Hand-Crafted Wall Decorations

Stunning, 'geometrically-circular' layered and timeless Art Deco style wall sconces. If you are looking for a stylish and timeless way to bring light into your entry hall, bathroom,...

Design: Helmut Schäffenacker original vintage ceramic wall plate with abstract hand-painted and colorful abstractact design. This fantas...

One of a kind giant eyeglasses face wall art / wall decoration, Spain, 1960-1970. This eye-catching wall composition features giant bamboo glasses with mirrors and two wicker baskets as nose and mouth. The eyeglasses sculpture are shaped in a rounded design having hinges to open and close the temples and mirror glasses instead of lenses. The nose and mouth woven baskets can be used for storage or a flower containers...

Large size antique Gothic Art painting 'The Apparition of the Virgin Mary to Saint James'. We are by no means connoisseurs when it comes to antique paintings, but we have seen enough antique paintings to know when something is special, decorative and truly inspiring and interesting to look at. And the large size of this antique work of art, makes it impressive too. Also, because it must have taken one very skilled painter an awful lot of time (probably weeks, if not months) to hand-paint this famous religious scene. According to ancient local tradition, on January 2nd of the year AD 40, the Virgin Mary appeared to James on the bank of the Ebro River at Caesaraugusta, while he was preaching the Gospel in Iberia. Looking at the perfectly painted ancient landscape and the kneeling figure who is in awe of what he is witnessing (by the river bank) we believe this is in fact the apparition of Mary to James. Following that apparition, by the way, St. James returned to Judea, where he was beheaded by King Herod Agrippa the first (in the year AD 44). Judging from the skillfully painted individuals in the Renaissance Style and the striking and lively colors, we believe, this late 1800s painting is the work of a true artisan. This work of religious art on the back reads 'Sacerdote Salvatore Rosa, Dipinse 1889' which means Priest Salvatore Rosa, Painted 1889. This priest clearly had a god given talent and god bless him for having created this masterpiece. Apart from some minor imperfections this large and nostalgic painting is in very good condition and we believe it will look particularly great in a church, monastery or chapel. At the same time, a one of a kind antique like this will ofcourse also look great atop the stairwell of a mansion or in the entry hall of a French castle etc. We don't know the 'exact' value of this large size antique painting...

An impressive ceramic wall sculpture ”Fragile Flower" made by Pekka Paikkari in 2021. This art piece is in pristine condition and was acquired from the artist himself. Pekka's prima...

Here we present an unusual find of a french antique shop sign, circa 1920. Shaped steel, painted with applied lettering in french which reads 'antiques and secondhand goods'.  The d...

A late vintage Art Deco French asymmetrical wall mirror made of hand crafted polished brass with its original mirrored glass, in good condition. The Parisian wall décor mirror...

This is the piece that started my relationship with this genre of furniture. The floating console has proven to be a wonderful platform for my approach to sculptural furniture. The t...

Mid-century modern signed Scandinavian art pottery wall decoration, which can also function as a large plate or bowl. This piece is known as “the Peacock” and has a very 70's feeling...

A spectacular and exceptionally rare pair of English, possibly Irish, George III circa 1800 wall brackets or shelves in 'Rustic' style, the cusped shaped tops in original 'red ochre' paint with period brass hanging tabs, the tapering 'bodies' composed of fully gilded twigs and rootwood in original finish. Provenance: The collection of Sir John Boorman at The Glebe, Annamoe, County Wicklow, Ireland. The 'Rustic' style in design emerged in Great Britain from the 'Picturesque' movement within Romanticism of the 18th century as a quiet rebellion against the formality of Baroque and Neoclassical architectural styles and was largely ephemeral due to it's inherently specific application; that it being intended for the 'cottage orné', follies, and grottos of the landed gentry. Frances Collard states "Rustic furniture, particularly that made of untrimmed branches and roots, appeared in the designs of Thomas Chippendale and Thomas Johnson and were featured in an anonymous work published by Josiah Taylor's 'Architectural Library, "Ideas for Rustic Furniture", from 1790-5". The Duke of Buccleuch...

