Mercury and Argus Oil on Wooden Table Italy XVIII Century

Oil painting on canvas. Bolognese school of the XVII -XVIII century. Mary and the Child Jesus, who is in the arms of his standing mother, with his arms already extended to recall the Cross, are placed against a naturalistic background, which fades into a rosy sky in the distance, while on the right stands the shaft of a column. The faces of the two figures show a strong resemblance in the somatic features, in particular the eyes stand out, highly expressive in their seriousness. The pictorial methods look to the painting of Elisabetta Sirani (1638 -1665), who influenced Bolognese painting by introducing expressive and emotional modalities very early in the gazes of her characters. The work, restored and relined, is presented in an antique frame.

Oil painting on canvas. It is certainly a king due to the presence of the crown and scepter at the bottom right; the man is clad in armor and rests his left hand on the helmet, to underline his prestige as a leader. Portrait in old age, as evidenced by the hoary hair, due to the physiognomic traits, the so-called "Habsburg chin" (or Habsburg chin, Habsburg lip, Habsburg lip), a particular hereditary malformation pathology of genetic origin, documented over the centuries , present in many members of the House of Habsburg. The somatic traits would lead back to Leopold I of Habsburg (1640 -1705), Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, who led numerous war campaigns. The painting, restored and relined, has a slight tear on the red surface. It is presented in a frame from the early 1900s.

Paper engravings. Five are from drawings by Giuseppe Zocchi (1711-1767) and the other five are from drawings by Jacopo Amigoni (1682-1752). They all depict episodes from the Old Testament, with different characters and episodes. Of Zocchi there are scenes from the life of Tobias, of Jephthah, of Moses (the burning bush), of Hagar and of Lot. Of Amigoni, scenes from the life of Jacob, of David with Abigail, of Abraham and two others of Moses (Moses saved from the waters and Moses defending the daughters of Jerus at the well). The German Joseph Wagner trained as a painter in Venice, in the workshop of the Rococo painter Jacopo Amigoni, who invited him to devote himself to copper burin engraving. In 1739 he founded the Wagnerian chalcography in Venice, which quickly became the most important print production center of the Serenissima; his workshop was very popular with many Venetian etchers (Volpato, Brustolon, Piranesi to name a few). In the prolific workshop, the most talented engravers active at the time were employed in the creation of hundreds of prints reproducing all kinds of the variegated eighteenth-century lagoon figurative culture, creating works of a high quality level, in which they immediately played a leading role the prints taken from prototypes of Amigoni, The revived scenes are of Rococo taste, set in landscapes dominated by a gentle nature and embellished by the presence of ancient ruins, and inserted in graceful rocaille frames. The engravings show slight gore of humidity. They are presented in contemporary gilded frames, with period glasses.

Gallant Scene and Bucolic Scene

Matching paintings on leather representing a gallant scene and a bucolic scene. Styled frames.

Les Gueux, 1622 (complete series)

Etchings. This is the complete series of 25 engravings on paper of the "Beggars" (Les Gueux), made by the French engraver in Nancy, and widely reproduced for the popularity it obtained; Rembrandt, who owned a collection of Callot's prints, was inspired by them for his beggar figures. Beggars or commoners of Italian origin are depicted (Callot drew them in Italy) who symbolize the poverty and the wounds of the human condition. The engravings have not been signed by the author, but have been numbered; only the first engraving, which portrays a very humble character carrying a flag with the words "Captain De Baroni", and which also represents the title page of the collection, shows the name of the painter and engraver. The whole series is presented in frames in style.

Oil painting on canvas. Central European school of the eighteenth century. Under a blue sky, a large, rather barren landscape is depicted, with the edge of a wood opening onto a rocky valley, with a river flowing between the rocks and snow-capped peaks in the background; in the foreground, scattered, some figures of shepherds with their flocks. On the stretcher at the back of the work, a cartouche refers to Poussin, the artist representing seventeenth-century classicism whose pictorial methods inspired the author of the painting. The painting, relined, is presented in a period frame.

Oil on canvas. Lombard school of the eighteenth century. An almost garland-like composition of variegated flowers, which occupy the entire pictorial field, against a dark background from which they emerge by themselves, without any other furnishing element. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a frame in the early 1900s style.

Oil on canvas. The two paintings, certainly similar in terms of subject type and pictorial methods, offer two landscape glimpses typical of the 17th and 18th Nordic production. They feature large countryside spaces near watercourses and inhabited by farmhouses. There are figures of peasants and commoners focusing on their work. The blue mountains in the background, preceded by gentle hills and surrmounted by a blue sky with white clouds. They had been previously relined and restored and they both show color spots and opacity. They feature a contemporary frame.

Oil on canvas. Central European School. The scene is set in the shop of a barber, who is intent on cutting a man's hair under the watchful eye of other customers and, above all, of some women with children, one of whom even observes the result of his work with glasses. Glasses were introduced in art first as a sign of distinction, and later also as a sign of scientific attention, progressively delineating the figure of the scholar, doctor and surgeon: in this painting, they actually underline the irony of the scene, and they are used as a tool for a close female examination of the spouse's haircut! The whole scene is filled with figures, painted in a crude and almost grotesque way, with very marked, almost theatrical expressions and poses, underlined as well by the bright colours. Due to these characteristics, the painting fits well into that production of genre scenes based on popular life captured in its most lively and characteristic moments, which originated in the seventeenth century in Central Europe, especially in the Netherlands, to replace naturalistic and religious painting with lighter subjects, and which in Italy found a particular expression in the "Bamboccianti School", developed in Rome by Flemish and Italian painters. The painting has been restored and relined. It is presented in an antique frame.

Oil on canvas. Central European school. The scene, set inside a tavern, depicts a fight between two men, who are held by the other patrons and by the innkeeper; on the table, next to the interrupted lunch, the cards of the game that sparked the quarrel. The whole scene is filled with figures, painted in a raw and almost grotesque way, with very pronounced, almost theatrical expressions and poses, underlined even more by the bright colours. Due to these characteristics, the painting fits well into that production of genre scenes based on popular life captured in its most lively and characteristic moments, which started in the seventeenth century in Central Europe, especially in the Netherlands, to replace naturalistic and religious painting with lighter subjects, and which in Italy found a particular expression in the "Bamboccianti School", developed in Rome by Flemish and Italian painters. The painting has been restored and relined. It is presented in a period frame.

Oil on canvas. Italian School. The scene, full of figures, depicts the Holy Family walking towards Egypt, guided by an Angel and assisted by other angels above. The figures are inserted in a typical Italian landscape, they are depicted in a very earthly dimension: the Child, even with a halo, sleeps peacefully in His Mother's hands; Mary, who is wearing an unusual pilgrim's hat, met her husband's Joseph gaze, who is reassuring her with a sweet gesture - he is putting a hand on her knee-, while he is talking with the Angel who is showing them the way. Relined, the painting has some paint losses that need restoration. It is in an adapted frame, from the late '800 - early '900.