Vintage 1960s Wall Mirror Ceramic Glass Italy

Oil on canvas. Roman school of the 17th century. The bloody episode of the sacrifice of Iphigenia, also told in the Iliad, originates from the wrath of Artemis, goddess of the hunt, who, offended by Agamemnon for his boasting as a hunter, prevents the Greek fleet from sailing towards Troy; the soothsayer Calchas then prophesies that the wrath of the goddess can only be appeased by sacrificing the youngest daughter of King Agamemnon himself, Iphigenia, and so it happens. In the centre of the scene the girl is depicted prostrate at the foot of the sacrificial altar, while she is being prepared by the priests according to the rituals; in the left corner we can glimpse her father Agamemnon (with the crown abandoned at his feet) with her mother Clytemnestra who, in despair, do not dare to look. Above, the goddess Artemis watches the scene, recognizable by the moon on her hair, the bow she holds in her hand and a deer, her symbolic animal, at the foot of the canopy: according to a less violent version of the myth, at the moment of the sacrifice Iphigenia is replaced by Artemis with a doe, as the presence of the animal in this representation might indicate. The work presented here derives from the painting by Pietro Testa, published between 1640 and 1642 (now at the Galleria Spada in Rome) and from his engravings: the entire composition of the figures is taken from it, although modified in the clothes, colors and various details. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in an early 20th-century frame, contemporary with the restoration.

Oil on canvas. Roman school of the 17th century. In classical mythology, the goddess Venus, wife of Vulcan, had him forge weapons for her son Aeneas. In the scene, set in the cave where the forge is located, Vulcan is in fact forging a suit of armor on the anvil, with the help of his assistants, while Venus, accompanied by the faithful Cupid, arrives to check the work. Thetis, the sea nymph mother of Achilles, also commissioned the weapons for her son to the same god Vulcan, to protect him during the Trojan War. Restored and relined, the painting has a loss of color at the top right. It is presented in an early 1900s frame, contemporary to the restoration.

Way Sombra 2008

Mixed media on canvas. Signature, title and date of the work on the back. After an initial period in figurative style, the Milanese painter Mario Arlati soon finds a new dimension, which will become characteristic of all his work. In Ibiza, in fact, where he has often lived since the 1970s, he discovers and makes his own the informal material of the Spanish school which, fused with the wild dimension of the island, gives life to works of great consistency in which the artist literally moves the material: lacerations, scratches, stratifications, colors, but also energy, gesture, emotions, poetry. Arlati';s material is a representation of his intimate soul, made of feelings, emotions and evocations of the landscape. The work is mounted in a plexiglass case.

Oil on canvas. The portrait of a gentleman is accompanied by the inscription at the top left "Paulus Castellanus Sanator". The word Castellanus could be the surname, very common and identifying the inhabitant of a castle, not necessarily the lord but a member of the family. The term Sanator identifies the man as a healer, the family doctor. The painting is presented in an antique frame.

Oil on canvas. The subject depicted tells a biblical episode from the Old Testament: Susanna, the beautiful and chaste wife of Joachim, a rich Jew, is threatened by two elderly judges of the people while she is bathing in her garden. This episode has been widely reproduced in art, as an opportunity to exalt female beauty and condemn sinful voluptuousness. In the scene, the female figure of Susanna, half-dressed, sits in the foreground on the left, on the balustrade of a gushing fountain in the garden, intent on immersing herself, but pointing with her hand to the two old men on the right, who are spying on her, hidden behind a bush. Unusual in the scene is the figure of the other woman, probably a maidservant of Susanna, also half-dressed, probably introduced to further exalt female nudity. In the background appears the garden of the villa, characterized by symmetrical and regular flower beds. Also peculiar is the presence, in the distance behind Susanna's head, of three stylized figures, who seem to run towards her, perhaps to warn her of danger. The work, in the first canvas, has a slight break in the upper left, and small spots of paint. It is presented in an early 1900's frame.

Oil on canvas. Saint Joseph is depicted with the Baby Jesus in his arms, and with the other hand he holds the flowering stick with a lily on the top, symbol of his purity. Restored and relined, it is presented in a readjusted antique frame.

Pirano - Istria

Oil on wood, 1940. Signed and dated. On the back title "Pirano, Istria, la stradina del Duomo" and further signature

Flemish School of the 17th century. Oil on panel. The penitent saint is recognizable by her attributes, the ointment jar, the book and the skull. Signed "VD Werff" on the bottom left. Sealing wax export stamp from the 19th century on the back. There are longitudinal cracks in the panel. Presented in a late 19th century gilded frame

The Ancient Baptistery of Gravedona

Pencil and watercolor on paper. Signed lower left. Of the same subject but with characters, there is a version on canvas by the Milanese artist, preserved in the civic Raccolta d'arte Museo dell'Ottocento of Villa Belgioioso Bonaparte, in Milan. Luigi Bisi specialized in interior views of churches in Lombardy, with a predilection for the Milan Cathedral. The work is presented in a frame.

Male Statue Mid 19th Century

Herm of a young man depicted in the Roman style, according to the classical taste in vogue until the mid-19th century. Made of white Carrara marble.

Composition with Bread and Tomatoes

Oil on canvas. Signed lower right. The artist's stamp is on the back of the frame. De Bernardi's painting is part of the Lombard landscape tradition of the 19th and 20th century. He always lived in Besozzo, his hometown in the province of Varese, but he traveled a lot, in Italy and outside of Italy, collecting impressions and researching, to relive them in his work, new landscapes. He preferred landscape production, even if declined with a changing style in his different pictorial phases. His production does not lack some still lifes, dating back mainly to the 1940s, compositions scrupulously drawn and aimed at dealing with the problems of light and atmospheric depth with agility and freshness, as in this presentation of some bread and tomatoes on a rustic table. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a frame.