Oil on canvas. The scene is set inside a marble palace, with arches and vaults; the numerous figures occupy the space in a play of intertwining bodies and glances that meet. In the center the Virgin Mary lifts the Baby Jesus to show him to the visitors; behind her on the right Joseph watches attentively, while above hovers a little angel bearing the scroll with the Gloria. On the left the group of the three kings from the East, paying homage to the Child, and behind them the curious servants who observe and point. The bright and vivid colors stand out. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a regilded late 19th century frame.

Untitled

Oil on canvas. Signed lower right. Additional signature on the back. Alberto Sughi lets his interest in "existential realism" shine through in his works. Without getting involved in the post-war debate between abstraction and figuration, he chooses to portray various aspects and figures of metropolitan life, imbued with a melancholy that the artist narrates without judging, showing what is the harsh reality, namely the solitude of the individual and an intrinsic malaise of humanity. All this can also be read through his colors, darkened in the aftermath of the Second World War, often shaded or undefined so as to give the idea of almost cinematographic sketches, frames of "alienated" figures, between solitude, indifference and incommunicability. Framed work.

Copy from Nicolas De Largillière

Oil on octagonal metal plate. This is a copy of the portrait of the Infanta Maria Anna Vittoria of Bourbon (1718-1781), painted by Nicolas de Largillière in 1724, currently preserved in the Prado Museum in Madrid. The original better highlights the very young age of the princess, first daughter of Philip V of Spain and Elisabeth Farnese, who was engaged to Louis XV in 1722, at the age of just four, and immediately sent to Paris; the young Infanta was nicknamed "l'infante Reine" (the child queen), but did not marry the French king, who in 1725 decided to send her home because she was too young. The child, who in this copy seems a little older, is depicted at the French court, probably in a room of the Louvre Palace where she stayed, in a sumptuous princely dress, with the royal crown resting on the rich console table to her right. The painting is presented in a contemporary gilded frame.

Oil on canvas. Large in size and octagonal in shape, the canvas features a landscape inscribed in a frame painted with friezes, falling into the category of eighteenth-century painting conceived for furnishing purposes. The scene is set by a river, on whose bank rise architectural ruins of classical structures, which tower majestically over the figurines of popular characters animating the scene. The painting, already restored and relined, features several small holes, paint losses and widespread stains.

Oil on canvas. Large format and octagonal shape, the canvas presents a landscape inscribed in a frame painted with friezes, falling into the category of eighteenth-century painting conceived for furnishing purposes. The landscape sees on the left some bare rocks from which a small waterfall flows, while on the right the ruins of an architectural structure, in front of which two women in traditional popular clothes are conversing. The canvas, already restored and relined in the past, presents widespread small holes, paint losses and stains. The canvas falls into the category of eighteenth-century paintings for furnishing purposes.

Oil on canvas. Large in size and octagonal in shape, the canvas presents a landscape inscribed in a frame painted with friezes, falling into the category of eighteenth-century painting conceived for furnishing purposes. The landscape shows a village near the coast, with fishing boats on the seashore; on the left, the ruins of a colonnade dominate in the foreground, under which two figures converse. The canvas, already restored and relined in the past, presents widespread loss of paint, small holes and stains.

Oil on canvas. French school of the second half of the 18th century. Probably the work of a follower of Claude Joseph Vernet (1714 -1789), a French painter specialized in marine scenes and who painted several times glimpses of storms and shipwrecks. The scene is set on a rocky coast, near a village built on the cliff above; a strong storm is underway, which unleashes a lightning bolt, shooting from the top right, above some frightened figures of wayfarers, and directed towards the sailing ship that is sailing at the mercy of the strong waves. The sky is full of black clouds, even if in the distance a patch of blue seems to be already beginning to open up. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a period frame.

Oil on canvas. Inside an inn, which almost seems to be made in a cave, opening onto a rather barren countryside, some men eat, drink and relax at the table next to the fire, while a woman sitting on the floor watches them amused while eating. The figures are grotesque, almost caricatural, the colors earthy, to underline the peasant extraction of the scene. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in an ancient frame.

