Buckle Bronze China Shang Dynasty 1675 BC - approx. 1046 BC - Shang Dynasty 1675 BC - approx. 1046 BC

Oil on canvas. A large architectural structure, imposing in its classicism, with tall twisted columns and elaborate Corinthian-style capitals, dominates a gentle and nuanced lake landscape, which teems with the daily activity of small figures of wayfarers, fishermen, and commoners, well described in their peculiarity. The painting is close to the manners of Viviano Codazzi (1604 -1670) to which it was traditionally attributed. Originally from Bergamo but then active in Rome and Naples, Codazzi was a famous painter of perspectives, considered by many to be the inventor of the view and of the architectural whim. Also close to the Bamboccianti genre, he distinguished himself for the descriptive care of the various protagonists, their gestures, their clothing, care indicating a vision and a study from life of everyday life, read and interpreted without literary filters but with marked naturalism. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a coeval frame.

Material Contrast 1971

Mixed technique on board. Signed and dated lower centre. On the back there is a further signature, the title with the numbering 1/4 and the stamp and label of "Galleria dei Mille"in Milan. Francesco Fedeli was a draftsman and painter. If in the production of drawings his war correspondence stands out, in particular from the Russian front where he documented the life of the soldiers and the drama and sufferings of the Russian population with drawings that appeared in the main Italian newspapers and magazines, subsequently his painting turned towards abstract compositions, such as this one presented here.

Ligurian Beach

Oil on canvas. Signed lower left. It is a glimpse of the Ligurian Riviera, near a cove, surmounted by houses close to the coast. Berto Ferrari, born and always lived in Liguria, was a skilled and sensitive marine and landscape painter of the post-impressionist tradition, who painted the beauties of the Ligurian Riviera and numerous views of the Apennine hinterland. The painting has drops of color and traces of restoration. It is in a coeval frame.

Oil on canvas. Emilian school of the seventeenth century. The work is an ancient replica of the altarpiece executed on wood by Girolamo Mazzola Bedoli (1500 -1569) for the church of San Sepolcro in Parma., commissioned in 1556. The seated Virgin holds Jesus on her knees, but she also affectionately rests her right hand on the shoulders of San Giovannino; he is handing his cousin his stick surmounted by the Cross and meanwhile in turn rests his left hand on the shoulder of the angel next to him, to create a continuum between the figures, gathered and connected to each other. The scene above is completed by two other large angels who are intent on picking fruit from the branches that surround the scene. All gazes converge in the centre, towards Jesus. The whole scene is characterized by the movement of the figures, by their intersecting and crossing each other, and by the chromatic and light effects, which increase the vitality of the work. Restored and relined, the painting has a marked crack and small drops of color. It is proposed in an antique frame, also with small drops in the gilding.

Oil painting on canvas. Signed lower right. Mary breastfeeding her little son, under the loving gaze of Saint Anne: this is the theme of a sacred nature but proposed in a very human key, which underlines the sweetness of the mother-child relationship and of the family. Giuseppe Ghiringhelli was mainly a landscape and portrait painter, but in his production there are also various representations of the sacred Maternity which, like this one proposed here, are permeated with intimacy and sweetness and characterized by intense lights effects: in this work in particular it is suggestive the effect of the light that radiates from the little head of the child placed in the centre, on the faces bent over him of the two women, and then reverberates on the clothes and in the background, where the shadows created can be glimpsed. The work is presented in a frame from the first half of the 1900s.

Working Children

Oil painting on canvas. Signed lower left. The Veronese artist proposes an outdoor scene, in the farmyard in front of the farmhouse: three girls, seated on the ground, are intent on collecting the grains of wheat that have remained attached to the straw: raising their gaze, serious and contrite, to observe the spectator of their work. The brightness of the scene stands out, coming from the right, where the sun's rays filter through and reverberate on the colorful dresses of the girls, while on the left two tall plants provide shade. The artist uses a quick brushstroke, with a light and rapid touch, characteristic of an plein air painting, or live painting, which spread in the first half of the twentieth century. The work is presented in a frame from the early 1900s.

Glimpse of a Barn

Oil on wooden hardboard. Signed lower left. The farmyard of a farmhouse, where hens scratch around in the shade of a large leafy oak, is rendered in the characteristic pictorial style of Leonardo Bazzaro, who uses quick and broad brushstrokes, with soft outlines, to create an enveloping atmosphere of peaceful everyday life. Milanese by birth and training, Leonardo Bazzaro is considered a lively exponent of Lombard impressionism, dedicated to chromatic and luministic research. His very fruitful production of works was dedicated in the early years to Milanese interiors, but then attracted by open-air painting, he moved to landscape views and in particular he was attracted by the color of the Venetian lagoon, which led him to stay for a certain period in Chioggia. The painting is presented in a coeval frame.

Flowers in Vase

Oil on wooden hardboard. Signed lower right. The floral composition presented here is an infrequent subject in the production of the Palermitan painter Aurelio Catti, best known for the urban views and landscapes of the Italian and European cities he visited. However, the work is stylistically part of that post-impressionist repertoire which was adopted by numerous Italian artists in the first half of the 1900s. The work is presented in a frame.

Crayons on paper. In the lower right, inconsistent signature and date 1930. In an orderly countryside, a cottage stands on the left with clothes hanging in the sun on outdoor lines; on the right, a man on crutches walks along the road, while another lights a cigarette on the bank above. In the center, a light pole divides the scene in two. The work is presented in a period frame.