View of the Imperial Forums of Rome

Oil painting on canvas. The wide view of the Imperial Forums of Rome is part of the vast landscape production of the Grand Tour period, intended for wealthy European aristocrats traveling to Europe - and in particular in Italy, where Rome was considered a must - who wanted a souvenir of the places visited. The Roman Imperial Forums are an architectural complex consisting of a series of monumental buildings and squares, the center of political activity in ancient Rome, built over a period of about 150 years, between 46 BC. and 113 A.D. Despite the enlargements, the fires, the restorations and the reconstructions, during the Antiquity the Imperial Forums kept intact both their architectural conformation and their function. Their almost definitive destruction occurred during the Renaissance at the hands of Pope Julius II (1503-1513), who used the whole area as a quarry for materials to be reused in the building and artistic renovation of the city he initiated. The protests of leading artists such as Raphael and Michelangelo were of little use. In the following centuries various excavation campaigns were undertaken, with greater vigor starting from the nineteenth century, but the area was completely excavated at the beginning of the twentieth century and the ancient architecture was almost completely erased to make room for the construction of via dei Fori Imperiali , which connects Piazza Venezia with the Colosseum. The Forum was rediscovered starting from the sixteenth century also thanks to the Roman view painters who at that time loved to paint the ruins emerging in the pasture area. The view proposed here presents the Imperial Forums before the excavations begun in the nineteenth century, when the road that still crosses them had not yet been built: they are still surrounded by green countryside and the Roman hills stand out in the background. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a re-adapted 19th century frame.

Golden frame with Christ

XVIII Century - 1700

Frame in carved wood and tablet with coeval gilding. Pastille decorations with cherubs, plant motifs and elements that lead back to the Passion of Christ. In the center, Christ in lacquered lime wood with obvious lacks and largely worn lacquer. The sculpture depicting Christ on the cross is contemporary with the frame.

Carved shelf

XVIII Century - 1700

Carved shelf with leafy volutes; in chestnut.

Oil on Canvas by Joseph Vernet XVIII Century

Glimpse of the port with figures

Oil on canvas. Late 18th century. Great glimpse of a port, dominated by a tower close to which the shipyard is located; in the foreground, several figures of men and women intent on fishing on the pier. Fancy flags soar everywhere. The painting, restored and relined, is presented in a period frame. fantasy.

Historical subject

Oil painting on canvas. Venetian school. The scene, set in a desert territory close to snow-capped mountains, sees a traveling caravan, with an important female figure in the center on the back of a camel, addressing a servant below; the high social class of women is inferred, dominant over all the others, and the representation of the Queen of Sheba, the very rich biblical queen coming from the East to meet King Solomon, is hypothesized. The pictorial methods recall the production of Francesco Fontebasso (1707-1769) one of the main exponents of Venetian painting of the Rococo period. Probably the small work was a sketch for a larger canvas or fresco. On the back there is a label from the historic Simonetti collection in Rome. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a late 19th century frame.

Oil on Canvas Venetian School Italy XVIII Century

Oil painting on canvas. Venetian school of the eighteenth century. The painting depicts the biblical episode taken from the book of Genesis, in which Joseph\'s brothers, jealous of their father Jacob\'s predilection for him, sell him a slave to merchants who go to Egypt and declare to their father that he is dead: they wear on trial the tunic soiled with the blood of an animal, that special tunic that Jacob had made specially weave for his beloved son. In this representation, in which the vivid colors underline the drama, the intense movement of the old patriarch stands out, who, disfigured in pain in the face, tries to keep that stained fabric away from himself, moving his whole body to the left and extending his arm. not to allow her to approach him, almost an attempt to deny the evidence. On the right, the group of three brothers, close together in an accomplice attitude, who tell and point to each other the paternal drama. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a re-adapted antique frame.

Cartagloria Gilded Bronze Italy XVIII Century

XVIII Century - 1700

Cartagloria in gilded bronze with mercury with leaf scroll decorations. Contemporary gilding but partly worn.

