The Bonfire under the Snow, 1979

Oil on glass. At the bottom right are the signature and date, accompanied by the artist's symbol, the stylized figurine of a man in a wheelchair. It is a work on glass by the painter Mario Previ, who has lived and painted in a wheelchair since the age of eighteen, due to quadriplegia resulting from a dive into his Taro. He said of himself: "The world, the passage of time, from this point of view (the wheelchair) teach many things. You learn to wake up every morning with a purpose, even if your body is in pain, if every gesture generates suffering and depending on others and giving up could be an easy solution. And instead, art, painting, together with the serenity of my world, of friends, give me incredible energy. They saved me, giving me the strength to live". In 1974, three years after the accident, inspired by a television program on Yugoslavian naïve painters, in particular by the works on glass of Mijo Kovacic, Previ began to paint and learn the art of painting on glass as a self-taught, until he to make himself known and appreciated for his paintings. In his naifs Mario Previ tells a reality that has almost disappeared, real stories albeit in a fairy-tale tone, he revives lost traditions, slices of life that belonged to other generations, those of peasant civilization (from which he also comes), but what emerges most from his visions are the "forë", those that could once be heard in the "firossi", the traditional evenings of the hamlets of Parma dedicated to meeting to tell anecdotes, stories and historical curiosities, often in front of the fireplace fire, when outside it was cold and snowing. The work is presented in a frame.

Tempera and oil on panel. Venetian-Cretan school of the 17th-18th century. The term Venetian-Cretan School (or Creto-Venetian) indicates an important pictorial school, also known as the Post-Byzantine school, a movement that flourished on the island of Crete under the control of the Serenissima of Venice between 1204 and 1669. Thanks to the political situation, particularly after the fall of Constantinople, Crete became the main Christian artistic center of Greek origin from the fifteenth to the seventeenth century. In this environment a particular pictorial style developed which was marked by tradition and movements of both Byzantine and Latin origin. In particular, given the important demand for Byzantine icons in Europe, the island soon became a center of production of these works of art. The style of the Byzantine icon is found in this work, which proposes a subject widely re-proposed in art, namely the Adoration of the Shepherds at the birth of Jesus: the figures of the Holy Family and the Shepherds are strongly attributable to the traditional Byzantine iconographic representation , but they are placed in a more Latin landscape, which opens wide, with a depth of perspective that refers to seventeenth-century European landscape painting, without the traditional gold background but with chromatic choices that still recall the divine golden light, in particular where an angel announcing the Glory of God looks out from the open heavens. The painting has a detachment of the paint in the central part, corresponding to a previous restoration, which requires further recovery. On the back of the plate there is a sealing wax stamp. The painting is presented in an antique wooden frame.

Scene from Peasant Life 1980

Oil on glass. At the bottom left are the signature and date, accompanied by the artist's symbol, the stylized figurine of a man in a wheelchair. It is a work on glass by the painter Mario Previ, who has lived and painted in a wheelchair since the age of eighteen, due to quadriplegia resulting from a dive into his Taro. He said of himself: "The world, the passage of time, from this point of view (the wheelchair) teach many things. You learn to wake up every morning with a purpose, even if your body is in pain, if every gesture generates suffering and depending on others and giving up could be an easy solution. And instead, art, painting, together with the serenity of my world, of friends, give me incredible energy. They saved me, giving me the strength to live." In 1974, three years after the accident, inspired by a television program on Yugoslavian naïve painters, in particular by the works on glass of Mijo Kovacic, Previ began to paint and learn the art of painting on glass as a self-taught, until he to make himself known and appreciated for his paintings. In his naifs Mario Previ tells a reality that has almost disappeared, real stories albeit in a fairy-tale tone, he revives lost traditions, slices of life that belonged to other generations, those of peasant civilization (from which he also comes), but what emerges most from his visions are the "forë", those that could once be heard in the "Firossi", the traditional evenings of the hamlets of Parma dedicated to meeting to tell anecdotes, stories and historical curiosities, often in front of the fireplace fire, when outside it was cold and snowing. The work is presented in a frame.

