Carlo Brancaccio

The visit of the King of Persia Mozaffar al-Din Shah Qajar to the Ostend hippodr

1899

Norberto Pazzini (Verucchio 1856 - 1937), Villa of Claudius of Lorraine Watercolor on paper 34 x 56 cm signed and dated "91" lower left, at the back: inscribed "Norberto Pazzini 18...

Noel Quintavalle (Ferrara 1893 - Alassio 1975), The circus has arrived (1950) Oil painting on canvas 60 x 79 cm signed and dated 1950 lower right

Isidore Pils (1813-1875) An Orientalist scene Signed lower left Pencil and heightenings of watercolor on paper ​​​​​​​15 x 24 cm paper yellowed by time, stains and a small repaired tear on the upper right edge. In a modern mount 40.5 x 53 cm Isidore-Alexandre-Augustin Pils (1815–1875) was a French academic painter of religious and military subjects. Pils was born in Paris as the son of a soldier François Pils. At the age of twelve, he studied with Guillaume Guillon-Lethière for four years. In 1831 he became a student at the École des Beaux-Arts and studied under François-Édouard Picot. He competed for the Prix de Rome, which he won in 1838 for a history painting, St. Peter Healing a Lame Man at the Door of the Temple. Although in poor health, Pils then spent the customary three years at the French Academy in Rome at the Villa Medici, which then had Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres as its director. While in Italy he visited Naples, Venice, and Florence. Pils's earlier paintings have religious themes. In 1849 he completed his most famous work, Rouget de L'Isle Singing La Marseillaise, which now resides at the Musée historique de Strasbourg. After experiences travelling with French troops through the Crimea, his themes took on military and nationalistic subjects. He later produced many military scenes during the siege of Paris during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. Pils was appointed professor of painting at the École des Beaux-Arts in 1863 but left the same year for two years in Algeria. In 1868 he was elected to seat #14 of the Académie des Beaux-Arts. Among his students were Adrien Moreau...

Samuel Henry Alken (1810–1894) Horse Racing Scene, Possibly the Epsom Derby Oil on board, unsigned Attributed, English school circa 1840 Presented in a later gilt frame with beaded inner edge This dynamic mid-19th century racing scene, attributed to Samuel Henry Alken—also known as Henry Alken Junior—captures the high-stakes moment just before the thundering release of horses and riders at the starting line. A tightly packed field of brightly jacketed jockeys leans forward with urgent anticipation, the taut muscles of their mounts echoing the gathering tension. In the foreground, a race marshal gestures dramatically to signal the start, his stance underscoring the energy about to be unleashed. Though unsigned, the work bears the unmistakable hallmarks of Samuel Henry Alken’s hand: vigorous composition, attention to equine form, and a sharp eye for the choreography of sport. The figures are finely modelled, the palette lively but grounded, and the setting—with its wooded backdrop, animated crowd, and distant grandstands—suggests a major 19th-century race meeting, possibly the Epsom Derby, a subject Alken is known to have returned to in several formats. The composition’s panoramic sweep and low horizon lend a cinematic quality, while the density of detail—each silken cap and coat, each bridle and plume—evokes the pageantry and social theatre of Britain’s sporting calendar at the height of its Regency and early Victorian splendour. A rare and spirited scene from the golden age of English sporting painting...