Great Antique Room Divider Coloured and Embroidered Silk XIX Century

Oil on canvas from the late 19th century depicting a naval battle scene, with a Renaissance-style oared galleon at its center. The work, clearly historically inspired, features an allegorical female figure in the upper right corner, surrounded by cherubs, waving a tricolor flag (red, white, and presumably green) and holding a commander's baton surmounted by an eagle (symbol of imperial power). These iconographic elements recall the symbolism common in celebratory depictions of naval battles, where the female figure appears in the heavens as an emblem of victory and glory. She is gliding toward the armored soldier lying wounded on a rock in the lower left, gazing toward the celestial figure who is coming to recognize her patriotic value. The use of color and light emphasize the dramatic atmosphere. The arrangement of the elements with poorly defined outlines despite the richness of the details, harks back to the production of the late nineteenth century. The canvas has widespread loss of paint and requires restoration. It is presented in a period frame.

Family Lunch 1802

Oil on canvas. Signed and dated lower left. Genre scene of popular taste, it portrays a bourgeois family preparing to have lunch: the father, already seated at the table, is about to bless the meal, while his wife and son, standing, follow the prayer. Little is known about Charles Christophe Coventry, an English painter of whom we know mainly genre scenes of popular settings, such as this one. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a period frame.

Female Nude

Crayons on cardboard. Signed lower right. Neapolitan painter Vincenzo Caprile, who trained at the School of Fine Arts in Naples, also had the opportunity to explore the School of Resina, an Italian painting movement that developed in the wake of Verism and related to the Macchiaioli movement, where he experimented with realistic renderings of landscapes and nature. Although he also established himself as a portrait painter, becoming the official portraitist of the House of Savoy, Caprile always favored landscapes and portraits of popular figures. His work is characterized by agile brushstrokes and luminous, tender colors, capable of delicate shading, which are also well interpreted through pastel, as seen in this delicate female nude, a less recurrent subject for him but which beautifully demonstrates his mastery of light and color. The work is presented in a late 19th-century frame.

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.

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.

Preparing for the Market

Oil on canvas. Signed lower right. The scene shows the old farmer sitting smoking a pipe in the kitchen, in front of the burning fireplace, while he watches amusedly as his grandson tries to use the steelyard. On the floor, baskets of vegetables from their garden are being prepared for sale at the market. The work of the Florentine painter Adolfo Dumini features many similar genre scenes, depicting everyday life with vivacity and cheerfulness, and a wealth of detail. The painting is presented in a contemporary gilded frame.

Oil on canvas. Northern European School, mid-19th century. In a verdant countryside landscape, near the well with its watering trough, several farmers and wayfarers are stopping with their carts, resting, getting water, and washing clothes. Previously restored and relined in antique style, the painting currently shows damage and slight paint loss. It is presented in a beautiful late-19th-century gilded frame.

Oil on canvas. French school, second half of the 19th century. A sealing wax stamp on the back reads 2Atelier Gustave Courbet". The renowned artist (1819-1877) repeatedly depicted woodland scenes with deer and fawns, but the painting presented here cannot be attributed to him. The intensely realistic work depicts a doe and her calf within a clump of trees in the woods, with light filtering through the branches to create luminous effects. The painting is presented in a beautiful 18th-century frame, lacquered and restored.

Landscape with River and Figures

Oil on canvas. Signed lower right. Emilio Donnini, a Florentine artist, established himself as a landscape painter from life and marked the transition from a purely romantic interpretation to Macchiaioli realism. He loved to portray especially seascapes rich in romanticism, painting the scenes from life, mostly on his beloved island of Elba. His works are rich in chromaticism with very delicate tones, from a diffuse luminosity that extends from the sky to the surfaces, often water, below with particular brilliance, while the figures that animate the scene are described with rapid brush strokes but at the same time with orderly precision. This landscape view portrays a watercourse in the countryside, crossed by the stump of an ancient bridge; washerwomen are busy with their work on the stony shore. The painting shows traces of restoration. It is presented in a golden frame from the mid-1900s.

Sea Glimpse

Oil on canvas. Signed lower right. In a stretch of Nordic sea, near a coastline inhabited by a small cluster of houses, a small boat braves the rough sea. The German painter Andreas Dirks made a name for himself with his Nordic seascapes featuring boats at the mercy of rough waters. The painting is presented in a mid-20th-century frame.

Interior with Monk

Oil on canvas. Signed lower right. Inside a study, with thick stone walls and a vaulted ceiling, simple furniture but a bookcase filled with tomes, a monk sits at his work table, inside a manuscript. Jeno Kemendy, a Hungarian painter and set designer, devoted himself primarily to genre scenes, often set in earlier periods than his own historical period. His expertise as a set designer also shines through in this painting, in the attention to detail of the setting and the man's theatrical pose. The work features slight paint loss. It is presented in a period frame.

Farmhouse with Commoner and Ducks

Oil on panel. Signed and located at Rome lower right. Domenico Pennacchini specialized in genre scenes, often set in ancient Rome, but many with rural subjects, like this work, depicting moments from the daily life of Roman peasants. The work is presented in an early 20th-century frame.