Antique Painting Virgin Mary and Child Oil on Canvas XVIII Century

Nativity

Oil on canvas. Second half of the 16th century. The painting comes from the historical family collection of Count Castracane, as documented by the original autographed paper receipt of Francesco Bassano (attached to the work) which states: "Your Illustrious Count Castracane. Recipio de somesso sua somma de quinquaginta ducati per lo dipinto de mano mia de Nativitas Domini Nostri come Ella mhada ordenato. Dev.mo Obb.mo Servo suo Franciscus da Ponte de Bassano. Il die 12 decembre 1589". On the back of the frame there is also an inventory label at the top and the writing "proprietà Castracane" at the bottom. The aforementioned Count Castracane belongs to the noble family of Castracani degli Altelminelli di Fano, of Lucca origin. Francesco Dal Ponte da Bassano, known as Il Giovane, worked for many years in the important workshop of his father Jacopo, known as Bassano il Vecchio, before moving to Venice in 1578 where he opened his own personal atelier, while continuing to collaborate with the Bassano workshop, which was managed in the meantime by his brother Leandro after the death of his father. Towards the end of the 1580s, however, Francesco experienced a crisis that was also reflected in his allegorical production: in a progressive approach to the taste of his brother Leandro, the colour became lighter, losing strength, the forms dilated and simplified, the composition became fragmented. The production of the Bassano family was distinguished above all by sacred subjects, inserted however in rural settings, which lead to their being defined as biblical-pastoral. In this painting too, the Holy Family does not dominate the centrality of the scene, but is one of the two groups of very human figures that occupy the right part of the scene, while on the left stands out the group of shepherds with the animals of the countryside and the simple objects of everyday life. The rural context is also well defined by the surrounding objects, despite the hut of the birth being replaced by an architectural structure with marble columns, but of a colour that blends in with the other surrounding structures. The only spiritual elements are the angel - solitary! - who appears to the shepherds for the announcement, relegated to the top, small and barely hinted at; and the halo that surrounds the head of the Baby Jesus, who is also depicted peacefully asleep, unaware of what is happening around him and what awaits him. Characteristic of the production of his father's Bassano workshop were the richness and chromatic vivacity and the luminous contrasts, which however were toned down in Francesco, translating into more tenuous chromatic choices and simplified forms, losing part of their strength. This can also be seen in this work, which dates back to the last years of the artist's life, especially in the characters' clothes; note in particular how Mary's dress is no longer red as per tradition, a colour strongly symbolic of human pain, but is the same pink shade as the central shepherd's tunic, almost as if to underline the Madonna's belonging to humble and simple humanity. Moreover, Francesco Bassano in his last period, due to his health compromised by serious hypochondria (he committed suicide in 1592), received commissions for works that were only partially executed by him, but delegated at least partially to his assistants. This indicates that the work was commissioned to him and came from his workshop, as his autographed declaration states, but probably not made directly by the master, but rather by one of his collaborators. The painting has been restored and relined. It is presented in an antique wooden frame from the late 18th - early 19th century.

Oil on wooden board. Central Italian school of the second half of the 16th century. The sacred scene of the Annunciation sees the two protagonist figures placed in the foreground in an interior that corresponds to Mary's room. The young woman is sitting in front of a small wooden desk, supported by figures of angels, on which rests the prayer book and a vase with small flowers; at her feet, the sewing basket. Mary's body is partially turned backwards, in a twisted movement, almost as if she were trying to escape, as if she wanted to get away from the other figure, that of the Archangel Gabriel. He stands on the right, majestic and elegant, with one hand holding a lily and the other pointing upwards above him, where the white dove, symbol of the Holy Spirit, is emerging from a gap of light. In the background, tall columns with drapes surmount the platform on which Mary's bed rests. The composition refers, in the figurative style and in the chromatic choices, to the already mannerist painting of the schools of central Italy: in particular there is a strong concordance of style and composition with some works of the same subject by the painter Bastiano Vini Detto Bastiano Veronese (1525-1530 / 1602), who lived and worked in Pistoia from around 1540. It is in this city that some of his Annunciations are found: in particular the one in the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie (an altarpiece measuring over two meters in height), shows clear similarities on a formal and compositional level with the one presented here . There is concordance in the setting of the sacred scene: a room, in the background of which is a curtain that partially covers a bed, furnished with the elements essential to the narrative, the lectern and the chair richly decorated with caryatids of cherubs or angels that seem to be carved in the wood. The compositional scheme corresponds, albeit with slight variations, with the two figures arranged "frieze-like" on the same laying plane, and the somatic features of the Virgin and the Archangel also correspond. However, the floor differs, which, while it is homogeneous in our table, in the Pistoia one presents itself with alternating checkerboard colors, but it seems that this design of the floor was added in a later period, on the occasion of the reconstruction of the altar in 1637 -1639, in pendant with that of another work by the same Sebastiano Vini in the same church, a Sacred Conversation. It therefore seems rather certain that our panel was painted looking at the work of Bastiano Veronese, probably at the specific request of the client, and before the change in the floor, therefore dating back to the second half of the 16th century. The painting has undergone restoration, with the application of two reinforcements to the back of the panel. It is presented in a late 19th century setting. (Reference for the Pistoia altarpiece: Catalog of cultural heritage https://catalogo.beniculturali.it/detail/HistoricOrArtisticProperty/0900035285)

