ANCIENT PAINTING
 

Figures with Autumnal Still Life

Oil painting on canvas. The H.Sanders signature is present on the barrel at the bottom left. The scene, set outdoors in a street of a Flemish city, with the canal in the background on the left, sees in the foreground a vegetable seller behind her stall, which is set up with a varied composition of winter vegetables, a composed still life from cauliflowers, cabbage, carrots, corn on the cob; next to the woman, a passer-by carrying a harpoon on his shoulder is offering her some fish, evidently the fruit of his catch that he wants to sell. The setting brings to mind Amsterdam, the city where the Dutch painter Hercules (or Herkules) Sanders was born and lived, who established himself mainly as a portraitist, but of whom an interior genre scene is known, currently at the Detroit Institute of Arts, dated 1647 and entitled "Woman cleaning fish", whose female figure closely resembles the seller of the work presented here. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a period frame.

Oil painting on canvas. Flemish school of the 17th-18th centuries. The large scene takes place in a vast Nordic landscape, within a forest full of twisted plants, and on the right a city surmounted by rocky peaks. Inside the woods a large group of figures, popular but also high-ranking figures, all in oriental clothes, who form a circle around John the Baptist, portrayed in his traditional iconographic costume (dressed in skins, with the staff surmounted by the Cross and wrapped in the scroll, a little lamb at his feet): John's gaze is turned upwards, in line with a bird flying above the treetops, a symbolic representation of the Holy Spirit who inspires the preacher's words. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a late 19th - early 20th century frame.

Oil painting on canvas. Neapolitan school of the 17th century. A composition of variegated flowers, in light shades, is placed in a vase, black like the background, on a marble base, of which only the base can be distinguished, because it is covered with a fabric that is also black, of which only the golden trimmings stand out willing to create a game of curves; Two birds rest on both sides of the top, a large pigeon on the left holding a twig stolen from the composition in its beak, and a red-headed woodpecker on the right. Along the left margin a landscape opens up, with a tall curved tree under a dark sky, and a city in the background. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a late 19th century frame.

Cherubs playing with cards

Oil on canvas. The depicted scene is set in a closed environment with a wide window which provides a glimpse of landscape. Three cherubs are sitting on benches and they are playing with cards, trying to build a castle. The painting has been restored. 18th century.

Oil painting on canvas. Roman school of the 17th century. The large scene represents the famous episode halfway between real history and legend, told for the first time by Tito Livio in his "Ab urbe condita libri" (the books of the "History of Rome from its foundation"). To populate the newly founded city, Romulus, founder and first king of the city, resorted to a stratagem: he invited the Sabines, who lived in the nearby city of Curi, to the Consualia festival, in honor of the god Neptune, and kidnapped their women. The painting depicts the moment in which the Romans kidnapped the Sabine women, forcibly taking them away from their companions, under the eyes of the king, who remained hidden behind the columns of the temple of the deity, the god Neptune, recognizable by the trident. In the center at the rear is the obelisk, which for the Romans acquired a symbolic meaning as war booty and testimony to imperial strength. The many figures intertwine with each other, chasing each other, overlapping, creating plays of bodies and chromatic effects. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in an antique frame.

Oil painting on canvas. Northern Italian school of the 17th-18th century. The large scene is full of figures in ancient oriental clothing, placed in a Nordic landscape, rich in vegetation and with mountain peaks in the distance. The left half is mainly occupied by Saint John the Baptist, standing and depicted according to traditional iconography: he is dressed in a poor tunic made of animal skins, but has a red cloak draped around him, symbol of martyrdom; with one hand he holds the cross-shaped stick, around which is rolled the scroll with the writing "Ecce Agnus Dei", symbol of his role as precursor and herald of Christ, and at his feet the lamb itself, sacrificial victim and therefore a symbol of Christ's sacrifice. With his other hand John points to someone on his right outside the frame of the scene, but who is obviously Christ: this gesture catalyzes the gazes of the entire crowd located on the right of the scene, a varied crowd representing genders, social classes and races different, indicating the universality of the Baptist's message. The work, previously restored and relined, has a widespread patina that needs to be cleaned. It is presented in an antique frame.