Beautiful watercolor by the well known artist Tarkay, This work was purchased in a charity auction and retains label also art work measure 16x 12 inches,...

The heart collection is the result of the extravagant creativity of two innovative designers, who are inspired especially by the human body. This collection is made by 4 beautiful...

Impressive and massive shoulder mounted trophy head of an African Eland (antelope) with glass eyes, In excellent condition from the mid-to-late 20th c...

Páramo expresses the malleability of the earth. This scalable set of mosaics modeled using parametric design allows for infinite variations. The geographies that result from these ...

The Galea Bibliothèque is influenced by modernist and brutalist architecture. Combining raw materiality with subdued forms. A mysterious geometric rhythm is created by the shadows ca...

A round swarm of butterflies as delicate as lace in blackened bronze, lost wax cast by master craftsmen in Italy. A wall sculpture for both indoor and outdoor use. This listing is f...

Stunning bronze wall plaque with a maker's monogram. In the earliest years of the 1900s much of the daily life in Europe was overshadowed by the horrors of the first world war. Lo...

Striking hand-crafted sculptural mirror made from rich turquoise Murano glass, featuring a rare concave form with beveled edges that enhance its luminous surface. This contemporary p...

"Bahar" which translates to Spring in persian, was born on a beautiful spring filled with light and joy. she is the new member of the series of chain wall hangings. its nomadic feel ...

This is an exceptional sage green handmade wall sculpture designed by Finnish modernist Maija-Liisa Vasenius for Kalevala Koru, 1960s The piece is signed "MV" on the verso complete ...

Bal, by Wknd Lab Color: Ivory, red Size: 98.4 x 15.7 x 5.2 in. Material: Cotton and Copper Usage: Tapestry Weight: 11 kg Bal is a tapestry crafted from traditional Korean knots of c...

One of two etching printed ancient profile print with gold leaf background hand-gilded and enhanced with a square frame made of mirrors and gilded with gouache and burnished with a s...

Portugese Caldas da Rainha Palissy lobster wall plaque, circa 1930. Decorated with mussels, shells and seaweed. Has no structural issues and is...

Certainly the most impressive antique door knocker on 1stdibs. This marvelously finest handcrafted and amazing condition antique door knocker is another one of our recent great finds. Can you imagine this fine bronze eagle head on your door? Having this gorgeous bronze door knocker made as the finishing touch, would have made this a real statement piece, and it still will be. Mind you, with a unique and all hand-crafted bronze door knocker of this size, quality and beauty suddenly in your face and you too would be impressed when showing up at this front door. Especially with the fierce looking eagle holding the wreath knocker in his beak staring at you. They really don't make 'em like this anymore and we are proud to be able to offer it to the 1stdibs community in such amazing condition. Mind you, our price for this unique antique bronze door knocker...

An Italian Rococo period framed still-life oil on canvas painting from the late 18th century, depicting a colorful bouquet. Created in Italy during the third quarter of the 18th cent...

It comes from the Missoni archives this stunning pair of tapestries created by Ottavio and Rosita Missoni for the Maison. The tapestries were mounted on wooden frames with matte blac...

Finely Woven Antique Chinese Textile, Country of Origin: China, Circa Date: Late 19th Century

These carved wood wall mounted brackets have many uses as architectural pieces flanking either side of a mirror as well as functional holding small statues on a wall. This classic se...

A collection of 47 Swedish decorative antique leather-bound library books. The books are wrapped in leather-bound covers, comprised of a selection of warm tones and gold leaf print ...

Large Gumdrop Mirror by Courtney Kinnare 2025 Resin, Acrylic, & Ink on Mirror Dia 30" The Gumdrop Mirror features vibrant, candy-like orbs in rich cherry and blush tones, adding ...

Gorgeous 21 piece wall unit. Unlimited amount of configurations. You could split it into multiple units, use as a corner wall unit, make it floor to c...

