PAINTINGS ONLINE | ANCIENT AND CONTEMPORARY ART GALLERY

Adoration of the Shepherds

Oil on canvas. A composition replicated several times by disciples and students of the Bassano school, in particular a work by Jacopo Bassano (1515 -1592). In the original scene, here reproduced with fidelity to the composition of the figures but not to the colors, Bassano had approached the theme on the one hand respecting tradition, on the other introducing innovations. In fact, they act as a scenic backdrop of archaeological ruins, a frequent element in Italian iconography of the Nativity. Here we see a row of broken columns on a high pedestal, on the model of Greek temples, against which a hut is leaning. The unusual architectural structure symbolizes the overcoming of paganism and the construction of the Christian church, of which the birth of Jesus is the first act of foundation. The shepherds occupy the center of the scene, and if it were not for the left side of the painting, it might seem like a genre scene with a rural character. The shepherd from behind is kneeling, showing his bare feet, a reminder of his extreme humility, and holding a lamb, the sacrificial animal par excellence, a reference to the future Passion of Christ. On the far right, a curious insert: a crouching boy blowing on a burning ember, in a futile effort to rekindle a flame. In this replica, the yellow and red colors of the robes of the two shepherds in the center and of the boy on the right stand out, prevailing in vivacity even on the figures of the Holy Family and emerging from the ochre hues of the landscape and the architectural structures in the background. The painting was restored and relined in the 19th century, with the replacement of the frame (on it there is contemporary writing in English, probably export addresses). It is presented in a period frame.

Oil on canvas. Dated 1759 on the back. The painting is a copy of the work by Federico Barocci (1563 -1612) created between 1583 and 1586, preserved in the church of Santa Maria in Vallicella in Rome. The work was a great success and was repeatedly replicated by numerous artists in the same circle or workshop as Barocci; for example, the copy by the pupil Viviani, known as the Deaf Man of Urbino (Barocci was also from Urbino), preserved in the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche in Urbino. The scene depicted is imbued with great intimacy and tenderness: the Virgin Mary is welcomed with an embrace by her elderly cousin Elisabetta on the stairs preceding the entrance. Their hands clasp and their glances meet. Just behind, Zaccaria, Elisabetta's husband, observes while standing on the threshold and leaning out a little to see better. In the foreground there are two other characters, dues ervitori: the man on the left is busy collecting Mary's sack and taking care of the donkey that carried the young woman, while on the right a woman smilingly observes the meeting of the two cousins, carrying a dove in a basket. On the back of the canvas there is an autograph inscription in English, contemporary with the painting: "Giovanni B. Tiepolo, 1759, The Visitation": probably the author of the replica confused the name of the artist of the original, attributing it to the Venetian artist. The English market was very interested in the original work, so much so that it attempted to purchase it in the mid-18th century, and this encouraged the proliferation of replicas. The painting, still on its first canvas, is presented in a late 19th century frame.

Seashore with Boats and Figures

Oil on canvas. Signed lower left. Son of an artist, Cesare Gheduzzi established himself as a landscape painter. Although he lived in Turin, he spent a long time on the Ligurian Riviera, creating wide views of the sea, coastal landscapes and fishermen at work, which he reproduced with fidelity and elegance, while favoring cold colors to create an emotional detachment and favor the scenographic effect (inherited from his father who was a set designer for the Teatro Regio in Turin). It is presented in a contemporary frame.

Scene with Guards in the City, 1875

Oil on canvas. Signed and dated lower left. The English painter George Goodwin Kilburne specialized in genre scenes set in the life of the Victorian upper middle class, with hunting scenes, living room scenes, all characterized by elegance, by the meticulousness of details especially of the female figures. In 1875 Kilburne stayed a few months in Rome, and then traveled to other Italian and European cities. The scene depicted here, actually from 1875, seems to be set in Rome: at a guard post in the city, as the urban glimpse that can be seen from the open door clearly explains, some soldiers wearing the uniform of the Vatican guards are resting. The work is presented in a late 19th-early 20th century frame.

Oil on canvas. The scene of the well-known evangelical episode of the adoration of the wise men is set in an unusual setting: the Holy Family is not in a hut or a stable, but in front of the architectural remains of an imposing marble building; placed on top of a hill, it sees in the background a flat landscape rich in vegetation and inhabited by villages with numerous bell towers. The figures of the kings and the family are depicted with delicate lines, bright but shaded colors, detailed details; moreover in the right corner of the scene appears an emaciated, poor, indistinct figure, a beggar who, hidden in the shadow of the palace, bows to pay homage to the little Jesus, on a par with the rich and powerful kings in his humble devotion. On the back of the canvas there are traces of small restorations. At the bottom right there is a slight cut. The work is presented in a period frame.

