DIAMOND JUPITER AND DANAE by Bob Kessel after Peter Paul Rubens

“DIAMOND JUPITER AND DANAE” by Bob Kessel, based on Peter Paul Rubens painting, can be purchased as a signed and numbered limited edition original fine art print. Contact Bob Kessel for prices and availability.

Acrisius was the king who ruled in Argos. To him had an oracle declared that he should be slain by the child of his daughter Danae. Therefore the cruel king, thinking it better that Danae should have no children than that he should be slain, ordered a tower of brass to be made, and in this tower he confined his daughter away from all men.

The god Jupiter saw Danae, loved her, and changing his form to a shower of gold, he shone into the apartment of the captive girl.

Perseus was the child of Jupiter and Danae. Acrisius, finding that his precautions had come to nought, and yet hardly daring to kill his own daughter and her young child, placed them both in a chest and sent the chest floating on the sea. It floated away and was finally entangled in the net of Dicte, a fisherman in the island of Seriphus. He brought them to his house and treated them kindly, and in the house of Dicte, Perseus grew up. Perseus returned to Argos and entered a discus throwing contest. His discus hit king Acrisius and killed him, thus completing the prophesy.

JUPITER AND DANAE by Peter Paul Rubens

DIAMOND JUPITER AND CALLISTO by Bob Kessel

JUPITER AND CALLISTO by Peter Paul Rubens

“DIAMOND JUPITER AND CALLISTO” by Bob Kessel, based on Peter Paul Rubens painting, can be purchased as a signed and numbered limited edition original fine art print. Contact Bob Kessel for prices and availability.

The Myth of Jupiter and Callisto

Callisto was a river nymph, descended from the river god Inachus. Callisto was the favorite companion of the goddess Diana. She accompanied Diana on the hunt and attended her at her bath after the hunt. One day the god Jupiter caught a glimpse of the beautiful Callisto and fell in love with her. Knowing that Diana had warned Callisto of the deceitful ways of men and gods, Jupiter disguised himself as Diana. In this disguise, Jupiter seduced the beautiful Callisto. Callisto listened lovingly to the beautiful seductive words of Jupiter, and, by Jupiter’s magic, she conceived a child. When Callisto’s pregnant condition was revealed to the virtuous Diana by jealous competitors for Diana’s attentions, Callisto was forced out of the company of Diana.

After a while Callisto had a boy named Arcas. When Jupiter’s wife, Juno, saw this evidence of Jupiter’s infidelity she became exteremely mad, and changed Callisto into a bear. Callisto was ashamed and afraid, and ran into the woods, and didn’t see Arcas for many years. One day, when Arcas was a young man, he decided to go hunting, and went into the woods where his mother Callisto, the bear, lived. Callisto saw her son, who she had not seen for many years. Forgetting she was a bear, she rushed forward to hug him. Arcas only saw a bear rushing toward him. He lifted his bow and let fly an arrow to the mark. At the last moment Jupiter got into the picture and threw Callisto and her son into the heavens as the constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, the big and little bears, main parts of which are the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper. Arcas became the ancestor of the Arcadian race in the Peloponnesus.

DANIEL IN THE LION’S DEN by Bob Kessel after Peter Paul Rubens

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Bob Kessel has created an art series titled, “BIBLE”. It features pictures based on the works of famous artists throughout history like the picture “DANIEL IN THE LION’S DEN”  originally by Peter Paul Rubens, shown above and the picture “DOUBTING THOMAS” shown below based on a painting by Caravaggio. These pictures are available as signed and numbered limited edition fine art prints. Contact Bob Kessel for pricing and availability.

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DOUBTING THOMAS by Bob Kessel after Caravaggio

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Also known as Saint Thomas Putting his Finger on Christ’s Wound. Thomas is one of Jesus’ twelve apostles. When Jesus shows himself to his followers after his resurrection, Thomas refuses to believe that this man really is his master. He demands evidence. Jesus shows him the wound caused by a Roman soldier’s lance before his crucifixion. He invites Thomas to put his finger on it. Caravaggio shows that Thomas soon casts aside all doubt.

Almost identical copies of this painting and that of the Pilgrimage to Emmaus were found in a church in the French town of Loches, in 1999. After investigation, it was announced in 2006 that both works were authentic Caravaggios. Both contain the shield of arms of Philippe de Bethune, a friend of Caravaggio’s and French ambassador in Rome. Records show that Bethune acquired four paintings from the painter. Caravaggio often made several copies of his own paintings.

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DOUBTING THOMAS by Caravaggio

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Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, Italian painter with great influence both in Italy and abroad.

Caravaggio is particularly renowned for his use of chiaroscuro, a technique that uses light and dark to achieve a 3-D effect. Caravaggio breaks away from the tradition of symmetrical figures and detailed backgrounds. His figures do retain a traditional monumentality. His later work is less plastic.

Caravaggio takes his name from the village where he was born. He receives his first training in Milan, specializing in still-lives. Around 1592 he takes to Rome, the spiritual capital of the Italian peninsula, switching his subject matter to street-life and young boys.

In 1595 Caravaggio’s talent catches the eye of cardinal Francesco Del Monte, who subsequently becomes his first patron. Caravaggio’s three paintings on the life of St Matthew cause a sensation: never before has a saint, let alone an apostle, been shown like this. (calling, inspiration, martyrdom) After this succès fou, Caravaggio takes all his subjects from the New Testament.

Caravaggio’s life is as turbulent as his personality. He has many run-ins with the law and is arrested on several occasions. In 1606 a bet over a game of tennis leads to an argument, at which point Caravaggio draws his sword and kills his opponent. He flees to Naples, intending to take the long way home to Rome – where friends are lobbying for his rehabilitation – via Malta and Sicily. On his wanderings he produces several masterpieces, such as The Beheading of St John the Baptist, which he creates in Malta. He dies before reaching Rome, probably of pneumonia, in Porto Ercole. Several days after his death word arrives of papal absolution.

Caravaggio’s influence is widespread: outside Italy he inspires painters as diverse as Georges de La Tour and members of the Utrecht School, e.g. Gerrit van Honthorst – artists who in their turn are later to influence Rembrandt.

Pablo Picasso quote by Bob Kessel

Bob Kessel has created a new art series titled, “ARTISTS ON ART” based on not so well known quotes by well known artists. The pictures are available as limited edition fine art prints, signed and numbered by the artist. Contact Bob Kessel for prices and availability.

Bob Kessel’s “ARTISTS ON ART” series includes the following artists; Salvador Dali, Leonardo Da Vinci, Giorgio DeChirico, Roy Lichtenstein, Winslow Homer, Edward Hopper, Paul Klee, Rene Magritte, Henri Matisse, Michelangelo, Piet Mondrian, Claude Monet, Georgia O’Keeffe, Pablo Picasso, Auguste Renoir, Peter Paul Rubens, John Singer Sargent, Ben Shahn, Su Tung Po, Vincent Van Gogh, Orson Welles, James McNeill Whistler