PAINTINGS ONLINE | ANCIENT AND CONTEMPORARY ART GALLERY

Interior with Figures and Animals, 1917

Oil on canvas. Signed and dated lower right. In Giuseppe Solenghi's extensive production, rich in lyricism expressed with delicate and refined tones and strokes, the urban landscapes of Milan or the Venetian lagoon views prevail, but there are also several glimpses of the countryside, mainly Lombardy, as well as rustic interiors. In this work the artist portrays the interior of a peasant house, where humans and animals coexist: the scene is pervaded by a serene atmosphere of family everyday life, in which the warm light of the sun filtering through the open door creates plays of light and shadow on the earth tones of the interior. The painting is presented in a mid-20th century frame.

Figure 1978

Oil on canvas. Signed and dated lower left. On the back, further signature and date, and cartouche from the painter's studio with the title. Di Carlo's production can be traced back to the so-called "New Figuration" painting, an artistic movement that developed, first in America and then in Europe, at the end of the 1950s, which tended to recover the figurative element as a tool for social and cultural protest. Although close to informal painting, this painting is sensitive to the suggestions of visual mass media (photography, cinema, television, comics) and was often created with their assistance. Di Carlo's work proposes figures, predominantly female, created with geometric lines and bright, rather material colours. The work is presented in a frame.

Oil on canvas. Tasty depiction of popular life with caricature-like figures: three full-length commoners are depicted on the street while they converse intensely with each other, exchanging confidences or... gossip! Unsigned, the painting requires restoration due to a tear at the bottom.

Oil on metal plaques. The miniatures present two portraits of Augusta of Bavaria (1788 -1851), Duchess of Leuchtenberg and Vice-Queen of Italy as consort of Viceroy Eugene de Beauharnais, stepson of Napoleon Bonaparte; although Milan was the capital of the kingdom, the couple loved to reside in the Royal Villa of Monza, where there are several spaces dedicated to the queen. The portraits are presented in ebonized wooden frames with gilded metal profiles.

Copy from David Teniers II

Oil on panel. The painting is a revised copy of the famous work by David Teniers the Younger (1610 -1690), executed between 1634 and 1640 and currently preserved at the Prado Museum in Madrid. The title of the lively scene refers to the so-called Twelfth Night, a celebration corresponding to the Epiphany, precisely twelve days after Christmas, which was the last night of celebrations, in which one could drink beyond one's limits, dedicate oneself to love, to partner and gender swapping, a sort of carnival, during which the King of Misrule (literally the king of Misrule) was elected, a ruler in reverse who imposed his laws, subverting rules and behaviors. This work, like many others by Teniers, had such success linked to the numerous commissions from royals and aristocrats during the 18th century, as to induce a large posthumous production of copyists, many of whom even signed with the artist's name. The painting presented here has several paint losses, to be remedied. It is in a late 19th century frame, adapted for size.

Oil on poplar panel. The young commoner depicted, belonging to the category of "pitocch" (a term used to indicate the state of complete indigence of the characters, the result of careful and unconventional observation of reality), reveals a marked strabismus, which transforms the laughing expression into an amused grimace. The painting shows traces of small restorations. It is presented in a 19th century frame.

Oil on poplar panel. The young commoner depicted, belonging to the category of "pitocchi" (a term used to indicate the state of complete indigence of the characters, the result of careful and unconventional observation of reality), opens his mouth wide in a cry that, from the frowning expression on his face, seems to be one of anger or pain. The painting has slight losses of color. It is presented in a 19th century frame.

Oil on canvas. Northern Italian school of the 19th century. The landscape depicts a wide countryside that opens onto the Alpine mountain range, preceded by the gentler pre-Alpine hill slopes; on the central path, which runs straight and perpendicular to the reliefs, a commoner is passing with his mule. The atmosphere is that of the end of the day, with pink shades illuminating the snow-capped peak. A very similar subject can be found in the production of the circle of Carlo Canella (1800 -1879), the Veronese artist known above all for his city views. The work is presented in a late 19th-century frame.

Oil on canvas. Half-length portrait of an elderly peasant couple, she with her head covered by a red scarf, he with a traditional headdress; the two faces emerge from the dark background with dignified and serene expressions. The painting is presented in a contemporary frame.

The Ancient Triskelion 1997

Mixed media on board. Signed and dated lower right. On the back, further signature, date and title. Driven by an intense intellectual curiosity that has characterized every moment of his experience, not only creative, but also human and professional, the Ancona artist Giorgio Villa has developed his own principles of thought and action, on rigorous bases of a scientific-mathematical approach, nourished by a profound poetic inspiration and a deep-rooted sense of beauty. The search for a path to follow, free from patterns or cultural ties characterizes his art; Villa moves in the sphere of imagination, feelings and the poetry of images. Each work is the fruit of a meditated inspiration, moment by moment, allowing space for reflection, for the considered gesture, analyzing the relationships between space and matter, between colors and shape, to identify the perfect synthesis, which makes a work of art unique and unrepeatable. In this work Villa depicts the Triskelion, or the ancient symbol formed by three spirals joined at a central point, more generally three intertwined spirals, or, by extension, any other symbol with three protuberances and a triple rotational symmetry.

