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

Oil painting on canvas. Bottom right signed Borella and dated 1894. It is probably Rafael Borella (1874 -1953), a painter born and trained in Milan but then moved to Uruguay. His first Italian production includes Venetian and Val d'Aosta landscapes. This painting, which offers a mountain view, with meadows crossed by a stream near which a fisherman sits. The scene could therefore be a youthful production by Borella, suited to him in terms of subject and style. The work is presented in a contemporary frame.

Oil painting on canvas. The large painting recalls the pictorial methods of the 17th century but is from a later period, and was created on a canvas applied to an older one. The scene tells the biblical episode (taken from the Book of Kings) widely narrated pictorially, depicting the bath of Bathsheba, the wife of General Uriah, in the service of King David. According to the biblical story, David is on the terrace of his palace when he notices the woman bathing in the garden of her home, surrounded by her handmaids. Davide falls in love with her and seduces her, making her pregnant. To hide the crime, he recalls General Uriah from the front, to make him lie down with his wife, but Uriah does not want to leave his soldiers; then David sends him to fight on the front line hoping that he will be killed: this happens and David can marry Bathsheba, but he will be punished by God for the adultery and impiety committed. The painting shows the moment in which Bathsheba, having just come out of the bathroom, while she is reflected in the mirror held by a slave girl, and surrounded by other servants, reads the note that King David sent her; the latter appears at the top right, overlooking the terrace. The scene is dominated by female figures intertwined with each other, in a tangle of clothes and fabrics, and surrounded by flowers from the garden; in the center stands the mirror in a rich golden frame. The painting has a patch at the bottom right. It is presented in an antique gilded frame.

The Last Judgment

Oil painting on canvas. The work is probably the preparatory and presentation painting to the client of the fresco created by Moretti Larese for the vault of the church of Volpago del Montello (Treviso), dedicated to Santa Maria Maddalena. The Last Judgment describes Heaven on the clouds above, gathered around Christ sitting on the judge's throne. In the background the Trinitarian image is composed, with God the Father in flight and the dove of the Holy Spirit, among the choirs of angels and the elders of the Apocalypse. Christ the judge is flanked by his mother Mary, in the role of intercessor, and by the four evangelists who have in their hands the Gospels of which they are authors and alongside the traditional symbols. The saints of the Old Testament are lined up on the sides (David with the harp, Moses with the tablets of the law, John the Baptist with the processional cross) and the apostles Peter (with the keys) and Paul (with the sword of martyrdom). The terrace below is occupied by the other apostles (Andrew with the cross) and saints. The three Virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity, with their symbols, show the resurrected people the cross of Jesus' sacrifice. The angel with the top hat awakens the dead and shows them the judge. The archangel Michael, with his flaming sword and double-pan scales, decides the individual fate of the resurrected. Below, the elect (including mothers with their children) ascend to Heaven with the help of the angels. The damned instead end up in the flames of Hell. The painting presents evident traces of the underlying pencil drawing and, compared to the definitive fresco, some small differences in the postures of some figures and above all in the non-definitive colors. Moretti Largese was appreciated above all as a decorator of public and private buildings, but he also created some religious frescoes. The painting is presented in a late 19th century frame.

The Nine Muses

Tapestry. The word Euterp appears at the bottom right. The enormous grass juice depicts the nine Muses, female Greek divinities, all sisters, as daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, and having the god Apollo as their guide. They represented the supreme ideal of Art, understood as the truth of the "Everything" or the "eternal magnificence of the divine". Initially considered in a generic way as divinities of song and joyous dances, responsible for putting into music and verse stories such as the origin of the world, the birth of gods and men, the exploits of Zeus, and often depicted accompanied by various musical instruments, starting from the Hellenistic era, all singing and musical expressions were associated with them, including sad and funeral ones, and other arts such as theatre, and each of them was associated with a specific genre of art, so that they could be invoked individually to exercise their inspiration and protection. The word "Euterp"refers to the name of one of them, Euterpe, muse of lyric poetry and music, traditionally depicted with a flute; but the name Euterpe etymologically means "She who cheers" who brings joy, and one can therefore think that the choice of this name to title the tapestry refers to the most ancient function of the Muses, those of bringers of joy through art. In this presentation, the muses appear dancing, dressed in veils and flowering branches; in their hands or placed next to them, instruments or other objects symbolizing the art that they inspire appear (both tragic and comic theatrical masks, the pictorial palette, various musical instruments...). The large painting has signs of wear and humidity stains.

