Antique Cameo with the Face of Vittorio Emanuele II XIX Century

Limoges Enamels on Copper

Limoges enamels on a copper plate. The enamels highlight the elegant female figure, possibly Marie Antoinette, Queen of France (1755-1793), of whom there are numerous portraits. This small portrait shows her in informal, non-ceremonial attire, yet elegant and refined. Minor damage and paint loss. The painting is presented in a late 19th-century black frame.

Limoges enamels on a copper plate. The enamels highlight the female figure in an elegant gold dress with a fur collar secured by a rose, and the typical hairstyle of late 18th-century ladies. Minor paint loss. The painting is presented in a late 19th-century black frame.

Ganymede Offers the Cup to Jupiter

Bas-relief on a metal plaque. It depicts a scene from the mythological tale of Ganymede, the handsome Trojan prince abducted by Zeus (in the form of an eagle) to become cupbearer to the gods on Olympus. It is the work of the Turin engraver and medallist Giuseppe Ferraris, who worked at the Turin Mint, producing the coins of several rulers of the House of Savoy. The work is presented in a period frame.

Oil on canvas. Half-length portrait of an elderly peasant couple, she with her head covered by a red scarf, he with a traditional headdress; the two faces emerge from the dark background with dignified and serene expressions. The painting is presented in a contemporary frame.

Medallions printed on copper plates. The eight medallions are from the series of medals of "Illustrious Italian Men". These eight in particular depict the profiles of eight illustrious men from the world of art and science: Antonio Allegri known as Correggio, Andrea Appiani, Benvenuto Cellini, Andrea Palladio, Scipione Maffei, Galileo Galilei, Francesco Guicciardini and Girolamo Vida. They are mounted on a cardboard panel covered in velvet and framed in a period frame.

Church in Ruins 1782

Watercolor and ink on paper. At the bottom left is the inscription "IF Gout Dell. 1782"; in the center is the number 4, indicating that it belongs to a series of subjects. The small glimpse frames the ruins of a Gothic-style church, in the middle of an equally abandoned village. Presented in a frame.

Figure of a Scholar in Reading

Oil on panel. Signed lower right. The paintings of Franke, an artist of Polish origin who trained and lived in Munich, are characterized by genre scenes, eighteenth-century settings, and Oriental subjects. They are all characterized by lively movement and color, extremely lively scenes with figures frozen in curious, almost exaggerated poses. In this painting, the man, elegantly dressed with a frock coat and wig, leans inelegantly against the table, intent on reading, a pencil in his mouth. His brightly colored figure emerges from the shadowy surroundings—a study. The work is presented in an early 20th-century frame.

Oil on canvas. 19th-century French school. Portrait of a young woman, likely in mourning, given her black dress and serious, melancholic expression. The dark colors of her dress and hair blend into the background, from which her face, neck, and white lace shawl collar emerge, illuminating the portrait. The canvas has slight paint loss. It is presented in an early 20th-century frame.

Study of Heads

Pencil on paper. Signed lower right. Following an initial academic phase, Neapolitan painter Domenico Morelli, following his contact with the Macchiaioli and his friendship with Filippo and Giuseppe Palizzi, gradually adopted a freer style, especially in his use of color, creating his own signature style that harmoniously blends verism and late romanticism with neo-17th-century influences. An active patriot, he painted everything from historical subjects to genre scenes, dabbled in Orientalism, and then moved on to religious painting. Presented here are studies of two heads with evident Oriental features. Framed in period style.

Self-portrait

Oil on canvas. Signed on the left. Bergamo-born artist Giovanni Pezzotta established himself primarily as a portraitist, capable of infusing his subjects with expressive spontaneity, yet with a simple style. He created several self-portraits. The painting is presented in an early 20th-century guilloché frame.

Copy from Francesco Guardi

Oil on canvas. The original painting, created by Francesco Guardi in 1746 and donated to the Venice Civic Museums in 1830 from the collection of Abbot Teodoro Correr, has been on display at Ca' Rezzonico since 1936. The painting is an "interior view" in which the painter carefully and delicately depicts the visiting room of the monastery of San Zaccaria. The daughters of the most important Venetian families were nuns in the convent: in the parlor, relatives and friends could converse with the nuns, and puppet shows were also organized for the little ones during these gatherings, as seen on the right. Guardi's work is characterized by its portrayal of all the familiar elements of eighteenth-century Venice, with its gallant and worldly atmosphere that also permeated convents. The copy presented here is fairly faithful to the original, although it is missing a section on the right, behind the small theater. Having already undergone restoration and relining in the past, the painting currently requires cleaning. It is presented in a period frame.

Oil on canvas. French school, mid-19th century. The scene, set at the entrance to the grounds of a villa during a romantic sunset, depicts the first meeting between a beautiful young woman, accompanied by her father, and a suitor, who is introduced by the black-clad figure in the center, the matchmaker. The painting is part of the 19th-century historical-literary pictorial movement, which depicted literary episodes in a romantic vein. The figures in this scene wear 16th-17th-century clothing and could be characters from a famous novel. For example, the old father's clothing recalls Pantalone, the Commedia dell'Arte character who tries to force his beautiful daughter Rosaura into a marriage of convenience, a theme widely used in literature. The painting has undergone minor restorations. It is presented in a period frame.