- soub, Inundation of the Nile (1857); Plain
of Ghiseh, Dyke on the Nile (1857); Evening in the Desert of Tyh, The Nile, Pilgrims to Mecca (1861), Luxembourg Museum; View of a Harbour (1861), Strassburg Museum; Sackiés of Lower Egypt, Street in Cairo (1863); Fellahs drawing a Dahabieh (1864); Dead Sea (1866); Sirens (1867); Evening, Mahmoudieh Canal (1868); Religious Festival in Cairo, Dorad Fishing (1869); Fairies' Pond, The River Sauldre, Ruins of Baalbec (1874); A Pond, A Meadow, The Sauldre (1875); Montboulan Ford, Dahabieh Aground (1877).—Bellier; Larousse; Meyer, Künst. Lex., iii. 436.
BELMONTE Y VACOS, MARIANO,
born at Cordova, Spain, died at Valencia
in 1864. Landscape painter; was professor
in the art-schools of Cadiz and Valencia.
Medals, 1858, 1860, 1862. Works: Casa
de Campo at Madrid (1859), Grotto of Palomas
near Valencia (1865), Museo Nacional,
Madrid.—Meyer, Künst. Lex., iii. 437.
BELOVED, THE, Dante Gabriel Rossetti,
George Rae, Birkenhead, England; canvas.
Illustration of Song of Solomon. Five life
size, three-quarters length female figures and
a negro girl, the last in front of the group,
bearing roses in a golden vase. The marriage
procession has halted, and the bride, clad in
apple-green silk, has removed the veil from
her face and throat, while her companions
press closely around her, forming a mass of
glowing colour.—Athenæum, Oct., 1875,
444; Jan., 1883, 93.
BELSHAZZAR'S FEAST, Washington
Allston, Museum Fine Arts, Boston, Mass.;
canvas, H. 12 ft. 6 in. × 18 ft. 6 in. Daniel
interpreting the handwriting on the wall to
Belshazzar at his feast (Dan., v.). In foreground,
the king, queen, Daniel, and four
magicians; behind them a group of Jewish
men and women, and beyond the banquet
tables with many guests; in distance on an
elevated platform a golden statue of a god,
with worshippers. Begun in England and
brought, in 1818, to Boston, where it was
purchased by several citizens for $10,000,
part of which was advanced. Allston hoped
to finish it in six months, but, on account
of criticisms of Gilbert Stuart, determined to
make a radical change in the perspective.
It remained in his studio until his death,
when it was left unfinished, his last week's
work having been spent on it.—Memorial
Hist. Boston, iv. 395; Knickerbocker Mag.,
xxiv. 205; Tuckerman.
BELTRAFFIO (Boltraffio), GIOVANNI
ANTONIO, born in Milan in 1467, died
there, June 15, 1516. Lombard school.
Taught in the old Milanese school of Foppa
and Civerchio, he came under the influence
of the new founded by Leonardo da Vinci.
His colouring is, however, brighter, and his
contrasts of light and shade more vigorous.
His best works are: Madonna of the Casio
Family (1500), Louvre; Madonna, Casa
Poldi, Milan; Madonna, Bergamo Gallery;
male portrait, Ambrosian Library, Milan,
and two portraits at the Isola Bella. The
portrait of the Maréchal de Chaumont,
Charles d'Amboise, in the Louvre, by Beltraffio,
or Andrea Solario, has been attributed
to Leonardo da Vinci.—Vasari, ed.
Mil., iv. 51; Burckhardt, 703; Müller, Essai,
122; Rio, iii. 205; Ch. Blanc, École
milanaise; Lübke, Gesch. ital. Mal., ii. 446.
BELTRANO, AGOSTINO, born at Naples,
died there in 1665. Neapolitan school;
history painter; pupil of Massimo Stanzioni,
married his fellow-scholar Aniella di
Rosa, whom he stabbed in a fit of jealousy in
1649, fled to France and returned to Naples
in 1659. Was a good fresco painter, and
a colourist in oil of considerable merit.
Works: Legend of St. Biagio, S. Maria
della Sanità, Naples; Cupola, S. Maria della
Donna Regina, ib.; Ceiling in a Chapel,
S. Maria la Nuova, ib.; three panels in oil,
ib.—Meyer, Künst. Lex., iii. 447.
BEMBO, BONIFAZIO or FAZIO, of Cremona,
died about 1500. Lombard school.
In 1455 was in the service of Duke Francesco
Sforza, and in 1461-7 was among
decorators of the palaces at Milan and Pavia.
In 1467-8, painted in fresco portraits of