Landscape with River and Figures 1878

Watercolor and pencil on paper. Signed and dated lower left. We know of several landscape views of the English countryside by the English painter Henry Clifford Warren, mostly painted in watercolour. Here is a view of a wooded countryside crossed by a wide river, with a shepherd leading his cows to graze on the hill in the foreground. Presented in a frame.

The Announcement of Defeat at Waterloo

Oil painting on canvas. French school of the 19th century. The scene, set in the poor bedroom of an elderly war veteran, who is crying in his bed, sees his family telling him the sad news of the defeat at Waterloo, as can be deduced from the sheet of newspaper in the woman's hands, on which the name of the historic location where Napoleon Bonaparte was definitively defeated. The canvas shows signs of previous restorations, in particular the patch corresponding to the female figure is clearly visible. It is presented in an early 20th century setting.

Oil painting on canvas. The composition features mixed fruit - grapes, apples, medlars, figs - placed on a cloth together with some mushrooms and some pink peonies. The colors stand out against the dark background. The painting is presented in an adapted style frame.

Oil painting on canvas. On the back there is a vintage cartouche with the writing in French "Academic landscape; The bath of the nymphs disturbed by satyrs" and attribution to Hippolyte Lebrun (French painter working in Italy during the first half of the 19th century). The large scene is framed, like a backdrop, from inside a rocky cave in the middle of a green and shady valley. A river flows in it to form pools of water, in which a group of nymphs bathes, disturbed by some satyrs, who chase them and threaten them. The scene actually has a very playful character, like a mischievous entertainment between the different characters. The figures, small compared to the landscape, are an added component, which enhances its character of serenity and pleasure; the reference to classical culture is in keeping with the period of neoclassicism. The painting shows traces of restoration. It is offered in a stylish frame.

Oil painting on canvas. The landscape, set in the mountains but with a view of the sea in the background, sees a figure of a commoner in the center and two on the sides, walking on the paths; some farmhouses are scattered on the green slopes. The painting presents several drops of color, especially the upper margin. It is presented in a stylish frame.

Thomas's Disbelief

Stained glass window, with hand painted polychrome glass. The scene from the Gospel is depicted in which Saint Thomas, after having doubted his Resurrection announced by the other disciples, recognizes Jesus who appears to him and asks him to touch his wounds on the Cross with his hand. The work has some slight breaks and some original glasses are missing, which have been replaced. It is mounted in a recent frame.

Oil painting on canvas. At the bottom left there is a signature traced very lightly and not decipherable. There is a plaque on the frame attributing the work to Jean-Baptiste François Pater (1695-1736), which is considered inconsistent. The landscape develops near the mouth of a river into the sea; on the left there is the landing directly to a group of houses; on the right a rowboat is leaving the tree-lined shore, with two scantily clad figures. Relined, the painting is presented in a late 19th century frame.

Oil painting on canvas. The great scene with a realist subject is set in a thick forest where, near a spring, a small family has stopped for a rest break: leaving the cart with their belongings (without a horse, therefore pulled by hand!), a man , a woman and a large group of children, are resting, eating, cooling off at the source or playing. From the top left a ray of sunlight filters through the trees, which illuminates the group of figures located at the bottom centre, protagonists of the scene. The painting is presented in a gilded frame from the late 19th - early 20th century.