The Monk's Lunch Oil on Canvas Genoese School Italy XVIII C - The Monks Lunch

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-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. The scene takes place near a military camp: outside a tent on the left an army leader, probably Greek, is receiving offerings from a group of men, poor and ragged, who prostrate themselves before the new master; the first is holding out some loaves of bread, another is taking something out of a sack, the third is showing the wounds on his body to ask for mercy; behind them other figures of beggars are approaching, forming a scattered line on the path fading into the distance on the right. In the background on the left, life in the military camp is bustling. The painting has been restored and relined.

Oil painting on canvas. Northern Italian school of the 17th century. The large painting presents as its subject a well-known Old Testament theme, the wealth of King Solomon, told in the First Book of Kings: "King Solomon surpassed, therefore, in wealth and wisdom, all the kings of the earth. In every part of the earth to approach Solomon to listen to the wisdom that God had placed in his heart. Everyone brought him, every year, offerings of silver and gold objects, clothes, weapons, spices, horses and mules". In the painting the king, richly dressed with the symbols of royalty (the crown, the scepter, the ermine cloak), listens standing to the postulants who come to him to receive the advice dictated by his proverbial wisdom, and in exchange they bring him offerings, which are commensurate with their social role: some farmers bring gifts of bags of grain, the fruits of their work in the fields, another raises a cup high, to attract the king's attention. The colors and pictorial style of the painting refer to the production of northern Italy, especially Venetian. The painting has been restored and relined.

Disciple of Peter Paul Rubens

Oil on canvas. The painting derives from the work by Rubens (1577 -1640) conserved in the Prado Museum in Madrid, reproduced as a counterpart in engraving by Paulus Pontius (1603 -1658), as also appears in this version. Occupying the vertical centre of the scene is the figure of Mary, whose face was inspired by that of Isabel Brandt, the Flemish painter's first wife, who died in1626 at the age of just 35. The Madonna holds the Child Jesus in her arms, who looks tenderly but seriously into her eyes, while a small hand rests on his mother's uncovered breast, from which he has just received nourishment; behind, standing, St. Anne wraps the shoulders of her daughter and grandson in a tender and protective embrace, smiling complacently: On the left side, somewhat separated and in the dark, Joseph watches pensively and worriedly: the only human figure who does not fit into the light emanating from the Child's face, radiating on Mary's and, by reflection, also on St. Anne's. Compared to the master's work, the composition of the figures is respected, but several details vary, particularly in the clothing of St. Anne, Mary, and the drapery that encircles the Child's hips, supporting the hypothesis that it is the work of a follower of the Flemish master. The painting, restored and re-tinted, is in good condition, with only a scratch in the colour in the top centre.

Oil painting on canvas. Central Italian school of the 17th century. The unusual and particular representation presents on the left the three figures of the Holy Family, with Jesus already a child, sitting at the table and blessing the simple meal they are about to consume (consisting of fruit and bread); the scene, a subject depicted rather rarely and generally with a more sacred character due to the presence of angels serving food to the family, here instead has the flavor of very normal and simple domestic intimacy. Instead, everything around the Holy Family stands out majestically, the glimpse of a Renaissance city, with tall buildings with loggias and colonnades, presented according to a beautiful perspective effect which leads, at the bottom on the right, to the entrance walls of a richly turreted city, probably Jerusalem. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a late 19th century frame.

Attributed to Domenico Lupini

Oil on canvas. The painting depicts an episode from Roman mythology relating to the young Roman heroine Clelia, who was given as a hostage, along with other maidens, to the Etruscan king Porsenna during peace negotiations with the city; Clelia managed to escape, however, by swimming across the Tiber. Porsenna demanded her return to the Romans, who agreed, but admiring her heroism, he decided to free her by allowing her to take other prisoners with her, whom Clelia chose from among the younger ones. The moment depicted in the painting is that of the crossing of the river, the personification of which is in the foreground on the right, in the figure of the canine old man, accompanied by a young woman with a cornucopia. The scene is very dynamic, with Clelia and the other maidens creating a dense and animated group around the horse ridden by the protagonist, as some versions of the story recall; behind them are the tents of the Etruscan king's camp with some soldiers. On the other side of the river is another group of women who have already made the crossing, while in the background is the classical-looking Capitoline city. The work, as a small cartouche attests, is attributed to Domenico Lupini, an artist about whom not much is known but whose sphere of activity can be assumed to have been between Bergamo and Venice. The only two signed works are a 'Converted Magdalene' and an 'Annunciation', but other works have been attributed to him by scholar Federica Nurchis and are located in the monastery of Santa Chiara in Bergamo. The painting presents a warm and refined chromatism that, together with the elegance of the characters and the compositional mode, suggest Lucini's Venetian sojourn, which seems to recall the atmospheres of Tintoretto, Veronese and Palma il Giovane. The painting shows signs of restoration and retouching.