Oil painting on canvas. Northern Italian school of the seventeenth century. In the portrait of this no longer young woman, dressed in an austere black dress that blends into the background, the white lace of the neck and sleeves and the detachable stomacher, or rather the richly embroidered bib to simulate a jewel, invented at the end of the '600 to cover the deep necklines of women's dresses, following the Catholic moralizing influence of the French court; the woman then exhibits a fine gold bracelet on her wrist. Restored and relined in the 19th century, the painting is presented in a late 19th-early 20th century frame.

Oil on copper. Flemish school of the seventeenth century. The painting, attributed by oral tradition to Frans Francken the younger (1581 -1642), depicts a miraculous healing performed by Jesus: while he goes with his disciples, he meets on his way a sick man, probably with leprosy, a disease that involved isolation and banishment from the city; the man invokes Christ who performs the miracle and heals him. The painting places the event on the left edge of the scene, in the foreground, where the figures dressed according to the typical style of the times of Christ stand out for their bright colours; moreover, the landscape that fills the rest of the scene is decidedly Nordic, with a river full of water flowing in a countryside full of vegetation, and a city in the background under mountain peaks. The pictorial description of the vegetation is meticulous and precise, rich and well defined in the details: the broken trunk in the foreground, the fronds of the large tree behind the characters, the birds flying high in the sky, the small flowers on the shore, the nuances of the The water in which plants and clouds are reflected are painted with a pictorial refinement typical of Flemish painting, similar in style to that of the great Antwerp artist. The painting is presented in a repurposed antique frame.

Oil painting on canvas. Of a bucolic and serene flavor, the scene set in the countryside on the edge of the village that can be glimpsed on the left, sees a woman and her son who, near a stream, await the shepherd with his flock with a lunch basket . Restored and relined, the painting is presented in an antique frame.

Oil on canvas. Northern Italy school. The depiction of the Nativity is seen here as a contemplative moment of the Holy Child, by Mary and Joseph, accompanied by little angels. The pictorial ways resume those of widely replicated models, starting from Correggio, from Barocci, to arrive at the numerous versions of Gherardo delle notte, or the Flemish painter Gerard Von Honthorst, representative of tenebrism, a pictorial current that played on strong contrasts of darkness and light, light and dark. In this work too, the light radiated by the Baby Jesus illuminates the figures around him and makes them emerge from the surrounding darkness. The restored and relined work is presented in a 19th century frame.

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.

Copy from Guido Reni

Oil painting on canvas. The work is one of the numerous replicas, with some variations, of the famous subject created by the famous Bolognese painter Guido Reni (1574 -1642) and his workshop. The composition, which sees the Virgin in prayer bent to adore the sleeping Child, is considered an invention of the brilliant vein of Reni, which, following the great success among collectors of the time, was then taken up by other authors of the seventeenth century, among which the name of Giovan Battista Salvi known as "Il Sassoferrato" stands out. The two most famous variants of this fascinating scene see the Virgin with her hands joined in prayer, adopted by Salvi, or the one with her hands on her chest, like this one, typically by Reni. Other variations concern the position of the head of the sleeping Christ Child, turned upwards as in this version, rather than reclining to one side; finally the background fabrics change. However, even in this replica the intensity of the scene stands out: it is transversely occupied by the body abandoned in repose of the child, where the divine nature is subject to the human one in sleep; above it, inclined in a protective and at the same time contemplative gesture, the body of Mary, which expresses all the maternal tenderness but also, in the gesture of the hands, the adoration of the incarnate mystery represented by the little son. The lively colors of the fabrics - the pillow on which Jesus is laid, the curtain behind it, the Mother's clothes - bring out the brightness of the flesh tones. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a late 19th century frame.

Oil on canvas, applied on hardboard in the second half of the 1900s. The painting takes up the pictorial ways of the eighteenth century, with a decorative cut. In a peaceful landscape, with an architectural structure on the right and the green valley with the river opening on the left, two figures walk along the path, a woman with her bundle of clothes and the wayfarer with a saddlebag and a stick. The work is presented in a chronicle style.