Fire in the Countryside, 1907

Watercolor on paper. At the bottom right is the signature, date and location Rome. The Roman artist, son of an English painter, was above all a landscape painter of the Roman countryside, who painted mainly in watercolour. The work is presented in a contemporary wooden frame, with festoon decorations.

The Last Judgment

Oil painting on canvas. The work is probably the preparatory and presentation painting to the client of the fresco created by Moretti Larese for the vault of the church of Volpago del Montello (Treviso), dedicated to Santa Maria Maddalena. The Last Judgment describes Heaven on the clouds above, gathered around Christ sitting on the judge's throne. In the background the Trinitarian image is composed, with God the Father in flight and the dove of the Holy Spirit, among the choirs of angels and the elders of the Apocalypse. Christ the judge is flanked by his mother Mary, in the role of intercessor, and by the four evangelists who have in their hands the Gospels of which they are authors and alongside the traditional symbols. The saints of the Old Testament are lined up on the sides (David with the harp, Moses with the tablets of the law, John the Baptist with the processional cross) and the apostles Peter (with the keys) and Paul (with the sword of martyrdom). The terrace below is occupied by the other apostles (Andrew with the cross) and saints. The three Virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity, with their symbols, show the resurrected people the cross of Jesus' sacrifice. The angel with the top hat awakens the dead and shows them the judge. The archangel Michael, with his flaming sword and double-pan scales, decides the individual fate of the resurrected. Below, the elect (including mothers with their children) ascend to Heaven with the help of the angels. The damned instead end up in the flames of Hell. The painting presents evident traces of the underlying pencil drawing and, compared to the definitive fresco, some small differences in the postures of some figures and above all in the non-definitive colors. Moretti Largese was appreciated above all as a decorator of public and private buildings, but he also created some religious frescoes. The painting is presented in a late 19th century frame.

Oil on hardboard. The large country landscape, with leafy trees and hills, sees a lady and some knights engaged in a hunting trip, with dogs accompanying them in the race. The painting is presented in a wooden frame, covered on the front with gilded stucco.

Oil painting on canvas. Italian school of the 18th century. The painting depicts the death of Saint Joseph which, according to the apocryphal gospels, occurred assisted by Mary and Jesus: the dying man lies in fact in his bed of agony, supported affectionately by his putative son Jesus and his wife Mary, while several angels assist, both at the foot of the bed, or from above where the heavens already open to welcome the soul of the saint. Joseph's is considered the most desirable and peaceful form of death, of old age, in one's bed and surrounded by one's loved ones, and for this reason the Saint is considered the patron saint of the dying and of sweet death. Restored and relined, the painting is presented with a frame.

Oil painting on canvas. Italian school of the 17th century. The Saint is depicted inside his study, intent on reading and studying the sacred texts, but in penitential garb, i.e. clad only in a red cloth draped around his naked body. The painting, relined, has a significant crack; It is placed in a contemporary gilded wooden frame.

Oil on Hardboard. On the reverse there is an inscription in pencil with the date "29 June 1931" and the signature Amos Campaioli. The large country landscape, with leafy trees and a pond, sees in the foreground a lady on horseback flanked by a man with his dogs. The painting is presented in a wooden frame, covered on the front with gilded stucco.

Landscape with Figures

Oil painting on canvas. Signed lower left. Achille Vertunni was born and trained artistically in Naples, but then moved to Rome where, in his mature age, his studio in Via Margutta was a point of reference for many Italian and foreign critics and artists (D'Annunzio, De Sanctis , Franz Listz, to name a few) and was frequented by the nobility and politicians of the time, figures of the Risorgimento and visitors of the "Grand Tour". His first themes were inspired by historical events, but he then dedicated himself to landscape which, from the seventies, became the almost exclusive subject of his paintings. Its sunsets in the Roman countryside and in the Pontine Marshes are characteristic, sometimes animated by butteri and herds of buffalo. This painting shows two figures in traditional Lazio clothing, a couple of farmers resting near a small votive chapel along the road; on the right the coastal landscape opens up along the Tiber, at the bottom of which the profile of Rome stands out, with the Dome of St. Peter and Castel Sant'Angelo. Above all, the typically romantic atmosphere of a sunset, with its play of soft, pink lights. The painting, relined, is presented in a period frame.

