The Age of Pleasure and Enlightenment

European art of the eighteenth century increasingly emphasized civility, elegance, comfort, and informality. During the first half of the century, the Rococo style of art and decoration, characterized by lightness, grace, playfulness, and intimacy, spread throughout Europe. Painters turned to lighthearted subjects, including inventive pastoral landscapes, scenic vistas of popular tourist sites, and genre subjects—scenes of everyday life. Mythology became a vehicle for the expression of pleasure rather than a means of revealing hidden truths. Porcelain and silver makers designed exuberant fantasies for use or as pure decoration to complement newly remodeled interiors conducive to entertainment and pleasure.

As the century progressed, artists increasingly adopted more serious subject matter, often taken from classical history, and a simpler, less decorative style. This was the Age of Enlightenment, when writers and philosophers came to believe that moral, intellectual, and social reform was possible through the acquisition of knowledge and the power of reason. The Grand Tour, a means of personal enlightenment and an essential element of an upper-class education, was symbolic of this age of reason.

The installation highlights the museum’s rich collection of eighteenth-century paintings and decorative arts. It is organized around four themes: Myth and Religion, Patrons and Collectors, Everyday Life, and The Natural World. These themes are common to art from different cultures and eras, and reveal connections among the many ways artists have visually expressed their cultural, spiritual, political, material, and social values.

Myth and Religion

Mythological and religious stories have been the subject of visual art throughout time. Concurrently, works of art have played a major role in inspiring and supporting spiritual and sacred beliefs, societal values, and personal, political, and institutional ambitions.

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo Italian, Venetian, 1696–1770 Susanna and the Elders, c. 1720 Oil on canvas Gift of Mrs. Arthur L. Erlanger, 1954.196

According to the Christian versions of the Book of Daniel, Susanna, a beautiful and pious Jewish woman of Babylon, was secretly admired by two of the city's elders. Sneaking into her garden one day as she bathed, they offered her jewels, and tried to force her to submit to their passions. When she refused, they publicly accused her of having an affair with a young man. Susanna was condemned to death and vindicated only by the intervention of Daniel. This painting depicts the elders surprising Susanna, and offering her gifts in exchange for her favors.

Tiepolo, one of the greatest practitioners of the Italian Rococo style, infused a moralistic religious subject with elegance and grace using a fresh color palette, flowing brushwork, and charming garden setting.

Michele Rocca Italian, c. 1670–c. 1751 Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise, c. 1730 Oil on canvas Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur L. Erlanger, 1959.249

By the turn of the eighteenth century, Michele Rocca had established himself in Rome as a painter of small cabinet pictures of mythological and religious subjects. Private collectors valued his works for the rich brushwork and luminous palette, as is evident in this representation of Adam and Eve being chased out of the Garden of Eden by an angel with a flaming sword.

Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo Italian, Venetian, 1727–1804 The Miracle of Christ Healing the Blind Man, 1752 Oil on canvas The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1952.289

Variants of this subject, Christ healing a blind man by touching his eyes, are recounted in three of the Gospels in the Bible. The miracle has been interpreted as an allegory for the revelation of true faith.

Domenico Tiepolo was the gifted son and collaborator of Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, the great Venetian painter. Domenico learned his characteristic loose, sketchy brushwork from his father. The construction of the space with the figures ranged across the foreground, the heads lined up on the same level, the exotic costumes and setting, and the thick application of paint, known as impasto, are typical of Domenico's work.

Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo Italian, Venetian, 1727–1804 The Last Supper, late 1750s Oil on canvas The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1931.106

In The Last Supper Christ reveals his imminent betrayal, and the announcement is greeted by amazement and disbelief on the part of the disciples. This is an unusual treatment of the subject because Judas, the betrayer, is hidden from view.

Although a small painting, the work has a remarkable presence thanks to the bold, calligraphic handling of the figures, the dizzying perspective, and the dramatic conception of the biblical story.

Domenico Corvi Italian, Roman, 1721–1803 The Miracle of St. Joseph Calasanz Resuscitating a Child in a Church at Frascati, 1767 Oil on canvas The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1981.24

The Spanish saint, Joseph Calasanz (1558–1648) was canonized in 1767, the same year his followers, known as Scolopians or Piarists, presented this altarpiece to Pope Clement XIII. Devoted to education, especially of the homeless and neglected, Joseph Calasanz went to Rome in 1592, and founded a free school for poor children there five years later.

