Antichita Castelbarco Portrait Paintings

Mattheus Terwesten (The Hague, 1670 - 1757) Portrait of a young woman with palette and brushes, as Allegory of the art of Painting Oil on canvas 160 x 91 cm. - In frame 178 x 107 cm...

The Resurrection of Christ Follower of Tiziano Vecellio (Pieve di Cadore 1490 - Venice 1576)   Venetian school of the late 16th/early 17th century Oil on canvas 108 x 78 cm. - Framed 129 x 99 cm. This jewel of the Venetian school, a work executed between the 16th and 17th centuries by a Venetian artist, illustrates the episode of the Resurrection of Christ: as reported in the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 28:1-7) the event is accompanied by an explosion of light and glow, with the figure of Christ rising into the sky. Christ's face, serene and victorious, looks up towards the Light and the Infinite, in contrast to his majestic figure, here constructed with the appearance of a classical sculpture, contrasted by an intensely luminous background. The Risen One firmly holds in His hand the banner (white with a red cross) of the Resurrection, also known as the flag of St. George, which iconographically represents His victory over death, while raising His right hand in a blessing act. With his feet he crushes a snake and a skull, a sign of Christ's triumph over sin and death. The painting belongs to the Venetian school and presents clear reminiscences with the works of Titian Vecellio...

The deposition of Atala Follower of Anne-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Trioson (Montargis, 1767 - Paris, 1824) 19th-20th century Oil on canvas 47 x 65 cm. - Framed 67 x 84 cm The propos...

Hyacinthe Rigaud (Perpignan 1659 - Paris 1743) Circle Portrait of Philip V, King of Spain (Versailles 1683 - Madrid 1746) Oil on canvas 72 x 59 cm - framed 87 x 74 cm. The painting examined here, depicting King Philip V of Spain (Perpignan 1659 - Paris 1743), is to be placed in the circle of the painter Hyacinthe Rigaud (Perpignan 1659 - Paris 1743), one of the most significant portrait painters of his time and a great interpreter of the French school. This is a work of excellent pictorial quality: note the rendering of the facial features and the sharpness of the contours emphasised by the light. The face is characterised by chiaroscuro passages that verisimilarly reproduce light and its effects, rendered with great skill. Philip V wears a black satin costume with a sword at his side, he wears the stiff white Spanish collar and at the same time wears the blue sash of the Order of the Holy Spirit and the collar of the Habsburg Order of the Golden Fleece: this bringing together of the two main orders of France and Spain announced the possibility of a union between the two crowns. In Spanish costume, this effigy is nevertheless fully in line with the French tradition of ceremonial portraiture, also testifying to the renewal that Rigaud had brought about, particularly through the relationship between the character and the splendour of the decoration. The work is inspired, reworked in a reduced format to make it suitable for a private clientele, by the large painting that Rigaud made for the sovereign around 1700, today conserved in the Louvre, reproduced by the same workshop in numerous other versions. The account books...

Antonio Alberti (1603 - 1649) Portrait of Cardinal Antonio Marcello Barberini (Florence 1569 – Rome 1646) Inscription on the bottom: F.M D.D ANTONIUS BARBERINUS ROM. O. CAP. S.R.E. ...

Giovan Battista Salvi known as 'il Sassoferrato' (1609 - 1685) circle/ workshop Madonna with sleeping child Oil on canvas 84 x 66 cm - Framed (19th century) 112 x 95 cm The paintin...

Lombard School of the 17th century St. Joseph with Flower Stick Oil on oval canvas 92 x 70 cm. In antique frame 106 x 85 cm. The work shows us an intense image of St. Joseph, portrayed according to the classical iconography that sees him as a mature man holding in his hands a staff from which lilies bloom, symbol of the Virgin's purity. This iconographic attribute also alludes to his figure as God's chosen one as Mary's future husband. According to the apocryphal gospels, the Virgin had grown up in the Temple of Jerusalem, following a monastic lifestyle, and when she reached marriageable age, each of the suitors was given a dry branch...

Portrait of a noblewoman in ceremonial dress with Chantilly lace mantilla Attributed to Jean Ranc (Montpellier 1674 - 1735 Madrid) oil on oval canvas cm.72 ...

