18th century, French School, Gallant scenes

French school, 18th-19th century The soap bubbles Oil on panel, 44.5 x 36.5 cm Framed, 60 x 54 cm In this French school painting, with its leery and playful tone, but mother lovi...

17th century, Emilian school Rural landscape with gallant scenes Oil on canvas, 37 x 47.5 cm Framed, 61 x 50.5 cm The bucolic amenity of the present is reflected within the joyo...

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...

Emilian school, 18th century Pair of live natures with birds Oil on canvas, 28 x 30 cm Framed, 37 x 38.5 cm The northern Italian school of painting developed, as early as the 16t...

Pair of paintings depicting scenes of peasant life. Made in oil on panel these two oval-shaped paintings depict typical rural scenes with roosters and peasants. Dated late 1800' wi...

Francesco Simonini (Parma, 16 June 1686 - Parma, 1766) “The rest of the soldiers” and “The march of soldiers” oil on canvas cm 40 x 58 and 40 x 60 ; frame: h 52,5 x W 70,5 x D 6 an...

A sensational and large scale Italian 18th century oil on canvas from the Piedmont region. The beautiful painting is set in its original polychrome frame which displays a lovely carv...

Two exquisite Fête Galante scenes from France, painted in the early 19th century in Rococo style. The first depicts various groups of figures as they gather in a park, with classica...