19th CENTURY PAINTINGS

Landscape with Figures and Bread Oven

Oil painting on canvas. Signed lower left. The landscape view shows in the foreground a mountain path that leads to a bread oven, where a woman prepares the bundles of wood for the fire, while a traveler approaches on the back of a donkey; in the valley the viaduct over the river that leads to the village, surmounted by other barren peaks. Micheroux, belonging to the Posillipo school, or the nineteenth-century school of Neapolitan artists dedicated to landscape painting, created several glimpses of the Campania hinterland, but little is left of his production and little is known about his life. The painting has some small drops of color. It is presented in a late 19th century frame.

Oil on canvas. The location is indicated in pencil on the back. The painting depicts a glimpse of the small village in the Brembana Valley, crossed by the Enna torrent at the point of confluence with the Brembo river; the peaks of the Orobie Alps rise above the town. The painting is presented in a contemporary gilded frame.

Oil on canvas. Dutch school, late 19th century. Unidentified signature and date '80 on the lower left. Metal plate on the frame with "Ashelard Holland 1880" written on it. The landscape view, a vast cultivated countryside with gentle slopes, is crossed by a watercourse, navigated by some boats; on the left bank, a small group of houses, with a small church; some wayfarers cross paths on the path. Still on the first canvas, the painting is presented in a regilded frame from the early 1900s.

Oil on canvas. Second half of the 19th century. Intense close-up portrait of a man, probably North African, which belongs to the artistic period defined as orientalist, that is, in that artistic production that was fascinated by the oriental world, following the numerous trips in vogue in the 19th century to the warm and exotic lands of the countries of Western Asia. The painting is presented in a period frame.

Interior with Female Figure

Oil on canvas. Signed lower right. In a soberly furnished room, an elderly woman sits reading, or perhaps meditating, with her book resting on the table under the window, while her dog sleeps curled up on a bench to the right of the woman. The scene is rich in finely depicted details; from the window, with the curtains raised to let in the light that illuminates the scene, we can glimpse figures walking on a road that leads to a fortified palace. The German painter August Friedrich Siegert established himself mainly for his portraits and genre scenes that represent moments of daily life with great attention to detail and a touch of realism. The painting is presented in a contemporary gilded frame from the second half of the 19th century.

Oil on canvas. French school of the second half of the 19th century. Suggestive and peaceful countryside landscape, with a path that winds through meadows and leafy trees. In the first canvas, the painting is presented in a late 19th century golden frame.

Confidences

Watercolor on paper. Artist's monogram top left. Tranquillo Cremona, after an initial period close to romantic painting, from 1870 onwards distanced himself from the influences of Francesco Hayez and adopted a painting style with indefinite contours, developing the concept of "macchia scapigliata" together with his friend Daniele Ranzoni: after an initial intervention with brushes, he refined the works with his fingers to blend, using all his fingers to make his paintings as vaporous as possible. This technique (which cost him his life due to lead poisoning caused by repeated contact with the skin of the colors) was compared by Camillo Boito to the views of the magic lantern, when the right focus of the lens had not yet been found: the image is already distinguishable, but is immersed in an almost gaseous vapor. The subjects of Tranquillo Cremona's works were always human figures, present in the historical-literary scenes of the romantic period, as in the portraits and genre scenes of the scapigliata phase; his subjects were taken from everyday life, in its simplicity and spontaneous immediacy, like these three female figures depicted in a moment of confidential and intimate conversation between friends. The work is presented in a late 19th century frame.

Oil on canvas. Flemish school of the 19th century. The hilly landscape features on the left in the foreground a tall tree towering over the fields below, with a hunter intent on aiming at a prey hidden among its branches; not far away are some farmhouses, with the typical Nordic sloping roof, in front of which other figures can be glimpsed; in the background in the distance the blurred profile of a city emerges. On the frame is applied a plaque attributing to Anthony Van Borssom (1629 -1677), a Flemish landscape painter, to whose production the painting refers in some ways. The pictorial panel has been parqueted. The painting is presented in a gilded frame from the mid-1900s.

