Piedmontese Louis Philippe Secretaire Walnut Poplar Italy 19th Century

Oil on canvas. Mid 19th century. The large scene tells an unidentified historical episode, set in the Renaissance period, in which an archbishop listens to the plea of a young man in arms, accompanied by his mother, who supports his plea. The setting is inside the reception hall of the high prelate, presumably in the bishop's palace, which from the loggia in the background overlooks the Cathedral, whose dome can be glimpsed; the bishop is surrounded by his subordinates and guards, while different people of the people attend. Particular is the presence of the man sitting in the foreground on the left, who looks towards the viewer and points to the scene, as if he were telling it. The atmosphere is played on the contrasts between lights and shadows, between the bright colors of the dominant characters compared to the dull and suffused tones of the surrounding figures, who literally tend to disappear into the shadows at the limits of the scene. The work is part of that large nineteenth-century production that drew on the historical or literary subject, re-proposing it in a romantic key. The painting, restored and relined, is presented in an important frame from the second half of the 19th century, with some shortcomings.

19th Century / 1801 - 1900

Triptych clock in gilded and chiseled bronze with carved and gilded wooden bases. The clock with a large rectangular base features finely worked burin decorations with leaf volutes, garlands, lion protomes and a cup-shaped vase at the top. Enamelled metal display with hours in Roman numerals and minutes in Arabic numerals protected by a lid with curved glass; the hands are in gilded and perforated bronze. In the center of the dial and on the manufacture branded mechanism. The six-flame candelabra have the same decorations as the clock and are 67 centimeters high.