Love and Wine

Oil on metal plate, with a trapezoidal shape and a concave center, in which the pictorial scene is inscribed, while the four corners are embossed with decorations. The painting presents a cheerful and gallant scene between a young and attractive innkeeper, who is pouring wine from the barrel into the flasks, and a customer who approaches her to have his glass filled. The painting has slight color losses. It is presented in a glass case frame, in style.

Soap Bubbles

Oil on metal plate, with a trapezoidal shape and a concave center, in which the pictorial scene is inscribed, while the four corners are embossed with decorations. The painting offers a joyful scene: a group of children play with soap bubbles that one of them is blowing, while the others watch them amused and the older girl lifts the little one up so he can catch them! There are slight color losses. It is presented in a style display frame.

Female Figure

Oil on canvas. Signed top right. The figure portrayed is that of a commoner who is preparing to return home, opening the latch of a door, after having placed the basket of vegetables on the ground next to her. The work well represents the painting of Giovanni Muzzioli, an artist originally from Modena, but who trained artistically first in Rome and then in Florence, where he spent most of his life. His rich production initially proposed mainly historical subjects, often placed in settings taken from ancient Pompeii, but then he also turned to portraits and finally to landscapes; in the Macchiaioli-style naturalism of his second period, to which this work also belongs, Muzzioli sought a significant perception of atmosphere and light in subjects inspired by the Tuscan rural environment. The work on the first canvas is presented in a frame.

Gouache on cardboard. Accompanied by a Finarte authentication from 1982, which defines it as "Marco Ricci school". The landscape features a wide valley nestled between mountain peaks and inhabited by a village, with the river in the foreground, on whose bank some characters are engaged in conversation. The colors are soft and bright. The work is presented in a period frame.

Oil on canvas, applied to panel. A very human newborn Jesus lies abandoned in his sleep, while little John venerates him by kissing his chubby little hand; resting on the white sheets of the cradle, the pastoral staff in the shape of a cross, with the band bearing the writing "Ecce Homo": the only iconographic symbol of spiritual content, it is however also proposed in smaller dimensions, appropriate to the age of the two children. The work presents some small losses of paint. Strip frame.

Copper panels decorated with enamels. This is a 19th-century reproduction of the enamelled Cross of Paschal I (817-824), an important staurotheca in embossed and gilded copper, which contained within it minute fragments of the Cross of Christ, and which became part of the Treasure placed by Leo III (795-816) in the oratory called Sancta Sanctorum in the Lateran. The Cross is made up of five panels, arranged in the shape of a Latin cross, on which seven episodes from the life of Jesus are depicted with lively enamel figures. In the upper panel are the Annunciation and the Visitation of Mary; in the centre panel is the Birth of Jesus; on the left is the Flight into Egypt and on the right is the Adoration of the Magi; and finally in the lower arm is the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple and the Baptism of Jesus. The panels are composed on a wooden base and presented in a glass case frame.

Oil on canvas. Central European school of the late 19th-early 20th century. Unidentified signature on the lower right. The landscape glimpse shows a countryside with coniferous woods, crossed by a stream and dominated by rocky peaks. The painting is presented in a golden frame from the early 20th century, with decorations and friezes.

Courtship Scene 1887

Oil on canvas. Signed and dated lower right, with additional inscription "Baden" (place?). The scene shows a young couple in 18th-century folk clothes, sitting on a bench under a flowering tree, along a country path: the boy is making the girl try playing the recorder, a nice courtship device. There are no biographical information about the artist, who is of German origin by name and place indicated. The painting is presented in a period frame.

Oil on canvas. Portrait of a gentleman proudly displaying an important medallion, perhaps an award, an award he has been awarded, and his rings. The painting has slight damage to the lower parts. It is presented in an early 1900s frame, repainted and with small scattered losses of color (to be restored).

Tempera on canvas. Framed in a painted, scroll-carved and gilded frame, a mother and daughter are portrayed: the young woman is languidly stretched out on an Ottoman sofa, and caresses the little girl kneeling next to her, holding a lunch basket in one hand. On the back there is a restoration, with a patch in the central part. The work is presented in a period frame.

