Shepherd with Sheep

Ink on paper. Signed lower left. Neapolitan artist Filippo Palizzi, also known as "the painter of animals" is considered a revitalizer of 19th-century Neapolitan painting. Abandoning academic painting, following contemporary French experiences, Palizzi devoted himself to life studies, especially humble subjects, such as small landscapes and animal paintings, creating works of intense realism yet imbued with an intimate poetic tone. He stood out above all for the meticulous execution of the details of his portrayed subjects. Herds with shepherds are a recurring theme in his work, as in this small drawing. The work is presented in a period frame.

Oil on canvas. Artist unknown (inconsistent signature G. Induno at the bottom). Genre scene inside a rather humble home, in which an old man sitting on his bed welcomes the embrace of his visiting grandson. The tenderness of the gesture of affection and dedication between the two figures contrasts with the poverty of the dwelling. The painting is presented in a period frame.

Gathering

Watercolor on paper. Signed lower left. De Albertis devoted himself to the military-patriotic genre, producing a rich repertoire of battles, replicated in various variations, which gradually became his specialty. Later, he turned to watercolor, but military subjects, often featuring horses, continued to dominate his work. This watercolor, in fact, features two saddled but unridered horses, responding to the trumpet call—the rallying call—sounded by the rider at the head of the squadron, visible on the right. The work is presented in a frame.

Still Life with Game, 1865

Oil on panel. The verso is signed and dated, attributing the work to the renowned Swiss sculptor (and painter) who lived in Milan and distinguished himself as an ornamentalist and animalier. The still life is presented in a late 19th-century gilded frame.

Oil on canvas. The work, painted in the style of early 17th-century Spanish painting, is actually from the late 19th century. It depicts a noblewoman wearing a ruff, the stiff, decorative, pleated collar typical of both men's and women's clothing from the 16th and 17th centuries. The work has been previously restored and relined. It is presented in a mid-19th-century gilded frame, inserted into a larger 20th-century frame.

Oil on canvas. Signed and located on the lower left margin "Roma, Enrico Scifoni" The name of the sitter is cited at the lower left: "Signorina Maria Ciaffi". Scifoni was a Roman artist who was very active as a portraitist between 1870 and 1914. The young woman portrayed is dressed in a dress and hairstyle reminiscent of the fashions of the Empire period. The painting is presented in a 19th-century gilded frame, which requires restoration.

Oil on canvas. Trace of signature at the bottom. In a romantic vein, the painting depicts a small girl tenderly leaning on her large dog, with whom she exchanges a tender glance. The background is a garden, with a sky fading into the light of the distant sunset. The painting shows signs of previous restoration and relining. It is presented in an early 20th-century gilded frame.

Color lithographs. Painter and illustrator Marcus C. Stone made a name for himself with his soulful portraits and literary scenes. These two lithographs depict scenes set in the gardens of elegant villas, one depicting two couples engaged in romantic conversation, the other enjoying a tea ceremony. The two prints are presented in elegant contemporary gilded wood and fabric frames.

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.

Landscape with Flock and Shepherds

Oil on canvas. Signed lower left. This is likely Achille Dovera's largest work, presumably intended for an important patron. A small preparatory sketch on wood depicting the same scene has been sold on the market. In the center of the foreground, the work features a large flock of sheep walking along a path, accompanied by several shepherds. The animals emerge, enveloped in a great cloud of dust, from a passage through lush vegetation, in a flat countryside against the backdrop of mountain peaks. The Milanese painter Achille Dovera is considered a leading exponent of 19th-century naturalist and genre painting. A landscape painter, Dovera formally maintains a connection with phenomenal reality, which he reproduces with precision, even though color and light play a fundamental role; his rapid, moving brushstrokes lend freshness and immediacy to the scene without disrupting the forms. This large painting is presented in a beautiful, contemporary gilded wooden frame.

Oil on canvas. Lacroix's signature is at the bottom left. On the beach, the fisherman, having pulled his boat ashore and rolled up the sails, which his companion carries on her shoulders, is offering his fresh catch to a woman equipped with a unique water transport and accompanied by a child. The work is naturalistic and realistic, offering a glimpse of rural life rich in detail and particulars, both in the figures and in the landscape and surrounding elements on the beach. It is presented in a period frame.

Oil on canvas. 19th-century Northern European school. In the scene, set on a barren, snow-covered plain with a frozen river flowing through it, a large horse-drawn sleigh is parked on the bank, carrying several people: a woman with a child in her arms is preparing to climb aboard, watched by the driver, while another female figure, holding her child by the hand, walks away across the ice. It looks like a Nordic public transport stop! The work is presented in a late-19th-century frame, which has several missing or damaged parts.

Oil on metal plaque. Delicate portrait of a child, presented in a contemporary embossed and gilded metal frame.