Corvi’s painting encourages the emotional involvement of the observer by presenting the sacred drama in a convincing narrative manner. The saint kneels before an altar adorned with a large picture of the Virgin and Child, and appeals to the Madonna to revive the dead child in his arms, as the mother looks on. A Scolopian father enters the scene with his pupils, their animated gestures and facial expressions injecting energy and emotion into the scene.

Carle Van Loo French, 1705–1765 Offering to Cupid, 1761 Oil on canvas The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1979.186

Offering to Cupid reflects the fascination with antiquity—fueled by excavations of ancient sites in Italy—that swept mid-eighteenth-century France, influencing all aspects of culture and fashion. The subject is a contemporary interpretation of an ancient rite, in which a young maiden makes an offering to Cupid, the god of love. The elongated figures and sheer, clinging drapery recall ancient Greek paintings and statues. But the feathery brushstrokes and pastel colors reflect the decorative Rococo style of the eighteenth century, marking Offering to Cupid as a work in which old and new elements combine.

Carle Van Loo, the most famous member of a family of painters and artists, was trained in both Paris and Rome, and known for his ability to paint a range of subjects and styles. By the time of his death in 1765, he had been ennobled and appointed Premier Painter to the King, Louis XV.

Louis-Jean-François Lagrenée, called Lagrenée the Elder French, 1725–1805 The Invocation of Love, c. 1777 Oil on panel The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1983.1

The Invocation of Love shows a young woman in classical dress beseeching a statue of Cupid, while Cupid himself fans the fire of love. Pictures of Venus and Cupid were much in vogue among members of the aristocracy and upper middle class in the eighteenth century, reflecting an overall preference for Ovid’s amorous divinities rather than Homer’s heroic gods and goddesses.

Trained both in Paris and Rome, Lagrenée joined the Académie royal as a history painter in 1755. Five years later, he was appointed First Painter to the Empress of Russia and Director of the Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg. Returning to Paris in 1762, he received many important commissions.

Giovanni Battista Crosato Italian, Venetian, c. 1697–1758 Europa and the Bull, c. 1733 Oil on panel The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1963.1

Europa and the Bull is a study for one section of a frieze of panel paintings that illustrate scenes from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Here Jupiter, disguised as a bull, comes to the beautiful Europa and entices her away with him to Crete. She eventually bore him children, one of whom was Minos, legendary King of Crete. The frieze was originally placed in the Palazzo Reale, Turin, and is now in the Palazzo Madama, in the same city.

Crosato worked in Venice in the 1720s, but moved to the Piedmont area of Italy in the 1730s to participate in the decoration of several major palaces and churches.

Attributed to Johan Richter Swedish (active in Venice), 1665–1745 Feast of Santa Maria della Salute, c. 1720 Oil on canvas The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1939.268

Feast of Santa Maria della Salute depicts the Festival of the Presentation of the Virgin, which took place annually in Venice on November 21, when a bridge of boats would be constructed across the Grand Canal, connecting the Church of Santa Maria della Salute with the Church of Santa Maria del Giglio. The Doge and the Elders of Venice would pass in procession across the bridge to celebrate the construction of the Church of the Salute. Conceived in 1630 to pay homage to the Virgin Mary for delivering Venice from the plague that year, it was begun in 1631 and completed fifty years later.

This painting has recently been attributed to Johan Richter, a Swedish artist who worked in Venice from at least 1717. Richter, along with Luca Carlevarijs—to whom this painting has also been attributed—was one of the two painters who specialized in views of Venice before Canaletto, whose work is seen in the next gallery.

CASE Cupid (L’Amour de Falconet) Sèvres, 1762, base 1777 Perhaps François-Joseph Aloncle (painter, active 1758–81) and Jean-Pierre Boulanger (gilder, active 1754–85) Soft-paste porcelain Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917.959

Falconet’s Cupid—first produced in 1758 and modeled on his marble version for the king’s mistress, Madame de Pompadour—gestures the onlooker to be silent, presumably so that he can shoot his victim unaware. In type he is a fusion of two Greek deities, Harpocrates, the god of silence, and Cupid, the god of love. Harpocrates was represented as an infant with his finger held to his mouth, while Cupid was commonly portrayed with wings and a bow, quiver, and arrows.

