G. Sommati di Mombello Oil on Canvas Italy 1887 - The Friar and the Painter 1887

Oil on canvas. Lombard School. It belongs to an important milanese family. Portrait of a gentleman that is holding a chain with a coat of arms in his hand. The painting shows some color drops and comes with coeval gilded frame.

Pastels on paper. Early 19th century. The father, mother and three children appear in the family group, two of whom are holding toys. On the back there is writing that identifies the family portrayed in that of the Breno marquises. The writing also says "one of the children (with the vest) is Domenico, husband of Giulia Caronesi". The painting is presented in a contemporary gilded frame, with shortcomings and small years.

Oil on canvas. At the top right appears the signature "Francesco Santacaterina da Monteleone pinxit in 1856". Of this painter, originally from Monteleone di Calabria, now Vibo Valentia, we know three altarpieces made in the same period of our painting in various churches of Strongoli, another Calabrian town in the province of Crotone. The blades are all of a sacred subject. Instead we have here a portrait of a middle-class family, father, mother and little son wearing traditional clothes; the child holds a dove in his arms, tied to a cord. The work has been restored, on the back there are signs of patches. It is presented in a stylish frame.

Oil on canvas. Tacito in the Annales tells the deail of Seneca's death wanted by Nero who was Seneca's pupil and who accused ihm of taking part in a conspiracy against him. This theme had been often painted because of the intense pathos that it tranmits: Seneca chose to suicide himself rather than being killed by an executioner and in the painting is represented on his deathbed with the doctor that is witnessing his death while he is dictating his last wishes and his wife Paolina is crying. The painting has several color drops that need to be restored. Displayed in a coeval gilded frame from 20th century.

Oil on canvas. It probably depicts a tragic anti-Semitic event. On the right, a wounded soldier in Russian uniform is witnessing the dramatic scene of a slaughtered family while the rabbi is preying for them. The broken window and the upside down drawers make clear that the killers broke into the house. On the left of the mirror, there is a Jewish writing that may suggest the location. The word may be translated as 'Ciro' and may be referring to the areas of Georgia and Azerbaijan near the Kura (river flowing from Turkey to the Caspian Sea, known as 'Ciro' in 1800s). The painting, restored and relined, is presented in a frame of the 1800s.

Composed of woodblocked sheets, sewn together and partly colored, with matching figures and texts. The group consists of 23 booklets, of which two in three copies and one in four copies; another couple has the same cover but different contents. The booklets can be considered as "manga" of the nineteenth century: the word "manga" still today can designate many different productions, such as single cartoons, scattered drawings, more elaborate illustrations, comic strips, comic books, as well as animated drawings. Therefore, starting from the assumption that there is no "manga form" but different ways of conceiving objects and graphic forms all denominated with this word, the term manga can be attested in literary and essayistic use in Japan as early as the eighteenth century to indicate, as mentioned above, drawings and sketches. But it is from the first half of the nineteenth century that Katsushika Hokusai's 15 volumes of illustrations, studies, graphic entertainment and detailed bichromatic prints became established, thanks to the progressive publication, starting from 1814. If, on the other hand, we want to give the word the more specific meaning of “stories drawn in sequence”, then the debut must be placed in the second half of the nineteenth century, similarly to what happened in Europe and the United States for comics. The booklets are in good condition.

The Guns Dealer in Alexandria

Oil painting on canvas. At the bottom right the signature of an unidentified artist. On the frame, a plate with the title in French, which locates the scene in Alexandria, Egypt. In a street of an Arab city, with white houses reflecting the light under a clear sky, an old merchant offers weapons to another man, who is cocking the long musket he is holding as a test. The intense luminosity typical of orientalist subjects dominates, in vogue in the nineteenth century. The painting has a patch on the back; it is presented in a stylish frame.

Oil painting on canvas. Signed top left. Further signature, Rome location and date on the back. Riccardo Pellegrini, a Milanese painter, was a pupil of Domenico Morelli and was educated in the climate of romanticism. He was a landscape painter and genre painter, but he also created valuable still lifes, with bright colors and a precise and realistic drawing. In this composition, two pheasants are lying in the center surrounded by pomegranates and bunches of black grapes, while in the background on the right, thanks to the reflection of light, two bottles of wine are barely visible. The painting is presented in a carved wooden frame from the early 1900s.

Watercolor on paper. Signed Borrani and dated 1881 in the lower left corner. Meticulous and detailed glimpse of a Gothic church interior, in particular the pulpit decorated with panels carved in bas-relief with scenes from the Passion; in the background, the bright and colorful mosaic windows. Despite the signature, it is not attributable to the Tuscan painter Odoardo Borrani, a talented Macchiaiolo. The painting is presented in a styled frame.

Landscape with Houses 1875

Oil on the table. Signed and dated lower right. Further signature and date on the back. Artist from the province of Pisa, trained first at the Academy of his city and later at that of Florence, thanks to contacts with Telemaco Signorini and Giovanni Fattori, Francesco Gioli landed on painting from life with a rural subject, creating works - such as the one presented here - which constitute the expression of Tuscan Naturalism, in which he managed to convey the nostalgia of the past and the discomfort with the advance of progress. At the beginning of the twentieth century he oriented his production on Florentine views, giving particular emphasis to the atmospheric and luministic rendering in an impressionist sense. The work is presented in a contemporary frame.

In Val di Susa

Oil on the table. Signed lower left. On the back there is a partially torn cartouche with the name of the author, the title and residue of the label shows on the Italian landscape. Born in Domodossola and approaching painting and sculpture as a self-taught, Follini subsequently studied at the Accademia Albertina in Turin, as a pupil of Antonio foranesi. Skilled landscape architect, he chose and dedicated himself exclusively to this subject, portraying, with great poetry, many views of the Alps but also seascapes and landscapes of the places he met in his frequent travels to Italy and Europe. Praised by critics and supported by collectors, he participated in major exhibitions with a dense production, characterized by an elegant stroke and a loose and expressive brushstroke. In this painting an Alpine glimpse with a pastoral figure is proposed. It is presented in a contemporary frame.

Oil painting on canvas. French school of the late 19th century. At the bottom left is the signature P. Detanger, unknown author. Intense portrait of a noblewoman, severe and distinguished. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a gilded frame from the early 1900s.