Cowan's Corner

Religious Subjects Struggle in Today’s Market

By Wes Cowan

An undergraduate student majoring in Art History will be the first to tell you—Biblical history and the Old Masters go hand in hand. They would also readily acknowledge that their familiarity with New Testament stories has increased tenfold, thanks to their study of art from the Middle Ages through the 18th Century.

The explanation for this is simple. Commissions for monumental works of art were largely religious in nature. The triptychs of Giotto and Cimabue were intended for church altars. Pope Julius II insisted Michelangelo execute the very finest ceiling fresco the world had ever seen in his new chapel, and he wanted it finished quickly. Great marble tombs were commissioned for deceased popes in their memory. Bishops and other powerful members of the Church delighted in Caravaggio’s twisted sense and fresh view of New Testament subjects. The tendency for an artist striving to make a good living is to follow the demand. During these periods, the greatest demand stemmed from the Church.

The Renaissance period marked a time in which non-religious subjects began creeping into the pantheon of Western Art. Humanist theory and secular ruling powerhouses allowed for the introduction of mythological subject matter taken from Greek and Roman literature and a renewed study of their works of art. During the Baroque periods in the 16th and early 17th Centuries, the Dutch became particularly adept at still life and genre painting. A growing middle class comprised of merchants and businessmen, though still attached to religious subjects, enjoyed the occasional oil painting of a man and woman flirting in a dark interior or perhaps a Dutch landscape or harbor scene with canals, emphasizing their economic and political independence. In the 18th Century, the British gradually introduced caricature, taking delight in blatantly exaggerating features of their kings, queens and the ruling class.

Although small glimpses of secular subject matter were prevalent during these periods, religious art still dominated the painting landscape, and major artists such as Michelangelo, Rembrandt, and Van Dyck primarily worked with religious scenes. It was not until the 19th Century that religious subject matter began to decline. The period of Enlightenment and the Industrial Age prompted a shift toward secular subjects: everyday life, historical painting and abstraction became the focus. Suddenly, politicians and magnates such as William Randolph Hearst and Andrew Mellon were driving the market, and they liked Impressionist street scenes. They liked genre. They were forward thinking, and they collected works indicative of modern movements and avant garde styles. Religious subjects began to take a back seat.

Today, there is a common expression in the fine art and antique business: “Religion doesn’t sell.” Unfortunately, a ready market no longer exists for minor works with religious subject matter. The Old Masters are still very well collected, but these are few and far between. Most are housed in museums and institutions around the world.

The examples most commonly seen today are referred to as “Old Master Copies”. Essentially, these works are paintings executed by a student artist, usually taken while viewing an original piece by one of the Old Masters. In the 18th and 19th Centuries, it was common practice for an artist to stroll into a museum or church with brush and canvas and copy another work. Studying the “Old Masters” was a rite of passage, encouraged for artists to gain a sense of their predecessors. The results of these student projects surface regularly on the current market. They are typically never signed (why sign a painting that, after all, is not a subject conceived by the artist?) and are readily identifiable as copies of well known works. Some great Old Masters were copied more than others. Still more were published in lithographs, engravings or etchings and were widely distributed.

One might ask; if a painting is big, nice, old, beautifully framed, well executed, and it’s well over a hundred years old, why wouldn’t it be worth a great deal of money? The explanation surprises most individuals that have inherited or acquired such a piece. There exists a large amount of this material and a very small market for it. The current supply outweighs the demand.

About the author: Wes Cowan is founder and owner of Cowan’s Auctions, Inc. in Cincinnati, Ohio. An internationally-recognized expert in historic Americana, Wes stars in the PBS television series History Detectives and is a featured appraiser on Antiques Roadshow. He can be reached via email at info@cowans.com. Research by Graydon Sikes.

The Crowning of Thorns after Carlo Maratti (Italian, 1625-1713); an 18th C. copy, discovered in a Kentucky monastery; sold for $800 at Cowan’s Auctions.

16th or 17th C. scene, Adoration of the Magi; unidentified Old Master Copy; sold for $3,200.

An enormous 18th C. copy of
The Vision of St. Francis, after Domenichino (Italian, 1581-1641); sold for only $300.