Greek-born Spanish Mannerist Painter, 1541-1614 Considered a representative of late Renaissance Spanish art, El Greco was actually born in Greece, on the island of Crete. After studying in Venice under Titian, El Greco settled in Toledo, Spain in 1577. At the time he was wildly popular, his emotionally religious paintings being just the ticket for the hometown of the Spanish Inquisition. After his death his work was largely ignored until the beginning of the 20th century; now he considered one of the inspired geniuses of Western art. His distinctive style features bold shapes and colors, with elongated and slightly distorted figures. In Toledo El Greco was in constant demand and liked living large: he maintained a private orchestra to accompany his meals.  Related Paintings of El Greco :. | El Espolio | A View of Toledo | Antonio de Covarrubias y Leiva | Agony in the Garden | La anunciacion |
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Joseph Highmore
1692-1780 British Joseph Highmore Gallery Joseph Highmore (3 June 1692?C1780), was a British portrait and historical painter. Born in London in 1692, he displayed early a strong ability, particularly for the fine arts, which was discouraged by his family, who rather saw him as a solicitor. However, all his spare time was dominated by his favourite pursuit and, upon the ending of his clerkship at the age of seventeen, he abandoned law and resolved to trust in future to his talents as a painter alone for his chance of fame and fortune. His gamble paid off and he continued to improve his reputation and upon the revival of the Order of the Bath in 1725, he was selected to paint the knights in full costume. The years 1732 to 1734 were spent on a tour of the Netherlands and France and on his return to England, he applied himself to perfecting his talent, which continued for the next 50 years of his life, until his death. Among his best works are biblical "Histories", historical painting being a style which Highmore had picked up on his travels in France. One such biblical painting is Hagar and Ishmael, which was donated to the Foundling Hospital for the purpose of decorating its Court Room (the room where the Court of Governors met). The painting is still part of the Foundling Hospital art collection and can now be seen at the Foundling Museum in London. As an author, he was best known for the rather longwindedly titled Critical Examination of Reubens' two Paintings in the Banqueting House and Observations on Bodwell's Pamphlet against Christianity.
Otakar Lebeda
painted Z bechynske obory - Srnky in 1899
Antoine de Favray
French, 1706-died circa 1791,French painter. He is not documented until 1738, when he was mentioned as a private pupil of Jean-Fran?ois de Troy (ii), who was then director of the Acad?mie de France in Rome; in 1739 he became an official student at the Acad?mie. Among his student works is a copy (untraced) of Raphael's Fire in the Borgo (Rome, Vatican, Stanza dell'Incendio), which was mentioned by Charles de Brosses and exhibited in Paris in 1741. In 1744, for reasons that are not clear, he left Rome for Malta, remaining there for much of the rest of his career and devoting himself primarily to portraiture and genre painting. His ambition as a history painter, however, was fulfilled to a certain extent as a result of the patronage of two Grand Masters of the Order of the Knights of Malta, Manoel Pinto da Fonseca and Emmanuel de Rohan. His first dated picture executed in Malta is a Portrait of a Maltese Lady (1745; Paris, Louvre).