Swatch Christmas Greetings Special Edition Advent Calendar - Switzerland, 1997

Oil on canvas. The man portrayed is identified as Giovan Battista Stampa di Gravedona, a jurist, as cited by the writing at the top left, which declares his position, and by the heading of the letter he is holding. The Stampa family, originally from Gravedona on Lake Como, belonged to the local notable class and, by virtue of this, they also played a certain public role. In the painting the man is depicted sitting at his desk, among the papers of his work, stern in the face as his position required. Restored (obvious signs of restoration due to old breaks in the canvas, marked crack) and relined, the painting is presented in an adapted antique frame.

Oil on canvas. The woman depicted in the scene can be traced back to Porzia, the Roman noblewoman and wife of Brutus, who lived in the 1st century BC: according to legend, she committed suicide by swallowing a burning coal, and it is in this fatal moment that she is depicted here. The painting is very close to the pictorial methods of the painting of the same name from the Cignani school, attributed to his pupil Marcantonio Franceschini and preserved at Palazzo Tozzoni in Imola. The figure of Porzia, placed in an interior with classical elements, occupies the entire field of the scene, and is depicted sitting in front of the burning brazier, in the act of putting the coal in her mouth; her expression reveals the suffering of the gesture she is making, but also her determination, her gaze looking into the distance already places her far from the life she is leaving. The painting has been restored and relined. It is presented in an antique 18th century frame.

Antique Painted Corner Cabinets

Pair of painted corner cabinets built with a front containing two doors, one double and surmounted by a smaller one. Painting in ochre and light blue tones, original locks.

Landscape with Shepherds and Herds

Oil on canvas. Signed lower right. In a splendid classical landscape, with green hills overlooking a watercourse, a stream in the foreground that then becomes a wide river in the distance, are inserted the figures of a shepherd and a shepherdess who lead their flock to water. The pastoral scenes of this type characterized the production of the Dutch artist Michiel Carree, who was court painter to the King of Prussia in the first decades of the 18th century. The painting, in the first canvas, is presented in a contemporary golden frame, in carved and gilded wood.

Oil on canvas. Roman school of the second half of the 17th century. The scene tells an episode of the love story between the queen of Egypt and the Roman triumvir Anthony: Cleopatra, to demonstrate her wealth and seduce the handsome general, organizes a sumptuous banquet, during which she chooses a pearl of inestimable value and dissolves it in vinegar, then offering the drink, considered a powerful aphrodisiac, to Anthony. In the painting the queen is preparing to put the pearl in the cup: the ribbon to which the pearl is tied is particular, reminiscent of the one in the painting of the same name by Carlo Maratta (1625 -1713). Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a wooden frame from the late 19th century.

Oil on canvas. The sacred representation, rich in figures, is placed outside a ruined architectural structure that houses the donkey and the ox, in a countryside landscape with mountain slopes in the distance. The Holy Family, at the center of the scene, receives the visit of the three Magi from the East, recognizable by their sumptuous clothes: the first kneeling before the Child, with the crown resting on the ground as a sign of humble homage; the second behind him on the right, is taking the urn with the gift he brings from the hands of the servant; the third, just dismounted from his horse, even further back, waits sitting on the edge of the well. All around, multiple figures of the kings' entourage are depicted, together with groups of shepherds who climb up the ruins to watch the scene. Above, the two angels with the writing Gloria hover, while above the hut the comet shines. The chorality of the scene immediately stands out, where no one stands out or excels, but all the characters have their role that revolves around the figure of Baby Jesus. The canvas was restored (small patch on the back) and remounted on a stretcher in the mid-1900s, as well as placed in a frame from the same period.

Oil on canvas. The sacred representation follows the traditional representative canons of this subject: the long transversely arranged table is presided over in the center by Christ, who is announcing to the apostles the imminent betrayal by one of them; while all the other apostles are turned toward the Master in the gesture of asking if the accusation concerns them ("Sono forse io?"), Judas, in the foreground on the left, turns his back to Jesus with a gesture of desperation, while he clutches in his hand the bag of thirty pieces of silver, the price of the betrayal. At the bottom center, in front of the table, a small dog looks at the traitor: the animal symbol of fidelity perhaps wants to be the last attempt to stop Judas, before definitively committing the betrayal. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a period frame. L

Oil on canvas. This is a copy of a painting by Anthony Van Dick (1599 -1641), who created this subject in three versions during his stay in Italy – between 1621 and 1625, which were later widely copied. The composition of the two figures is faithful to the original, with the contrast of Mary's gaze, which turns sorrowfully towards the sky, thinking of the fate of her Son, against the determined and confident gaze of the Child, who turns away from the composition. The imposing column in the background is missing from the original, here monochrome. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a period frame.

Oil on polystyrene. On the back of one there is a label from the 1974 Milan exhibition, with the data of the work and the title "Spazio rosso". Roberto Ciaccio has had a deeply conceptual artistic path that has led him to results of pure abstraction. He has experimented with different materials and techniques, but above all his research has been in interdisciplinary terms, often dealing with philosophy, music, poetry, architecture). The two works are presented in a plexiglass case.

The Announcement

Oil on panel. The reference name is shown at the top left, with the surname changed to Mayer. This is a copy of the painting of the same name by Claus Meyer, which was auctioned in Germany in 2005. The German artist loved to reproduce genre scenes in Flemish style. In the work presented, set in a room of a bourgeois house, a man from behind is reading a letter to a group of other men, all notables or personalities of the place. The work is presented in a period frame.

Auronzo di Cadore

Oil on canvas, 1954. Signed and dated lower right. Further signature and title on the back. In a contemporary gilded frame.

Oil on canvas. Christ, seated in prison, wearing a red cloak and a cane in his hands, also receives the crown of thorns, to complete the symbols of mockery of his declared royalty, the reason for his death sentence. The scene presents lively and well-defined figures; the central Christ, suffering and resigned in the expression of his face, is illuminated by the light that enters from the opening in the rock face, while the two soldiers surround him. The painting on the first canvas is inscribed in three twisted wooden elements, carved with leafy and gilded motifs.