American print of St. Michael's church on Meeting Street, Charleston, SC. matted under glass in gilt frame. Elizabeth O'Neil Verner, early 20th century.

Impressive pair of 17th century Japanese Edo period Rinpa school screens made in the manner and style of Autumn Grasses by Tawaraya Sotatsu (1570-1640). Beautifully decorated with wi...

One of two beautiful rinascimental woman profile print with black background, framed by a delicate taupe passpartout and a round black frame. Each print is entirely printed in Ital...

Original art work. Hand painted, oil on canvas with thin wood frame. The art + design continuum of color theory, form, space and texture.

A plaster relief sculpture by Russian American artist George Aarons (1896-1980) depicts Moses with the Ten Commandments in a stylized, abstract form. The sculpture presents Moses wit...

Four panel wall sculpture. Hand formed ceramic pieces in unglazed white stoneware with cotton fringe. Hanging wire is included on each panel. Ships with a small comb for fringe and i...

This contemporary azulejo tile forms a mosaic perfect for kitchen decorations or any exterior space. Made with the Talavera technique. Artist, Cesar Torres portraits the colonial art of Mexico, but this time with a contemporary touch. This wall decoration can be arranged to fit specific spaces or simply hanged as a painting on the wall. The Talavera is not just a simple painted ceramic: its exquisite decoration is the product of a delicate process of alchemy that translates into fine enamels. In Puebla, Mexico few people still produce using Talavera with the ancestral techniques. One of those few is Cesar Torres, Don Cesar learned his art in the workshop of the Uriarte family, an excellent workshop where his grandfather worked. In his creations he uses the black and white mud that is obtained from the nearby hills of Loreto and Guadalupe, and colors of mineral origin that he creates in his workshop with recipes from his grandfather. All the pieces are modeled in a traditional way and go through a production process that usually takes from one to two months, between drying, burning, and painting. Being surrounded by a living tradition, Cesar Torres Jr., learned from his father since childhood. Architect by profession, Cesar Jr. has come to revolutionize and modernize with new designs and ideas of the current world, nevertheless always respecting the tradition of the processes and materials that make Talavera a Creole art...

Lofty antique Italian bisected seashell arrangement ambitiously composed in a floral motif. Presented under a convex lens in a distressed ceramic round frame.

A stylish and unusual Austrian/Czech attributed Art Deco pottery face wall mask of a lady attributed to Walter Bosse in the manner of Wiener Werkstätte dating from around 1930. The m...

MICHAEL ROBERTS (1947-2023) PLEASE NOTE: This photograph is a one of a kind original photograph. Every photograph in the show was available to purchase, and only one of each was printed. This large black and white hand printed silver gelatin photograph of "Michel Nude" by the legendary fashion icon, Michael Roberts, London. This image was part of a Michael Roberts show in 1989 at Hamilton's gallery, London. Signed on back. Black metal simple frame. Image: 15" x 19", framed: 22' x 26". This image is one of two that were in the gallery show in London. The images from the show were very rare and now highly sought after and collected after Mr. Robert's death but there are NONE available to purchase. These two images were purchased from that Exhibit from Hamiltons. The second one, "Nude of Michel" is available on separate listing. We hope they are purchased together as they were hung next to each other in the exhibit. MICHAEL ROBERTS: The preferred medium of the fashion journalist Michael Roberts was Canson art paper, which he scissored freehand into crisp-cut collages, or snipped into minute dots to reassemble into mosaics, for magazine covers or book illustrations. His art, bit by bit putting it together, reflected his life in fashion. He wrote about it, commissioned unexpected others to do so, photographed for media and ads, and charmed cranky legendary lensmen into snapping for him. He could source the clothes, choose the crazy locale, stage the shoot’s story, and write a witty critique of the enterprise. He was also always the most elegant person involved, effortlessly cool. Roberts, who has died aged 75, never bothered with a résumé, since every new role or venture seemed to just develop, but they totted up to a serious career. He was a writer on the Sunday Times in the 1970s, when new couture catwalk drama and heightened designer celebrity demanded a fashion voice that was both theatre critic and gossip columnist. Then from 1979 he was art and style director of Tatler magazine, when the editor, Tina Brown...