George Knapton (London 1698 - 1778), attributable Portrait of a young aristocratic maiden sitting by a fountain in a garden in the company of a lamb Oil on canvas (127 x 102 cm - Fr...

Hendrick van Balen (Antwerp 1575 - 1632) workshop Possible Jan van Balen (Antwerp 1611 - 1654) Madonna and Child with Three Angels Oil on panel 65 x 50 cm....

Pieter de Witte, also known as Peter Candid (Bruges, 1548 - Munich, 1628) - Workshop/School The Annunciation oil on canvas (cm): 79 x 110 - framed 92 x 127 We are delighted to present a fascinating work, dating back to the beginning of the 17th century, inspired by the prototype of the Annunciation created around 1586-1595 by Pieter de Witte, also known as Peter Candid (Bruges, 1540/1548 - Munich, 1628), which has been lost but made famous thanks to an engraving made and published by Jan Sadeler I (1550-1600). A painter of Flemish origin with strong affinities to 16th century Italianising culture, De Witte tackles the theme of the Annunciation numerous times, revealing knowledge of both Roman and Florentine Mannerism, inherited from his Italian sojourn. Some of these works are now housed in various international museums, in addition to autograph or workshop works that can be found in numerous public or private collections; in this regard, we may mention the following: - National Museum in Prague [1] - Carrara Academy of Bergamo, Angelo Annunziante and Vergine Annunziata [2]. - Finnish National Museum, Helsinki  - Private property, religious institution Bergamo (Bergamo area) Observing the composition, we can admire the rather well-established iconographic scheme, with the two figures immersed in an almost dreamlike atmosphere: the Archangel Gabriel on the left, of an ethereal beauty, appears imperious as he delivers the supreme annunciation to the Virgin Mary, who greets him with lowered eyes, composed in her amazement; surprised in the act of reading a book, she receives the white lilies...

Jacob Ferdinand Voet (Antwerp 1639 - Paris 1689) Atelier Portrait of the Young Ortensia Mancini, Duchess of La Meilleraye (Rome 1646 - Chelsea 1699) Oil on canvas 75 x 61 cm. - exquisite gilded and lacquered wooden double frame 105 x 91 cm. The beautiful painting depicting the young and attractive Duchess Ortensia Mancini is part of the refined portraiture of Jacob Ferdinand Voet (Antwerp 1639 - Paris 1689). Of Flemish origin, the painter achieved great success with the aristocratic families of Rome - where he stayed from 1663 to 1679 - thanks to the famous series of portraits commissioned by Cardinal Flavio Chigi, depicting the most enchanting women of the time, and now housed in the Palazzo Chigi in Ariccia. The paintings became so popular that the artist was repeatedly asked to reproduce replicas and similar versions of them: the 'cabinet des dames' was thus one of the Roman fashions of the 17th century, justifying the large number of female portraits attributable to his workshop that gravitated on the market. Voet flaunted in his portraits a peculiar softness and grace in the rendering of the complexions, a subtle voluptuousness in the description of the lips, entrusted to small brushstrokes of red, a sense of calm fixity in the pose, all characteristics that are immediately reflected in the work under examination. Our young effigy, Hortense Mancini...

Flower garland with a portrait of the Virgin Francesco Trevisani (Capodistria 1656 - Rome 1746) and Niccolò Stanchi (Rome 1623 - 1690), attributable Oil on canvas 66 x 49 cm. - In f...

Pierre Gobert (Fontainebleau 1662 - Paris 1744) Atelier of Pair of fine portraits Louis XV, King of France and his wife, Maria Leszczyńska oils on canvas (2), 41 x 32 cm., in frame 53 x 44 cm. It is easy to identify the sitters of this charming pair of portraits in the rulers of France, namely Louis XV of Bourbon, who ascended the throne in 1715 at the age of just thirteen and was nicknamed the 'Beloved', and Maria Leszczyńska, Queen Consort of France and Navarre and daughter of the King of Poland Stanislaus I. The queen is depicted in a three-quarter-length figure, her face smiling and turned towards the spectator. She wears a wig in shades of grey with her hair gathered around the nape of her neck and a diadem on her head, and pendants on her ears. She wears a dress with a wide neckline made of red velvet, brocaded with gold threads, with rich lace sleeves, and a bodice adorned with a jewelled bodice of diamonds and pearls. On the shoulders rests a blue velvet mantle embroidered with the heraldic...

