PAINTINGS ONLINE | ANCIENT AND CONTEMPORARY ART GALLERY

Shepherd with Sheep

Ink on paper. Signed lower left. Neapolitan artist Filippo Palizzi, also known as "the painter of animals" is considered a revitalizer of 19th-century Neapolitan painting. Abandoning academic painting, following contemporary French experiences, Palizzi devoted himself to life studies, especially humble subjects, such as small landscapes and animal paintings, creating works of intense realism yet imbued with an intimate poetic tone. He stood out above all for the meticulous execution of the details of his portrayed subjects. Herds with shepherds are a recurring theme in his work, as in this small drawing. The work is presented in a period frame.

Oil on canvas. Artist unknown (inconsistent signature G. Induno at the bottom). Genre scene inside a rather humble home, in which an old man sitting on his bed welcomes the embrace of his visiting grandson. The tenderness of the gesture of affection and dedication between the two figures contrasts with the poverty of the dwelling. The painting is presented in a period frame.

Fishing Boats

Color lithographs. Signed in pencil. The French painter and engraver Guinegault created numerous views and landscapes, both of Paris and the coasts of northern France, often featuring fishermen. The two lithographs are presented in bamboo frames from the 1960s.

Gathering

Watercolor on paper. Signed lower left. De Albertis devoted himself to the military-patriotic genre, producing a rich repertoire of battles, replicated in various variations, which gradually became his specialty. Later, he turned to watercolor, but military subjects, often featuring horses, continued to dominate his work. This watercolor, in fact, features two saddled but unridered horses, responding to the trumpet call—the rallying call—sounded by the rider at the head of the squadron, visible on the right. The work is presented in a frame.

Ladies with a Musketeer

Oil on panel. Signed lower left. This work is by the English artist (who also studied in Italy). He became known for his historical subjects, painted in a 19th-century style and distinguished by the meticulous detailing of period furnishings and costumes, as is evident in this romantic scene. The work is presented in a period frame.

Still Life with Game, 1865

Oil on panel. The verso is signed and dated, attributing the work to the renowned Swiss sculptor (and painter) who lived in Milan and distinguished himself as an ornamentalist and animalier. The still life is presented in a late 19th-century gilded frame.

Etchings. The names of the engraver and painter are at the bottom. The series, based on drawings by Giovanni Battista Piazzetta (1682-1754), included fifteen prints and was titled "The Twelve Apostles or Work painted by Giambattista Piazzetta (1683-1754) engraved by Marco Pitteri Veneto with Privilege of the Most Excellent Senate". The eleven apostles (excluding the traitor Judas) were joined by the face of Mary, the image of the Father with the Holy Spirit, and Saint Paul. This series lacks the representation of Christ. The prints have stains and water stains. They are presented in 18th-century lacquered wood frames with contemporary glass.

Fake fresco tear. Emulating an ancient fresco, the face of Saint Anthony the Abbot is depicted here, recognizable by several of his iconographic features: he is dressed in a friar's habit with a scapular, holding a staff to which is attached the bell used by friars and hermits to announce their arrival for almsgiving, and with his right hand in blessing, from which emerges a tongue of fire, a symbol of both illness, punishment, and the dominion of the underworld by Good. The work is framed by a listel.

Landscape

Oil on panel. Signed lower right. Luigi Comolli, a Milanese artist, distinguished himself for his landscape and still life paintings. His work displays an Impressionist influence, drawn from his formative years in Paris. Presented in a mid-20th-century frame.

People at the Bar

Oil on canvas. Signed lower left. A signed declaration of authenticity is on the back. Influenced by Expressionism during his Parisian years, Fantuzzi placed a strong emphasis on the expression of emotions and moods in his works. Color dominates his canvases, typically in cool tones of blue, green, and purple, creating sometimes violent contrasts. Fantuzzi's main themes are the loneliness of the metropolis and the difficulty of communicating in interpersonal relationships; he often paints poorly defined figures and eyeless faces. Framed.

Untitled, 1992

Mixed technique on paper. Signed lower center. The artist's stamp with the signature and date of the work is on the back. Caccioni, an artist born, trained, and still lives in Bologna, is one of the protagonists of a generation that has now reached a definitive linguistic maturity and occupies a prominent place within the contemporary art scene. His research primarily utilizes unusual materials such as acetates, PVC, and, more recently, stage backdrops from 19th-century plays, upon which he paints forms drawn from personal memory and influences from diverse cultures and historical periods. A recurring element in Luca Caccioni's work is writing, a self-signifying sign that shapes the work and is capable of expressing thoughts; working through superimposition, the images are constructed by adding or subtracting color across various supports. Framed.

Female Portrait, 1894

Oil on cardboard. Signed and dated lower right. The reverse bears a dedication: "If one day I acquire a good name, it will be the sketch of a famous man!! If I remain in the shadows... the memory of a friend. Verona, May '94". The painter Giovanni Bevilacqua, originally from Verona but who lived in Genoa, made his name primarily as an interior fresco painter. This small tribute to a friend delicately portrays a female face. The painting is presented in a contemporary frame.

Oil on canvas. Early 1900s. This high-quality painting was created by an anonymous artist inspired by the works of Vittorio Reggianini (1858-1938), who enjoyed enormous success with his interior and living room scenes, depicting women or children engaged in everyday, often recreational, pursuits, like these two ladies enjoying tea and chatting amiably. The painting is presented in a contemporary frame.

