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.

Raphael - Madonna and the Goldfinch

Raphael (1483-1520) - Madonna and the Goldfinch (1505)
Italy 50 lira Stamp issued 1970
Painting held in the Uffizi Gallery Florence

This painting was depicted on stamps to commemorate the 450th Anniversary of the death of Raphael.  The painting was originally given to someone as a wedding gift, before being damaged into 19 different parts during an earthquake in 1546.  It is typical of Raphael's style, with perfect geometric framing of the three figures - Mary, St John the Baptist and the little baby Jesus.  The was meticulously restored recently, only returning to the Uffizi Gallery in 2008.

Other works by Raphael:

The Large Cowper Madonna, USA

The Virgin and Child with John the Baptist, France

Raphael Self Portrait, San Marino

The Madonna and the Goldfinch has also been depicted on a stamp by the USA, but the painting was completed by Giovanni Baptista Tiepolo.

Raphael - Triumph of Galatea

Raphael (1483-1520) - Voyage of Galatea (1511)
Italy 25 lira stamp issued 1970
Fresco Held at the Villa Farnesina Rome Italy

Raphael was commissioned to do this secular artistic piece at the home of a rich trading family in Italy.  Galatea is the ideal female form in the centre of the picture, being dragged through the water on a shell chariot that is being carried by two happy dolphins.  Fearsome tritons are seen dragging nymphs into the sea and sounding trumpets. 

Raphael is famous for mastering the art of placing bodies harmoniously in beautiful pieces of art.  He lived a short life, but gained great fame.

Raphael's art has also been used on other stamps:

The Large Cowper Madonna

La Belle Jardiniere

Self Portrait

The Annunciation - Artist Unknown (Savoy School France)

Unknown Artist from the Savoy School (1480) - "The Annunciation"

France Stamp issued 1970 - 1 Franc

This stamp depicts a favourite scene from renaissance artists, being the annuniciation, or otherwise known as the time when the angel Gabriel came on down to earth to let Mary know that she was going to have a little baby Jesus.  

Edgar Degas - Dancer with Bouquet

Edgar Degas (1834-1917) - Dancer with bouquet

France Stamp Issued 1970

Musee d'Orsay, Paris, France

Degas is regarded as one of the founders of the impressionist movement although he rejected the term, and preferred to refer to his work as realism. He was born into a relatively wealthy family in Paris, and he failed as a law student before embarking on an artistic career.  Degas travelled in Europe in addition to spending time in the United States in the 1870s as he had family there.


Towards the latter half of his career, he was quite successful as he was one of the key painters and organisers of the impressionist movement - however, his works are more known for their emphasis in depicting the beauty of movement of the human form.  As such, ballet is a common subject of Degas' work, consisting of up to a third of all his paintings.  This was quite a contemporary subject at Degas' time, as ballet was a common form of urban entertainment in France at the time when the impressionist movement took place.

Claude Monet - Camille

Claude Monet - Camille

Romanian Stamp issued 1970, Painting Completed 1866

Kunsthalle Gallery, Bremen, Germany

Claude Monet is one of the famous artists who brought us the impressionist movement in France from 1862.  I'm no art expert, but this may be an earlier work that was done before he got into impressionism in a big way.  Large format Romanian stamps were quite common in the 1970s.  

It seems a little curious for an Eastern Bloc country like Romania to issue a stamp with a painting from a West German gallery in the 1970s, but I'm guessing this may have something to do with the establishment of diplomatic ties between these two states in the late 1960s?  In any case, it's a nice stamp from a key painter!

Lorenzo Lotto - The Nativity

Lorenzo Lotto (1480-1566) - The Nativity (1525)
USA 6c Stamp Issued 1970
Painting Held at the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC 

Lotto has been traditionally been placed in the Venetian School of high renaissance art, although it is said that his work was rather eccentric at times, showing a transition to the first Florentine movements and Rome mannerist paintings of the 16th Century.

As a Venetian painter, it is clear that Lotto was influenced by Bellini.  

He also worked in the same time as the following artists:

Albrecht Durer

Raphael

Titian