Anonymous, 17th century

Life & work

The Anonymous, 17th-century attribution covers approximately 59 artworks in the catalogue from the broader European Baroque period whose original regional or workshop attributions have been lost. The seventeenth century in Europe was the supreme period of competing Catholic and Protestant pictorial traditions — the post-Tridentine Italian Catholic Counter-Reformation, the Spanish Baroque under the Habsburg viceroyalties, the Antwerp Catholic Baroque under Spanish-Habsburg rule, the Dutch Calvinist Republic's domestic-genre and biblical-history painting, the French Atticist and Baroque Catholic schools — each producing distinct pictorial conventions, but all sharing certain underlying compositional, chromatic, and iconographic preferences that are recognizably "seventeenth-century European."

The Anonymous 17th-century catalogue group includes works that share these broader seventeenth-century characteristics — strong Caravaggesque chiaroscuro, deep saturated chromatic palettes, dramatic compositional intensity, and the iconographic vocabulary of the post-Council-of-Trent Catholic tradition modified by the contemporary Protestant alternatives — without enough specific stylistic or workshop-tradition evidence to support a regional attribution.

A typical Anonymous 17th-century work in the catalogue is a small religious print or drawing — a single-figure saint, a Crucifixion fragment, a Madonna composition, an Old Testament narrative — that the catalogue can date by paper, ink, technique, and pictorial convention to the broad mid-seventeenth-century European period without specifying whether it is Italian, French, Flemish, Dutch, or Spanish. Continued scholarly attribution work over time may move some of these into specific regional buckets, but for now they preserve their broad anonymous status as documents of the shared pictorial culture of the European Baroque period.

Bible scenes Anonymous, 17th century painted

• Matthew

  • Matthew 3
  • Matthew 4
  • Matthew 10

• Romans

  • Romans 8

• John

  • John 1

• Revelation

  • Revelation 1
  • Revelation 12

• James

  • James 1

• Luke

  • Luke 1
  • Luke 2
  • Luke 15

• Jude

  • Jude 1

• Acts

  • Acts 9

All works by Anonymous, 17th century in our library

The Holy Family with young John the Baptist and Saint Elizabeth, two angels above, after Reni

Anonymous, 17th century · 1585

The Holy Family with young John the Baptist and Saint Elizabeth, two angels above, after Reni

Anonymous, 17th century · 1585

The Holy Family with young John the Baptist and Saint Elizabeth, two angels above, after Reni

Anonymous, 17th century · 1585

Saint Jerome kneeling on a rock facing right

Anonymous, 17th century · 1595

Saint Jerome kneeling on a rock in front of a cross and an open book facing left

Anonymous, 17th century · 1595

Christ seen in profile facing right, making the sign of blessing with his right hand, in an oval frame, from "Christ, the Virgin, and Thirteen Apostles"

Anonymous, 17th century · 1595

An apostle raising his eyes in prayer, in an oval frame, from "Christ, the Virgin, and Thirteen Apostles"

Anonymous, 17th century · 1595

An apostle seen from behind and turning to the right, holding an open book, in an oval frame, from "Christ, the Virgin, and Thirteen Apostles"

Anonymous, 17th century · 1595

An apostle seen in profile facing right, holding an open book, in an oval frame, from "Christ, the Virgin, and Thirteen Apostles"

Anonymous, 17th century · 1595

An apostle with a short beard holding a closed book, from "Christ, the Virgin, and Thirteen Apostles"

Anonymous, 17th century · 1595

The winged archangel Saint Michael holding a sword and standing on the head of the devil, who descends into hell, an oval composition

Anonymous, 17th century · 1595

Saint James Major, looking upwards and holding a staff, from "Christ, the Virgin, and Thirteen Apostles"

Anonymous, 17th century · 1595

An apostle resting his head on his right hand and holding a book, in an oval frame, from "Christ, the Virgin, and Thirteen Apostles"

Anonymous, 17th century · 1595

The Virgin in prayer, seen in profile facing left, in an oval frame, from "Christ, the Virgin, and Thirteen Apostles"

Anonymous, 17th century · 1595

Saint Jude in prayer, seen in profile facing left with a staff resting on his shoulder, in an oval frame, from "Christ, the Virgin, and Thirteen Apostles"

Anonymous, 17th century · 1595

The Virgin holding the infant Christ, an oval composition, after Reni

Anonymous, 17th century · 1595

Saint Jerome kneeling on a rock in front of a cross and an open book facing right, after Reni

Anonymous, 17th century · 1595

The Virgin holding the infant Christ, after Reni

Anonymous, 17th century · 1595

The Virgin holding the infant Christ, a circular composition, after Reni

Anonymous, 17th century · 1595

The Virgin holding the infant Christ, an oval composition, after Reni

Anonymous, 17th century · 1595

The young Saint John the Baptist kneeling before the young Christ who embraces him, a lamb at right, after Reni

Anonymous, 17th century · 1595

The Virgin holding the infant Christ, a circular composition, after Reni

Anonymous, 17th century · 1595

The Virgin seated with the Christ Child on her lap embracing her, St Joseph seen through an archway at right, after Reni

Anonymous, 17th century · 1595

Saint Paul holding a sword, in an oval frame, from "Christ, the Virgin, and Thirteen Apostles"