Oil on panel. In the upper center, framed half-length, Mary presents her Son, blessing and holding the scroll of Scripture, to the three Saints standing in the lower portion of the panel. Above their heads, in Cyrillic, their names that identify them as Saint Nicholas in the center, Saint Helena and a third unidentified. Traces of previous restorations.

Oil on canvas. Italian school of the 18th century. The elegant gentleman is portrayed with some volumes placed on the surface in front of him, on the spines of which the authors can be read; the name of Paolo Valcarenghi, a professor at the Faculty of Medicine of Pavia in the 18th century, stands out in particular. The man portrayed therefore wants to underline his belonging to the world of Medicine. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a frame reconstructed with ancient elements and equipped on the upper side with a working lighting headlight from the mid-1900s.

Oil on canvas. Portrait of a nobleman flaunting the important honor of the Order of the Golden Fleece, a chivalric order established in Bruges in 1431 by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, with the task of spreading the Catholic religion, and later passed to the House of Habsburg and subsequently also to the Bourbons of Spain; it is considered the highest and most important order of chivalry. The painting, relined, is presented in an 18th-century frame, which requires restoration.

Medallions printed on copper plates. The eight medallions are from the series of medals of "Illustrious Italian Men". These eight in particular depict the profiles of eight illustrious men from the world of art and science: Antonio Allegri known as Correggio, Andrea Appiani, Benvenuto Cellini, Andrea Palladio, Scipione Maffei, Galileo Galilei, Francesco Guicciardini and Girolamo Vida. They are mounted on a cardboard panel covered in velvet and framed in a period frame.

Portrait of Lord Wood of Inchyra

Oil on canvas. On the back there is a cartouche with attribution and title of the work. Sir John Watson Gordon established himself as a portraitist, creating portraits of many illustrious English people in his life, and also becoming a court painter. The nobleman portrayed here belongs to the House of Wood of Inchyra, a town in Perthshire in Scotland. The painting is presented in a frame.

Oil on canvas. The portrait derives from the half-length one painted in 1725 ca. by Ilario Spolverini (1657 -1734) and preserved at La Rocca Sanvitale in Fontanellato. Antonio Farnese (1679 -1731) was the eighth Duke of Parma and Piacenza, as well as the last of the Farnese, who had poor political and administrative skills and was unable to take care of the administration of the state and to remedy its enormous financial deficit; his subjects were burdened by blood-sucking taxes, while the court continued to get into debt with the Genoese bankers. The painting requires restoration due to paint loss and two small holes at the bottom. It is presented in a contemporary frame.

Oil on panel. Signed lower right R.lo Pellegrini. It is probably a work by Romolo Pellegrini, who lived between the 19th and 20th centuries, an artist of landscapes and still lifes with delicate colors. Here we see a bright, flat countryside, with a flock of sheep grazing in the meadows, watched over by the shepherd. The work is presented in a contemporary frame, with missing parts.

Oil on canvas. Flemish school of the 17th century. On the back there is a collector's cartouche. In a hilly landscape of rocks and clumps of trees, overlooking a small village on the left, a stream flows to form a foaming waterfall; on the banks some figures of peasants in transit or in conversation; on the right stands out the bird with the long tail, perched on a dry shrub. In the background, the hills fade into the sky full of clouds. The painting is presented in a regilded frame from the late 19th century.

Oil on canvas. Unidentified signature on the lower right (Terzaghi?). The scene depicts Christopher Columbus arriving at the Convento de la Rabida in Andalusia accompanied by his son Diego. The navigator was welcomed in this Franciscan convent in 1490, after receiving the news that the Catholic Monarchs had rejected his request to launch an expedition to the Indies. With the intervention of the prior and confessor of Queen Isabella, Juan Pérez, Columbus obtained that his project be heard. The painting is presented in a late 19th century frame.

Oil on canvas, applied to panel. Venetian school of the 17th century. The painting is inspired by the style of Paolo Veronese (see his painting preserved at the National Gallery), who was widely reproduced: the arrangement of the figures is the same, following an oblique ascending line that reaches the Holy Family on the left, towards which all eyes converge; similar is the background of the marble arch behind which a large landscape opens up. The painting is presented in a late 19th century gilded frame.

Oil on copper. The saint, leaning on a stick, dressed in a brown-gray habit tied at the waist with a rosary of large wooden seeds, is on the seashore and looks towards the angels who are flying above, carrying a coat of arms with the word Charitas. According to tradition, he received this vision while praying, which offered him the shield with the words "This will be the coat of arms of your Order". Founder of the Order of Minims, he is the patron saint of Calabria and of numerous maritime cities in Southern Italy, as well as the patron saint of Seafarers, because legend has it that he performed the miracle of having calmed a storm, saving the boats. The small painting is presented in a period frame.