Luis de Morales, called 'El Divino' (Badajoz 1509 - 1586) workshop of La Pietà with Saint John Oil on panel (82 x 65 cm /In frame 109 x 92 cm) STATE OF CONSERVATION: The panel is in good condition, with restorations and cracks clearly visible from the pictures. Gilded and lacquered wooden frame, in good condition. We present this intense Pietà executed on wood panel, the work of a painter of the late Spanish Renaissance who drew on the celebrated iconographic model created by Luis de Morales, known as El Divino (Badajoz 1509-1586), a subject reproposed by the artist and then by his flourishing workshop in numerous versions. This is an extraordinary work, in which the author demonstrates incredible realism and emotional depth in his portrayal of the Madonna and Christ, accompanied by Saint John the Evangelist. In an extremely devout Spain, Luis de Morales counts himself as one of the painters most interested in the dramatic aspects of Christ's life, from his painful Passion journey to his death. This devotional subject, the Pieta, so frequent in Christian art, is renewed in Morales' art with enormous expressive force; it is not for nothing that the artist was nicknamed the Divine, and not only for the creation of a devotional iconography in line with the spirituality of the time, but also for the intrinsic intensity of his religious paintings. The depiction, to great dramatic effect, shows Christ, immediately after being deposed from the cross, gently welcomed into the arms of the Virgin. The intense maternal compassion is also evident in the expression on her face, which, always aware of her son's fate, exudes suffering, melancholy but also serene resignation. Christ, abandoned in his mother's embrace, shows an emaciated and sorrowful face, made even more ghostly by his half-open mouth. The tree of the cross looms over the figures, emphasised by an evocative dark, completely monochrome background, to which the three figures are contrasted with strong lighting. Evident in Morales' painting is the devotional slant typical of Counter-Reformation painting, accentuated by a style that recalls both Italian painting for its research and chiaroscuro effects, and Flemish and German painting for its strongly accentuated dramatic tones. The work shows a strong physical and psychological characterisation of the characters, rendered by the marked chiaroscuro effects and the plastic construction of the figures, also using a sfumato technique, which show the primary influence of Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Sebastiano del Piombo. On the other hand, his Flemish training is evident in the anatomical modelling and treatment of the folds of the Virgin's dress, which retain the sharpness of the Nordic painting tradition. We can mention, among the most beautiful versions similar to our composition: - Fig.1 Luis de Morales (c. 1520-1586), La Piedad, c. 1568, Óleo sobre tabla 72 x 50 cm.
Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao - Fig.2 Luis de Morales, La Piedad, c. 1560, Óleo sobre tabla 126 x 98 cm.
Real Academia de Bellas - Fig.3 Luis de Morales, La Piedad, 1565 - 1570, Oil on panel 42 x 30 cm.
Museo del Prado - Fig.4 Luis de Morales, Triptych of the Pietà St John and St Mary Magdalene...

Carlo Ceresa (San Giovanni Bianco 1609 - Bergamo 1679) attributable Full-length portrait of Giacomo Pesenti Oil on canvas (206 x 121 cm - in frame 212 x 133 cm.) This fascinating portrait, portraying a full-length gentleman and datable to the 17th century, illustrates the stylistic and compositional details typical of the pictorial production of the Lombardy area, Bergamo in particular. This reference is reflected in elements such as the natural light, the sober and austere setting and, above all, the subtle psychological characterisation of the face. We are inclined to identify the hand of portrait painter Carlo Ceresa, one of the most illustrious Bergamasque figure painters of the 17th century, capable of developing a style of intense realism and acute psychological investigation. In his works, and our portrait perfectly reflects his canons, an extraordinary naturalistic imprint, great realism and remarkable essentiality are evident. Those traits of severity, moral rigour and austerity typical of his portraiture find a perfect balance here: never courtly or rhetorical, his portraits are profoundly linked to the concept of counter-reform. Immortalising the main personalities of the time, he established himself as a point of reference for the Bergamasque aristocracy, from the Vertova to the Pesenti to the Secco Suardo. The subject of the portrait is Giacomo Pesenti, here immortalised life-size in a rigorous black suit, his left hand resting on a table, on which is placed the necessities for writing and a manuscript, and his right hand, with a sealed ring on his little finger, abandoned along his side while he holds his gloves. He wears a suit of incredible rigour, dressed as befits a man of his high social standing, while the sharp light focuses on his face, with an intensity that seems to be accentuated by the reflection of the white collar, with its sharp profile. For Ceresa, it is not the richness of the garment that gives value to the person portrayed, it is the need to give feeling and bring out the character of the person, and this he succeeds in marvellously, aided by his ability to capture the essence of the person and return it to us in painting through the face and light used as a strong expressive element. In fact, the image highlights that 'counter-reformed' composure typical of the portraiture of painters active in this area and era, adhering to a verism...

