Fred Wessel is a contemporary artist who is inspired by the artists, materials, and techniques of the early Italian Renaissance.

Working in the painstaking medium of egg tempera, Wessel paints jewel-like portraits, primarily of young women in somewhat classical poses. These are set off — as many paintings were in the early Renaissance — by flattened backgrounds incorporating gold, silver, and palladium leaf.

In this respect, he is exploring the aesthetic of the time in which a painting was not simply an image, but a precious object in its own right.

Though the technique is from the Renaissance, and carries the feeling of that approach, Wessel’s paintings simultaneously feel quite contemporary.

The Technique section of his website includes step-throughs of two of his paintings.

One of the galleries on his website is for “Constellations”, which appears to be a major theme in his work (images above, top four). These egg tempera portraits are set against backgrounds of star charts of various constellations done in or embellished with metal leaf.

You will also find galleries of florals and still life, as well as of drawings. Many of his drawings are done using the early Renaissance technique of metal point (images above, bottom), in which lines are drawn on prepared paper with a thin wire of silver or a similar soft metal. These are often set off with metal leaf as well.

See also my previous post on Fred Wessel from 2006.

Though not technically a member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (which consisted of only seven artists and writers) Valentine Cameron Prinsep was certainly within the inner levels of their circle.

He was good friends with John Everett Millais and Edward Burne-Jones, worked on a project for the Oxford Union with Dante Gabriel Rosetti, and studied in the atelier of Charles Gleyre, at a time when James McNeill Whistler and Edward Poynter were students there.

Prinsep studied initially with noted Symbolist pinter George Frederic Watts, who was a friend of his father.

In searching for Prinsep’s work on the internet, I’ve found his work to be a bit uneven — likely reflecting different stages of his career — but when he’s at his best, he’s very good indeed.

The best source I’ve found for images of Prince’s paintings is ArtUK. Unfortunately, though the images in their gallery appear to be linked, clicking does not produce access to a larger image (at least in my browser). However, there are download links under the images, and you can also right-click (or Control-click on Mac) and choose “View Image” top open the larger image in another tab.

There is also a good selection of relatively large images on the Art Renewal Center. I’ve linked to a few other sources below.