PAINTINGS ONLINE | ANCIENT AND CONTEMPORARY ART GALLERY - Page 4

Oil on canvas. Northern Italian school of the 17th century. Veronica, a character who appears during the Passion of Christ, was the pious woman who, following Jesus on his climb to Calvary with the cross on her shoulders, cleaned his face with a cloth: according to tradition, Jesus' face remained imprinted on the cloth. Therefore the saint is iconographically depicted while presenting this cloth, in memory of the miracle received following her charitable gesture, as in this painting, where on the left in the background appear the three Crosses of Golgotha, towards which Veronica turns, to remember that she was a witness to the death of Jesus. Already restored and relined, probably in the late 19th - early 20th century, the canvas presents further small losses of color and stains. It is presented in an antique regilded frame.

Pastoral Scene with Saint and Lamb

Oil on canvas. Signed lower right. In the large painting, a young woman with a halo is encircling the neck of a lamb with a wreath of flowers; the two figures are placed in a meadow full of flowering bushes, part of a verdant plain that extends to the mountain peaks in the distance. The girl, completely dressed in red, wears a halo on her head: this symbol and the presence of the lamb refer to Saint Agnes, traditionally depicted with this animal symbol of purity; the red of her dress may indicate the martyrdom of the young girl. It is the landscape setting that makes the depiction of the saint particular and unusual, who becomes the central element of the large landscape. Giovanni Buffa, a painter, sculptor and decorator active in Milan, became famous above all for his historiated stained glass windows, created alone or in collaboration with the famous company Beltrami & C. – Artistic stained glass, an almost absolute protagonist of the very brief season of national Liberty in this sector, specialized in the execution of stained glass windows of both a sacred and profane nature. Buffa contributed in particular with the creation of preparatory cartoons for many stained glass windows of the Milan Cathedral and other national churches. His pictorial production includes several portraits of people, especially Milanese, but also some genre scenes in exteriors, in cities or in naturalistic settings.

Oil on canvas. At the center of the scene a king kneels in a contrite attitude before an old man, who bends toward him with an attitude of benevolent welcome; around him the soldiers of the entourage and other dignitaries assist, participating and obsequious. It could be the biblical episode of King David's repentance before the prophet Nathan, who opened his eyes to his sin of concubinage with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah, and then assures him of the Lord's forgiveness. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a period frame, composed of ancient elements, with several missing parts.

Oil on canvas. The scene depicts a battle between an army of Moors and white soldiers, defending a fortification from which they fire cannons, while in the background, on the top of a promontory, a white city emerges. Set near the sea, with several invading vessels heading towards the coast, the scene focuses on the capture of the Moorish king, in the center on his white horse, with a dismayed expression on his face because he is surrounded by opposing soldiers who try to unseat him, while his own soldiers try to defend him. The atmosphere of the scene is dominated by the dust and smoke of the cannons, which cover all the characters in an earthy veil, even where the colors of the clothes would be more vivid. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a period frame.

Landscape with Figures

Oil on canvas applied to board. Signed lower left. On the back there is a cartouche with expert authentication dated 1944 and signed by a Milanese art critic. In the vast plain, green but with few trees, which recalls the Lombard plains, two farmers work near a pond, close to their farmhouse; in the background you can glimpse the mountain peaks of the Alpine chain. The subject is part of the production of strong naturalistic matrix of the painter, born in Modena but artistically raised in Milan and its surroundings, places that were frequent themes of his landscape production. The painting is presented in a period frame.

