Antique Chest of Drawers Walnut Various Woods XVIII Century - Trento, XVIII Century

Oil on canvas. The scene depicts an episode from the 17th-century novel "Les Aventures de Télémaque" (The Adventures of Telemachus) by François Fénelon, published in 1699. In Fénelon's tale, Telemachus (son of Ulysses), while searching for his father accompanied by Mentor (who disguises himself as the goddess Athena), is shipwrecked on the island of Calypso and falls in love with a nymph. To prevent Telemachus from leaving the island and abandoning the girl, the goddess Calypso, who has taken them in, orders her nymphs to burn the ship on which Telemachus and Mentor had arrived. In the painting presented, in the left foreground, Mentor urges the young Telemachus to turn away, while he is still gazing at the girl standing on the path to the right; meanwhile, the other nymphs set fire to the boat, stranded on the shore, with their torches. The canvas, previously relined, has several paint losses. It is presented in a period frame.

Oil on canvas. 18th-century Italian school. The Virgin with clasped hands and bowed face harks back to the 17th-century models of Sassoferrato. With this figure, gathered in a calm and silent devotional pose, presented alone and without a background, he proposed a new devotional model, in keeping with the approach to faith promoted by the reformers of the Roman Catholic Church, who encouraged individual contemplation. The painting has been relined.

Male Figure

Oil on canvas. The painting's pictorial style and subject matter are reminiscent of the work of Giacomo Francesco Cipper, known as Todeschini, an artist of Austrian origins who established himself in Milan. He specialized in market scenes, open-air concerts, card players, and scenes of humble daily life, rendered with playful caricature and a search for comic effect. This work, for example, portrays a commoner biting into a chicken leg: despite the poverty evident in his clothing, the man appears cheerful and cheerful, representing not desolation but the vitality and fun of daily life, albeit in poverty. Cipper's characters, though humble, are characterized by an impertinent nature, manifested by their fixed gazes on the viewer, attracting their attention. The canvas was mounted on cardboard in the late 19th century, restored, and framed in gilded pastiglia. It currently requires cleaning.

Oil on canvas. A large architectural capriccio featuring the remains of a fragment of a classical temple colonnade, rising above the crumbling ruins of a city wall, also in ruins, with two arched gateways. Various folk figures, tiny and insignificant figures, pass along the path beneath the imposing ancient ruins. The background is a hilly landscape, evocative of central Italy, in chromatic harmony with the sky above. The painting has been restored and relined in the past. It is presented in an antique, re-lacquered and re-gilded frame.

Oil on panel. Dutch School, 18th century. The man portrayed is the famous Dutch anatomist, anthropologist, and naturalist Petrus Camper (1722-1789), of whom there is another very similar portrait by Tibout Regters. In this version, however, the attribution to George Van Der Mijn (1727-1763) is noted on the back. The painting is presented in a period frame.

Oil on canvas. Lombard-Venetian School, late 17th-early 18th century. A farmer is depicted in the foreground, half-length, carrying a hoe on his shoulder. The figure is characterized by meticulous detail, from the wrinkles on the face to the dirt on the hands, from the tattered clothes to the roughness of the hoe. The painting's style recalls the work of Pietro Bellotti, who introduced figures of a similar nature into his portraiture. The painting has been restored and relined in the past. Framed in period style.

Oil on canvas. Central Italian School, 18th century. Large boar hunting scene, with knights, servants, and dogs scattered across the wooded countryside. Notable is the presence in the left foreground of a Moorish assistant, restraining one of the dogs and carrying a rifle on his shoulder. The painting has been restored and relined in the past. It is presented in a contemporary antique frame.

Oil on panel. 18th-century Northern European School. The horizontally arranged scene depicts the myth of Orpheus, son of Apollo, who received a lyre from his father with which he tamed wild animals, moved rocks, and bent trees. The tale is known from Virgil's Georgics and Ovid's Metamorphoses: a symbol of the civilizing power of art, it is a popular subject in European art. Orpheus is depicted in the center, sitting on a rock among trees, playing the lyre. On the sides are numerous animals of various breeds coming toward him, from natural environments near and far, including exotic animals (an elf, lions, a llama, etc.), and, on the right edge, a fantastical beast, the unicorn. In the background is a stream with a city on the shore; on the left, on the hill, a small temple, probably dedicated to the god Apollo. The painting has been restored in the past. It is presented in a period gilded frame.

Oil on canvas. In a verdant countryside with a tranquil stream flowing by, several figures of common people move about: in the foreground, the washerwoman rests on the ground, exchanging a few words with the woman who has come to draw water with her young daughter; further away, beyond the stream, a shepherd with his flock of grazing sheep and a herdsman with his cows. The scene evokes a peaceful and serene life, marked by work immersed in nature. The painting has been restored and relined in the past, but currently requires cleaning. It is presented in a period frame.

Oil on canvas. Venetian School, 18th century. In a countryside landscape with rolling hills, a woman milks her cow by the stream; next to her, another woman with a small child on her shoulder waits, jug in hand, waiting for her own supply. The painting shows signs of previous restoration and relining. It currently requires further restoration to remove the colors. It is presented in a period frame.

Oil on panel. The painting echoes the composition of Titian's masterpiece (dated 1510, currently in the Louvre), but places it in a completely different landscape and develops it on the sides, with the introduction of a goat on the right and a faun playing a flute on the left. Furthermore, the four figures taken from Titian are developed inverted, probably because the artist of our painting was inspired by an engraving. The central scene shows two young men sitting on a meadow making music, flanked by a young woman with her back turned, while a second is drawing water from a marble basin. The two women are both naked, barely covered by slipping cloaks, while the two men, speaking to each other, are dressed in period costumes. The subject is intended to be an allegory of poetry and music, with the two women of ideal beauty, who are like two unreal apparitions generated by the imagination and inspiration of the two young men. The painting presented here shows traces of previous restorations. Currently, there are some paint losses and damage to the panel.