Benedict XV and Pius XI, the actress Sarah Bernhard, the dancer Isadora Duncan. In the Netherlands his sitters include members of the royal family Prince Hendrik, Princess Juliana and Prince Bernhard. In 1921, he became the Knight of the Legion of Honor.

 Anna Pavlova as the Dying Swan, 1938

 Holy Cecilia with Lyre

 Anton van Weelie – Ophelia

Jacopo del Sellaio (c.1441-1493) Early Renaissance painter

Quattrocento

Jacopo del Sellaio -The Banquet of Ahasuerus, 1490-Tempera on panel 81+x+44 cm-Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

The Florentine painter Jacopo del Sellaio was the son of Arcangiolo di Jacopo, a saddler ('sellaio'), and Monna Gemma, his wife. Jacopo del Sellaio was the contemporary of Sandro Botticelli and they probably worked at the studio of Fra Filippo Lippi at the same time which can explain Botticelli's influence on his artwork and the fact that the work of the two artists has often been confused. He and his wife Francesca and son Archangiolo (who later also became a painter) shared a rental home in Florence with his parents, his sister and a cousin. By the 1460s he was a member of Confraternity of Saint Luke and paid his fees. It is known that the painter shared a studio with another artist Filippo di Giuliano, paying for his share 12 lires. This fact can probably explain a number of artwork in the manner of Jacopo del Sellaio that is dated after the death of the artist in 1493 as his partner Filippo di Giuliano continued working at the studio.

 Jacopo del Sellaio,Story Of Psyche,c.1490-Museum of Fine Arts Boston

Several del Sellaio's works survive in collections and Florentine churches - altarpieces and wedding decorative chests ('cassone' or 'cassoni') - amazing narrative panels. The commissioning the painted marriage chests in the 15th century Italy was a thriving business. They were luxury goods to commemorate weddings and usually were paraded along the streets in rich processions that accompanied a bride to her new home, displaying wealth and status of their owners. Botticelli or Filippino, the great masters of Renaissance, also painted luxury furniture panels. Botticelli's 'Venus and Mars' (1485) from London National Gallery is actually "a piece of bedroom furniture, perhaps a bedhead or piece of wainscoting, most probably the 'spalliera' or backboard from a chest or day bed."

Jacopo del Sellaio,Story Of Psyche,c.1490-Museum of Fine Arts Boston (detail)