Spencer A. Samuels & Company, Ltd.

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A smiling young woman and an elderly man with exaggerated features embrace and gaze into each other’s eyes while a person dressed in the orange costume of a fool lurks behind them to our left in this horizontal painting. All three have pale skin and are shown from the chest up behind a ledge or tabletop against a black background. The older man to our right wears a dark teal-blue garment and a bright crimson-red head covering that drapes over both shoulders. Wrinkles and age spots cover his face, which is accentuated by a bulbous nose and a leering smile that exposes missing teeth. His arms reach out and encircle the woman to our left. Cradling the right side of her head with his right hand, his left arm reaches across to her upper body, his thumb visible at her breast. A blue and gold band holds the woman’s auburn-brown hair back. A white shift peeks through the slashed sleeves of her emerald-green, gold-trimmed gown. She reaches toward the elderly man with her right arm, her hand holding his chin. Her left arm reaches across her body under his arm and she holds a leather pouch in that hand. A man wearing an orange cap with asses’ ears reaches for the pouch, eyes crossed and his tongue protruding from the side of his mouth. Playing cards and coins lie on the ledge to our left.
Quentin Massys, Ill-Matched Lovers, c. 1520/1525, oil on panel, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1971.55.1

Ill-Matched Lovers

Quentin Massys · c. 1520/1525 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1971.55.1

François Boucher, The Archery Contest, 1765, black and white chalks on light brown laid paper (formerly blue), Woodner Collection, Gift of Andrea Woodner, 2006.11.65

The Archery Contest

François Boucher · 1765 · black and white chalks on light brown laid paper (formerly blue) ·  Accession ID  2006.11.65

Dirck Bouts, Madonna and Child, c. 1465, oil on panel, Patrons' Permanent Fund, 1986.67.1

Madonna and Child

Dirck Bouts · c. 1465 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1986.67.1

Henri-Guillaume Chatillon, Apollo or Adonis, c. 1818, charcoal and black chalk on thin wove paper, mounted on heavy laid paper, Gift of David H. McDonnell, 2016.54.3

Apollo or Adonis

Henri-Guillaume Chatillon · c. 1818 · charcoal and black chalk on thin wove paper, mounted on heavy laid paper ·  Accession ID  2016.54.3

Gustav Klimt, Curled up Girl on Bed, 1916/1917, graphite, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1974.83.1

Curled up Girl on Bed

Gustav Klimt · 1916/1917 · graphite ·  Accession ID  1974.83.1