The Annunciation Circle of Paolo De Matteis (Piano Vetrale, 1662 - Naples, 1728) oil painting on canvas (106 x 90 cm - with frame 118 x 103 cm.) The work,...

Pierre Mignard, known as Le Romain (Troyes 1612 - Paris 1695), attributed Portrait of 'Louise Renée de Penancoët de Keroualle, Duchess of Portsmouth and Aubigny (Brest 1649 - Paris 1734) as MADDALENA Oil on canvas 97 x 88 cm In an important gilded frame 132 x 122 cm. Provenance: Private collection, Naples The young and attractive noblewoman portrayed in this painting is Louis Renée de Penancoet de Keroualle, Duchess of Portsmouth and Aubigny (Brest 1649 - Paris 1734), known to have been King Charles II's favourite mistress for over fifteen years, from whose relationship Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond, was born, but above all to have gone down in history as one of Louis XIV's French informants at the English court. The duchess was a very influential figure at court, promoting French interests and often acting as an intermediary between the king, his ministers and French ambassadors. After the death of Charles II this influence quickly came to an end, forcing her to hastily leave London and renounce all her possessions to return to her homeland, between Aubigny-sur-Nère and Paris, where she died in 1734, always remaining in the sovereign's good graces. The peculiarity of the portrait, probably executed after her return to her homeland, is that the noblewoman takes the form of a charming Mary Magdalene, depicted here following her renunciation of earthly possessions, her rich robes and jewellery, in order to aspire to heavenly riches; We see her immortalised with her long hair loose on one breast, her intriguing but serene gaze directed at the observer, as she rests her crossed hands, as if in prayer, on the ampulla of perfumed ointments and the open book, both iconographic symbols. The custom of being portrayed in the guise of Magdalene was in vogue for powerful women of the great European courts as early as the 16th century, as it represented the most appropriate image to justify the union of female power and virtue. It must be said that court culture exalted only the positive characteristics of her personality, glossing over or downplaying all references to her sinful past and dissolute life. The work, whose style fits perfectly into 17th century French portraiture, suggests the pertinent attribution to the Baroque painter Pierre Mignard (Troyes, 1612 - Paris, 1695), whose works were highly praised and earned him a great reputation as a portrait painter for the demanding Parisian aristocracy at the time of Louis XIV, and who portrayed the Duchess de Kérouaille on numerous occasions. His first important artistic training took place in Simon Vouet's studio, and he then moved to Italy for over twenty years before returning to Paris, blending his own with the influence of Roman classicism. The elegant looseness of touch and sensual refinement typical of Mignard, combined with a very accurate chiaroscuro rendering, inherited from his artistic training in Rome (which he looked up to the examples of Ferdinad Voet), and the exceptional sweetness of the drawing, the floridity of the complexion and the almost enamelled surfaces, and finally, the peculiar pose of the figure portrayed (the beauty of the two intertwined hands...

Zeno Veronese (or Zeno from Verona) (Verona, 1484 - Salò (Bs) after 1542-before 1554) San Sebastiano and San Cristoforo Oils on canvases, 173 x 55 cm This pendant of works h...

