Neo-Renaissance Mirror - Italy XIX Century - Second half of the 19th century

Oil painting on canvas. At the bottom left there are the two initials AC, perhaps followed by an illegible surname. The Saint, framed by a rich curtain, is identified as Cecilia by the presence of the organ, an instrument she played and which had her erected as patroness of music; she is richly dressed for her wealthy Roman status and holds the palm of martyrdom. The painting has small drops of color and stains. It is presented in a mid-1900s frame.

Oil on tablet. 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.

Concept of a Young Figure

Mixed technique on paper; drawing cut out and applied on cardboard. Signed lower right. It is a small study, probably to be included in a larger scene, of the figure of a child carrying a basket of vegetables on his head, still undefined but sketched with traces of green; the boy is dressed only in a short shirt. Neapolitan painter, but also museologist and teacher of figurative arts, Dalbono trained in the Neapolitan verismo movement which referred to the School of Resina. He loved the landscape, which he portrayed from life, preferring the hours of dawn with its play of light; but he also produced many genre scenes, with popular bourgeois subjects, animated by different figures and always with Naples as a background, its views and its landscapes, told with suffused atmospheres, full of poetry. The painting is presented in a period frame.

Forest landscape

Oil on cardboard. Signed lower right. After an initial period dedicated to music, Francesco Sartorelli chose the path of painting, forming himself as an autodidact. Landscape painter, initially of the traditional type, he then approached divisionist painting, finally arriving at defining his own style made up of fluid and loose brushstrokes. This glimpse of the woods is proposed in the latter style, with brushstrokes of color playing on autumnal hues, which spread fluidly and quickly. The work is presented in a gilded frame in style.

Mythology

Grass juice painting on velvet. The painting presents a mythological scene enclosed in an oval frame, around which are small fauns playing the flute and capitals with vases and floral decorations. The central scene, set in a garden, shows a queen lying voluptuously on a triclinium, surrounded by her handmaidens, while seated at her feet, a slave, recognisable by his ankle ring, speaks passionately to her. These could be the mythological characters of Onphale, queen of Lydia, and Heracles, who was her slave, as well as her lover, for three years, during which he performed various feats for her. This myth has been widely told and depicted in art throughout the centuries, albeit with different interpretations. The painting is in good condition, apart from a slight tear on the margin of the inner oval frame on the left. The work is presented framed.

An Officer's Portrait 1897

Oil on canvas. Signed, dated and with location Rome in the bottom right-hand corner. There is little biographical information on the painter Mario Spinetti, but various genre scenes and some portraits are known of his production. Presented here is a three-quarter-length portrait of an officer of the Royal Italian Army. The painting is presented in a gilded antique frame, which is in need of restoration due to multiple missing parts.

Oil on canvas. Lombard School. Portrait of a middle-aged austere and composed lady, The painting is in good conditions and comes in a coeval frame. that shows small drops of the gilding.

Bruges 1979

Oil on hardboard. Signature and location lower right. On the back there is another signature, with the title and date of the work. Giovanni Balansino, Piedmontese by origin but Lombard by adoption, chose to depict his love for both lands with his painting made of broad and nervous brushstrokes, dedicating a large part of his production to them. In this case, instead, it offers a glimpse of Bruges, a well-known Flemish town. The work is presented in a frame.

Oil on the table. The picturesque landscape has a wide path in the foreground on the right which winds between fronds and green meadows, where flocks graze; a small family of peasants passes along the path, all engaged in the transport of goods: even the girl carries a large bundle on her head, while the mother carries the basket with her newborn son in the same way! In the background, the plain extends wide to fade towards the distant hills and into the clear and rarefied sky, which gives off an almost pink light. The fir table of the painting has undergone restoration and parqueting. The work is presented in a mid-1900s frame.

Pastels on cardboard. Central European school of the late 1800s. Trace of signature lower left. The beautiful and elegant young woman is depicted with a melancholy expression, a slight heavy smile, her eyes downcast and pensive: the attitude, associated with the black she wears, suggests a woman in mourning. The painting is presented in a mid-1900s frame.

Oil painting on canvas. The Holy Family is depicted with Mary and Joseph who, converging one hundredth with their heads close together, frame the Child Jesus, intent on playing with a lamb, the iconographic symbol of the sacrificial victim, therefore a prelude to the Passion, together with the small Cross that the child holds in one hand. The inscription anno 1845 appears at the top right, an indication of the period probably added during the subsequent restoration phase. In fact, the work has been restored and relined. It is presented in a stylish frame.