“Psyche” (Pendant de L’Amour de Falconet) Sèvres, c. 1761–73; pedestal 1777 François-Joseph Aloncle (painter, active 1758–81) and Jean-Pierre Boulanger (gilder, active 1754–84) Soft-paste porcelain Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917.960

This model was originally introduced into production in 1761, having been created by Falconet specifically as a pendant to his Cupid of 1758. The base is inscribed with a quote from Virgil's Ecologues, “Et nos cedamus amori” (let us yield to love). Although Psyche was Cupid’s lover in mythology, this figure was never called Psyche by the Sèvres factory. Hundreds of examples of these figures were sold in the eighteenth century. CASE

Franciscan Saints German, Meissen Model by Johann Joachim Kaendler and Peter Reinicke, 1743 Hard-paste porcelain Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917.1507–.1508

A series of fifteen busts of religious figures was modeled by the Meissen factory in 1743 for Annibale Albani, the Roman Cardinal who had come to Dresden in 1710 to prepare the future Augustus III of Poland for his conversion to Catholicism. These two have been tentatively identified as St. Francis of Assisi (left) and St. Felix of Canticle (right).

Giuseppe Maria Crespi Italian, Bolognese, 1665–1747 Way to Calvary, c. 1738–42 Oil on canvas Gift of Mrs. Beatrice H. Kneeland in memory of Henry T. Kneeland, 1986.273

Way to Calvary was painted late in Crespi’s career, when he adopted a style in which colors were dark and the mood somber. The agony of Christ's fall under the weight of the Cross is portrayed with great feeling. All attention is focused on the figures, and the background is not described— an approach common in Crespi’s works. He painted a larger version of this painting for a lunette, or semi-circular space, above a door in his own house.

Crespi was a painter, draughtsman, and printmaker who worked in Bologna and painted religious and historical subjects in a direct and intimate manner. He was called “Lo Spagnuolo” because he liked to wear Spanish clothes. Patrons and Collectors

Works of art reflect the values and lives of the artists, but also of their owners and collectors. Objects mirror and reveal social structures and cultural values, as well as illuminate political, historical, and economic history.

Pompeo Batoni Italian, Roman School, 1708–1787 Portrait of Sir Humphrey Morice, 1762 Oil on canvas The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1936.43

Humphrey Morice (1723–1785), son of a London merchant, was a director and governor of the Bank of England and a Member of Parliament. He traveled to Italy to improve his health, and there commissioned three portraits from Batoni. Two were full-length formal portraits set in the woods before a hunt, while this one is a fresher and more intimate half-length view.

Batoni was considered the leading painter of the mid-eighteenth century in Rome. His virtuoso and elegant style, exemplified in this painting, was perfectly suited to fill the demand for portraits by foreign travelers, who flocked to Rome on the Grand Tour as the culmination of their education. He captured them at the culmination of a long journey, displaying the clothes, works of art, and souvenirs they had acquired on their trip.

Domenico Corvi Italian, Roman, 1721–1803 Henry Stuart, Cardinal Duke of York, c. 1760 Oil on canvas Gift of Judge Samuel E. Friedman and Judge Irwin E. Friedman, 1960.286

Henry Benedict Stuart, the subject of this portrait, and his older brother, Charles Edward Stuart (better known as "Bonnie Prince Charlie") were the last viable Stuart pretenders to the British throne that their grandfather, James II, had lost in 1688 for attempting to re-establish Catholicism in England. Unlike his brother, who entered into a life of debauchery after their unsuccessful attempt to reclaim the English crown in 1745, Henry became an accomplished cleric in Rome. He was made a cardinal in 1747, at the age of twenty-two, and assumed the title Cardinal Duke of York, acknowledging his royal birthright, as well as his religious position.

Before he was made a cardinal, Henry was often depicted in armor—alluding to his claim to the British throne. Here Corvi has portrayed him solely as a cleric, without royal trappings, but still sumptuously dressed in stylish surroundings.

George Romney English, 1734–1802 Portrait of Richard Wilbraham Bootle, 1780–81 Oil on canvas The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1955.270

Romney recorded that the sittings for this portrait began in December 1780, and continued until May 1781. The subject, Richard Wilbraham (1724–1796), assumed the additional surname Bootle under the will of his uncle Sir Thomas Bootle. He served for many years as the Member of Parliament for Chester in Cheshire.

