Midcentury Italian school Wall Decorations

Neapolitan School of the 17th Century Battle scenes between Christians and Turks (2) Oil on canvas, 52 x 71 cm Framed, 61 x 80 cm One genre that met with wide acclaim in seventeenth-century Neapolitan painting and flattering success among collectors was that of battle. The Parthenopean nobility loved to adorn the walls of their salons with battles depicting single acts of heroism or complex combats that exalted patriotism and warlike prowess, virtues with which members of the wealthy aristocracy of the time liked to identify. The Church, in the Neapolitan area, was also at the forefront of commissions, commissioning artists to depict the spectacular triumphs of Christendom over the infidels, such as the memorable naval battle of Lepanto in 1571, which marked a historical turning point with the great victory over the Turks, becoming a repeated iconographic motif imbued with devotional value, replicated several times through the interest of the Dominican order, which was very devoted to Our Lady of the Rosary, who benevolently followed earthly events from above in heaven. Other themes dear to the Church within the genre were drawn from the Old and New Testaments, such as Constantine's Victory at the Milvian Bridge or St. James at the Battle of Clodius. Among the leading Neapolitan artists of that period, several specialized in battle scenes: these include Francesco Graziani, known as Ciccio Napoletano, a battler active between Naples and Rome in the second half of the 17th century; Andrea De Lione, who lived in Naples from 1610 to 1685, a versatile narrator of battles without heroes, of horsemen assaulting or retreating, and of profane scenes immersed in a wild and primordial, yet already classicized, nature; and Carlo Coppola. The latter was active for more than twenty years, from 1640 to 1665, and his catalog, which is interesting because it bears witness to a particular historical moment and the tastes of private patrons, has yet to be defined, although many of his works are initialed. It is precisely to Coppola's corpus that these two paintings could come close: with the production of the Neapolitan battler the two paintings seem to share the smoky colors, the accentuated chiaroscuro and the marked dynamism of the scenes. Moreover, it is necessary to mention how that of the battle between Christians and Turks was an absolutely central theme in Coppola's pictorial production. Also close to the manner of the two paintings analyzed here is the production of one of Coppola's most celebrated pupils, Giovanni Luigi Rocco...

Northern Plains hide painting, buffalo society, pre-reservation. Two buffalo heads, two full body buffalos, two thunderbirds and buffalo sun shield in ...

This very fine drawing in Sanguine is from the early 19th century. Made as a preparatory sketch concerning composition, musculature and shadow this work is unsigned but we have four ...

17th century, Tuscan school Madonna and Child Oil on canvas, 31 x 21 cm With frame, cm 37,5 x 27,5 The pearly incarnations and the thoughtful play of looks between the Virgin, turned to the Son, and Questi, warmly open to the viewer, pour out the present painting with compositional perfection. Virginal fabrics become mottled at the folds, wrapping the Madonna in a thin vitreous mantle. The pastel colors, shining on the pink robe just tightened at the waist by a gold cord, enliven the faces of the divine couple in correspondence of the cheeks, lit by an orange warmth. Even the left hand of the Virgin, composed in perfect classical pose (Botticelli, Madonna with Child, 1467, Musée du Petit Palais, Avignon), is sprinkled with warmth thanks to the immediate touch with Christ. From the nimbus of the Mother a delicate luminous disk is effused, which takes back, in the most distant rays, the colour of the hair of the Son, from the tones of the sun. The Child Jesus is represented intent in a tender gesture of invitation with the right hand, while with the other he offers a universal blessing: with his hand he retracts the index and annular palms, extending the remaining three fingers, symbol of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The painting welcomes and re-elaborates that typically Tuscan formalism that boasted in the rest of Italy the constant appreciation by the most up-to-date artists and collectors. Arrangement, composition and mixing of colors place the canvas in the middle between the changing mannerist and the sculptural figures of Michelangelo, essential yardstick of comparison in terms of anatomical and expressionistic rendering. In the present, silvery and pinkish powders act as three-dimensional inducers to the Child’s mentioned musculature and to the vivid folds of the clothes, expertly deposited on the lunar whiteness of the skins. While these colours recall the equally brilliantly transparent colours of Pier Francesco Foschi...

A late XVII Century Italian School head of a young man (Circle of Guido Reni). A sensitively rendered portrait figure in profile, echoing soft modelling and restrained elegance chara...

This drawing most likely French comes from the late 19th century, circa 1880. The drawing is well completed and shows the man as a living blind scholar in life and not as a classical...

The oil painting composition “The Visitation” depicts the Virgin Mary dressed in a blue robe visiting her cousin Elizabeth just after the Annunciation (the announcement by the angel ...

17th century Italian old master painting Madonna and Child with St. Anne and St. John the Baptist. Important Tuscan School Old Master painting in oil on a hand shaved wood panel. ...

A lovely set of 3 x antique charcoal drawings in later frames. Circa 1900.

Moutaineous Landscape with Bridge over a River Signed lower right by Jean-Baptiste Gabriel Langlace (1786-1864) Brown wash on paper.

This fine drawing while unsigned is an excellent example of sketch work done in sanguine as preparatory work for large finished paintings. Created in France during the days of artist...

Roman School, 17th century Madonna and Child Oil on copper, 15 x 11 cm Framed, 26 x 22 cm The small copper on display here depicts the Madonna and Child against a dark background...