Tobiolo and Tobias Oil on Canvas Italy XVIII Century

Oil on canvas. Venetian school of the eighteenth century. A biblical episode taken from the Old Testament book of Tobias is represented, in which it is narrated how Tobiolo, returning from a long initiatory journey, in which he was accompanied by the angel Raphael and the dog, restored sight to his blind father. In the scene, the figures of the two protagonists stand out in the center, the old father, seated on a bench and watched over by his faithful wife, and the young Tobiolo on his knees; behind them the angel dominates them, with his large protective wings open on the two men and who wraps Tobiolo in an embrace, a sign of divine participation and protection for the man who is performing the miracle. The scene is built around the gestural dynamic of healing - Tobias touching his father\'s blind eyes by anointing them with the gall of the fish he caught during the journey and that he holds in his other hand - which is interpreted according to tradition as a sort of anointing which produces salvation. The chromatic vivacity and movement of the bodies, intertwined, superimposed, interacting to give dynamism but at the same time almost to create a unicum, enclosed in an almost circular shape, well delimited by the angel\'s wings, stand out in this work. The painting has been restored and relined. It is presented in a re-adapted antique frame.

Still Life with Flowers, Fruit and Goldfinch Oil on Canvas Italy '700

Oil painting on canvas. Italian school of the eighteenth century. Rich composition with basin full of variegated flowers, fruit bowl with peaches, a cut pumpkin and a goldfinch that picks grains from the bunch of grapes placed on the table. It is part of that vast production of composite still lifes which in the eighteenth century, deprived of any allegorical or symbolic meaning, was purely aimed at a decorative purpose; he took up multiple, composite, lively inanimate objects, often flanked by a living element, an animal like the goldfinch in this work, which maintained the link with life and everyday life. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a period frame.

The Monk's Lunch Oil on Canvas Genoese School Italy XVIII C

Oil on canvas. Genoese school of the eighteenth century. Inside a large room with arched windows opening onto the street, a group of friars seated on the ground are sharing a simple meal, placed on a white cloth. The scene refers to the sphere of Alessandro Magnasco known as Lissandrino (1667 -1749), a Genoese artist considered one of the most original painters of the Italian eighteenth century, who distinguished himself in popular genre painting and, in particular, in the production of scenes from the life of Capuchin or Camaldolese friars engaged in the most varied activities, from studying in the library to confession, from the work of sharpeners or carpenters in the convent workshops to the simple recollection around the fire: in these works you can appreciate all the expressive freedom of the artist\'s brush. moves on the canvas with quick touches to describe flames, fireplaces, cats, books, dogs, poor bowls, lenses, books, poor patched clothes, chairs and stools, in short, a whole daily world of gestures and things built with a very special and unmistakable technique, made of a mixture of lively color and almost all played on monochrome, on which a few, skilful strokes of light descend to give shape and consis tence to the bony figures of the monks. The author of the work proposed here was certainly trained in the Magnasco area and was inspired by his style, although it is more sedate, without the flashes and interpretative freedom, often irreverent or ironic, towards the figures of the friars; he was able to take up the play of chiaroscuro, lights and shadows, which flow from a monochrome in the shades of browns, still creating a work of excellent pictorial quality. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a gilded frame from the early 1900s.

Still Life Oil on Canvas Italy XVIII Century

Oil on canvas. Italian school of the eighteenth century. Rich composition with basin full of variegated flowers, a fruit bowl with peaches, a large basket full of figs and a goldfinch picking grains from the bunch of grapes placed on the table together. It is part of that vast production of composite still lifes which in the eighteenth century, deprived of any allegorical or symbolic meaning, was purely aimed at a decorative purpose; he took up multiple, composite, lively inanimate objects, often flanked by a living element, an animal like the goldfinch in this work, which maintained the link with life and everyday life. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a period frame.

Portrait of the Holy Ancina Oil on Canvas Italy XVIII Century

Oil on canvas. Early 18th century. The portrait of the gentleman, dressed in cassock, is inscribed in a frame painted with leaf decorations, which in the lower part also surround an inscription in Latin that identifies the character. Born in 1504, Giovanni Giovenale Ancina, a doctor in his youth, was among the first followers of San Filippo Neri: for the Oratory, the main apostolic work of the Congregation, he worked with intelligence and dedication, also putting his literary skills at his service and as an artist, as well as a scholar of theological sciences and an admired preacher. In 1596 he was appointed bishop of Saluzzo, where he remained until his death in 1604. In 1890 he was declared Blessed by Pope Leo XIII. The painting, restored and relined, is presented in a period frame