English painters like Romney continued an earlier English tradition of elegant and glamorous portrait painting, capturing the likenesses and social aspirations of aristocrats, as well as new patrons from the professional and middle classes.

Francesco Guardi Italian, Venetian, 1712–1793 View of the Piazzetta Looking toward San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice, c. 1770–80 Oil on canvas The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1935.62

Guardi and Canaletto were the most important painters of Venetian views in the eighteenth century. This example from Guardi’s mature period displays his characteristically delicate and sketchy brushstroke, as well as his understanding of light and atmosphere. The library of the architect Sansovino is in shadow on the right, the corner of the Ducal Palace is on the left, and the island and Church of San Giorgio Maggiore appears in the background. Guardi never achieved Canaletto’s popularity with the wealthier foreigners who visited Venice, but rather found success with the next social layer—middle-class Venetians and English visitors of modest means, who also wanted to bring home souvenirs of their experiences.

Francesco Guardi Italian, Venetian, 1712–1793 View of the Piazzetta Looking toward San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice, c. 1770–80 Pen and ink and brown wash over black chalk The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1936.336

This drawing corresponds closely to the composition of Guardi’s painting of the same subject. The drawing could have been a preliminary sketch for the painting, or a record of it that the artist would have used for the preparation of other versions of the composition.

CASE

Basket English, 1763–64 Samuel Herbert and Company, active from 1747 Silver The Elizabeth B. Miles Collection of English Silver, 1979.65

Baskets such as these were accessories to the tea table and could be used for bread, cake, or fruit. The coat of arms on this example is that of Baron Boringdon, who was born John Parker and made a baron in 1784 after many years service as a Member of Parliament. The arms must have been added to the basket after this date.

Giovanni Antonio Canal, called Canaletto Italian, Venetian, 1697–1768 The Square of Saint Mark's and the Piazzetta, Venice, c. 1731 Oil on canvas The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund. Endowed by Mr. and Mrs. Thomas R. Cox, Jr., 1947.2

Antonio Canal, known as Canaletto, perfected the specialty of view painting, known as vedute, in the eighteenth century. His chief subject was Venice, which he often painted for English patrons as mementos of their visits to the city while on the Grand Tour. In this work he depicts the most popular tourist site of Venice, the Square of St. Mark's. The view is toward the southwest, with the facade of the Church of St. Mark on the left and the Ducal Palace and the Piazzetta, or smaller square, beyond. The giant campanile (bell tower) dominates the center of the scene. At the far end of the square is the Church of San Geminiano, which was torn down during the time of Napoleon. The scene is populated by picturesque tiny figures drawn from all walks of Venetian society. Everyday Life

Art, both decorative and functional, has always been made for the domestic environment. Everyday life, both high and low, has also provided subject matter for artists. Works of art can offer a window into everyday life by recording private moments, social customs, domestic interiors, and changing fashion, across time and geography.

Gaspare Traversi Italian, Neapolitan, c. 1722–1770 A Quarrel over a Board Game, c. 1752 Oil on canvas The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1948.118

Tavern scenes such as this one, showing games and gambling, were often intended to convey moralizing messages denouncing human weakness. This work focuses on a range of emotions— concern, fear, and anger—made emphatic by the placement of the three-quarter-length figures in a narrow foreground space. Traversi also delighted in painting rich colors and fabrics, seen most especially in the embroidery on the waistcoat of the man on the left. The overall impression is one of theatricality and stylish staging, suggesting that the artist may have been inspired by contemporary theater or opera.

Traversi began his career in Naples but in 1752 moved to Rome where he remained until his death. His most significant contributions to eighteenth-century Italian painting are his eloquent and often mocking reflections on the morals of his time.

Pietro Longhi Italian, 1702–1785 The Temptation, c. 1745 Oil on canvas The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1931.188

Longhi was one of the most gifted of eighteenth-century genre painters in Venice, an excellent draughtsman who effortlessly captured the features and gestures of his subjects. He depicted delightful scenes, often satirical, of life among the city's upper classes. In this work a young monk visits a group of ladies engaged in sewing and holds a glass to his eye to get a better look—though not necessarily at their work. The presence of the caged bird is undoubtedly a reference to the preservation of virtue, as a bird in a cage symbolizes intact virginity.