Oil on canvas. Central European school of the late 19th-early 20th century. Unidentified signature lower right. Green countryside landscape with leafy trees in autumn colors and a chalet in the center; on the wide path on the right, which leads to a lake, the figures of a woman and a child pass. The light of the blue sky, but already veiled on the horizon by the first crepuscular colors, creates a relaxed and serene atmosphere. The painting is presented in a period frame.

Alpine Pasture with Cows

Oil on canvas. Signed lower right. On the frame a label with the name and dates of birth and death of the artist, of whom there is no further biographical information. The painting offers a glimpse of a wide, green Alpine valley, where a herd of cows grazes, near the watercourse. Realist in style, and with impressionist suggestions, in the dims of light and shadow, of reflections in the water, of shaded colors. It is presented in a period frame.

Oil on hardboard. Venetian school of the late 19th century. Signed Carlini on the lower left. Moving family scene, with the fisherman just landed embracing his family - wife, mother, children and dog! - who have come to welcome him, while his colleagues unload the catch and arrange the nets. The colors are intense, especially the earthy ones of the figures, the sand and the boat, which contrast with the blue of the sky and the sea. The painting is presented in a period frame.

Oil painting on canvas. Large scene of the Nativity, which develops on two crossed lines: a vertical dimension centered on the architectural structure in bricks and straw, the stable that gave shelter to the family of Nazareth, over which the angels hover announcing the divine glory; horizontal dimension in the lower half, composed of a multitude of figures: in the center the Holy Family, on the two sides the shepherds who go to honor the Child, bringing their simple gifts in nature. Of simple and popular taste, the scene is placed on a poorly defined background. The painting has been restored and relined, but still has large losses of colour. In frame.

Oil painting on canvas. Central European school. Signed H. Church lower left. Developed vertically, the landscape offers a green countryside, with trees and undergrowth; in the center a path that leads to some farmhouses. The painting is presented in a period frame.

Gallant Scene 1885

Lithography. Signed lower left. Published by Arthur Tooth in London. The scene is typical of the painter of Italian-Austrian origins: Eugene de Blaas favored cute and often mischievous genre scenes, with girls and young men (often placed in Venetian streets but not only) intent on chatting, gossiping and courtship games. His favorite subject was the common female figure, depicted with an angelic face with diaphanous skin and a mischievous and romantic look, described with bright colors and with excellent technique in her daily environment. The lithograph has widespread humidity stains. In a mid-20th century frame.

Landscape with Hunters on Horseback 1852

Oil on canvas. Signed and dated lower right. This landscape has a suggestive atmosphere where desolate earthy hills prelude to higher peaks, fading into the distance; popular figures are included in this landscape, in particular three horsemen, probably hunters for the dogs that flank them, galloping along the path, while wayfarers on foot, women and children, give way to them. Standing out above all, filling the entire upper half of the work, is a leaden sky, full of grey clouds: the shades of grey above and the golden ochres of the earth below, define the favourite palette of this multifaceted Belgian artist, who in his pictorial production mainly created landscapes of the Ardennes. The painting was auctioned by Christie's in 2004, with an estimate of €3000.

The Spinner 1897

Oil on canvas, applied to panel. signed and dated lower left. In the foreground a young woman is portrayed intent on spinning, inside a simple room. This type of portrait of popular figures, of a realist nature, characterized the artistic production of the Belgian painter Oscar Halle, who also produced outdoor scenes, always animated by figures. The painting is presented in a period frame.

Oil painting on canvas. Central European school of the late 19th century. The Madonna sits on the throne, with Jesus asleep on her lap; on both sides a group of little angels, dressed as children of different ages, play instruments and sing: their concert is perhaps the lullaby that accompanies the sleep of the Divine Child. The scene is depicted painted in a marble altar, on whose side balustrades the angels are placed; behind Mary there is a lunette with a starry sky, while at her feet there is a dove and olive branches, symbols of peace. The work is presented in a period frame.

Mountain Landscape with Lake 1863

Oil painting on canvas. Signed and dated lower left. The Prussian noble painter Stanislas Eduard von Kalckreuth distinguished himself for the production of mountain landscapes, in particular views including the small bodies of water on the mountain peaks. This work was previously sold at public auction in Munich. Restored and relined, it is presented in a period frame.