Porch with Figures

Oil on cardboard. Signed upper right. Gregorio Mariani is best known for his engravings of Roman antiquities, but he also established himself as a painter of genre scenes, often depicting period figures, and as a portraitist. In this work, which displays an impressionist influence in its nuanced color and interplay of light, he depicts a scene of 18th-century city life: numerous figures, whose flowing women's dresses are visible, wander beneath a high portico, between whose arches opens a glimpse of the sea, crisscrossed by ships. The work is presented in a contemporary wooden frame.

Country Scene with Figures

Oil on canvas. Signed lower left. The scene depicts a group of peasants, both men and women, gathering baskets of flowers, making music and dancing to the sound of bagpipes and tambourines, with some taking the opportunity to flirt. It is therefore a popular country festival, a favorite subject of Barucci, a Roman painter who primarily depicted daily life in the countryside. His almost all-encompassing love for nature—the most authentic, barren, and realistic aspects of the Roman countryside and suburbs—led him to become one of the leading exponents of the rustic style. The brightness and vividness of the colors enhance the festive feel of the scene, underscoring the carefree, serene atmosphere of this moment of folk life. The work is presented in a period frame.

Reading the Letter

Antique tapestry on canvas made. The scene, set in the 18th century, depicts a wealthy lady seated at her dressing table, reading a letter, while her maid offers her jewelry. A few cherubs hover above, lending an allegorical meaning to the scene. The canvas requires cleaning. It is presented in a late 19th-century frame.

Oil on canvas. This is a copy of the painting of the same name by Giulio Cesare Ferrari (1818-1899), created in 1863 and purchased a few years later by the Pinacoteca dell'Accademia in Bologna. The painting depicts a scene from Victor Hugo's novel "Notre-Dame de Paris": Esmeralda, a young gypsy who enchants with her beauty and dancing, is persecuted by the archdeacon Frollo because of his obsession and locked in the tower of the Parisian cathedral, where she is helped, however, by the hunchbacked bell-ringer Quasimodo. In the scene, the young woman is huddled in the narrow, dark cell accompanied by her inseparable goat. The work belongs to the historical-literary painting movement that developed in the 19th century alongside Romanticism and Realism, and is characterized by the depiction of scenes from history and literature, often with celebratory and commemorative intent. The copy proposed here, of good workmanship and datable shortly after the original, is presented in a mid-20th century style frame, contemporary with the restoration and relining of the work.

Oil on canvas. Central European school of the first half of the 19th century. The painting refers to a graphic by Johann Gottfried Haid (1704 -1767), a German engraver known for his mezzotint copies of works by great masters. The original work is probably attributable to Antonio Mercurio Amorosi (1660 -1738), known for his portraits of popular characters in the "childish" style. Our painting presents several small differences from the reference graphic. Still on the first canvas, it is presented in a mid-1900s frame.

Scene with Guards in the City, 1875

Oil on canvas. Signed and dated lower left. The English painter George Goodwin Kilburne specialized in genre scenes set in the life of the Victorian upper middle class, with hunting scenes, living room scenes, all characterized by elegance, by the meticulousness of details especially of the female figures. In 1875 Kilburne stayed a few months in Rome, and then traveled to other Italian and European cities. The scene depicted here, actually from 1875, seems to be set in Rome: at a guard post in the city, as the urban glimpse that can be seen from the open door clearly explains, some soldiers wearing the uniform of the Vatican guards are resting. The work is presented in a late 19th-early 20th century frame.

Oil on canvas. Dutch school, late 19th century. Unidentified signature and date '80 on the lower left. Metal plate on the frame with "Ashelard Holland 1880" written on it. The landscape view, a vast cultivated countryside with gentle slopes, is crossed by a watercourse, navigated by some boats; on the left bank, a small group of houses, with a small church; some wayfarers cross paths on the path. Still on the first canvas, the painting is presented in a regilded frame from the early 1900s.

Oil on canvas. Second half of the 19th century. Intense close-up portrait of a man, probably North African, which belongs to the artistic period defined as orientalist, that is, in that artistic production that was fascinated by the oriental world, following the numerous trips in vogue in the 19th century to the warm and exotic lands of the countries of Western Asia. The painting is presented in a period frame.

Interior with Female Figure

Oil on canvas. Signed lower right. In a soberly furnished room, an elderly woman sits reading, or perhaps meditating, with her book resting on the table under the window, while her dog sleeps curled up on a bench to the right of the woman. The scene is rich in finely depicted details; from the window, with the curtains raised to let in the light that illuminates the scene, we can glimpse figures walking on a road that leads to a fortified palace. The German painter August Friedrich Siegert established himself mainly for his portraits and genre scenes that represent moments of daily life with great attention to detail and a touch of realism. The painting is presented in a contemporary gilded frame from the second half of the 19th century.

Oil on canvas. Flemish school of the 19th century. Looking at the genre painting of the previous centuries, the scene presents the rather dark interior with few surrounding elements of a tavern in which two popular characters sit, represented as caricatures: the empty glass on the table, the purple noses, the glances and the winking grimaces, the immoderate poses reveal the state of alteration of the two men, who are thus enjoying themselves in their misery. The work is presented in a period frame.