Antique Painting Mythological Subject Oil on Canvas XIX Century

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.

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.

Portrait of a Young Woman

Oil on panel. Signed lower left. Parisian painter Edouard D'Otemar primarily established himself as a portraitist of female figures, whom he painted with nuanced chromatic effects and impressionist-style lighting. The work is presented in an early 20th-century frame, with some missing parts.

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.

Tempera on pith paper. Chinese, Canton, Qing dynasty, ca. 1860. A collection of twenty-eight paintings depicting Chinese courtiers, scholars, and merchants. Originally kept in an album, they are presented here in a beautiful frame decorated with embroidered floral fabrics. Pith paper is a thin, translucent material derived from the pith of the Tetrapanax papyrifer tree, or "pith plant," native to China and Taiwan. Pith paper entered painting to meet the growing demand for small, inexpensive, and easily transportable souvenirs following the massive growth of trade with China in the first quarter of the 19th century. Because many were sold in albums and thus protected from light, they retain their vibrant colors even today.

Oil on canvas. French school of the late 18th - early 19th century. Portrait of a gentleman in elegant bourgeois dress. The canvas has slight tears and requires cleaning. It is presented in a gilded 19th century frame.

Ludovico il Moro's farewell to his wife..

Mixed media (pencil, pen, brown ink and white chalk) on paper. Italian school of the early 19th century. Ludovico Maria Sforza cries at the tomb of his young wife Beatrice d'Este (1475 -1497); around him the friars of Santa Maria delle Grazie and on his left Bramante and Leonardo. On the short side of the marble canopy of the tomb there is the Sforza coat of arms, with two snakes and two eagles. Il Moro was profoundly shaken by the early death in childbirth of his very young wife Beatrice, his companion in his private but also political life, as well as his husband's, a patron of the artistic geniuses of their court, such as Leonardo da Vinci. and Bramante, authors of many pictorial and architectural works of the Visconti-Sforza court. Various versions of this episode are known, especially from the nineteenth century, from that of 1815 by Giovanni Battista Cigola at the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, to that of Alessandro Reati of around 1850. The painting is presented in a carved wooden frame from the late 19th century.

Siege Scene

Oil on canvas. Outside the fortifications of a city, a commander, surrounded by his soldiers, is about to light the fuse of the cannon. The army defends the citadel outside the walls and the soldiers scan the horizon looking downwards: this leads us to place the scene on the fortifications of a city, in particular those of Genoa, that rise on the mountains behind it and from which the Genoese defended the city from attacks from the sea; the Genoa setting is also supported by the banner that flies over the walls, the Saint George Cross (red cross on a white background), flag of the Republic of Genoa. The shape of the armor, weapons and clothing would refer to the siege of Genoa in 1522. It is therefore the nineteenth-century representation of a historical episode, which is then part of that pictorial production widespread in Italy in the nineteenth century, inspired by the new historical novel popular in literature. On the back of the frame there is the name G. Boni, together with a number that refers to participation in an official exhibition. Giovanni Boni was a pupil of the Brera Academy, in particular a follower of Giuseppe Sogni, an artist who was among the first to favour historical painting in its innovative romantic declinations. Not much is known about Boni, neither from a biographical point of view nor from his production. Of his certain attribution we know only the Nude of Man (painted Academy) with which he won the first prize for the Scuola del Nudo in Brera in 1852. The piece expresses the figures and the pathos of the scene with expressive efficiency; the characters in the foreground are very well characterized in their poses, expressions, in the details of the clothes and weapons, while the other figures fade into the background, suggesting the presence of a large army. The painting, still on the first canvas, shows small widespread losses of colour. It is presented in a frame in style.

Oil on canvas. The virgin holds her Child, who is lying on a pillow and he's asleep. Mary looks at the viewer, almost as if showing off her Son, with a serious expression, aware of his destiny, of which the child, however, seems completely unaware, still simply a child, not the Son of God. The physiognomic features of the two figures are also distinctive, particularly Mary's rounded, plump face, snub nose, round eyes, and not slender build, which are far removed from more traditional depictions of the Madonna. At the top left are some letters of an inscription that appear to have been cut off. The painting has been restored and relined in the past. It is presented in a period 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. 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. 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.