Roussel

active late 19th century - early 20th century

Explore Selected Works

Italian 16th Century, Plate with border of foliate scrollwork; in the center, shield of arms of Vigerio of Savona, 1524, tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica), Widener Collection, 1942.9.331

Plate with border of foliate scrollwork; in the center, shield of arms of Vigerio of Savona

Italian 16th Century · 1524 · tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica) ·  Accession ID  1942.9.331

This circular plate is painted with an almost cartoon-like scene showing four people with pale skin around a stream, near the exterior of a tower. At the top of the plate, a nude woman is shown from the thighs up as she falls horizontally from an open window at the top of the tower. Her back, buttocks, and a single breast are exposed to us while a deep red and blue fabric wraps over her far shoulder and around her thighs. Her hands clasp as she reaches her arms forward, and her copper-red hair flies behind her. Her mouth is wide open. Directly below her, at the bottom center of the plate, a man partially wrapped in ruby-red drapery lies on his back in the stream. One arm is flung over his head and the other hangs across his body. He has black hair, and his eyes are closed. On the right side of the plate, a second man stands on the bank of the stream with his body facing us, as he turns his face to our left in profile. He has curly, brown hair, and the eyebrow we can see is furrowed. He wears a knee-length red tunic, and he raises both arms high overhead. Finally, the fourth winged, child-like person stands on the opposite bank, to our left. He is nude except for a quiver of arrows slung across his chest. His babyish body is chubby with small wings between his shoulder blades. He faces the center of the scene and looks up at the falling woman while raising a long torch toward her. The tower is made of parchment-white stones outlined with mustard yellow and black. A shield or coat of arms hangs or hovers just above the center of the plate. It has a rounded top and pointed bottom, and has six gold, tree-like forms against a navy-blue background, all within a scrolling, red frame. The stream winds into the distance between buildings along the banks. Cobalt-blue and sepia-brown mountains line the horizon, and a light brown sun with linear rays sets behind them. The plate is edged with a thin band of golden brown, and there are several chips around the rim. The plate is shown in front of a light gray background and it casts a light shadow to our right.
Francesco Xanto Avelli, Vincenzo Andreoli, Italian 16th Century, Plate with Hero leaping to her death from her tower and the drowned Leander; in the center, a shield of arms, 1538, tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica), Widener Collection, 1942.9.337

Plate with Hero leaping to her death from her tower and the drowned Leander; in the center, a shield of arms

Francesco Xanto Avelli, Vincenzo Andreoli, Italian 16th Century · 1538 · tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica) ·  Accession ID  1942.9.337

We look across a grassy expanse leading to a lake, with several women, tiny in scale, dancing under a grove of trees to our right in this horizontal landscape painting. Painted with soft, almost feathery brushstrokes of fern and moss green to suggest leaves, two massive trees nearly fill the right half of the composition. Three light-skinned women wearing voluminous togas over one shoulder link hands in a circle beneath the tree, near the lower center of the painting. Lit by the low sun, the woman to our left wears rose pink, the center woman shimmering yellow, and the third woman emerald green. Another women to our left, wearing sapphire blue, runs toward the trio with arms outstretched. A fifth woman wearing a scarlet-red skirt reclines near the tree trunks to our right. A low, rectangular box about the length of a dining room table sits on the grass between the trio and the reclining woman. A few brushstrokes suggest flowers or plants on the box. The lake beyond is painted with smooth strokes of pale apricot and shell pink. A bank of bushes or tall vegetation close to us to our left is painted with touches of forest and olive green, with pale yellow to capture light glinting off the uppermost leaves. Beyond it, and hazy in the distance to our left, a large white building is nestled high on a hill painted in tones of muted plum purple and flaxen gold. Pale, fawn-brown hills lead down to the water in the distance, farther back along the lake. A few thin clouds float in the ice-blue sky above. The scene is loosely painted with visible brushstrokes and touches, so some details are difficult to make out. The artist signed the work in the lower left corner: “COROT.”
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Dance under the Trees at the Edge of the Lake, 1865/1870, oil on canvas, Corcoran Collection (William A. Clark Collection), 2014.136.25

Dance under the Trees at the Edge of the Lake

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot · 1865/1870 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  2014.136.25