The Virgin with Child by Maratta

The Virgin with Child (1660) by Carlo Maratta (1625-1713)
New Zealand Stamp 3d Issued Christmas 1966
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Carlo Maratta spent the majority of his life as a well regarded artist and it said to be the last classical style artist in a long line from Raphael.   He began his career while he was young - he was born in a papal state and moved to Rome at age 11 under the care of a friend of his father who was also a secretary to the nephew of the Pope.  These good connections must have assisted in him being able to further develop his talent.  He was apprenticed by Andrea Sacchi and built a strong friendship with Giovan Bellori, who was a big art collector and influence on the art market in Rome during this period.

Some of his work was commissioned by the Pope - this is one of his earlier pieces of work in a long career.  He would proceed to large frescos later in his career under the commission of the popes from Rome to France.  The majority of his work had a religious theme, although he also completed portraits of important figures in Rome at the time.

Two Trinities by Bartolome Murillo

The Two Trinities (1682) by Bartolome Murillo
New Zealand 3d Stamp Issued Christmas 1965
National Gallery, London

Murillo (1617-1682) specialised in religious paintings as one of two leading artists in 17th Century Spain - the other being Velazquez.  This painting features two trinities - the first being the Holy Trinity of father, son and ghost, while the other is the earthly trinity of Mary, Joseph and Jesus - the holy family.  The light and mood in this painting is very striking.

Murillo faced extensive personal loss during his long life.  He outlived three wives and all but three of his nine children.  He also survived the plague that hit Seville in 1649, wiping out half the population of the city.  No wonder his work included heavenly clouds and cherubs, as it must have been a welcome way to avoid all the death and sadness on earth!

Another of Murillo's works features in a UK stamp issue in 1967: Madonna in the Clouds.

The Madonna in Prayer by Sassoferrato

Madonna in Prayer (1609-1684) by Sassoferrato (1650)
New Zealand 2d Stamp Issued 1962 Christmas
National Gallery London

This work is rich in colour and volume with the heavy draperies of the virgin.  Sassoferrato was heavily influenced by Raphael.  Most of his work consisted of devotional religious paintings, many of which were repeated.  He was trained Umbria by his father, prior to reaching the peak of his career in Rome.

The stamp was very popular and it was awarded the Philatelic Societies of San Francisco award for the most beautiful stamp of the year.

Stamps that include works by Raphael:
Madonna and the Goldfinch (1505)
The Large Cowper Madonna (1507)
The Virgin and Child (1508)
The School of Athens (1511)

Adoration of the Shepherds by a pupil of Rembrandt

Adoration of the Shepherds (1646) by a pupil of Rembrandt
2d Christmas Stamp Issued New Zealand 1960
National Gallery in London

This painting was re-examined in 2009 by the National Gallery and it has been confirmed that it is highly likely that it was not completed by Rembrandt, but by a pupil of his.  The layering of paint was found to be quite different to other works by Rembrandt when the painting was studied in detail with modern scientific equipment during the 2009 clean.  Another Rembrandt painting of the same period shows a very similar scene in a reverse format.  Details of this recent discovery are on the National Gallery website.

This was also the first Christmas stamp to be issued in New Zealand - at first there was concern that the postmarking of used stamps with a religious painting may not be appropriate to Christian sensibilities.

Link to other works by Rembrandt.

Gregorio Lazzarini - Love

Gregorio Lazzarini (1655-1730) - Love
Hungary 60F Stamp Issued 1970
Christian Museum, Esztergom, Hungary

Lazzarini's biggest claim to fame is that he trained Tiepolo in his studio when he was a found artist.  Lazzarini was born of a fairly privileged family in Venice, although his parents died young.  He was able to pursue a career in art from a very young age as a result of his parents riches.  The majority of his work was religious in nature, which was very common for the times.