Unidentified Artist English, 18th century Portrait of Two Ladies, c. 1765 Oil on canvas The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1945.353

Portrait of Two Ladies is an excellent example of the popular English Conversation picture, which typically depicts real people in the course of their ordinary daily activities, in this case reading and sewing. This type of domestic genre scene appealed to new middle-class patrons as an alternative to the more artificial, formally posed portrait.

Giuseppe Maria Crespi Italian, Bolognese, 1665–1747 An Artist in his Studio, 1730s Oil on canvas The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1936.499

Crespi was one of the first Italian painters of note to devote serious attention to the depiction of contemporary life. In this picture, genre and portraiture are united, producing an intimate look into the domestic surroundings of the artist. At his easel, he is surrounded by the accoutrements of his profession, including casts of faces and body parts, and Crespi’s own copy of a painting by the seventeenth-century artist Giovanni Francesco Barberi, known as Guercino.

This is probably a self-portrait, painted by Crespi late in life, but depicting himself as a younger man. It has also been proposed that the painting could be a portrait of the artist's son, Luigi, who was also a painter.

Giacomo Ceruti Italian, Milanese, 1698–1767 Girl with a Dove, c. 1730–40 Oil on canvas The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1942.352

Girl with a Dove exemplifies Ceruti’s work as a painter of genre and portraits, and in this picture he combines elements from both types. It is a portrait not of a middle or upper class woman, but of a peasant girl, a subject usually reserved for genre scenes. The informal realism and frankness of the pose, and the inclusion of the dove, are well suited to the sitter and characteristic of Ceruti’s work.

Giovanni Battista Piazzetta Italian, Venetian, 1683–1754 Boy with a Pear, c. 1740 Oil on canvas The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1944.34 and

Girl with a Ring Biscuit, c. 1740 Oil on canvas Purchased in honor of Jean K. Cadogan with funds raised, and the Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1997.22.1

Throughout his career, the Venetian painter Piazzetta produced half-length figures such as this boy and girl. The subject of this pair is the interchange between the hopeful youth offering his fruit, and the young lady who seems to discourage his advances. In fact these paintings probably illustrate popular eighteenth-century Italian idioms. The phrase “cascare come pera cotta” (“to fall like a cooked pear”) meant to fall in love, while the proverb “Non tutte le ciambelle riescono con buco” (“not all ring biscuits are made with holes”) implied that all does not turn out well.

Attributed to Charles Joseph Flipart French, 1721–1797 Portrait of the Castrato Carlo Scalzi, c. 1738 Oil on canvas The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1938.177

Opera flourished in the eighteenth century, and was performed all over Europe, both in private court theaters and later in large public opera houses. As the audience for opera expanded, light or comic operas, which came from humble beginnings, began to flourish alongside serious or tragic opera.

This portrait is thought to represent the eighteenth-century Italian opera singer Carlo Scalzi, one of the most famous male sopranos or castrati. It has been debated whether Signor Scalzi is represented here as a character from Leonardo Vinci's opera Artaserse (1730–31) or from Nicolo Popora's Sirbace (1737). In either case, his costume is a European interpretation of Persian dress, very much an eighteenth-century operatic fantasy.

CASE LABEL

Birdcage German, Meissen, 1740–50 Hard-paste porcelain Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917.1247

Birdcages in Meissen porcelain are extremely rare, as they would have been difficult to make and therefore very costly. A solid form was made first, and then carved out by hand to form the reticulated shape. Next small forget-me-not flowers were applied and painted. It is remarkable that this large, pierced cage did not collapse in the kiln.

While pet birds were kept in many well-to-do households in the eighteenth century, to have a porcelain birdcage must have been the height of luxury.

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Herring Dish Dutch, Delft, c. 1700 De Dissel (The Pole factory, 1640–1701) Tin-glazed earthenware The Richard and Georgette A. Koopman Collection of Delft, 2004.26.26

Herring was part of the fabric of daily life in the Netherlands. A Dutch proverb goes "Haring in't land, dokter aan de kant," meaning "If herring is around, the doctor is far away." The catch was sold by vendors who pushed their products through the streets in two-wheeled carts. The herring was boned, and eaten raw, smoked, or salted. Most households had a special dish in which to serve it.

Cheese Vendor Plate Dutch, Delft, mid-18th century Tin-glazed earthenware The Richard and Georgette A. Koopman Collection of Delft, 2004.26.9

Though milk was plentiful in Holland, it was also perishable and thus frequently made into cheese. Both cow’s and sheep’s milk were used. Cheese was usually named for the place where it originated; the Dutch are still famous for cheeses like Gouda and Edam. This plate, used to serve cheese, also depicts how cheese was sold in shops in Holland.