Giacomo Stella (Brescia 1545 - Rome 1630) - Allegory of Time Indicating Truth, Oil painting on canvas, 192 x 74cm. - in golden frame 198 x 81 cm. The work is accompanied by a critic...

Workshop/Circle of François de Troy (Toulouse 1645 – Paris 1730) Portrait of a young lady (probably Marianne de Cogny, epouse de Philippe-Emmanuel de Beaufort...

Agnolo di Cosimo, known as 'il Bronzino' (Monticelli of Florence, 1503 – Florence, 1572) The Holy Family with San Giovannino Oil on table (120 x 90cm. - I...

Bolognese school of the seventeenth century Circle Giovanni Battista Ramenghi, known as Bagnacavallo (Bologna, 1521 - 1601) Oil painting on canvas (86 x 72 cm. - With antique frame ...

'Master of the parrot' (a painter active in Antwerp in the early 16th century, whose name refers to the parrot who always occurs in his paintings) - follower of Madonna on the throne with child (With the coat of arms of the client family in the upper part of the composition) Oil on the table 101 x 62 cm. - In frame 114 x 76 cm. The beautiful proposed work explains the typical iconographic characters of the painter called 'Master of the parrot', a conventional name used by critics to define an anonymous Dutch author of the 16th century. More precisely, it is a painter of the southern Netherlands, active in Antwerp around 1530-50, so defined for the unmistakable parrot who often appears in his works of him. In religious iconography the parrot has often been used as a Marian symbol, as it was widespread that its most common verse was "Ave", that is, the greeting of the Archangel Gabriele to Mary at the time of the Annunciation. Today the idea according to which the name 'master of the parrot' has not referred to a single painter, but rather a group that, based on the stylistic characters, carried out their training at the workshop of Pieter Coecke Van Aelst (Aalst (Aalst is widespread. 1502 - Brussels 1550), creating devotion paintings intended for a bourgeois client and concentrating their activity on a specific topic particularly requested by the contemporary market. By way of example we can mention the Virgin with the San Diego Museum of Art child where the figures, like our own, are in line, With the mannerist taste for the elegant body proportions that exceed reality, with elements such as tapered finger, wide face and thin nose. These characters also betray the influence of active artists in the region such as Joos Van Cleve...

Ancient painting depicting Jesus with the Commissioner's son (Alternative reading: St. Joseph with the Child, or the 'Paternity') Giovan Battista Salvi known as "the Sassoferrato" (1609 - 1685) circle / follower Oil painting on canvas 76 x 59 cm. -With frame in the shape of a small temple, not coeval 99 x 84 cm. The interesting canvas that we are pleased to offer you recalls the iconographic model of classic paternity, which traditionally sees Saint Joseph holding the sleeping baby Jesus...

Giacomo Stella (Brescia 1545 - Rome 1630) Allegory of Wisdom (or prudence) Oil painting on canvas 193 x 75 cm., In frame 199 x 82 cm. The work is accompanied by critical study drawn...

Michele Desubleo (Maubeuge, 1602 - Parma, 1676) - attributable Portrait of gentleman like Solomon, the wise king Oil painting on canvas 120 x 141 cm., By gilded wooden frame cm. 134 x 162 cm. The beautiful painting shows us an image of the famous Solomon king, legendary biblical figure who became the personification of the good reigning over the centuries, and proverbially recognized as one of the wisest politicians in history. The features of the off are presumably those of the client of the work, who wanted to emphasize his image by impersonating a character with legendary fame. The reigning, with an elegant coron head of Corona of Eastern Foggia, is dressed in a sumptuous silk clothes...

Lombard painter active in the 17th century Infant Jesus Oil painting on canvas 70 x 82 cm. - In antique frame 78 x 91 cm. This painting depicts an unusual and pleasant iconographic...