Jesus on the Road to Calvary

Oil on canvas. The work is a replica of the one executed by Pierre Mignard and donated to Louis XIV, now preserved in the Louvre Museum in Paris. The dramatic scene is set just outside the walls of Jerusalem; a procession of people accompanies Jesus on his climb to Calvary, which can be glimpsed in the background on the right, with the crosses of the two thieves already erected. Instead, the Cross of Christ is carried by Simon of Cyrene, forced by the guards after Jesus' umpteenth fall, who is rudely urged with a whip to get up. In front of Christ walk the two thieves tied up, accompanied by some servants; on the left is the group of pious women who accompany and support Mary, broken-hearted with grief. In contrast to this group, there is another group of women of the people on the right, who watch in an attitude of pious compassion, averting the gaze of their children from the terrible spectacle. The landscape in the background is harsh and barren, under a sky that is filling with grey and dark clouds. The work was restored and relined in the mid-1900s, and mounted on a new frame. It is presented in a period frame.

The Last Supper 1962

Oil on canvas. Signed and dated lower left. On the back there is a handwritten and signed prayer to Jesus in Portuguese by the artist. Malangatana was a Mozambican artist (poet, painter, musician), as well as a political activist for his country. The work belongs to Malangatana's first artistic period, whose political commitment was not yet evident, and takes up the subject of the Last Supper, which he had already tackled on other occasions in the same years. In this religious subject, Malangatana clearly reveals his closeness to the ritual and tribal culture of his country, but also his knowledge of religion as well as that of Western art, both in the composition of the figures that look at similar Western subjects, and in the compositions of the objects, in particular the numerous and varied elements that fill the table, with a basket of fruit in the center, which recall our Still Lifes. His figures are presented as overlapping and intertwined bodies, and dominated by faces, in which long eyes stand out, with penetrating expressions, which will then become tormented and suffering looks, a symbol of the suffering of an oppressed people.

Battle Scene 1871

Oil on canvas. Signed and dated lower right. The Swiss painter Charles Humbert mainly created landscapes animated by grazing herds, but also several battle scenes, however characterized by a realistic mannerism, for the careful study of the veristic detail inserted in a still romantic vision of the whole. The work is presented in a period frame.

Doves 1976

Pencils on paper. Signed and dated lower left. Floriano Bodini, a well-known sculptor, engraver and medallist, considered one of the souls of Existential Realism, has also devoted himself to graphics throughout his career. His production features recurring subjects - Bishops, Cardinals, Requiems, Popes, Doves, Ambos - that express thought, trepidation, sometimes anxiety, but also trust, confidence and faith. The dove in particular has represented for Bodini a constant iconographic element in his artistic research, a theme that has been assiduously present in all his production, not only graphic, since the end of the Sixties, up to the last example dated 2004, emblematically considered his last engraved work. The interest in this image is confirmed among other things by his collection of objects that portray doves or whose shape they recall. The result of a research rich in stimuli from different sources, both cultured and popular, the choice of this image has never been trivialized, but has always maintained its high symbolic and formal dignity. The work proposed here is presented in a frame.

Oil on panel. Central European school of the mid-19th century. The work derives from that of Christian Wilhelm Ernst Dietrich (1712 -1774), now preserved in the National Gallery in London, created in 1745 by the German painter looking at the pictorial methods of the Flemish artist Adriaen Van Ostade, a painter of scenes of everyday life. Dietrich's painting became known through the engraving that was made by Jean George Wille. In the scene, framed under an arch leading to a house, two street musicians are depicted in the foreground, playing the violin and the bagpipes, accompanied by several curious passers-by. The work is presented in an early 1900s frame.

Oil on canvas. Northern Italian school of the 17th - 18th century. The widely known biblical scene of the quarrel between the two brothers, sons of Adam and Eve, which then leads to the fratricide of Abel at the hands of Cain, is depicted here within an Italian landscape, rich in vegetation, with the complement of two particular fires. In fact, on the sides of the two figures, which occupy the center of the scene, there are two sacrificial pyres with a burning fire: however, while from Abel's, on the left, a high smoke rises which is sucked up by the clouds above it, to indicate that God has accepted this sacrifice, instead Cain's fire is low, almost crushed on the embers, and no smoke rises from it, a sign that God rejects it. Even the red color of Abel's tunic is intended to emphasize his sacrificial value, his martyrdom. The painting needs cleaning. In a period frame.

Sant'Ilario 1945

Oil on canvas. Signed and dated lower left. Title on the back of the frame. The painter Mario Guerzoni distinguished himself as a landscape painter, proposing glimpses of different parts of Italy, often coastal views. Sant'Ilario is located in the Riviera di Levante, in the Golfo Paradiso, on the slopes of the Ligurian Apennines. Framed.