Butter Tub Dutch, Delft, c. 1760 Tin-glazed earthenware The Richard and Georgette A. Koopman Collection of Delft, 2004.26.56A,B

Butter tubs were found on almost every table in the Netherlands, where bread and butter were eaten in great quantity. The shape of this tub developed from wooden utensils that had lids held in place by two rods. In the ceramic tubs, the rods were eliminated but the leaf-form handles retained the holes nevertheless.

Charles-Antoine Coypel French, 1694–1752 The Fainting of Armida, c. 1733–35 Oil on canvas The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 2011.5.1

Coypel began his career as a designer of tapestries for the Gobelins factory, and soon became the favorite painter of Maria Leczinska, Louis XV’s Polish-born queen. He was also greatly inspired by theater and opera, and he even began a second career as a playwright in 1718, producing both comedies and tragedies. Both aspects of his career are reflected in this painting, which may have been a preliminary design for a tapestry from the Tapestry of Operatic Episodes series woven in 1771. It illustrates a final scene from the popular French opera Armide, in which the sorceress Armida, realizing that the spell she had cast upon the Crusader Rinaldo was broken, prepares to destroy the enchanted kingdom she had created. Coypel lavished all his considerable skill on presenting an extravagant imaginary setting and elaborate costumes that present an ideal rather than an actual performance. The Natural World

Artists have been exploring and chronicling nature since the earliest time, depicting the landscape with its flora and fauna, and addressing the issue of man’s place in nature. Nature also inspires still-life painters and is an enduring source of motifs for artists and designers.

Bernardo Bellotto Italian, Venetian, 1721–1780 View of Pirna in Saxony, 1763 Oil on canvas The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1931.280

Bellotto was the nephew and only pupil of Canaletto, who is best known for his scenes of Venice. Bellotto worked there with his uncle until 1747, when he left for desirable posts at the courts in Munich, Dresden, Vienna, and Warsaw. The View of Pirna in Saxony was painted during one of Bellotto's stays in Dresden. The town of Pirna and the Castle of Sonnenstein are seen from a hill, and the river Elbe is visible in the distance. This detailed rendering of topography is typical of Bellotto, as are the cool colors, intense clear light, and rich shadows.

Thomas Gainsborough English, 1727–1788 Woody Landscape, c. 1783–84 Oil on canvas The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1957.15

Although Gainsborough was most famous as a portrait painter in eighteenth-century England, his true love was landscape painting; he just could not make a satisfactory living from it. His chief inspiration was Dutch seventeenth-century landscapes, which he adapted to fashion his own idealized views of his native Suffolk, as is evidenced here. The silvery light that breaks through the clouds, the feathery brushwork, and intertwined foliage in muted colors all combine to create a nostalgic dream world of harmonious relationships between man and nature.

Jean-Baptiste de Roy Flemish, 1759–1839 Landscape with Cattle and Cottage, 1796 Oil on panel Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James Lippincott Goodwin, 1963.2

Jean-Baptiste de Roy Flemish, 1759–1839 Landscape with Cattle Crossing a Bridge, 1796 Oil on panel Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James Lippincott Goodwin, 1963.3

Jean-Baptiste de Roy, called de Roy of Brussels, was a self-taught painter and etcher specializing in landscapes and pictures of animals. When quite young he went to Holland with his father. While there he studied the Dutch landscape painters of the seventeenth century, who had significantly raised the landscape from mere setting to the subject matter. It was also there that he created these charming and idyllic views of the Dutch countryside.

Giovanni Antonio Canal, called Canaletto Italian, Venetian, 1697–1768 Landscape with Ruins, c. 1721–22 Oil on canvas The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1939.290

This architectural fantasy, Landscape with Ruins is part of a larger group of imaginary view paintings, called capriccio, that have been attributed to the young Canaletto. The capriccio combined invented and/or real architectural features, intact or ruined, in a picturesque setting. It was one of the more popular types of painting during the era of the Grand Tour of Europe, when there was a heavy demand for pictorial souvenirs. In Italy, where there were countless real locations with Classical ruins, artists only had to use poetic license to combine and elaborate on existing monuments, and place them within an idyllic setting.

