Nativity

late 17th - early 18th

CITES Documentation: IT/CE/2023/MI/00454 Exceptional composition with ivory microsculptures and landscape made of semi-precious stones, shells, and small corals in coeval carved and...

Rare anatomical head made of stucco and wax, of 18th-century German workmanship. Fascinating study model used in academia at the time, a fascinating piece of scientific art. The piec...

Rare and fascinating carved wooden female bust, probably used as a wig holder. The work, made in Holland in the first half of the 17th century, features an elegant stylization of fac...

Very rare wooden helmet-bearing head, datable between the 13th and 14th centuries, extraordinary evidence of medieval material culture. This object, carved with essential and primiti...

Carved and painted wooden sculpture - Figure of a saint - Italy, 17th-18th century. 36 x 25 x h 74 cm. Entirely in carved, lacquered and painted wood. Some missing parts and colour...

Carved and painted wooden sculpture - Madonna praying - Italy, 17th-18th century. 35 x 20 x h 65 cm. Entirely in carved, lacquered and painted wood. Some missing parts and color lo...

One flame candle holder putto made of gilded wood. Those kind of objects were present in churches or noble villas, specially during the Baroque times. The base is not coeval.

A late 17th c. Italian carved figure of Mermaid, Circle of Filippo Parodi (Genoa, 1630 – July 22, 1702) Dimensions: h. 29.13 in, w. 30.31 in, p. 18.9 in (at the base) Magnificent Italian Baroque sculpture depicting a mermaid seated on the rock. All the virtuosity of the sculptor unfolds in this carved group. The fantastic creature is featured seated, the upper part of the body darting forward, the head looking upwards. Sophisticated hairstyle with rows of pearls intertwined in her hair, her loose locks fly in the wind and bring movement to the whole sculpture. The wide-open eyes with hollowed-out pupils make it possible to follow the mermaid's gaze, towards the sky. The half-open mouth further magnifies this bewitching and seductive attitude. Its long double tail ending in fins wraps on either side of a rocky mound strewn with objects evoking the underwater world: seashells and shells, branches of coral. The ornamental richness combined with the great care taken in its execution make it a work in which the splendor of Italian Baroque art unfolds in such characteristic scenic movement. The composition betrays a strong influence from Filippo Parodi, the leader of Genoese Baroque sculpture, and points to an artist from his circle. Our sculpture was probably part of a decorative monumental palace. The iconographic theme evoking the marine world finds its application in the numerous fountains and artificial grottos, designed in Italian palaces at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries. Giacomo Filippo Parodi (Genoa 1630 – July 22, 1702) was an Italian Baroque sculptor of the Genoese school, who introduced Bernini's aesthetic to Genoa. In his youth fathers a first apprenticeship with a carpenter, he went to Rome where he became a pupil of Bernini. He had the opportunity to admire in person the works and style of the French sculptor Pierre Puget...