Page:Cyclopedia of painters and paintings (IA cyclopediaofpain04cham).pdf/208

 called by Vasari the mistress of Giuliano de' Medici; but it is uncertain whether this be the portrait of La Simonetta or of another mistress of humbler origin who became the mother of Clement VII. It has been engraved by Calamatta. Another portrait, formerly in the Reiset Collection, Paris, but now said to be in possession of the Duc d'Aumale, Chantilly, inscribed "Simonetta Januensis Vespuccia," is more probably the true Simonetta. A striped scarf is loosely draped around her nude shoulders, her hair is braided with pearls, and a serpent-shaped jewel glitters on her neck. This picture is ascribed by some to Antonio Pollajuolo. A third, by Botticelli, belonging to Colonel Sterling, London, was in the Royal Academy's winter exhibition, 1886. She wears a brown robe thickly sown with pearls, a many-coloured scarf, and a head-dress decorated with pearls and a plume. A fourth, ascribed to Piero della Francesca, was sold in London, 1886, in the collection of William Graham.—Vasari, ed. Mil., iii. 332; C. & C., Italy, ii. 424, 428; Gal. du Pal. Pitti, i. Pl. 11; Mag. of Art (1886), ix. 466.

SIMONETTI, ATTILIO, Cavaliere, born in Rome; contemporary. Genre painter, pupil of Fortuny. Professor in Naples. Works: First Fable (1875); After the Ball (1876); Via Giuseppe Mancinelli in Palazzolo (1878); Proclamation before the Pantheon, E. B. Warren, Philadelphia (Johnston sale, 1876, $2,725).—Müller, 492.

SIMONIDES, Greek painter, date unknown. Pliny says (xxxv. 40 [141]), that he painted an Agatharcus and a Mnemosyne.

SIMONSEN, NIELS, born in Copenhagen, Dec. 10, 1807, died there, Dec. 12, 1885. History painter, pupil of Copenhagen Academy, where he first took up painting, then sculpture, and, on failing to obtain the large gold medal, returned to painting. Studied in Munich in 1833; visited Tyrol and Italy, and in 1839 Algiers; settled in Copenhagen in 1845; took part in the Schleswig wars of 1848 and 1864; travelled in Sweden in 1857, and visited Rome in 1870. Professor at Copenhagen Academy in 1854. Member of Munich, Copenhagen, and Stockholm Academies. Danebrog Order, 1852. Works: Miser; Corsairs resting after Combat; Captured Pirates; Death of an African Chief; Tordenskjold fighting a Swedish Frigate; Bivouac after Battle of Schleswig (1849), Copenhagen Gallery; Battle of Fredericia; Storming of Frederikstad; Battle of Idsted; Swedish Betrothal (1862), Copenhagen Gallery; Scenes in the Trenches of Dybböl; Battle of Sandelmark; Naval Fight between Turks and Greeks, Carlsruhe Gallery; Caravan overtaken by Storm (1855), Christiania Gallery; Sailor Smoking seated on a Cannon, New Pinakothek, Munich.—Weilbach, 634.

Simplicity, Sir Joshua Reynolds, E. F. Watson, England.

SIMPLICITY, Sir Joshua Reynolds, E. F. Watson, England. Portrait, half-length, of Sir Joshua's grand-niece, Offy Gwatkin. Seated under a tree, with her hands in her lap full of wild flowers. One of the most charming of Reynolds's child pictures.—Pulling, Reynolds, 88; Stephens, English Children, by Sir J. R.