Anonymous, 17th century · 1595

Saint Simon seen from behind, turning to the right and holding a saw, in an oval frame, from "Christ, the Virgin, and Thirteen Apostles"

Anonymous, 17th century · 1595

An apostle resting his head on his left hand and reading a book, in an oval frame, from "Christ, the Virgin, and Thirteen Apostles"

Anonymous, 17th century · 1595

Saint Peter seen from behind, turning to face outwards and holding a key, in an oval frame, from "Christ, the Virgin, and Thirteen Apostles"

Anonymous, 17th century · 1595

The Holy Family with young John the Baptist and Saint Elizabeth, two angels above, after Reni

Anonymous, 17th century · 1595

Young Saint John the Baptist kneeling before the infant Christ who caresses his face, the Virgin and Joseph in the background at right, after Reni

Anonymous, 17th century · 1595

The Virgin holding the infant Christ, an oval composition, after Reni

Anonymous, 17th century · 1595

The Virgin holding the infant Christ, a circular composition, after Reni

Anonymous, 17th century · 1595

Saint Jerome kneeling on a rock in front of a cross and an open book facing right, after Reni

Anonymous, 17th century · 1595

The Virgin holding the infant Christ, after Reni

Anonymous, 17th century · 1595

Saint Joseph holding the infant Christ, who raises up his hands, an oval composition

Anonymous, 17th century · 1595

An apostle with a long beard looking down at an open book, in an oval frame, from "Christ, the Virgin, and Thirteen Apostles"

Anonymous, 17th century · 1595

Saint John the Evangelist holding a goblet with a snake emerging from it, from "Christ, the Virgin, and Thirteen Apostles"

Anonymous, 17th century · 1595

The Virgin and Child at a table with the young John the Baptist, after Reni

Anonymous, 17th century · 1595

Madonna and Child in Glory

Anonymous, 17th century · 1600

An apostle holding a closed book and looking to the left, in an oval frame, from "Christ, the Virgin, and Thirteen Apostles"

Anonymous, 17th century · 1600

Saint Luke holding a paint brush and palette, after Reni (?)

Anonymous, 17th century · 1600

Saint Simon seen from behind, turning to the right and holding a saw, in an oval frame, from "Christ, the Virgin, and Thirteen Apostles"

Anonymous, 17th century · 1600

An apostle with a long beard looking down at an open book, in an oval frame, from "Christ, the Virgin, and Thirteen Apostles"

Anonymous, 17th century · 1600

Christ holding a globe, looking to the left and making the sign of blessing with his right hand, clouds behind him, after Reni (?)

Anonymous, 17th century · 1600

An apostle seen in profile facing right, holding an open book, in an oval frame, from "Christ, the Virgin, and Thirteen Apostles"

Anonymous, 17th century · 1600

An apostle resting his head on his left hand and reading a book, in an oval frame, from "Christ, the Virgin, and Thirteen Apostles"

Anonymous, 17th century · 1600

An apostle seen from behind and turning to the right, holding an open book, in an oval frame, from "Christ, the Virgin, and Thirteen Apostles"

Anonymous, 17th century · 1600

The winged archangel Saint Michael holding a sword and standing on the head of the devil, who descends into hell, an oval composition

Anonymous, 17th century · 1600

Saint Paul holding a sword, in an oval frame, from "Christ, the Virgin, and Thirteen Apostles"

Anonymous, 17th century · 1600

Saint John the Evangelist holding a goblet with a snake emerging from it, from "Christ, the Virgin, and Thirteen Apostles"

Anonymous, 17th century · 1600

The Virgin in prayer, seen in profile facing left, in an oval frame, from "Christ, the Virgin, and Thirteen Apostles"

Anonymous, 17th century · 1600

Saint Jude in prayer, seen in profile facing left with a staff resting on his shoulder, in an oval frame, from "Christ, the Virgin, and Thirteen Apostles"

Anonymous, 17th century · 1600

Christ seen in profile facing right, making the sign of blessing with his right hand, in an oval frame, from "Christ, the Virgin, and Thirteen Apostles"

Anonymous, 17th century · 1600

An apostle raising his eyes in prayer, in an oval frame, from "Christ, the Virgin, and Thirteen Apostles"

Anonymous, 17th century · 1600

Saint Peter seen from behind, turning to face outwards and holding a key, in an oval frame, from "Christ, the Virgin, and Thirteen Apostles"

Anonymous, 17th century · 1600

An apostle resting his head on his right hand and holding a book, in an oval frame, from "Christ, the Virgin, and Thirteen Apostles"

Anonymous, 17th century · 1600

Saint James Major, looking upwards and holding a staff, from "Christ, the Virgin, and Thirteen Apostles"

Anonymous, 17th century · 1600

The Virgin holding the infant Christ on her lap, after Reni

Anonymous, 17th century · 1630

The prodigal son seated on a couch being served wine, revelers in the background, a monkey wearing a collar and chain in the lower right

Anonymous, 17th century · 1650

The return of the Prodigal Son

Anonymous, 17th century · 1650

Frequently asked questions

Further reading

• wikipediaBaroque painting — Wikipedia
• britannicaBaroque art — Encyclopædia Britannica
• museum17th-century European drawings — Met Museum