Oil on canvas. Inside an inn, some customers are playing cards: the man sitting on the left is cheating, hiding a card in the collar of his shabby jacket, under the amused gaze of the innkeeper who arrives. The figures are grotesque, almost caricatural; the colors are predominantly earthy, to emphasize the popular setting. Restored and relined (on the back is a restorer's label dated 1952), the painting is presented in an antique frame.

Adoration of the Shepherds, ca. 1620

Oil on canvas. Venetian school of the 17th century. Looking at the models spread by Jacopo Bassano, the painting presents a scene full of figures and surrounding elements typical of pastoral life, elegant but with a rustic simplicity. The shepherds create with Mary and Joseph a circle of figures adoring the Baby Jesus, a circle in which the animals, the ox and the sheep also participate, while the little angels complete the scene by circling above. The work can be traced back to the production of Baldassarre D'Anna, a painter born in Venice who trained with Leonardo Corona, of whom he reproduced the chromatic liveliness and the chiaroscuro instance, and then worked in Venice, in Dalmatia, in Istria and in the whole Friuli area. It is placed in the artist's best phase, between 1610 and 1620, in particular we find the same characteristics and many characters of the series of eight canvases made around 1620 for the Santuario delle Grazie in Cordovado in the province of Pordenone: similar are the vivid colors spread with clear backgrounds and sharp draperies, the energetic contours, the severe and marked physiognomies that are found both in the shepherds and in the kneeling Madonna. We also find in the work the realistic notes "alla Bassano", such as the basket of eggs from which a napkin emerges, the architectures devoid of any monumentality. Due to its small size, this canvas can be traced back to a private commission, intended for personal devotion or for collecting. The painting, restored and relined, is presented in a gilded frame in style. The painting is accompanied by an expertise.

Nude

Mixed media on paper. Signature and title of the work at the bottom. Caccioni, an artist who was born, trained and still lives in Bologna, is one of the protagonists of a generation that has now reached a definitive linguistic maturity and occupies a prominent space within the contemporary artistic panorama. His research mainly uses unusual materials such as acetates, PVC and, more recently, stage backdrops from 19th-century theatrical works, on which he intervenes by painting shapes drawn from a personal memory and from suggestions coming from different cultures and historical periods. A recurring element in Luca Caccioni's work is writing, a self-signifying sign that designs the work and is capable of recounting thoughts; working by superimposition, the images are constructed by adding or subtracting color on the various supports. Work in frame.

The Conversation 1992

Mixed media on paper. Title at the bottom. On the back, the artist's stamp with signature, date, and title. Caccioni, an artist who was born, trained and still lives in Bologna, is one of the protagonists of a generation that has now reached a definitive linguistic maturity and occupies a prominent place within the contemporary artistic panorama. His research mainly uses unusual materials such as acetates, PVC and, more recently, stage backdrops from 19th-century theatrical works, on which he intervenes by painting shapes drawn from a personal memory and from suggestions coming from different cultures and historical periods. A recurring element in Luca Caccioni's work is writing, a self-signifying sign that designs the work and is capable of recounting thoughts; working by superimposition, the images are constructed by adding or subtracting color on the various supports. Work in frame.

Segnali 1991

Mixed media on paper. Title on the bottom left. Artist's stamp on the back with title, date and signature. Caccioni, an artist who was born, trained and still lives in Bologna, is one of the protagonists of a generation that has now reached a definitive linguistic maturity and occupies a prominent place within the contemporary artistic panorama. His research mainly uses unusual materials such as acetates, PVC and, more recently, stage backdrops from 19th-century theatrical works, on which he intervenes by painting shapes drawn from a personal memory and from suggestions coming from different cultures and historical periods. A recurring element in Luca Caccioni's work is writing, a self-signifying sign that designs the work and is capable of recounting thoughts; working by superimposition, the images are constructed by adding or subtracting color on the various supports. Work in frame.

Studio, 1993

Mixed media on paper. On the back, the artist's signature, the title, the date and a dedication to a friend. Caccioni, an artist who was born, trained and still lives in Bologna, is one of the protagonists of a generation that has now reached a definitive linguistic maturity and occupies a prominent space within the contemporary artistic panorama. His research mainly uses unusual materials such as acetates, PVC and, more recently, stage backdrops of nineteenth-century theatrical works, on which he intervenes by painting shapes drawn from a personal memory and from suggestions coming from different cultures and historical periods. A recurring element in Luca Caccioni's work is writing, a self-signifying sign that designs the work and is capable of recounting thoughts; working by superimposition, the images are constructed by adding or subtracting color on the various supports. Work in frame.