Saint John the Evangelist French school of the eighteenth century Oil painting on canvas 82 x 64 cm. - in frame 102 x 84 cm. In this pleasant painting we see the portrait of the evangelist John, holding a pen in his hand while writing the pages of the Gospel, while behind him it is possible to recognize the profile of an eagle, his typical iconographic attribute. The graceful face, which still reveals the devout attitude, which gives the painting a more intimate and delicate, not excessive religiosity, is one of the typical characteristics for works intended for domestic devotion, as in the case of this Saint John. From the representation of the Saint the freshness of his features immediately stands out, he is in fact portrayed as young and handsome: and it is precisely this iconographic peculiarity that makes the work fascinating and very pleasant, probably commissioned for a private room. The painting presents the peculiarities of eighteenth-century French portraiture, characterized by a soft drawing and a wise use of light. The rather marked chiaroscuro and well-calibrated shades produce an excellent result thanks to the play of light on the face, highlighted by the dark background of the scene. The painting has been relined and is in an excellent state of conservation with the colors still bright and a very healthy pictorial layer. The painting is sold together with a nice golden frame. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: The work is sold with a certificate of authenticity and a descriptive iconographic card. We take care and organize the transport of the purchased works, both for Italy and abroad, through professional and insured carriers. It is also possible to see the painting in the Riva del Garda...

Giovanni Bernardo Carbone (Genoa, 1616 - 1683), workshop Portrait of a gentleman in armor with battle scene in the background Oil on oval canvas (117 x 105 cm. - In gilded frame 124...

Genoese school of the second half of the seventeenth century Circle of Domenico Piola (Genoa 1627-1703) The Holy Family Oil painting on canvas 83 x 68 cm. - in an antique frame 99 x...

Madonna with Sleeping Child Follower of Giovan Battista Salvi known as 'il Sassoferrato' (1609 - 1685) Roman painter 18th century Oil on canvas Measurements: canvas 64 x 50 cm, in frame 76 x 62 cm. This delicate depiction of the Madonna in adoration of the Child exhibits all the human dimension and sweetness of the maternal atmosphere: Mary clasps the sleeping child to her in a tender embrace, which touches her cheek, enveloped and protected by the mantle and even a flap of the mother's veil. The pictorial style and composition recall the ambit of Giovan Battista Salvi, the Sassoferrato, who distinguished himself expressly for this subject, with the Virgin immortalised in a humble and strongly earthly pose, depicted with simple white, red and blue colours and delicate plays of nuances on the faces and hands. This iconographic prototype was so successful that it became the painting for countless works destined for devotion during the 17th and 18th centuries, particularly appreciated for private commissions due to its marked gentleness and formal perfection, particularly of the faces. Born in Marchigiano, Salvi developed his activity in Rome, following the dictates of the classicist sacred painting of the Bolognese school of Reni, Carracci and Domenichino, but succeeding in having an autonomous and therefore clearly distinguishable style.  In very good overall condition, there are some small scattered restorations and some unravelling of the painted surface. Framed in a beautiful gilded frame. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: The work is sold with a certificate of authenticity and descriptive iconographic card. We take care of and organise the transport of the purchased works, both for Italy and abroad, through professional and insured carriers. It is also possible to see the painting in the gallery in Riva del Garda...

Workshop of Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, known as Il Guercino (Cento, 1591 - Bologna, 1666) Saint Mark the Evangelist Oil on canvas - 85 x 71 cm., Framed 100 x 86 cm. Of great cha...

Portrait of an Eritrean Sibyl who writes the prophecy Circle of Lorenzo Pasinelli (Bologna 1629 - 1700) - Attributable to Giampietro Cavazzoni Zanotti ...

Lombard painter of the seventeenth century Ecce Homo Oil painting on canvas 56 x 43 cm. , framed 75 x 63 cm. Provenance: Florence, Pandolfini, 5.10.2021, lot 209 The proposed canv...

Maria Giovanna Battista Clementi known as La Clementina (Turin, 1692 - Turin, 1761), Attributable to Portrait of Victor Amadeus II of Savoy (Turin 1666 - Moncalieri 1732) king of Sardinia, duke of Savoy, marquis of Saluzzo and duke of Monferrato, prince of Piedmont and count of Aosta, Moriana and Nizza from 1675 to 1720. Oil on oval canvas, 79 x 62 cm., Framed 98 x 82 cm. The portrayed in this fascinating virile portrait is King Vittorio Amedeo II of Savoy, portrayed in ceremonial armor and red cloak according to the traditional courtly iconography, represented half-length, slightly three-quarter-length, with the towering "courtly" wig, according to the dictates of fashion of the first decades of the century, of French inspiration. In order to represent the power embodied in our austere portrayal, the sovereign is immortalized with the symbolic attributes of the power of the family, identifiable in the ancient crown of the Kingdom of Sardinia, in the scepter with the Mauritian cross and in the necklace of the Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunziata, established in 1364 by Amedeo VI, as the highest honor of the House of Savoy...

