The Scribe by Romualdo Locatelli Oil on Cardboard 20th Century - The Scribe

Signed J.M de Medeiros

Oil painting on canvas. Along the right margin there is a dedication in Portuguese "Ill'.. Offerece Agradecide (with gratitude)", with the signature JM De Medeiros and the date 1875. The work can be traced back to the Brazilian painter De Medeiros, of whom he only knows that he taught at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rio de Janeiro in 1885. The painting presents the portrait of an elderly man, with a flowing beard, a serious and concentrated gaze on something distant, and dressed in a tunic and pallium, therefore evocative the figure of a thinker or philosopher of antiquity. The work has patches on the back. It is presented in a contemporary frame,

Oil on canvas. It probably depicts a tragic anti-Semitic event. On the right, a wounded soldier in Russian uniform is witnessing the dramatic scene of a slaughtered family while the rabbi is preying for them. The broken window and the upside down drawers make clear that the killers broke into the house. On the left of the mirror, there is a Jewish writing that may suggest the location. The word may be translated as 'Ciro' and may be referring to the areas of Georgia and Azerbaijan near the Kura (river flowing from Turkey to the Caspian Sea, known as 'Ciro' in 1800s). The painting, restored and relined, is presented in a frame of the 1800s.

Maria Dolente

Marble bas-relief. Engraved signature along the left margin. Born in Cannobbio (on Lake Maggiore), Giulio Branca was introduced to the art by the Cannobio sculptor Bergonzoli, and later attended G. Strazza's school of nude drawing and sculpture at the Brera Academy. Born in Cannobio on 13 December 1850 to Ludovico, he was introduced to art by the Cannobio sculptor Bergonzoli, and attended the school of the nude and G. Strazza's school of sculpture at the Brera Academy. He made about four hundred sculptures, including memorials, funerary monuments and portrait busts. Branca also took part, following a competition, in the completion of the high wall of the cathedral of Como, which had remained unfinished for centuries, sculpting several figures in white marble for the façade and the altar between 1897 and 1900. The work presented here is a bas-relief showing a half-bust of the grieving Madonna flanked by two pious women. It is presented in a coeval wooden frame from the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century.

View with Ruins

Watercolor on paper. Signed lower right. Salomon Corrodi established himself as a landscape painter, creating a large production of views especially of the Roman countryside, but also of the Amalfi coast, Naples, the Ligurian Riviera, which was widely successful throughout Europe. He preferred the watercolor technique. The painting has traces of breakage, to be restored. The work is presented in a period frame.

Oil on wooden board. Signed lower right. These are three small paintings proposing landscape glimpses, made in the naturalistic style typical of Lorenzo Gignous: the two lateral ones, measuring 24 x 30 cm, propose the most recurring subject in the Lombard artist's production, i.e. glimpses of Lake Maggiore, animated by fishing boats; in the center a smaller landscape (18 x 25 cm) with a group of trees in the countryside. The three small paintings are presented in a single coeval frame.

Composed of woodblocked sheets, sewn together and partly colored, with matching figures and texts. The group consists of 23 booklets, of which two in three copies and one in four copies; another couple has the same cover but different contents. The booklets can be considered as "manga" of the nineteenth century: the word "manga" still today can designate many different productions, such as single cartoons, scattered drawings, more elaborate illustrations, comic strips, comic books, as well as animated drawings. Therefore, starting from the assumption that there is no "manga form" but different ways of conceiving objects and graphic forms all denominated with this word, the term manga can be attested in literary and essayistic use in Japan as early as the eighteenth century to indicate, as mentioned above, drawings and sketches. But it is from the first half of the nineteenth century that Katsushika Hokusai's 15 volumes of illustrations, studies, graphic entertainment and detailed bichromatic prints became established, thanks to the progressive publication, starting from 1814. If, on the other hand, we want to give the word the more specific meaning of “stories drawn in sequence”, then the debut must be placed in the second half of the nineteenth century, similarly to what happened in Europe and the United States for comics. The booklets are in good condition.

Oil painting on canvas. Northern European school of the 18th century. Caratacus was a Celtic king of the Catuvellauni tribe of Britons and leader of the anti-Roman resistance and famous as a freedom fighter. For eight years he resisted the Roman invasion of Britain starting in 43 AD. For eight years he was the most wanted man in the Roman Empire, hunted relentlessly, from fight to fight, from fortress to fortress, in the mountains of Wales, until he was not betrayed and handed over to the Romans in 51 AD by Cartimandua, queen of the Yorkshire Brigands, to whom he had turned for help. Defeated, he was brought in chains to Rome with his entire family: brought before the emperor, the British king spoke with such wisdom and pride (with the speech reported by Tacitus in his Annales) that Claudius, struck by his words, granted the grace to him, his wife and brothers, allowing them to spend the rest of their days in Rome. The painting presents the moment of Caratacus' peroration, at the center of the scene in chains, fervently pleading his case before the emperor: he is sitting on his throne, flanked by his wife and surrounded by senators and soldiers. The painting, restored and relined at the end of the 19th century, has slight damage.

Oil painting on canvas. The scene, outdoors at the foot of a slope, shows two female figures slumped over and behind them a pilgrim, with the traditional staff and shells on his cloak. The woman in the foreground holds a rosary in one hand, and a sleeping child lies on her lap. The scene brings to mind a moment of sorrowful and contemplative prayer. The painting, already restored and relined, has several drops of color and stains. It is presented in a stylish frame.

Oil on canvas. 17th century Tuscan school. According to Christian tradition, Saint Veronica was the 'pious woman' who, seeing the passion of Jesus carrying the cross and his face smeared with sweat and blood, wiped it with a linen cloth, on which the imprint of Jesus' face would remain. This veil, also known as the Holy Shroud, thus became the iconographic sign of the saint. Veronica also appears in the centre of the painting, while two angels on the sides hold the linen on which Christ's face is imprinted, crowned with thorns; below it, a chalice symbolically collects the divine blood, while above the saint's theta the Holy Spirit hovers. Restored and re-framed, the painting is presented in a stylish frame.

Oil painting on canvas. The composition features a hanging hare in the centre, flanked by some quails and a pigeon; on the right side, a wicker basket containing chestnuts and pine branches; on the left side a bunch of asparagus and a vase of colorful flowers, whose bright and lively colors create a chromatic contrast with the other elements, all in brown and gray tones. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a repurposed 19th century frame.

Gallant Scene and Bucolic Scene

Matching paintings on leather representing a gallant scene and a bucolic scene. Styled frames.

Oil painting on canvas. Central European school of the late 18th century. The scene recounts a biblical episode widely reproduced in pictorial art, taken from the book of Esther: the young Israelite, who for her beauty had been chosen as a bride by King Ahasuerus (probably the Persian Xerxes), intercedes with the king himself to save his people, threatened with extermination and victims of a plot by the evil advisor Aman. The work depicts Queen Esther while, accompanied by her retinue, in all her splendor she is welcomed benevolently by the king, who supports her in the face of the faintness to which she is subjected due to fear, while he denounces and unmasks, by indicating it, the plots of the perfidious Haman who retreats in fear. The painting is presented in a period frame.