History painting Naturalism
Jacques de Lalaing was an Anglo-Belgian painter and sculptor, specializing in animals. Lalaing was raised in England until 1875, when he moved to Brussels. He trained as an artist under Jean-François Portaels and Louis Gallait at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. With the encouragement of Thomas Vinçotte and Jef Lambeaux, Lalaing began to sculpt in 1884. As a painter he continued to work in a realistic, naturalistic style, as a portrait painter and producing historical scenes. As a sculptor he produced allegorical bronzes and memorial art. Along with his fellow animalier sculptors Léon Mignon and Antoine-Félix Bouré Lalaing established a distinctively Belgian tradition of animal art, to which the flourishing Antwerp Zoo contributed inspiration. In 1896 Lalaing became a member of the Royal Academy where he had studied, and from 1904 through 1913 he served as its director. His works are represented in the collections of museums in Antwerp, Bruges, Brussels, Ghent and Tournai.
Salvator Rosa was a seventeenth-century Italian Baroque painter. He is also known as an engraver, poet and actor.
Salvator Rosa left a very diverse artistic heritage. He was interested in historical, religious, mythological and fantastic subjects, he painted landscapes, battle scenes, portraits, still lifes. Having joined the naturalists of the Neapolitan school of painting, Rosa, however, showed originality in his treatment of subjects. For example, in his paintings on historical themes he combined realistic images with fantastical composition.
The biography of Rosa himself, full of adventures, subsequently became the subject of legends, books, paintings and musical works.
Works of Salvator Rosa today are represented in many museums and private collections in Europe and Russia.