Scipione Pulzone, called Il Gaetano (Gaeta 1544 - Rome 1598) - workshop of Portrait of Bianca Cappello (Venice, 1548 - 1587) Grand Duchess of Tuscany, second wife of Francesco I de 'Medici Second half of the 16th century oil on canvas, cm. 70 x 56 cm., Framed 103 x 87 cm. The proposed painting illustrates the portrait of Bianca Cappello (Venice, 1548 - 1587), a noblewoman of Venetian origins, second wife of the Grand Duke of Tuscany Francesco I de 'Medici, whose expressive power is wisely highlighted by the composite cut of light three quarters, with the head and gaze directed at the observer. The beam of light coming from her right brings out the volumes of her face plastically and lingers on her features, highlighted by the large white lace ruff that surrounds his neck and by the details of her precious clothing. Bianca wears a dark red dress, perhaps a zimarra, embroidered in gold with a plunging neckline and a raised collar of the shirt curled in a ruff and also edged with precious lace, embroidered with the motif of the Florentine lily.   The favorite jewels of the noblewoman were pearls: we see them on a choker that adorns the neckline, in the earrings and again in the hairstyle, which sees the hair gathered at the nape of the neck and adorned with a string of small black pearls and embellished with a clasp. It is a high-quality painting that can be confined to the workshop of the painter Scipione Pulzone called Gaetano, representing at best a pictorial genre, that of portraiture, in which the master excelled. This attribution would be confirmed by comparisons with the numerous portraits that Pulzone dedicated to the Medici family. Our painting, in particular, could represent one of the versions that the workshop has replicated, at the request of the numerous art collectors who wish to have a portrait of one of the most influential personalities of the Florentine scene. The characters drawn by Pulzone were icons of incomparable elegance: noblewomen, knights and religious lent their faces to the eye of the artist who was able to grasp every meticulous detail with his superb technique. A photographic wealth and surprising material attention that trace the pictorial prototypes of Flemish inspiration, in particular of Antonis Mor...

Venetian school of the end of the 16th century Circle of Jacopo Negretti, known as Palma the Younger (Venice 1544 - 1628) Saint Jerome Penitent Oil painting on canvas 85 x 64 cm. - In frame 97 x 76 cm. This splendid painting, which offers us an intense representation of San Girolamo...

School of Antonio Allegri, known as Correggio (Correggio c. 1489 - 1534) Attributable to Pomponio Allegri (Correggio, 1522 - Parma, 1593) Madonna and Child, Two Angels and John the B...

Pauwels Franck, known as Paolo Fiammingo (Antwerp, 1540 - Venice, 1596) Venus lying in a landscape Oil on canvas 116 x 150 cm. In antique frame 136 x 170 cm. The work is accompanied by a critical card by Dr. Federica Spadotto The splendid painting proposed sees portrayed, bare and stretched out on a red brocade cloth in gold sprinkled with roses, a refined and sensual Venus, in a composition with a profound symbolic value, and arriving at the perfect representation of the Renaissance woman who, like Venus, becomes an allegory love, eros, beauty and fertility. The canvas is part of the prestigious Venetian artistic and cultural environment of the second half of the sixteenth century, whose distinctive distinctive trait can be traced back to its cosmopolitan vocation. This characteristic, as Dr. Spadotto noted in her in-depth study, belongs to the same physiology of the Venetian capital, that is, being a distinctly commercial city located in a strategic point with respect to trade. Representing one of the liveliest ports in the Mediterranean also meant witnessing the continuous passage not only of goods, but of men, ideas, suggestions from distant countries, which influenced not only the taste of their people, but above all art. This happened thanks to the circulation of prints, as well as pictorial specimens, to which are added the stays of great foreign artists and, above all, the permanence in the capital of a non-negligible number of Dutch, Flemish and German masters. An emblematic case in this regard comes from Pauwels Franck (Antwerp, 1540 - Venice, 1596), better known as Paolo Fiammingo, who established himself in his native city at a young age - in 1561 a figure enrolled in the Guild of San Luca - and arrived in Venice in 1573. . He resided in Venice from 1584 until his death, although the stylistic and formal references of some of his works have led critics to believe that in previous years he had undertaken a journey to central Italy, or to Florence and Rome, where he would have metabolized the lively cultural debate that permeated these cities and which, on the other hand, seemed completely absent in Venice. Here Paolo will be fascinated by the sense of color and by the atmospheric component fixed on the canvas by Jacopo Tintoretto (Venice 1518 - 1594), of which he becomes a collaborator, to undergo, around 1590, the suggestion of Paolo Caliari...