The Birth of Venus, 1935

Oil on canvas. Signed and dated lower left on the left lateral canvas. The large composition is made up of three separate canvases, the central one developed vertically (dimensions 220 x 128 cm) and rounded on the upper margin, the two lateral ones developed horizontally and shaped at the corners (dimensions 150 x 328 cm). The central canvas is dominated by the figure of Venus, who emerges naked from the sea foam, with one arm raised to cover her eyes to protect herself from the light of dawn; on the two lateral canvases, a group of tritons, sirens, sea nymphs, sea monsters, led by the god Poseidon, recognizable on the left by the trident he holds, witness the event with amazement and joyful exultation. The figures stand out against the background of sea and sky, fused in a luminous continuum of shades of blue, into which the pink light of dawn insinuates itself, illuminating the scene. Trained at the school of Cesare Tallone, Brignoli learned from him the naturalism deriving from the Venetian tradition, the observation of nature, the decisive brush stroke, the strong contrasts of light. Moreover, after several trips to Africa, begun in 1922, Brignoli approached orientalist painting, but he shunned forms of exotic rhetoric, to instead relive the new subject with a careful research of colors and the effects of light on the landscape. This work, belonging to the artist's already "African" period, is influenced by this imprint, in the bright and clear chromatic choices. Due to its size and the composition of the three canvases, it has a great scenographic impact: coming from a large villa in Brescia, where it was displayed on the imposing staircase, it was probably conceived and created specifically as a custom-made decorative element. The canvases are presented in contemporary gilded frames, missing some parts.

Studio Still life 1992

Mixed media on paper. Title at the bottom. On the back the artist's stamp with signature, title and date. Caccioni, an artist who was born, trained and still lives in Bologna, is one of the protagonists of a generation that has now reached a definitive linguistic maturity and occupies a prominent place within the contemporary artistic panorama. His research mainly uses unusual materials such as acetates, PVC and, more recently, stage backdrops of nineteenth-century theatrical works, on which he intervenes by painting shapes drawn from a personal memory and from suggestions coming from different cultures and historical periods. A recurring element in Luca Caccioni's work is writing, a self-signifying sign that designs the work and is capable of recounting thoughts; working by superimposition, the images are constructed by adding or subtracting color on the various supports. Framed work

Oil on canvas. In the large classical landscape of Nordic style, with thick vegetation and a torrential river, three figures are depicted on the path on the left that evoke the biblical characters of the Flight into Egypt: a man leads a donkey, on which sits a woman, wrapped in a blue cloak, holding her little son in her arms. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in an early 1900s 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.

Fantastic Vision with Figures

Oil on canvas. The signature of the painter Franco Rognoni appears at the bottom right, but the work has not been recognized as authentic by the artist's archive. It also well reflects Rognoni's pictorial style, characterized by figures, both men and houses drawn in black with a few precise strokes, and then filled with color that fades into the background. In the canvas, an elegant male figure appears, leaning impassively and indifferently on the flowered railing of a terrace overlooking a city; below him, at the bottom left, another face emerges (the same man?) wearing a military helmet and placed on a darker, less sunny city background: whether it is the man at war who recalls the time of peace or vice versa, the reference to the alternation in life of peace and war, of serenity and drama is evident. The work is presented in a frame.

Oil on canvas. The protagonists of the scene are a girl and a boy dressed in traditional Tyrolean clothes, a region to which the setting also refers, with its characteristic mountain chalets with flower-filled balconies; the girl, sitting knitting, joyfully receives the embrace of the boy, who takes her by surprise from behind. The pictorial style and subject matter refer to the production of some Tyrolean artists who tried their hand at popular and traditional genre scenes, including for example Hugo Kauffmann, specialized in popular interior scenes in costume. The painting, on the first canvas, shows traces of patches. It is presented in a gilded frame in style.