Antique Bronze Sculpture Young Peasant Giulio Branca XIX Century - Italy, Late XIX Century

Snowy Landscape with Figures 1872

Oil on canvas. Signed, dated 1872 and located in Parma in the lower right corner. It is a large winter landscape with a strong scenic impact, which fits well into the scenographic traditionalism of the painting of Mentore Silvani, a native artist of Traversetolo (Parma), a landscape painter but also known as a set designer. In the scene, sprinkled with the white of a short snowfall that creates that typical rarefied and silent winter atmosphere, between bare and dry trees, a dirt road winds its way through by a traveler; on the right a dilapidated building with a wash house where a woman draws water; in the center a small column on which a sacred image is mounted. Trained in his hometown, Silvani participated in the exhibitions of the Encouragement of Parma starting from 1864, and it is mainly in his city that his works are found today (at the Municipality of Parma, the National Gallery, the Paolo Toschi artistic high school ); however, he also exhibited in Milan (1872) and Florence (1875). Trained as a scenographer at the school of Gerolamo Magnani, Silvani held this position in Parma but also in Venice starting from 1871. His pictorial production, which includes mainly rural landscapes of the Parma countryside, is always characterized by fidelity to reality. The work proposed here is presented in a contemporary frame.

Drunk Baccus

Oil on canvas. Signed lower right. The god is depicted standing on the scene, clad only in a cloth around his loins and by ivy leaves placed on his hips and head, while holding a chalice in one hand; his gaze is vacant and dazed. Behind him, a semi-reclining putto plays with ivy. All around are white clouds, just as the ground is white, with flashes of blue sky and a green bush creating the only contrasts. On the back of the work is the label 'Mario Galli Collezione d'Arte', with cataloguing number 64 and the artist's autograph inscription. The work well represents the painting of this artist, who was born in Modena but trained artistically first in Rome and then in Florence, where he spent most of his life. His rich production initially proposed mainly historical subjects, but then turned to portraits and finally to landscapes. His uniqueness can be recognised in his ability to range from historical subjects, often placed in settings taken from ancient Pompeii, to the Macchiaioli-style naturalism of his second period, in which Muzzioli sought a significant perception of atmosphere and light in subjects inspired by the rural Tuscan environment, often set in antiquity. In this work, a portrait of a mythological character, the artist's luministic intent strongly transpires, the search for the effect of light playing on the naked bodies of the god and the putto, then fading into the background. The Art Gallery label leads back to the Florentine Mario Galli (1877 -1946), a sculptor who was also an important collector of works especially by Macchiaioli. The work shows an important crack and has been retouched. It is presented in a stylish frame.

Clash between Military and Guerrillas in Spain

Oil on canvas. Accompanied by an expertise by Professor Fernando Mazzocca. The painting belongs to a series of works by the Veronese painter Giuseppe Canella set in Spain, following the artist's stay in that country between 1820 and 1823, which led him to stop in various Spanish cities, the last being Madrid where he frequented the court. From his travels around Europe, Canella brought back numerous drawings from which he took inspiration for the works later reworked in his studio in Milan, often then presented at the Exhibitions of the Brera Academy. In this work the reference is to a dramatic period in the history of Spain, marked by the constitutional uprisings against King Ferdinand VII of Bourbon, which provoked French intervention in support of the monarchy against the rebels. In reality, the historical event is almost a pretext for Canella to recall the harshness and charm of the mountainous landscape, which acts as a monumental backdrop to the clash between the army and the rebels, small and almost indistinct figures. The painting, in excellent condition, presents only very slight losses of color, already restored. It is presented in a contemporary frame.