Solomon Offers the Incense to the Pagan Gods

Oil on canvas. Landscape of Northern Italy, with large mountains covered in snow on the background, there is a small castle at their feet, and the wide river is in the foreground, with some fishermen on its shores. The painting has some paint losses and evident craquelure. It is presented in a frame in style.

Tempera on paper on etching. French school from about 1750-1770. Refined colouring of a coeval French print. The oriental subject is a young Chinese man who hints at some dance steps on an outdoor trail, under a plant of exotic fruit. The quality of the piece reminds of the French Rococo production, like those of François Boucher (1703-1770) or Jean Pillement (1728-1808), who both contributed to the spreading of the liking for Chinese representations in Europe. Pillement was the author of numerous drawings and etchings of Chinese taste, collected in two volumes (1767-71) and widely spread in Europe as models. The drawing needs cleaning and restoration. It is mounted on cardboard and comes with a frame.