The Return from the Feast of the Madonna dell'Arco in Naples

Oil on canvas. This is a copy of a famous painting by the painter Louis Léopold Robert (1794 -1835), which was exhibited at the Salon de Paris in 1827 and bought by King Louis Philippe; it is currently preserved in the Louvre Museum. The painting depicts a joyful festive scene, rich in folklore with costumed characters dancing the tarantella and in the background the fantastic panorama of the city of Naples. Robert, a Swiss artist, stayed several times in Italy, where he found inspiration for the creation of many works and established himself as a romantic genre painter and Grand Tour landscape painter, whose subjects were highly appreciated and replicated. The painting of the "Return from the feast of the Madonna dell'Arco in Naples", was part of a project by Robert, who intended to paint four large canvases on the seasons, set in four different parts of Italy: this one represented Spring. The canvas presented here, unsigned, is nevertheless of high pictorial quality. Restored and relined, it is presented in a late 19th - early 20th century frame.

Oil on canvas. Unidentified signature lower right. This is a copy of the work, also a full-length one, by Domenico Morelli, called "Mater Purissima", created around 1880 and subject to numerous replicas and variations in the following decades. The work is presented in an early 20th-century frame.

Oil on canvas. Tasty depiction of popular life with caricature-like figures: three full-length commoners are depicted on the street while they converse intensely with each other, exchanging confidences or... gossip! Unsigned, the painting requires restoration due to a tear at the bottom.

Copy from David Teniers II

Oil on panel. The painting is a revised copy of the famous work by David Teniers the Younger (1610 -1690), executed between 1634 and 1640 and currently preserved at the Prado Museum in Madrid. The title of the lively scene refers to the so-called Twelfth Night, a celebration corresponding to the Epiphany, precisely twelve days after Christmas, which was the last night of celebrations, in which one could drink beyond one's limits, dedicate oneself to love, to partner and gender swapping, a sort of carnival, during which the King of Misrule (literally the king of Misrule) was elected, a ruler in reverse who imposed his laws, subverting rules and behaviors. This work, like many others by Teniers, had such success linked to the numerous commissions from royals and aristocrats during the 18th century, as to induce a large posthumous production of copyists, many of whom even signed with the artist's name. The painting presented here has several paint losses, to be remedied. It is in a late 19th century frame, adapted for size.

Oil on canvas. Northern Italian school of the 19th century. The landscape depicts a wide countryside that opens onto the Alpine mountain range, preceded by the gentler pre-Alpine hill slopes; on the central path, which runs straight and perpendicular to the reliefs, a commoner is passing with his mule. The atmosphere is that of the end of the day, with pink shades illuminating the snow-capped peak. A very similar subject can be found in the production of the circle of Carlo Canella (1800 -1879), the Veronese artist known above all for his city views. The work is presented in a late 19th-century frame.

Oil on canvas. Half-length portrait of an elderly peasant couple, she with her head covered by a red scarf, he with a traditional headdress; the two faces emerge from the dark background with dignified and serene expressions. The painting is presented in a contemporary frame.

Medallions printed on copper plates. The eight medallions are from the series of medals of "Illustrious Italian Men". These eight in particular depict the profiles of eight illustrious men from the world of art and science: Antonio Allegri known as Correggio, Andrea Appiani, Benvenuto Cellini, Andrea Palladio, Scipione Maffei, Galileo Galilei, Francesco Guicciardini and Girolamo Vida. They are mounted on a cardboard panel covered in velvet and framed in a period frame.

Portrait of Lord Wood of Inchyra

Oil on canvas. On the back there is a cartouche with attribution and title of the work. Sir John Watson Gordon established himself as a portraitist, creating portraits of many illustrious English people in his life, and also becoming a court painter. The nobleman portrayed here belongs to the House of Wood of Inchyra, a town in Perthshire in Scotland. The painting is presented in a frame.

The large scene is set by the banks of a river, which flows near a village and is crossed by a small wooden bridge. On the banks, in the foreground, a woman washes clothes, a shepherd waters his cattle and a traveller observes the figures, resting leaning on his stick. Luminous and serene, the painting has a dramatic impact. Restored and retouched, it is presented in a period frame.

Pencil on paper. Bottom right, on both, the writing "Pietro Mulazzi sketched", with the date 1883. By an unknown artist but skilled in the use of pencils, these are the portraits of a bourgeois couple, whose gray faces emerge clearly from the paper background red. They are presented in contemporary gilded frames, with several shortcomings (to be restored).

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.

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.

Glimpse of Corfu with 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.