06 works, Today, December 24th, is Adela of Normandy's day, her story, illustrated #356

Unknown artist

Saint Adela of Normandy, Patron Saint

Oil on canvas

16"x20" 

I have no further description, at this time

Adela of Normandy, of Blois, or of England (c. 1067 – 8 March 1137), also known as Saint Adela in Roman Catholicism, was a daughter of William the Conqueror and Matilda of Flanders who later became the Countess of Blois, Chartres, and Meaux by marriage to Stephen II, Count of Blois. The couple had ten children - five sons and five daughters. She was mother of Stephen, king of England, whose right to the throne derived through her.

Francis William Wilkin

The Battle of Hastings, William the Conqueror, c. 1820

Oil on canvas

h 5182 mm x w 9601 mm

Battle Abbey and Battlefield

Francis William Wilkin aka Frank Wilkin (1791 - September 1842), was an English engraver and portrait painter, and the son of the engraver and painter, Charles Wilkin.

His early works were miniatures. His later works in chalk were exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1820 and 1841. At one stage he was inclined to producing historical images, but the lukewarm reception given his commissioned 1820 painting, 'The Battle of Hastings,' discouraged him from pursuing this genre.

Paget, who was Wellington’s cavalry commander at the Battle of Waterloo, regularly gave painting commissions to Wilkin. More on Francis William Wilkin

Adela took an active interest in civil and ecclesiastical affairs and was instrumental in rebuilding the Cathedral of Chartres in stone. 

Edmund Blair Leighton, (1852–1922)

Stephen II, Count of Blois, off to the crusades

God Speed, c. 1900

Oil on canvas

Height: 160 cm (62.9 in); Width: 116 cm (45.6 in)

Private collection

Edmund Blair Leighton (21 September 1852 – 1 September 1922) was an English painter of historical genre scenes, specializing in Regency and medieval subjects.

Leighton was the son of the artist Charles Blair Leighton. He was educated at University College School, before becoming a student at the Royal Academy Schools. He was a fastidious craftsman, producing highly finished, decorative pictures, displaying romanticized scenes with a popular appeal. It would appear that he left no diaries, and though he exhibited at the Royal Academy for over forty years, he was never an Academician or an Associate. More on Edmund Blair Leighton

In 1095 she became regent when her husband, at her urging, took part in the First Crusade to the Holy Land. He returned in 1099 but left to join the Second Crusade in 1101 and was killed in battle at Ramula. Adela continued as regent during the minority of her sons and was increasingly active in public life.

Adela, a devout Benedictine sympathizer, employed several high-ranking tutors to educate her children. At two years of age her son Henry was pledged to the Church at Cluny Abbey, Saône-et-Loire, France, as an oblate child, that is, he was dedicated to the service of God Henry went on to be appointed Abbot of Glastonbury and Bishop of Winchester. In that capacity, he sponsored hundreds of constructions including bridges, canals, palaces, forts, castles, and whole villages. In addition, Bishop Henry built dozens of abbeys and chapels and sponsored books including the treasured Winchester Bible.

Giovanni Francesco Romanelli, (1610-1662)

The Meeting of the Countess Matilda and Anselm of Canterbury in the Presence of Pope Urban II (1637-1642)

Oil on canvas, 

Galleria dei Romanelli, the Vatican.

Giovanni Francesco Romanelli (Viterbo, 1610– Viterbo, 1662) was a major Italian painter of the Baroque period, celebrated for his use of bright, vivid colors and also for his clarity of detail. Many of his works are on display in the Louvre.

Romanelli was trained in Rome in the studio of Pietro da Cortona, the leading painter of his day.

Born in Viterbo to Laura de Angelis and Bartolomeo Romanelli, he went to Rome at age 14 to study to become an artist, and within a few years became part of the household of Cardinal Francesco Barberini. In 1639 he was elected director of the prestigious Academy of Saint Luke. With the death of Urban VIII and the accession of Innocent X, the Barberini family fell from favour and Romanelli's patronage ebbed.

He was then summoned to work in Paris by Cardinal Mazarin, for whom he painted a fresco cycle based on Ovid's Metamorphoses. He also painted the Salle des Saisons and the Queen's Cabinet of the Louvre for Anne of Austria, mother of Louis XIV. In France he was made a knight of the Order of St. Michael by King Louis XIV. More on Giovanni Francesco Romanelli

Anselm, the archbishop of Canterbury, her guest and teacher in 1097. He was often entertained by her between 1103 and 1105, and she helped to effect a temporary reconciliation between him and her brother the English king Henry I in regard to the investiture controversy. In 1107 Adela entertained Pope Paschal II during Easter and in the following year was hostess to Bohemond I, prince of Antioch. 

Merry-Joseph Blondel, (1781–1853)

Imaginary portrait of Bohemond, c. 1843

Oil on canvas

104 × 77 cm (40.9 × 30.3 in)

Palace of Versailles

Merry-Joseph Blondel (25 July 1781 – 12 June 1853) was a French history painter of the Neoclassical school. He was a winner of the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1803. After the salon of 1824, he was bestowed with the rank of Knight in the order of the Legion d'Honneur by Charles X of France and offered a professorship at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts: a position in which he remained until his death in 1853. In 1832, he was elected to a seat at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

He was occupied with public commissions for paintings and frescoes in important buildings, including palaces, museums and churches. Blondel completed major commissions for the Palace of Fontainebleau, the Palace of Versailles, the Louvre Museum, the Brongniart Palace (also known as the Bourse de Paris), the Luxembourg Palace, and the churches of St.Thomas Aquinas and Notre-Dame-de-Lorette. More on Merry-Joseph Blondel

She made her son Theobald her successor in 1109 and entered a convent in the diocese of Autun but continued to wield an important influence in public and clerical affairs. She persuaded Theobald to join her brother Henry I against the king of France in 1117.

Adela became a saint within the Catholic Church. More on Adela of Normandy

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