Oil painting on canvas. Emilian school of the 17th-18th century. This is an ancient copy of the famous panel painting by Correggio, entitled The Madonna of San Girolamo or Il Giorno, dating back to around 1528 and preserved today in the National Gallery of Parma. The subject of the representation is Saint Jerome's presentation to Jesus of the translation of the Bible from Hebrew into popular Latin, a work carried out by the saint at the request of Pope Damasus and which he accomplished by locking himself up in solitude in the Bethlehem cave. In the painting, the centrality of the scene is occupied by Mary sitting with the Baby Jesus in her arms. Various figures are composed around them in a semicircle. On the left is the powerful figure of old Jerome standing, looking at the Child, while clutching the translation scroll in his hand, with the lion, his hermit companion, crouched at his feet. On the same side, an angel holds the Bible while smilingly addressing the Madonna and Child. On the other side, Magdalene lies semi-reclining, affectionately embracing the baby's foot, who in turn caresses her hair, in an intimate gesture that underlines the intense bond between the two figures. Behind Magdalene, a little angel wrinkles his nose sniffing the penitent saint's jar of ointments. The scene is placed under a red curtain, open onto a large landscape. Correggio's painting was widely successful, so much so that numerous copies and ancient replicas exist, including this one presented here. The work, restored and relined, is presented in an ancient contemporary frame.

Oil painting on canvas. Neapolitan school of the 17th century. A composition of variegated flowers, in light shades, is placed in a vase, black like the background, on a marble base, of which only the base can be distinguished, because it is covered with a fabric that is also black, of which only the golden trimmings stand out willing to create a game of curves; Two birds rest on both sides of the top, a large pigeon on the left holding a twig stolen from the composition in its beak, and a red-headed woodpecker on the right. Along the left margin a landscape opens up, with a tall curved tree under a dark sky, and a city in the background. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a late 19th century frame.

Oil on copper. Flemish school of the seventeenth century. The painting, attributed by oral tradition to Frans Francken the younger (1581 -1642), depicts a miraculous healing performed by Jesus: while he goes with his disciples, he meets on his way a sick man, probably with leprosy, a disease that involved isolation and banishment from the city; the man invokes Christ who performs the miracle and heals him. The painting places the event on the left edge of the scene, in the foreground, where the figures dressed according to the typical style of the times of Christ stand out for their bright colours; moreover, the landscape that fills the rest of the scene is decidedly Nordic, with a river full of water flowing in a countryside full of vegetation, and a city in the background under mountain peaks. The pictorial description of the vegetation is meticulous and precise, rich and well defined in the details: the broken trunk in the foreground, the fronds of the large tree behind the characters, the birds flying high in the sky, the small flowers on the shore, the nuances of the The water in which plants and clouds are reflected are painted with a pictorial refinement typical of Flemish painting, similar in style to that of the great Antwerp artist. The painting is presented in a repurposed antique frame.

Oil on canvas. Northern Italy school. The depiction of the Nativity is seen here as a contemplative moment of the Holy Child, by Mary and Joseph, accompanied by little angels. The pictorial ways resume those of widely replicated models, starting from Correggio, from Barocci, to arrive at the numerous versions of Gherardo delle notte, or the Flemish painter Gerard Von Honthorst, representative of tenebrism, a pictorial current that played on strong contrasts of darkness and light, light and dark. In this work too, the light radiated by the Baby Jesus illuminates the figures around him and makes them emerge from the surrounding darkness. The restored and relined work is presented in a 19th century frame.

Copy from Guido Reni

Oil painting on canvas. The work is one of the numerous replicas, with some variations, of the famous subject created by the famous Bolognese painter Guido Reni (1574 -1642) and his workshop. The composition, which sees the Virgin in prayer bent to adore the sleeping Child, is considered an invention of the brilliant vein of Reni, which, following the great success among collectors of the time, was then taken up by other authors of the seventeenth century, among which the name of Giovan Battista Salvi known as "Il Sassoferrato" stands out. The two most famous variants of this fascinating scene see the Virgin with her hands joined in prayer, adopted by Salvi, or the one with her hands on her chest, like this one, typically by Reni. Other variations concern the position of the head of the sleeping Christ Child, turned upwards as in this version, rather than reclining to one side; finally the background fabrics change. However, even in this replica the intensity of the scene stands out: it is transversely occupied by the body abandoned in repose of the child, where the divine nature is subject to the human one in sleep; above it, inclined in a protective and at the same time contemplative gesture, the body of Mary, which expresses all the maternal tenderness but also, in the gesture of the hands, the adoration of the incarnate mystery represented by the little son. The lively colors of the fabrics - the pillow on which Jesus is laid, the curtain behind it, the Mother's clothes - bring out the brightness of the flesh tones. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a late 19th century frame.