Antique Painting Concert Oil on Hardboard Italy XVIII Century

Disciple of Pietro da Cortona

Oil on canvas. The work is based on the fresco created by Pietro da Cortona on a wall of the Sala della Stufa in Palazzo Pitti, part of the cycle of the Four Ages of Man, inspired by Ovid's Metamorphoses. Scenes from the Bronze and Iron Ages contrast images of a civilized society with those of the violence perpetrated during wartime. As Ovid states, fraud and deception arose during the Iron Age, and men not only demanded that the earth bear fruit, but also dug into its depths. Thus iron and gold were discovered, and war began, bringing with it acts of pillage and violent plunder, even against the defenseless, such as the elderly, women, and children. This scene, also known as "Group of Soldiers Massacring Civilians" depicts dramatic scenes of violence and oppression, such as the soldier in the foreground about to kill the defenseless old man lying on the ground, or, on the right, the man cutting off a young mother's hair to take her ornaments, despite her pleas. The painting shows traces of previous minor restorations. It has a frame.

Oil on canvas. The scene depicts a plea for clemency from a king: a man begs the king to pardon the young man who is about to be beheaded by two servants; curiously, a crowned head lies at the king's feet. The scene takes place in a camp near a city, with several soldiers attending, while the two prisoners are in civilian clothes, as are the servants brandishing swords over the prisoner. The scene is not clearly linked to a specific biblical historical episode, but it certainly aims to convey the king's mercy, contrasted with severe justice. The painting has been restored and relined in the past. It is presented in an early 20th-century frame, regilded.

Oil on canvas. French school, late 17th century. The painting is inspired by the one by Nicolas Poussin, created around 1635 and now on loan to the National Gallery in Edinburgh. However, compared to that work, ours features many variations and is much smaller (the entire right section of Poussin's scene, full of foreground and background figures, has been eliminated). The subject recounts a biblical episode from the Book of Exodus: the people of Egypt were wandering in the Sinai desert, and were without water; God then ordered Moses to take his staff, gather the elders, and strike the rock at Horeb before the people: from it sprang a spring of water, from which all the people could quench their thirst. The painting presented has been restored and relined in the past. It is presented in a late 19th-century frame.

Oil on canvas. A young woman wearing a helmet and chain mail, holding a halberd, is depicted. Above her, her identifying name. The epithet "Amazon" essentially identifies a female warrior, but there is no mention of a character called Leandra. Furthermore, the myth of female warriors, known as Amazons, enjoyed a wide following and fostered a vast artistic and literary production. The painting has been restored and relined in the past. It is presented in a contemporary antique frame.

Oil on canvas. Camilla is a character from Virgil's Aeneid, queen of the Volscians: devoted to Diana, Camilla is both a huntress and a warrior. Fearless and courageous, she displays all her extraordinary beauty. She was considered queen of the Amazons, as these figures were the warrior women par excellence. Virgil's character enjoyed a long literary and artistic success. Here, the woman is depicted in 17th-century armor, intent on unsheathing her sword, while mythologically Camilla fought with a bow and arrow. The character's name is cited at the top. The painting has been restored and relined in the past. It is presented in a contemporary antique frame.

Oil on canvas. Dutch School, 18th century. In this dramatic scene, three sailing ships are at the mercy of a stormy sea; two of them fly the Dutch flag, while the third, smaller one, almost a dinghy, flies another flag. The gray, stormy sky and sea create a uniformly dark background, with a sliver of light on the right, through a rift in the clouds. The painting has been restored and relined in the past. It is presented in a contemporary antique frame.

Oil on canvas. Neapolitan school, 17th century. The painting, formerly attributed to Scipione Compagno (1624-1680), is in keeping with his pictorial style (which, moreover, is typical of the narrative imagery typical of 17th-century Neapolitan culture), which depicts scenes and events with countless figures, landscapes, and views depicted in a palette of browns and tans, except for the flashes of color that highlight the main characters in the scenes. The scene, filled with figures, features the Egyptian army in the foreground being overwhelmed by the waters of the Red Sea, while on the shore in the background the Israelites, now safe, watch and celebrate with dances and songs. In the center, further back, Moses stands, raising his arm with his staff, in the gesture that evoked the miracle of the parting of the waters. The painting has been restored in the past. It currently shows a slight loss of color on the left. It is presented in a late 19th-century frame.

Copy from Jacopo Palma il Vecchio

Oil on canvas. The original painting from which this painting is based, faithful even to its size, belonging to a private collection, was exhibited in 2022 at the exhibition organized by the Museum of Santa Caterina in Treviso. The work depicts the Madonna and Child in the center, with two saints on the right, almost isolated in a spiritual discussion. The rightmost figure is Saint Catherine, recognizable by her cogwheel symbol; on the left is Saint Joseph, depicted with a youthful appearance, likely because he uses the features of the patron. The painting has been restored in the past. It is presented in a gilded frame, in period style.

Oil painting on canvas. The painting offers a half-length portrait of a young man who, in deshabillé, is lighting his pipe by drawing fire with a stick from the candle placed in front of him, on the table where a sword is also placed: perhaps it is a young knight in a moment of rest. It is precisely the candle, the only source of light in the scene, which suggests that the artist looked to the production of Georges De La Tour (1593 -1652), the French painter of the Caravaggio style who established himself for his "nocturnal" scenes, characterized by figures, usually low-ranking people rather than historical models or high-ranking figures, illuminated by the light of a candle, to create a special atmosphere of intimacy. The painting, restored and relined, is presented in a period frame.

Oil on canvas. 19th-century Northern European School. The painting is a reproduction of a 1662 work by Jan Siberechts (1627–1703), currently housed in the Royal Museums of Fine Arts in Brussels. The Flemish painter made a name for himself with his scenes of country and rural life, enlivened by peasant figures going about their daily activities, particularly robust female figures dressed in bright colors. These characteristics are also evident in this reproduction, where, in the farmyard of a farmhouse in the middle of the countryside, the entire family is busy with various activities: on the left, the man unloads bundles of wood from the cart, which a woman is carrying toward the house; on the right, the boy opens the stable to lead the flock of goats and sheep to pasture; in the center are three robust female figures, namely two women observing the third, who is busy... delousing a little girl! The colors of the figures' clothes stand out vividly and brightly against the brown and dark colors of the background elements (the house and the countryside), which are dominated by a sky that is also dark and thick with gray clouds. The painting is presented in a period gold frame.

Oil painting on canvas. Italian school of the 17th-18th centuries. A large composition of colorful flowers, in embossed metal vases, and some fruits scattered on the ground, are placed close to a wall overlooking a maritime landscape: the brightness of the sky and sea on the right contrasts with the shaded area on the left, on which the colors of the flowers stand out. The painting, relined and restored, has a significant crack. It is presented in a contemporary lacquered and gilded frame.

Oil on canvas. The large scene, set in a hilly countryside, with a village and ruins in the background on the left, is completely occupied by the compact group of numerous living figures: the shepherd's family is seated in the center, watching his companion who is holding the swaddled baby in her arms; all around, the animals, from the faithful sheepdog to the animals of the flock, sheep, goats and cows, also resting. The great naturalism of the animal figures stands out, which harks back in pictorial style to the works of the school of Philipp Peter Roos, known as Rosa da Tivoli (1657-1706), the German painter considered one of the best animal painters active in Italy in the 17th century, characterized by the peculiar ability to evoke the fleece and the looks of the animals. The work, restored and relined, is presented in a gilded frame in style.