Luis Egidio Meléndez Spanish, 1716–1780 Still Life with Pigeons, Onions, Bread, and Kitchen Utensils, c. 1772 Oil on canvas The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1938.256

An earthenware jug, a copper bowl, onions, garlic, bread, and a pigeon would be the ingredients for a humble meal, but Meléndez has arranged them with sensitivity, brilliantly using light to describe their varied colors and textures. With flawless technique the artist produced a distinctive realism with powerfully modeled objects against neutral backgrounds, viewed close- up from a low vantage point.

Meléndez was an acknowledged master of the still life, and painted more than one hundred of them between 1759 and 1778.

Charles-François Grenier de La Croix, called Lacroix de Marseille French, c. 1700–1782 Seascape with a Ruined Arch, 1780 Oil on copper Gift of Mary Batterson Beach, 1946.89

Lacroix produced countless modest coastal scenes, all imaginary. This seascape, which is not strictly a topographical representation, strongly suggests sites on the itinerary of many a traveler through Italy, where Lacroix had spent time in the 1750s: the hills and cascades of Tivoli; the harbor, lighthouses, and old fortresses of Naples; or the undeveloped coastline near Naples and Rome.

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Pair of Vases (urnes duplessis) French, Vincennes, 1749–51 Soft-paste porcelain Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917.977–.978

Flowers adorned decorative objects of all types in the eighteenth century. The Vincennes porcelain factory, predecessor of the Sèvres porcelain factory, embraced the taste for floral ornamentation with enthusiasm. In this pair of vases, flowers sculpted out of porcelain—by women employed in a specialized workshop for the factory—were applied to the vases, seeming to grow naturally from the feet toward the entwined branch handles.

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Tea Kettle and Stand English, London, 1758–59 Samuel Courtauld I, active from 1747, died 1765 Silver, wood The Elizabeth B. Miles Collection of English Silver, 1979.45

This kettle is decorated with flowers and scrolls on the body, a cast flower finial, a shell-like ornament on the spout, and a stand with grape vines and shell feet. Such nature-based decoration was a hallmark of the Rococo style that swept Europe in the middle decades of the eighteenth century.

The Hand Kiss German, Meissen, c. 1738 Model by Johann Joachim Kaendler Hard-paste porcelain Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917.1498

Images of figures living as simple shepherds in bucolic, landscape settings abound in literature, theater, and the visual arts. This idealized depiction of the natural world is echoed in porcelain figures such as these shepherds and lovers.

Tea Set (déjeuner à baguettes) French, Sèvres, 1776 Decorated by Guillaume Noël, active 1755–1800 Soft-paste porcelain Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917.1090–.1094

Tea (as well as coffee and chocolate) was consumed in bedrooms, boudoirs, salons, gardens, and in the bath, and was taken at breakfast time and at formal receptions. Teapots usually were small, as they were meant to hold very strong tea that would be diluted with boiling water served from a metal kettle. IN THE CENTER GALLERY

The Natural World: American Artists Confront the Sea In the adjacent galleries, a selection of the Museum’s extensive collection of eighteenth-century European paintings and decorative arts is organized around four themes: Myth and Religion, Patrons and Collectors, Everyday Life, and The Natural World. These themes are common to art from different cultures and eras.

By way of comparison with European works of art, this gallery brings together American works spanning 100 years, from the late-nineteenth to the late-twentieth century. In all of them, artists confront the sea, an enduring source of fascination. As you look at these works, think about how artists throughout history have explored, visually recorded, and questioned humanity’s changing relationship to the natural world.

Winslow Homer American, 1836–1910 Boy in a Dory, c. 1881 Watercolor on paper Bequest of Charles C. Cunningham, 1980.6

Joseph Cornell American, 1903–1972 Untitled, c. 1955 Mixed media Gift of the Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation, 2002.35.6

Max Ernst American, born Germany, 1891–1976 The Sun Oil, graphite, conté crayon, and tempera on card stock The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1933.472

Triton with Hippocampi, c. 1946–47 American, Corning, New York Manufactured by Steuben Glass, a division of Corning Glass Works Designed by Frederick Carder (American, born England, 1863–1963) Cast lead glass Edith Olcott Van Gerbig Collection, by exchange, 1972.91

Jonathan Borofsky American, born 1942 Half a Sailboat Painting at 2.924.773, 1984 Acrylic on Masonite The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1986.47