Mythological Scene Danae and the Shower of Gold 17th Century

Danae and the golden rain

Oil on canvas. In the beautiful painting of private and laic commission, the artist Giovanni Battista Recchi deals with the story of Danae, a Greek mythological subject loved and depicted by many painters like Tiziano, Correggio, Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi, Rembrandt and so on including Klimt. The legend says that Zeus fertilized the mortal woman Danae through a golden shower. The demigod Perseus was born from that union. In our painting, the shower of gold turns into golden coins. Each one has an individual coniage of the period. One of the coins falling from the sky has the signature of the artist written on it which is very rare for an antique painting. For this reason, the attribution to the artist is sure. In the background, there is a city that overlooks the lake. It seems a representation of the city of Como at the time, natal city of the artist. The private buyer of the painting probably dealt with currency exchanges due to the precision the coins are represented. The painting is relined with signs of restoration consistent with the style of that period. Good condition, presented in gilded revival frame.

Hieronymus III Francken (1611-1661), The denial of Peter

The denial of Peter

Oil on oak board, coming from an important historical Florentine collection. The collection started by an ancestor of the family who was in Vienna in 1798 and then in Wurzburg until 1813, as a companion of exile of the Grand Duke of Tuscany Ferdinand III. The collection was transferred to Florence after the fall of Napoleon, and its importance is proved by a copy of an inventory compiled in 1881. At number 14 of it (corresponding to the one shown on the cartouche at the back of the table), the compiler's description:...a two feet and four and a half inches long wooden footboard, and one foot and eight and a half-inch high, representing Peter who denies Jesus Christ to the maiden in Anna's house. We see the Savior from far away carried to that pontiff to be examined, in the midst of a crowd and a quantity of soldiers. In the 1960s, an initial attribution to Bruegel was denied and relocated to Francken. The composition was obviously successful because other versions of the workshop were known (see for example, an oil on copper with identical subject and dimensions in the Koller auction on 18/09/2015). Presented in a refurbished frame.

False Board Still Life with Fruit and Bushmeat Trompe l'oeil 1757

Trompe l'oeil,1757

Oil on canvas. Undeciphered signature in the middle along the earthenware pot with lid and date. Fascinating composition with many quotes and references identifying the owner as an erudite or an academic. At the top left a false painting with the phrase: 'Ma fuori uscì la notte e il mondo ascose' taken from Gerusalemme Liberata by Torquato Tasso (canto 11, stanza LXXXII). Below the image of two players identified as 'Tradasso palatino' (Tradasso is the antique Italian name for double bass) and 'Guido da Sury'. Another phrase is written near the cat 'Aggiunge ora l'astuzia alla rapina' with clear reference to the cat trying to reach the hare hung at its side. The hare has a phrase too 'Nec dedit fuga salutem' with reference to its useless escape from the hunter. Above the two mercenaries a letter dedicated to 'Pisstoia- al sig. Gismondi (?)" o Giannoli(?)'. The composition is complemented by a lot of fruit, dishes and a roast chicken. The painting is presented in a beautiful coeval frame from Emilia Romagna. 1757.

Holy Family with Angels Oil on Copper Octagonal Frame XVII Century

The Holy Family with Angels, oil on copper in octagonal frame, early XVII Century. Surrounding the Child sleeping in Mary's arms we find St, Joseph and several adoring angels. In the background a landscape. The painting is presented in a beautiful ebonised wood and gilded bronze octagonal frame. Hold between two ebonised frames, a gilded bronze edge contains silvered metal inserts with bronze roses. Externally, a decoration made of perforated bronze with cherubs and gilded bronze flames. One of these flames was substituted. There are signs of nails indicating that other decorations are missing.

Denijs Calvaert school

The virgin with child and Saint John

Oil painting on canvas, the Holy Virgin with Child and Saint John. The painting, because of its construction, colors, and physiognomies, is connected to the Bologna area of the late 16th Century, and in particular to the work of the painter of Antwerp, Denijs Calvaert, and the students working around his school. Restored, it is presented in a more recent frame.