Tiziano Vecellio (Pieve di Cadore 1490 - Venice 1576) follower of Portrait of the emperor Julius Caesar (Rome 100 BC - 44 BC), inscribed above C. IVLIVS. CAESAR Portrait of the Emperor Octavian Augustus (Rome 63 BC - 14 BC), inscribed on top OCTAVIANUS II ROM IMP 17th century oil painting on canvas Measurements (cm.): 65 x 50, with frame 81 x 68 cm. The Latin writer Suetonius with his work 'De vita Caesarum' (and in particular with his tradition in the vernacular of 1543, edited by the Florentine scholar Paolo del Rosso) inspired Tiziano Vecellio who, in 1537, painted for Duke Frederick II of Gonzaga portraits of the eleven emperors, adorning the walls for a small room in the Palazzo Ducale in Mantua, later known as the Cabinet of the Caesars. These effigies were intended to establish the link between the new era and classicism with its splendor, as well as to celebrate the value and wisdom of the rulers, who perceived themselves, in their lordships, as valiant new emperors. Titian's paintings soon became enormously popular and many patrons and lords of the time, including Ferdinando d'Avalos, Marquis of Pescara and Governor of Milan or Vespasiano Gonzaga, turned to the workshop of the Cremonese Bernardino Campi...

Tuscan painter active towards the end of the 16th century Portrait of Captain Niccolò Orsini (Pitigliano, 1442 - Lonigo, 1510), count of Pitigliano and Nola. Tuscany, end of the 16th century Oil on canvas, 64 x 47 cm., Framed 89 x 73 cm. The portrait we present to you shows the effigy of a vigorous high-ranking male figure in armor, in the most typical Renaissance pose, half-length and taken in profile, with his face and gaze turned to the side; the serious and intense expression and the facial features evoke at first glance the portraiture of early Florentine mannerism. He is Niccolò III Orsini (Pitigliano, 1442 - Lonigo, 1510), count of Pitigliano and Nola and son of Aldobrandino Orsini, famous leader and captain (or capitano di ventura) who lived between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, who served for the state Pontifical in Naples and Florence and above all for the Republic of Venice. Portraiture with these characters, which derives from ancient coinage, was used in the sixteenth century in the sequences of Portraits of Illustrious Men, both in painting and in sculpture. The profile portrait was in fact a genre reserved, according to the Renaissance tradition, for celebrations, presenting those characteristics of imperturbability typical of the military role covered. Our painting is a work created by an author active in Tuscany towards the end of the sixteenth century, adhering to those pictorial styles made famous by the portraitist Cristofano di Papi dell'Altissimo (1530-1605), a pupil of Bronzino and then of Pontormo, known for having created a collection of about 500 portraits of illustrious men, known as the 'Gioviana Series' (now in the Uffizi Gallery); and among these it is possible to identify one dedicated to Niccolò Orsini. Our painting is inspired, in particular, by a print taken from the collection of prints...

Ferrara school of the late sixteenth century - circle of Giuseppe Mazzuoli known as Bastarolo (Ferrara 1536 - 1589) St. Jerome penitent in the cave ...

Hyacinthe Rigaud (Perpignan 1659 - Paris 1743) attributable Portrait of the painter Charles de La Fosse (1636-1716) oil on canvas 60 x 52 cm/ In a beautiful frame cm. 113 x 78 The ...