Fabric Decorative Art

Important portrait of nobleman in parade dress taken in three-quarter view with flower in hand from the late 1600s. Work attributable in quality, age, and style to the great Genoese-born portraitist Giovanni Maria delle Piane known as “Il Mulinaretto”. The flower in the hand, is surely an allegorical allusion; it could be a portrait of a nobleman about to be married offered as a wedding gift to the bride's family. Technique oil on canvas. This painting, never before on the market, comes from a private collection and is beautified by an impressive antique frame in gilded wood. Every item of our Gallery, upon request, is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by Sabrina Egidi official Expert in Italian furniture for the Chamber of Commerce of Rome and for the Rome Civil Courts. Giovanni Maria delle Piane (1660 – 28 June 1745) was an aristocratic Genovese who served as primary court painter for over 60 years in the late-Baroque period. He is also known as "il Molinaretto". Giovanni Maria was born in Genoa, Italy, the son of Giovanni Battista delle Piane, from the noble house Delle Piane. He was nicknamed the "Molinaretto" as his grandparents, renown land owners from Polcevera, had watermills (from Italian molino, watermill). From the age of 10 till 16 years, he apprenticed with Giovanni Battista Merano, then he transferred to Rome to work under the famed fresco painter, Giovanni Battista Gaulli (il Baciccio), who held him like a son. The Genoese painter Enrico Vaymer was a fellow student and lifelong friend. In the Roman studio of Gaulli, Piane copied the works of great masters like Giulio Romano, Guido Reni, Annibale Carracci and Domenichino. These copies brought him acclaim. At Gaulli's studio, he also painted portraits. In 1684, he returned to Genoa, where the main portrait artist in the city, Giovanni Battista Carlone, had just died. He gained the a loyalty from other peer aristocratic families, noting he adapted to the new sensitivity, with attention to the fashion of his subjects, styling them with "majestic and elegant drapes taking them in certain new and witty movements". In 1695, by invitation of Count Morando, he completed a first journey to Parma, the city where his former master G.B. Merano was recently active. He found clients in the Farnesian cities and also in Genoa. He moved frequently among the cities of Emilia and Liguria, also painting sacred subjects. In 1705 the Cardinal Alberoni, sent by the Duke Francesco Farnese, assigned the artist, who seemed to be residing in Piacenza at that moment, to portray the Duke of Vendôme, commander of the Franco-Spanish troops. In 1706 the artist was again in Parma, commissioned to portray Duke Francesco, the Duchess Dorotea Sophia and the young Princess Elisabetta Farnese, Princess of Parma. Two years after he made the portrait of Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. He also traveled a few times to Milan. In 1709 he portrays Prince Antonio Farnese and the same year, he was nominated Court Painter in Parma from where, he returned to Genoa. On April 21, 1711, Piane became the personal painter of Princess Elisabeth, receiving a stipend, including food and accommodation. He still held that commission in 1737. Between 1714 and 1715 he portrayed Princess Elisabeth when she married King Philip V of Spain, from 1715 until 1737, he mainly resided with the royal family in Piacenza. In 1719 he was invited to go to Spain, probably by Princess Elisabeth, as she considered him as a trustable portraitist, but the journey was never undertaken. Though already elder in 1737, he relocated to Naples, where he was retained for some years as court painter for the young king Charles III of Spain, already duke of Parma and his wife Maria Amalia...

Antique miniature portrait painting of Queen Henrietta Maria by the French artist Aime Perret. Young Henrietta is painted in a blue dress with white l...

A charming needlepoint scene of a courting couple in Period costume under an elaborate canopy, on gold silk with floral and other decorative motifs. Framed under glass in a painted w...

Antique French needlepoint panel in finely carved walnut frame, early 20th century.

A pair of matching hand painted fabric on board panels, circa late 19th century, France. One of a kind set.

A fine pair of Italian 18' century Capriccio with Classical ruins, tempera oil on canvas with giltwood frame . Atr.Pietro Paltronieri, il Mirandole...

Large handscreen floral print on Belgian linen. There is a vast range of rich colors in this bouquet straight out of a French garden. There are roses, morning glories, hollyhocks, da...

Late 19th or very early 20th century, beautifully worn frame. French School Old art gallery sticker on back, probably early 20th century sticker, from J.J. Gillespie, America's oldest fine arts gallery, established in 1832. Craquelure throughout. Site: 30.5 inches by 20.5 inches. Charles-Michel-Ange Challe, a French painter, architect and mathematician, was born in Paris in 1718. He studied under André, Lemoine and Boucher and subsequently visited Rome. A 'Sleeping Diana,' which he painted in 1744, and a 'Venus' by him are to be seen in Brunswick. He also painted many ceilings for palaces and churches, but never gained much reputation as a painter, although elected an Academician in 1753. As an architect and as draughtsman to the king he directed the theatrical entertainments at Fontainebleau in 1766, and the fêtes and illuminations at Versailles on the occasion of the birth of Louis XVI in 1764, as well as the funerals of the Dauphin and the Dauphiness, of Stanislaus, King of Poland, of the Queen of Spain, and of Louis XV and his queen, Marie Leszczynska...

A 19th century French oval shaped sepia color painting set in an ornate giltwood frame. This French Rocaille style oil on canvas depicts a woman dressed in the Louis XV fashion, carr...

Early 18th century hunting scenes, originally wall coverings oil on canvas. Hand-painted scenes enclosed in block printed frames mounted on 20th century supports.

French School, Late 19th-Early 20th Century . Figures Gathered in Classical Landscapes: A Pair of Works , reminiscent of Hubert Robert ,"The Bathing Pool" . Probably inset from a b...