Guido Reni - Adoration of the Shepherds

Guido Reni (1575-1642) - Adoration of the Shepherds (1640)
Anguilla Stamp Issued in 1973
Painting located at Pushkin Museum, Russia

Reni was a baroque style artist who took great pleasure in painting many religious scenes - Adoration of the Shepherds was one his favourites, as he did several versions of it.  His paintings are used on many Christmas cards throughout the world.

Anguilla issued this 1c stamp in 1973.  With a population of only 13.500, Anguilla is a British Territory and tax haven located in the Caribbean.

Diego Velazquez - Old Woman Frying Eggs

Diego Velazquez (1599-1660)  - Old Woman Frying Eggs (1618)
Fujeira Stamp issued 1980
National Gallery of Scotland

This is one of this artists earlier works in his career - a realistic portrayal of a scene that would not normally be painted by artists during this time.  Later in his career, Velazquez would go onto become of the most important artists to Spanisk King Philip IV's royal court, and his works would be influential and coped by future artists such as Picasso and Francis Bacon in the 20th Century.

Another of his paintings has been depicted on a Panama Stamp: The Forge of Vulcan.

Johannes Vermeer - The Lacemaker

Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) - The Lacemaker
Fujeira Stamp Issued 1971
The Louvre, Paris France

Vermeer is one of the most famous Dutch genre painters from the 17th Century.  The majority of his works were completed in his two room home in Delft, as the same interiors are shown many times with different middle-class characters who were individual models for his paintings.  He is also known for his exquisite use of light and colour, which involved the use of very expensive and rare pigments.  Another of his works has been captured in a French stamp issue: Girl with a Pearl Earring.

Adriaen Brouwer - The Slaughter House

Adriaen Brouwer (1605-1638) - Slaughter House (c. 1630)
East Germany 25 DDR Stamp Issued 1982
Staatliches Museum Schwerin

Brouwer was a Dutch Flemish genre painter whose primary interest appeared to be the goings on in the everyday lives of peasants.  All his works are colourful and almost comical.  This is one of many stamps issued in 1982 in East Germany depicting art works from the 17th Century.

Gerard Ter Borch - Glass of Lemonade

Gerard ter Borch - A Glass of Lemonade (1655-1660)
Russia 10k stamp issued in 1974
Painting held at the Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg

Gerard ter Borch was a Dutch genre painter who was also known for his portraits.  The subjects were always depicted with very expressive looks and fine clothing, so this painting is typical of his work. He also pioneered a style of painting for that time, as many of his characters were depicted standing up, with a portrait format, rather than landscape. He lived a relatively privileged life compared to most other others, travelling throughout most of Europe while also having a good education courtesy of his father who was also an artist. 

His works are relatively rare - six works are held at the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg.

Willem Claesz Heda - Breakfast Table with a Ham

Willem Claesz. Heda (1594-1680): Breakfast table with a ham, 1648.
East Germany 35DDR Stamp issued 1982
Staatliches Museum

Heda produced a large number of still life paintings during his long career as a painter from the Haarlem school of Dutch painters.  Opulent foods were depicted in these paintings, along with expensive silverware, wine glasses and time pieces, which were symbols of the briefness of life for individuals.  

Louis Le Nain - Adoration of the Shepherds

Louis le Nain (1593-1648) - Adoration of the Shepherds (circa 1640)

Great Britain Stamp issued 1967

Held at the UK National Gallery 

 Louis le Nain was one of three brothers who were famous for depicting common scenes from peasant life, during a time when many artists were painting scenes of excessive richness and plentitude in other parts of Europe.  This religious scene made it to a Christmas stamp in the UK in 1967.

Johannes Vermeer - Girl with a Pearl Earring

Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) - Girl with a Pearl Earring (1665)

France Stamp Issued 2008

 Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis, The Hague.

Vermeer used expensive pigments in his portraits, including ultramarine - these contribute to a powerful combination of light and depth to his paintings.   He was a successful genre painter of his time, but he produced very few paintings - he specialised in painting exquisite interior scenes depicting middle class Dutch life.  Unfortunately for his family, he left a relatively large debt upon his untimely death in his early 40s.   