Oil painting on canvas. Italian school of the 17th century. The large composition presents a variety of foods on a kitchen table: on the left a large wicker basket full of vegetables, surmounted by a group of hanging fish; other vegetables are placed on the table top, next to a plate of cherries, one with a loaf of bread, and further back another with prawns; on the right stands a vase full of colorful flowers and, sitting on the shelf of a cupboard, a black cat calmly licking its paw. The sharpness of the colors stands out, enhanced by the reflections of light on some foods, such as cherries or prawns, and on the copper jug ​​in front of the flowers. The painting, restored and relined, is presented in a strip frame.

Snowy Landscape with Figures 1872

Oil on canvas. Signed, dated 1872 and located in Parma in the lower right corner. It is a large winter landscape with a strong scenic impact, which fits well into the scenographic traditionalism of the painting of Mentore Silvani, a native artist of Traversetolo (Parma), a landscape painter but also known as a set designer. In the scene, sprinkled with the white of a short snowfall that creates that typical rarefied and silent winter atmosphere, between bare and dry trees, a dirt road winds its way through by a traveler; on the right a dilapidated building with a wash house where a woman draws water; in the center a small column on which a sacred image is mounted. Trained in his hometown, Silvani participated in the exhibitions of the Encouragement of Parma starting from 1864, and it is mainly in his city that his works are found today (at the Municipality of Parma, the National Gallery, the Paolo Toschi artistic high school ); however, he also exhibited in Milan (1872) and Florence (1875). Trained as a scenographer at the school of Gerolamo Magnani, Silvani held this position in Parma but also in Venice starting from 1871. His pictorial production, which includes mainly rural landscapes of the Parma countryside, is always characterized by fidelity to reality. The work proposed here is presented in a contemporary frame.

Period of Carlo Cignani

Oil on canvas. The painting closely replicates the one created by Carlo Cignani in 1702/1704, and is therefore the work of one of his students or at least from his workshop or circle. The scene depicts the infant Jupiter being suckled by the goat Amalthea, surrounded by nymphs and fauns intent on making music. According to myth, his mother Rhea, to save the child from his father Saturn, who devoured his children, hid him on the island of Crete, where he was raised by forest nymphs. The painting has undergone restoration and relining. It is presented in an antique gilded wooden frame.

Oil on canvas. Northern Italian school, 17th century. The large scene is animated by numerous intertwining figures: in the center, illuminated by the beam of light coming from above, Mary with the baby Jesus in her arms, watched over by St. Joseph on the right; on the left, the three wise men, bearing their gifts in rich caskets, and their entire entourage, along with the angels watching from above. A curious detail is the two little angels at the bottom, preparing the manger to welcome the baby Jesus. The painting has been restored and relined in the past. Frame in period style.

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. Central European School, mid-19th century. In the center of the scene, before a throne surmounted by a red velvet canopy and flanked by royal insignia, a king is settling a dispute between two groups of men, represented by several dignitaries in civilian clothes. Behind them, two different flags rise from the crowd; these are likely two political factions from the same city. The city's skyline in the background places the scene in a Central European context. The painting was applied in the early 20th century to plywood. It is presented in a regilded, late-19th-century frame.

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. Venetian School, 18th century. A wide Nordic landscape, with mountain peaks in the background and a river flowing through the countryside, overlooked by houses and ruins; several figures of wayfarers walk along the path among the rocks. Already restored and relined in the early 1900s, the painting requires further cleaning. Framed.