Oil painting on canvas. The scene depicts a chamber concert: in the centre, the spinet player, behind him the recorder player and on the right side the maestro who conducts, who listens intently and moves his right hand to accompany the musical movements; behind the trio, ladies and gentlemen listen smiling and participating. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a 19th century frame.

Oil painting on canvas. The painting has the artist's name (Giovani Piana) and the date of creation 1616 at the top. It depicts Saint Simon holding a book and a saw in his hand, his iconographic attribute which would indicate the martyrdom he suffered. Restored and relined, the painting shows traces of the restoration along the margins.

The miracle of Soriano

Oil painting on canvas. The canvas recounts the miracle of Soriano: in this village of Calabria, the Madonna with Mary Magdalene (recognizable by the ointment jar) and Catherine of Alexandria (carrying the palm of martyrdom), would appear in 1530 to a young Dominican, to give him an image of San Domenico to be placed in the convent he built. A beautiful version of the painting is that of Grechetto, from 1654-1655, preserved in Genoa: ours seems to be inspired by this work, which re-proposes the tense composition of the figures. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a period frame.

Oil painting on canvas. The biblical episode depicted refers to the story of Daniel, the prophet in the court of King Darius the Mede who, for having prayed to his God, was condemned to be thrown into the lions' den. But God saved Daniel, sending an angel to close the jaws of the beasts, and the king pardoned Daniel by instead condemning those who had denounced him. The subject has been depicted several times in art, for the fascination linked to history but also for its exotic flavor due to the presence of wild beasts; in particular we remember the version by Rubens of 1615, where the prophet is depicted naked in the underground pit, while he prays ardently, surrounded by a crowd of ferocious lions. The work presented here instead proposes a version centered on the dialogue between the prophet and the angel, who face each other, standing out with the vivid colors of their robes against the dark background of a prison; there is only one lion, meekly crouching at the angel's feet, and therefore the spiritual and salvific dimension of the biblical event prevails. According to the famous art historian Maurizio Marini, a specialist in the painting of Caravaggio and Baroque art, who had had the opportunity to view the painting years ago, the work could be attributable to Antonio Maria Vassallo (1620 -1664) for the compositional and chromatic choices. The painting, restored and relined, is presented with a listello frame.

Oil painting on canvas. Italian school of the eighteenth century. In the portrait of this gentleman, the dressing gown made of an elegant floral fabric stands out in particular, in shades of brick red that recall the color of the wig. The severity of the pose and the austere gaze of the character almost contrast with the almost frivolous elegance of his clothing. The painting, restored and relined, is presented in a frame from the early 1900s.

Oil painting on canvas. The mythological subject that portrays together the two divinities, symbol of profane love, has been amply illustrated in art: as in this work, Venus is usually depicted in a languid attitude, while exhibiting her naked Beauty; Cupid, dressed as a winged putto, is intent on extracting from the quiver one of his darts which induce falling in love, one of which is already stuck in the trunk behind the goddess. In the background an Italian landscape, with a small architectural structure. The shape of the painting refers to an original shaped frame. Restored and relined, the painting is currently presented in a period frame.

Landscape with Figures

Oil painting on canvas. The large composition proposes a landscape with a large tree in the centre. to surmount with its sparse branches the countryside below, crossed by a stream and animated by various figures of commoners intent on activity or at rest; at the top right stands a fortress, which dominates the valley. Already attributed to Peruzzini from the Marches, the painting can certainly be traced back to his circle, due to the rapid and poorly aggregated pictorial strokes. Antonio Francesco specialized in landscape painting, undergoing the influence of Salvator Rosa and landscape painters such as Pietro Montanini and Pandolfo Reschi, and further influences also came to him from Nordic painters active in Italy, above all from Pieter Mulier known as il Tempesta. In his first works the originality of his painting can already be distinguished given a rapid drafting and an intense and brilliant chromatic timbre. The long artistic bond between Antonio Francesco Peruzzini and Alessandro Magnasco began in the early 1990s, following their meeting in Milan, where Peruzzini had settled; from this period onwards his painting seems to fall apart, through forms that become more dynamic and light, almost fantastic, to finally arrive at a style marked by an ever greater disintegration of the forms of nature and their movement. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a period frame.