Vermeer was not particularly famous until the late 19th century, and his reputation has grown since then.  Only 35 paintings can be reliably attributed to him today.  

This painting was also the subject of a fictional 2003 film and novel by Tracey Chavelier, that tells the story of a fictional account of an affair between the model and the painter from this painting.

Le Lorrain - Sea Port at Sunset

Claude le Lorrain (1605-1682) - Sea Port at Sunset (1635)

France Stamp issued 2008

Louvre Museum, Paris

Claude was born in Lorraine, which was a separate province to France at the time.  He lived a life of poverty in early years, but he eventually went on to work for cardinals and then Pope Urban VIII in Rome in the late 1620s.  He died a wealthy man.

He is most famous for his landscape work, most of which are now held in England.  At the time, landscapes were not considered worthy of being depicted in paintings.  Figures were usually in all of his paintings, but they were small and usually painted by other artists.  An interesting article from the Sydney Morning Herald in 1929 outlines some of the key features of Charles Lorrain's life.

Charles Le Brun - Femme A Genoux

Charles Le Brun (1619-1690) - Femme A Genoux or Nude Woman Kneeling (c. 1650)
First Day Cover - France Stamp issued 1973
Drawing held at the Louvre Museum Paris

This drawing was meant to be part of a larger work, where a young girl sinner was being struck down by a bolt of lightning by Jesus Christ.  

Charles Le Brun was one of the dominant forces of French Art in the 17th century.  He worked with royalty in parts of Europe and took joint control of the Academy of Painting and Sculpture in Paris in the mid 1600s.  Industrial arts grew immensely at this time, and Le Brun was one of the leading influences on the Loius XIV style of furnishing that was developed during this time.

Towards the latter years of his life, he was an academic and he completed a series of famous paintings depicting Alexander the Great.

Frans van Mieris - Duet

Frans Van Mieris (1635-1681) - Duet

Stamp issued East Germany DDR 1982

Painting completed 1658, held at Slaatliches Museum Schwerin

Van Mieris painted in the "Leiden Fijnschilders" (fine painting) style where small paintings were composed and meticulously executed in a manner aimed at reproducing reality.  He was a master of the Dutch Golden Age.

This painting was completed at a time when he was specialising in depicting the lives of the upper classes in Holland.  Clothing fabrics are richly ornate and the house is expensively furnished. 

The National Gallery of Art in Washington DC held an exhibition on the works by Frans van Mieris in 2006. 

Paul Rubens - Lamentacao do Cristo

Paul Rubens - Lamentacao do Cristo

Guinea Bissau Stamp Issued 1977, Painting completed in 1614

Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Bartolome Murillo - Madonna in the Clouds

Bartolome Murillo (1617-1682) - Madonna in the Clouds (1656-1660)

British 4d Stamp issued 1967

Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Murillo was born into a family with thirteen siblings.  He grew up in Seville, which was a major trading city in Spain at the time, and it is thought that he was influenced by the popular Flemish painters.  He was most famous for his religious paintings, although he also completed a large number of paintings that captured contemporary Spanish life.  In 1642, he moved to Madrid, where he learned more about the works of Velazquez.  

Paul Rubens - Vincent IV Gonzaga

Paul Rubens (1577-1640) - Vincent IV Gonzaga (1605) 

Guinea Bissau Stamp issued in 1977

Rubens was an innovator during the Baroque period of art, known for his detailed brushwork and use of colour.  This painting is a portrait of Ruben's employer who was the Spanish Duke of Mantua.  Rubens stayed in Italy for eight years and travelled to Spain during his employment of the Duke.  He was knighted by the kings of Spain and England during his career.

Diego Velázquez - The Forge of Vulcan

The Forge of Vulcan

Panama Stamp Issue, Painting Completed 1630