Ferdinando Porta Oil On Canvas Mid '700 - Rest During The Flight Into Egypt

Oil on canvas. French school of the seventeenth century. The scene, set at night in the garden of a villa, of which you can glimpse the ornate facade on the right and in which the fountain gushing with cherubs stands out, under a dark sky and further obscured by heavy clouds, proposes two figures who entertain each other in conversation : an elderly modestly dressed is sternly admonishing a seated young man, richly dressed, who seems instead to make the gesture of mea culpa with his hand. The physiognomy and the gestures of the two characters, together with the style of the clothes, would refer to the philosopher Aristotle who was called to the court of Macedon to be the tutor of the young Alexander, the future king then known as Alexander the Great: according to what Plutarch recounts in his “Parallel Lives”, the young Alexander was a brilliant pupil, so much so that he was also initiated into the most profound and esoteric Aristotelian doctrines, from which derives the aura of mystery and profound interiority that shines through in the work presented here. The painting has been restored and relined. It is presented in a stylish frame. The painting, restored

Oil on canvas. The composition is not a traditional still life because the fruit (grapes and apples) and the bird are inserted in a large landscape, as its added elements in the foreground; Behind them opens a verdant countryside with a village on the hill. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a period frame.

Oil on canvas. French school of the seventeenth-eighteenth century. The external scene is divided into two strongly contrasting parts: on the left, on the dark and gloomy background of a rocky wall, there are some ancient ruins, bases and fragments of columns with fallen damaged statues; on the right instead, against the background of a blue sky and gray from the clouds, the mountainous landscape opens onto a path, from which some figures emerge, a lively woman carrying a laundry basket and holding a child by the hand, a wanderer with his bundle of shoulders. It seems a metaphor between the past, now dead and dark, and the present, alive and lively. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in an early 20th century frame.

Oil on canvas. Venetian school of the eighteenth century. The portrait proposes the figure of a young woman wearing an everyday dress, but embellished with spotted fur edges; curiously, with the raised arm she flaunts a fur muff tucked over one hand, probably a habit to underline a fashion of the time. The painting shows signs of restoration, with conservation of the original canvas, although reassembled on a new frame. It is presented in a coeval oval frame, but surmounted by a wooden frieze added at a later time.

Oil on canvas. Central European School. The scene is set in the shop of a barber, who is intent on cutting a man's hair under the watchful eye of other customers and, above all, of some women with children, one of whom even observes the result of his work with glasses. Glasses were introduced in art first as a sign of distinction, and later also as a sign of scientific attention, progressively delineating the figure of the scholar, doctor and surgeon: in this painting, they actually underline the irony of the scene, and they are used as a tool for a close female examination of the spouse's haircut! The whole scene is filled with figures, painted in a crude and almost grotesque way, with very marked, almost theatrical expressions and poses, underlined as well by the bright colours. Due to these characteristics, the painting fits well into that production of genre scenes based on popular life captured in its most lively and characteristic moments, which originated in the seventeenth century in Central Europe, especially in the Netherlands, to replace naturalistic and religious painting with lighter subjects, and which in Italy found a particular expression in the "Bamboccianti School", developed in Rome by Flemish and Italian painters. The painting has been restored and relined. It is presented in an antique frame.

Oil on canvas. Central European school. The scene, set inside a tavern, depicts a fight between two men, who are held by the other patrons and by the innkeeper; on the table, next to the interrupted lunch, the cards of the game that sparked the quarrel. The whole scene is filled with figures, painted in a raw and almost grotesque way, with very pronounced, almost theatrical expressions and poses, underlined even more by the bright colours. Due to these characteristics, the painting fits well into that production of genre scenes based on popular life captured in its most lively and characteristic moments, which started in the seventeenth century in Central Europe, especially in the Netherlands, to replace naturalistic and religious painting with lighter subjects, and which in Italy found a particular expression in the "Bamboccianti School", developed in Rome by Flemish and Italian painters. The painting has been restored and relined. It is presented in a period frame.

Oil on canvas. Italian School. The scene, full of figures, depicts the Holy Family walking towards Egypt, guided by an Angel and assisted by other angels above. The figures are inserted in a typical Italian landscape, they are depicted in a very earthly dimension: the Child, even with a halo, sleeps peacefully in His Mother's hands; Mary, who is wearing an unusual pilgrim's hat, met her husband's Joseph gaze, who is reassuring her with a sweet gesture - he is putting a hand on her knee-, while he is talking with the Angel who is showing them the way. Relined, the painting has some paint losses that need restoration. It is in an adapted frame, from the late '800 - early '900.