Oil painting on canvas. Central Italian school of the 17th century. In its pictorial style, the painting recalls the production of Angelo Caroselli (1585-1652), a Roman Baroque artist who was a painter, copyist, restorer, but also a pasticheur and connoisseur of art, i.e. creator of paintings "in the manner of"- in “technique” and in the “style” of a specific artistic period or of a specific author, even assembling “parts” taken from different paintings. Initially Caravaggesque, Il Caroselli later developed his own personal artistic language, which was copied by many minor artists. In this work the fixed and almost exasperated expressiveness of the character stands out, whose elegance of the seventeenth-century dress and the almost feminine features of the face with its rosy complexion contrast with the crudeness of Goliath's head, bloody, with the large stab wound that stands out against the mortal pallor. The painting has been restored and relined, retaining the original wooden frame. It is presented in a contemporary wooden frame.

Oil painting on canvas. Italian school of the 17th century. At the center of the scene is Christ, kneeling in the water of the Jordan, with his arms gathered towards his body in an introspective attitude; next to him John the Baptist is pouring the water of Baptism on his head. On the left three angels assist, holding the cloth ready to dry the body of Christ, but their gaze is pointed upwards, to contemplate the descent of the Holy Spirit. A landscape rich in vegetation forms the backdrop to the scene. On the first canvas, the painting has some patches on the back. The crack is marked and there are some very small holes. The painting is presented in a 19th century gilded frame (left missing).

Oil painting on canvas. Italian school of the 17th-18th centuries. A large composition of colorful flowers, in embossed metal vases, and some fruits scattered on the ground, are placed close to a wall overlooking a maritime landscape: the brightness of the sky and sea on the right contrasts with the shaded area on the left, on which the colors of the flowers stand out. The painting, relined and restored, has a significant crack. It is presented in a contemporary lacquered and gilded frame.

Oil painting on canvas. Italian school of the early 17th century. The Madonna on the throne, crowned by two angels, has the Baby Jesus in her arms, who offers Saint Francis the poor knotted belt, a symbol of poverty; witnessing the scene are a holy bishop, Saint John the Baptist and two female saints, Saint Clare on the left, Saint Catherine of Alexandria on the right. The painting, still on the first canvas, has a clearly visible crack with small drops of color; subjected to restoration (there are old patches on the back), it was fixed to a non-coeval wooden frame and mounted in a coeval Florentine frame, in black painted wood with gold decorations.

Oil painting on canvas. Portrait of a young gentleman. It has several color drops. It is presented in a contemporary lacquered frame.

Oil painting on canvas. Italian school of the 18th century. portrait of a noblewoman in rich evening dress, with an ermine cloak draped over her shoulders, indicating her high lineage. Relined, the painting is presented in an antique gilded frame.

Sad Village

Oil painting on canvas. Signed lower left. On the back on the frame the title in pencil. The Sienese artist Guido Ferroni, after an impressionist debut, arrived at a painting with intimate tones, characterized by a reduction of the chromatic ranges and an atmosphere of calm village everyday life, linked to the Tuscan tradition. The painting is presented in a contemporary gilded frame.

Oil painting on canvas. Northern European school of the 18th century. The allegorical scene presents a scantily clad woman sitting on a man's lap, near a table set with a jug, a chalice, a snuffbox and a lit cigar. The two characters are in an attitude of playful complicity, both intent on smoking a long pipe. The background offers a leafy landscape. The figures and objects refer to the material and carnal pleasures of life, smoking, drinking, female company; the rosy and plump characters also recall the pleasure of good food. These subjects were recurrent in Flemish or more generally Nordic painting, which proposed them in an ironic and alluring way. The painting, restored and relined, is presented in a period frame.