browse these categories for related items...
Directory: Fine Art: Paintings: Oil: Europe: French: Pre 1920: Item # 1488201

Click to view additional online photographs

Jon Berg Fine Art and More
View Seller Profile
2311 Schader Dr. #310
Santa Monica, CA 90404
310-453-5620

Guest Book

An antique COPY of the 1886 painting "Emperor Justinian" (also known as "Justinian in Council"), by famous French artist Benjamin Constant (1845-1902) known for his Orientalist works and excellence as an academic painter. This copy is clearly marked with the name of the talented copyist at lower left, adjacent to a fair facsimile of the Constant signature. The original work is currently displayed by the Ringling Museum of Sarasota, Florida; it is enormous, at over 13 feet by 22 feet. A 2019 online article goes into how it once hung at the Metropolitan Museum in New York and was subsequently acquired in 1929 by showman John Ringling for the Florida museum bearing his name. For decades that enormous original masterwork was rolled and not displayed, but in 2019, a restoration was undertaken. This copy is over 100 years old, though its exact age would be hard to pinpoint. It is in good condition save for a slight disturbed area at upper center (see photos). Reverse of canvas shows what could be called foxing. The painting was in an old house on the west side of Los Angeles for decades. Frame has some losses at upper left (I have retained the pieces); due to its age it is conceivable that other pieces could loosen and break off in shipping. See online the beautiful, impressive academic works of French artist Benjamin Constant. This piece measures 24" by 36" and 32" by 44" as framed. Constant was born in Paris and studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Toulouse under Alexandre Cabanel. An 1872 trip to Morocco turned him towards Orientalism, at which he was to excel, before turning later in life towards portraiture. Constant himself became a noted teacher, before passing at the young age of only 56 in 1902.