Copy from Luca Longhi

Oil on canvas. The group of figures that fills the entire scene is made up of four intertwined figures: the Holy Family, namely Mary, with the Baby Jesus in her arms and behind them Saint Joseph; kneeling before the Child, with the palm of martyrdom in her hand, the crown of her rank as a princess on her head and the wheel with which she was martyred under her arm, is Saint Catherine of Alexandria, on whom Jesus is putting the ring of the mystical wedding. The painting derives, with several small details and different colors, from a similar work held in the Louvre Museum attributed to Longhi. The painting has already been restored and relined in the past. It is presented in a period frame.

Oil on canvas. In an Italian landscape, the scene is centered on a group of commoners who are trying to get away from the besieged and burned city, carrying their goods on the cart and leading the small flock; a small group of enemy soldiers, however, has chased them and is trying to stop them, with their weapons drawn. On the back of the frame there is a pencil inscription that attributes the work to Jan Both (1618 -1652), a Dutch painter known above all as the author of Italian landscapes, often animated by figures. The painting has been restored and relined in the past. It currently requires cleaning. It is presented in a period frame.

Oil on canvas. Northern Italian school of the 17th century. In this Holy Family, the central figure is Mary: sitting in the center of the scene, she turns her face to her left toward Joseph, listening intently and concentratedly to what her companion is reading to her from a book; meanwhile, the woman's arms are lovingly covering the little Jesus with a cloth, who is sleeping peacefully in the cradle to the right of his mother. The Child's face is also illuminated and radiates its light toward his Mother. In the background is an Italian landscape. The figures appear harmonious and balanced in the movements of their bodies and the whole scene emanates a tranquility and domestic serenity, very earthly. The painting was relined at the beginning of the 20th century. Traces of previous tears and slight losses of color are visible. It is presented in a golden frame from the early 20th century (loss of gilding).

Oil on canvas. Second half of the 18th century. On the back there is a hand-written cartouche, dated May 1835 and indicating several important families (Castelbarchi, Fraganeschi, Castelbarco Litta Albani) from Northern Italy, who probably owned the work. The painting shows a Nordic landscape, of a rather barren countryside, crossed by a watercourse; a path, on which some wayfarers are passing, leads to the village at the foot of the hill. The painting is presented in a period frame, with several missing parts.

Oil on canvas. It depicts a landscape rich in vegetation, with trees with leafy foliage and crossed by a torrential watercourse: In the background, farmhouses and flocks can be glimpsed in the countryside. On the back there is an old cartouche with the indication "Flemish" and a price in Lire. Restored and relined, it is presented in a period frame.

Oil on canvas. An undeciphered name appears at the top left. The portrait shows a young woman, probably in mourning, due to her dark dress and the afflicted expression of the woman, although very young. Her pale face emerges from the dark background, in which her hair, shoulders and dress fade. The canvas is presented in a golden frame from the first half of the 20th century.

Oil on canvas. Northern European school of the 18th century. Near a small group of buildings, along the dirt road, a scene of popular life takes place, animated by various figures: in the foreground on the right, two hunters offer their prey and some fruit to a pregnant woman, who is traveling on horseback accompanied by her companion; in the background, a couple of women sit on the ground resting with their children, one of the two is breastfeeding; and again groups of people chatting, while others are climbing on the haystacks covered under the barn. The figures stand out for the bright colors of their clothes against the almost monochromatic background of earth tones, with the buildings blending into the flat and barren landscape. The painting, still on the first canvas, shows signs of a small tear on the back. It is presented in a period frame.

Landscape with Figures and Bread Oven

Oil painting on canvas. Signed lower left. The landscape view shows in the foreground a mountain path that leads to a bread oven, where a woman prepares the bundles of wood for the fire, while a traveler approaches on the back of a donkey; in the valley the viaduct over the river that leads to the village, surmounted by other barren peaks. Micheroux, belonging to the Posillipo school, or the nineteenth-century school of Neapolitan artists dedicated to landscape painting, created several glimpses of the Campania hinterland, but little is left of his production and little is known about his life. The painting has some small drops of color. It is presented in a late 19th century frame.

Oil on canvas. Second half of the 18th century. On the back there is a hand-written cartouche, dated May 1835 and indicating several important families (Castelbarchi, Fraganeschi, Castelbarco Litta Albani) from Northern Italy, who probably owned the work. The painting shows a Nordic landscape, with rocky peaks visible on the left, in which architectural ruins are inserted, with figures of wayfarers passing nearby. The painting is presented in a period frame.

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.