Imhof Table Clock - Switzerland 1950s

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. 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 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.

Landscape with River Glimpse 1906

Oil painting on canvas. Signed lower left. The Roman-born artist Cesare Maggi established himself as a pointillist landscape painter, portraying alpine landscapes in the Engadine and Aosta Valley, often enlivened by the inclusion of figures and animals. Becoming a friend of the painter Giacomo Grosso in Turin in 1901, he then successfully oriented himself towards the portrait genre, setting aside the pointillist technique. While still favoring high mountain views, he broadened his subjects by also engaging in seascapes and still lifes. In this work, still from the first period, Maggi portrays a glimpse of the countryside crossed by a calm river, bordered by rows of bare trees and small grassy hills, behind which the farmhouses overlook: already no longer linked to the techniques divisionist, the work is rather characterized by dense and opaque mixtures of color, in which the earth, the water and the farmhouses are superimposed in a continuum broken only by the band of sky above. The work is presented in a period frame.

In the Style of Curtis Jeré

Wall sculpture made of chromed metal elements. The work is in imitation of the production of Curtis Jeré, the famous metalworking company known for its wall sculptures and home accessories. The name is a pseudonym composed of the founding artists Curtis Freiler and Jerry Fels, who created it by combining parts of their names. The company, founded in 1963, had the goal of producing "gallery-quality art for the masses".

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.

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.

Figure in Rest 1969

Pen on paper. Signed lower right. Accompanied by photo authentication from the Mario Tozzi Archive. In Maestro Tozzi's extensive production there are many drawings, such as this one presented here, made with different techniques (ink, pastel, pencil, sanguine), dedicated to the human figure: in his dry and stylized style, Mario Tozzi outlines stylized, refined figurines in their silent and discreet geometry, favored by the absence of color, which brings out the forms on the white paper. Even in his pictorial production, Mario Tozzi's favorite subjects are, classically, figures and still lifes, but both figures and death are a set of solid geometric elements, the sphere, the cylinder, the cone, etc. The bodies are elementary, essential in the lines and details, powerful, statuesque, composed of just modeled solids, while the still lifes are a celebration of Euclidean geometry such as the jugs, bowls, flasks which are paradigms of volume and geometric rigor . Mario Tozzi's compositions are influenced by Cubism for certain cuts, by Metaphysics for certain architectural insertions and by Abstractism for the insertion of geometric figures. The work is presented in a frame.

The Hair Cut

Painted with grass juice on canvas. The scene, set in the 18th century, features a wealthy, bejeweled lady drinking tea with a friend, while a valet stands behind her, preparing to cut her long ponytail. The scene, likely allegorical, also features a winged cherub grasping a lock of her cut hair, while another flutters upward. The canvas requires restoration due to obvious tears and loss of color. It is presented in a late 19th-century frame.

Reading the Letter

Painted with grass juice on canvas. The scene, set in the 18th century, depicts a wealthy lady seated at her dressing table, reading a letter, while her maid offers her jewelry. A few cherubs hover above, lending an allegorical meaning to the scene. The canvas requires cleaning. It is presented in a late 19th-century frame.

Luca Giordano's School

Oil on canvas. School of Luca Giordano. The scene depicts the conversion of Saint Paul, as recounted in the Acts of the Apostles. While traveling to Damascus to persecute the Christians, Saul (his name before his conversion), a Jew but a citizen of Rome, was suddenly enveloped in a divine light and heard the voice of Jesus asking him why he was persecuting him. This event led him to convert to Christianity, taking the name Paul and dedicating himself to spreading the Gospel. Saul is depicted falling from his horse, which has overturned on its side, while a beam of light dazzles him, coming from the cloud on which Christ is seated, surrounded by angels. Around Paul, Roman soldiers and his entourage are agitated, not understanding what is happening. The numerous figures, both human and animal, intertwine and overlap with great dynamism, supported by bright and vibrant colors. The work's style is reminiscent of Luca Giordano (1634-1705), the prolific 17th-century artist who translated modern Baroque concepts into painting with remarkable imagination and creativity, drawing on Caravaggio's naturalism and infusing it with new Baroque trends. His vast output spawned a large following of minor painters, who espoused his style. The painting was relined in the second half of the 19th century. It features paint loss at the lower right. It is presented in a late 19th-century gilded frame.

In the Name of Peace on Earth 1969

Oil on canvas. Signature, title, and date in Cyrillic on the back. Viktor Petrovich Rudametkin is a Ukrainian artist who has established himself as a landscape painter and colorist. In this work, using his characteristically vibrant palette, he depicts a peasant mother in the middle of a field of sunflowers, a symbol of life and peace, contrasting with the images of military planes streaking across the sky. Created during the years when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union, the image can be thought of as a call to peace and a message of hope for the artist's native land, still torn apart by the serious conflict with Russia.