A pair of antique hand colored etchings on laid paper. The first: madonna and Children after Jan Hermansz van Bijlert (1597 or 1598-1671); inscribed in pencil on the back. Jan Hermansz van Bijlert was a Dutch Golden Age painter from Utrecht, one of the Utrecht Caravaggisti whose style was influenced by Caravaggio. He spent some four years in Italy and was one of the founders of the Bentvueghels circle of northern painters in Rome. The second: etching by W. Ridgway (published in 1878) after Daniel Huntingtons 1868 painting Philosophy and Christian Art. An attractive young woman attempts to persuade a wizened natural philosopher of the virtue of Christian art (in the form of an adoration scene), while he resolutely points to his book, the pages of which read Scientia and Mechanica, in answer. In addition to youth and beauty, the young woman has nature itself, seen through the window, on her side. (In the original painting, the landscape is a somewhat wilder Romantic scene, meant to emphasize the power of nature); copyright by D. Appleton and Co 1878, marked in the plate lower to the center; titled in the plate lower to the center. Daniel Huntington (1816-1906) was an American artist who belonged to the art movement known as the Hudson River School and later became a prominent portrait painter. Graphic Art Prints and Collectibles.

Dimensions: Biggest 12 1/2" x 9" in. Smallest 12 1/8" x 9" in. All measurements are approximate.