Oil on canvas. The large painting tells the famous mythological episode of the Judgement of Paris, the event that helped trigger the Trojan War. Paris, a Trojan prince, was called to settle the dispute between the three goddesses Hera, Athena and Aphrodite, over who deserved to be awarded the golden apple to "the most beautiful", thrown by the goddess Discord on the table of the gods. Each of the three goddesses promised Paris a reward in exchange for the apple, and he chose Aphrodite, who had promised him the most beautiful woman in the world, namely Helen, the wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta. In the large scene, Paris is sitting in the center, between the legs of the goddess Aphrodite, to whom he holds out the apple with his raised arm; Aphrodite is taking the apple with one hand, while she turns upwards to indicate to the god Cupid, hovering above her, to carry out his task. On the left, the other two goddesses turn their backs, indignant and frowning, while above the god Mercury decrees Aphrodite's victory, pointing at her with his staff, the caduceus symbol of the agreement reached, and the god Cupid, on Aphrodite's instructions, prepares the fiery arrow with which he will make Helen fall in love with Paris. The scene is completed by a putto who pours water from a vase from above, perhaps a sort of baptism, or consecration of the choice. The imposing and strongly carnal figures fill the scene in a tangle of bodies, which with the variation of the flesh colors - pale those of the divinities, more vivid that of the shepherd prince, (the only mortal in the fact!), but all played out in a single chromatic range -, create a chromatic homogeneity. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a period frame.

Oil on canvas. Dutch school of the 17th century. The young nobleman, very serious, looks out from an oval painted frame, on which he rests his hand to show off his family ring. The painting, already relined and applied to a recent frame, requires further restoration due to paint loss in the painted part. Presented in a period frame.

Oil on canvas. Dutch school of the 17th century. The young nobleman, very serious, looks out from an oval painted frame, on which he rests his hand to show off his family ring. The painting, already relined and applied to a recent frame, requires further restoration due to paint loss in the painted part. Presented in a period frame.

Oil on canvas. Venetian school of the 18th century. The large Nordic landscape, with verdant mountain slopes through which a river flows, is inhabited by several figures in the foreground: a group of people are listening to a young man standing in the center, who is announcing something, pointing, with his arm stretched upwards, to the sun that is tearing apart the dark clouds. It evokes a sermon by Saint John the Baptist, although no iconographic element specifically refers to this character. The painting, restored and relined, is mounted on a stretcher from the early 1900s. It is presented in a contemporary frame.

Oil on canvas. The large painting represents the triumph of the god Bacchus, incarnation of pleasure, who, now drunk, sits on the ground, holding between his legs a jar from which wine flows, while around him various Maenads dance, play, and a bejeweled woman, perhaps Ariadne of royal lineage, throws flower petals on his head; above, an angel plays a trumpet as a sign of celebration, while at the bottom left, two small satyrs are sleeping, crouched on the ground. The intertwining of the bodies and the rather homogeneous chromatic range, which goes from the pale pink flesh tones of the nymphs to the earthy ruby color of Bacchus, fading into the reddish background, give the scene uniformity but ample movement. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a period frame.

Oil on canvas. The wide view frames a snowy mountain landscape, with a wide valley under sharp peaks, in which a small lake opens up; small figures of wayfarers walk along the path that starts from the village on the left. The whiteness of the snow creates a muffled and luminous atmosphere, in contrast with the dark cloudy sky. The painting is presented in a golden frame from the early 1900s.

Oil on canvas. The large scene is set outside a rocky fortress and features a garrison of soldiers preparing for battle: in the foreground on the left, near a tree, the group of commanders on horseback observe the work and give orders, while the troops arm the cannons on the ramparts, prepare rudimentary lances and sharpen their sidearms. The colors are clear and dull, with shades of gray that pass from the clear sky with clouds to the rocky fortress, to get lost in the ground, turning to a sandy beige; only a few of the officers' uniforms stand out, breaking the chromatic uniformity. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a golden frame from the early 1900s.

Oil on canvas. The noblewoman, an elegant and proud lady with silver hair, is portrayed in a pink evening dress, trimmed with lace and frills, and completed by a blue velvet cloak, lined with a silver arabesque fabric. The lady does not flaunt any jewelry, but only has a bunch of delicate little flowers on her hair. Restored and relined, it has a small loss of color in the background at the top. It is presented in a period frame.

View of Corfu with a Small Church and a Monk

Watercolor on paper. Signed lower left. Angelos Giallinas, born in Corfu, was known for his numerous views of his native island, although his landscape production includes glimpses of Greece, other Greek islands, Italian and oriental cities. His watercolor glimpses are pervaded by a suspended, veiled atmosphere. The painting has slight scratches. Framed.