Some amazing Old portraits I need help identifying

Hi everybody! I would love some help identifying the sitting subject in the following very old original oil paintings. Any info is greatly appreciated!

 

May I ask where you acquired them and what you were told about them? Are any of them signed by the artist? Do any of them have marks, labels or handwritten notations on the back?

Debora

 

Hi Debora, this is a family inheritance that had been collected since late 1800's from travels around the world. These do not have signatures but they echo old world master technique. No marks of note have been noticed on the backs but most have not been re-stretched and are equally impressive from behind. Any insight you have is much appreciated

 

most have not been re-stretched and are equally impressive from behind.

we'll need to see that , to help us identify the fronts...

size would also help...

 

Here's one of 'em, at walmart:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Govert-F...38506?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=15301

 

So one identified as copy of:

'Old Man.' Govert Flinck. (1642) Oil on panel.

Most recently auctioned at Sotheby's.

https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2017/master-paintings-n09639/lot.53.html

Previously, according to Sotheby's, in the collection of the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin (by 1897) and may well have been copied there.

Debora

 

The second image may depict Oedipus and Antigone.

 

The bottom three appear to be more-or-less (the hands, eek) competent portraits - alas, about as easy to identify as any unmarked portrait in a box of old photos. The brown one with the lurid eyes looks like student work to me, a copy of some Rembrandt or or Durer or other old master. The background is VERY sketchy for a completed work. The top two I'd swear I've seen before, but can't find in a Google search, so maybe not, but still, likely copies of known masters. Oedipus & Antigone, why not?, or any old man & young woman of the Bible.... The first, the Latin seems to refer to a Prince Peter Alexander of Brescia, year 1786 (1791?)

 

Looking up Briniensis online suggests Croatian nobility on the first, and the crowned eagle also seems to belong to Eastern Europe. It's a naive portrait. As per @2manycats , I read Peter Alexander as well, and 1791. Salvi could be an Italian name, but I'm not getting an Italian sense. Peter Alexander would be a fairly common name, especially in areas strongly influenced by Russia.

The second may be mid-19thC, perhaps Lear and Cordelia? To my eye this has the slickest technique.

The third makes me think Don Quixote, but that's just a guess.

The fourth is Rembrandt-esque, possibly a Rabbi. There's about a million similar portraits out there. It's almost a genre unto itself.

I like the fifth the best. It's another naive portrait, but I get a sense of character and I like the fashions. I would guess first half 19thC.

The face on the sixth seems well done. Tiny hands though. I'm guessing c1860s. The fashion mavens may know better. It's possible the face was done by an itinerant painter and the rest filled in by a specialty painting firm. That happened back then.

I would guess the last to be mid-19thC as well, also naive.

Could be completely off on all of them.

 

Ok lots to respond to, firstly thank you all for your comments and knowledge.
The Old Jewish Scholar/Rabbi definitely is a well done piece and for sure an after master, I suppose even the original sitting subject is unknown. Thank you for the insight to the Govert Flinck version. I also agree the bottom three are very well done portraits but am clueless as to whether or not they are noteworthy individuals. They do have a very familiar feel to them.
The Round Portrait actually translates to Peter Alexander saved me Prince of Brixton in the year of 1791. All research I found on Brixton was a province in Italy, and yes The Emblem does seem to denote Southern Europe if we think Italy and Croatia. I am tryinig to discern the statue he is showing off in the image as well, almost Roman female warrior, again places it Italian, and the placement of the violin (strativarious) Italy again, would love more info on this

 

I agree this really is a gorgeous piece that does not echo after master but rather original work. Good thoughts to go on for sitting subjects.

 

The 1st image of the prince is frustrating. So many clues to search and nothing solid yet. BTW, the statue he's holding is Athena, goddess of wisdom and war.

PS: I even went on a tangent over the variant use of the roman numeral. I seems to have been used that way, now and then. 1791 should be MDCCXCI, as there is a three time limit in using the same number.

 

Good reference for sure, I know another member suggested Lear and Cordelia, again not a bad look. I definitely get the sense from the photo that the older man is sort of looking to heaven for confirmation of something and his left hand has that religious type gesture, the young lady is definitely looking at him like a daughter father love not a husband wife type deal. Again tough to say. I will add reverse images to these paintings to help people with age and location. Thank you!

 

Interesting that sort of kills my Italian thought as Italians then followed Roman deities not Greek. Things that make you go hmmmmm

 

Who was the Prince of Brexton in 1791?

 

I also could find nothing on a famous Peter Alexander that would be alive during the stated 1791 year

 

Bellona.

 

Interesting I thought it was Bellona as well from the breast plate design and spear in hand. Which puts us back into Italian royalty.

 

Not Brixton but Brescia

 

The fantastical crest on the helmet does it for me, in conjunction with the other points.