Figures with Flowers

Oil on canvas. Signed lower left. A signed declaration of authenticity is on the back. Influenced by Expressionism during his Parisian years, Fantuzzi placed a strong emphasis on the expression of emotions and moods in his works. Color dominates his canvases, typically in cool tones of blue, green, and purple, creating sometimes violent contrasts. Fantuzzi's main themes are the loneliness of the metropolis and the difficulty of communicating in interpersonal relationships; he often paints poorly defined figures and eyeless faces. Framed.

Oil on canvas. The work, painted in the style of early 17th-century Spanish painting, is actually from the late 19th century. It depicts a noblewoman wearing a ruff, the stiff, decorative, pleated collar typical of both men's and women's clothing from the 16th and 17th centuries. The work has been previously restored and relined. It is presented in a mid-19th-century gilded frame, inserted into a larger 20th-century frame.

The Queen of Ice Cream 2021

Oil on canvas. Signed lower right. Fabio D'Aroma is an artist with an eclectic and surprising path, whose art stands out for the intersection of classical painting tradition and a contemporary approach. Regarding his painting style, D'Aroma has said: "I like to define it as a sort of pop surrealism with a classical foundation. I draw inspiration from the great Italian masters, but I reinterpret them with an irony that reflects the present". His figures, often grotesque in style but created with a surprising pictorial technique, are animated by a desire to provoke, often eliciting profound reflections on important, if not dramatic, themes, but with a smile.

Sole Produttore

Silkscreen, applied to a metal plate. Signed lower right, titled at the bottom. Edition 446/500. The sun has been a theme dear to Giò Pomodoro since the 1950s, a theme the artist never abandoned, developing it particularly from the second half of the 1970s until a few years before his death, when, in 2000, he donated a monumental white marble sun to the City of Genoa, located right at the mouth of the harbor, on the Ponte dei Mille. The Producing Sun is a metaphorical representation of society's equitable exploitation of the sun's generative power. Passionate about astronomy, geometry, and poetry, Gio's Pomodoro has always been fascinated by the vital and symbolic potential of the image of the star. In these works, the artist represents it through a stylized circular shape, which is broken to accentuate the potential of elementary geometric forms (the circle, the square, the triangle) to open up to different dynamic tensions. Around these basic shapes, Pomodoro then inserts writings consisting of words that refer to referential concepts, such as real, possible, collective—in this case: "It moves, turns, builds a common harvest"—combined with other inscribed shapes that indicate physical structures, such as the hinge, the wheel, and the seed.

Mixed technique on paper. Initials AS at lower right. A bouquet of roses stands out against a blue background. The painting is presented in a contemporary ebonized frame, decorated with gilded carvings.

Oil on canvas. Signed and located on the lower left margin "Roma, Enrico Scifoni" The name of the sitter is cited at the lower left: "Signorina Maria Ciaffi". Scifoni was a Roman artist who was very active as a portraitist between 1870 and 1914. The young woman portrayed is dressed in a dress and hairstyle reminiscent of the fashions of the Empire period. The painting is presented in a 19th-century gilded frame, which requires restoration.

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux

The sculpture described here, carved from a block of Swiss pine in the early 17th century, depicts Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. The composition is reminiscent of the early 16th-century engraving by Marcantonio Raimondi, who depicted the Saint in monastic habit, holding a crosier, a Bible in his hand, and a demon in chains at his feet. The sculpture was intended for a niche and therefore unfinished on the back. The standing saint is depicted in slight motion, holding an open Bible in his right hand and the beginning of the chain that binds the demon at his feet in the other. Unfortunately, the central section of the chain is missing, but it is completed with a collar; the demon is subdued by the Saint, who rests his foot on it. Although the colors and gilding have some gaps and soot, we can see that the saint's complexion is rosy, while the demon is reddish, almost brown, due to exposure to the flames of the infernal world. Note the Saint's splendid robe, which, despite depicting a monastic habit, is lacquered in shades of red with gold embroidery on the inside and gold with bluish embroidery on the outside. The robe is no longer the humble hermit's, but that of the saint in celestial glory, bathed in light, in sharper contrast to the figure of the devil.

Ornaments and Ancient Vases

Hand-colored etchings. Created by Michelangelo Pergolesi in 1777-1778; the colored decoration is a posthumous work, dating back to the 19th century. Pergolesi designed and created furniture, fireplaces, ceilings, chandeliers, doors, and wall ornaments in the neoclassical style, working primarily in England. The drawings for these etchings are numbered and likely belong to the "Disegni per Vari Ornamenti per 70 Piatti" (Designs for Various Ornaments for 70 Plates), published between 1777 and 1801. The two etchings are presented in exposed frames.

River Landscape with Figures

Oil on canvas. Signed lower right. The subject is part of the painter's strongly naturalistic oeuvre. A native of Modena, he grew up artistically in and around Milan, places that were frequent subjects in his landscape work. This landscape also evokes the Lombardy plain. The work is presented in a period frame.

Oil on canvas. In this work, the Holy Family addresses a young friar in a Franciscan habit, likely a reference to the commissioner: the Child's outstretched hands reach out to embrace him, under the protective gaze of Mary and Joseph. Previously restored and relined, the painting is presented in an antique 18th-century frame, regilded.

Saint Sebastian

A late 17th-century sculpture in the round depicting Saint Sebastian tied to a tree and pierced. The saint, depicted wearing a short robe around his hips, is tied to the trunk and a branch, with one arm raised as he gazes at the viewer, who is metaphorically piercing him with arrows. The sculpture is cast in the round and painted in polychrome, with painted sections restored. Note the restoration of part of the left foot and the lack of arrows.