Italian Gilt Tole Wall Sconces, A Pair Originally these Italian wall sconces were electrified and can be rewired if requested. This set is impre...

The elegant balletic movement of a seal (vitulus in Latin), darting through the waves was the initial spark for this sculptural floating shelf. I was looking to make a piece that mar...

A late 19th Century hand painted mature portrait in a bone and Bronze frame with velvet backing and bronze twig like stand. An impeccable piece and lovely on the desk or shelf. A w...

This is an early 20th century pencil drawing of a classical bust. This drawing is presented in a hand carved vintage French cocoa inspired frame. This pencil drawing is an artist stu...

Antique arts and crafts hand carved small wall cabinet wood brass 1900s Gorgeous antique wall cabinet from the 1900s. Gorgeous lines in solid oak...

An Art Deco period Corpus Christi cross. The Jesus figurine is made of gilt spelter. The cross is made of solid rosewood with unpolished brass inlays at the ends. In good condition. ...

Isabella Rossellini raises the most interesting assortment of Heritage Chickens on her farm on Long Island NY and is called. The farm. The above image is one of the many images you ...

Scandinavian Swedish 1960s Wall Hanging Crewel Tapestry Picture Wall Art A very well executed hand produced Swedish crewel needlework, wood and silk th...

Royal House Antiques Royal House Antiques is delighted to offer for sale this stunning medium sized display case which houses large vintage Taxidermy Butterfly's Please note the d...

Pierre Molinier Photographic Print, Erotic Print, Surrealist Print, Erotic Art, Fetish Art. Framed Artist Proof Vintage Silver Print by Pierre Molinier fro...

Official Gold Record Award France Johnny Halliday Story Palais des Sports 1976. Gold Record Award - Official Disque d'Or France Johnny Hallyday "Disque...

True Arts & Crafts two-tone geometric pair of stained glass windows. Subtle workmanship which exudes simplified elegance. In very good or...

A Very Large and Exceptionally Fine Quality Antique Italian Micro-Mosaic Plaque Depicting "The Saint Peter Square" in Rome. The center medallion surrounded by a beautiful Laurel Wreath in multiple shades of Green Mosaic amidst a black Belgium Marble border. The interior rounded subject depicts Saint Peter Square which is found in Rome, Italy. The entire center panel is made up of a captivating array of tesserae in a variety of shapes and colors, which create this stunning mosaic construct. When inspected from up-close, small rectangular tesserae are found in an assortment of colors, which include: white, green, blue, red, black, brown, orange etc. When the subject is seen from afar, a fantastic image of the entire Saint Peter Square can be viewed as if a painting has been created. The oil on canvas of this scene, by was sold in Christie's Auction for over $2,000,000 USD. The plaque rests in a custom ebonized and gilt square frame. This can be used as a decorative object on the wall to serve as a painting, or, be converted to a table-top by mounting it on a table stand. Rome, Circa: 1850 Giovanni Paolo Panini (Piacenza 1691-1765 Rome), View of Saint Peter's Square, Rome. From Christie's Auction: Giovanni Paolo Panini arrived in Rome in 1711, painting capricci and architectural pieces in a vigorous if slightly eccentric style, and by 1719, when he was admitted to the Academy of St. Luke and the virtuosi al Pantheon, he was a rising star in the Roman art world. From around 1719-1726 he was much in demand for decorative frescoes, including quadratura, ornament and landscape and other genres, often in collaboration with figure or flower painters. During this period he worked for Cardinal Patrizi at Villa Patrizi, Cardinal Annibale Albani at Palazzo Albani (now del Drago) alle Quattro Fontane, Livio de Carolis at Palazzo de Carolis, Cardinal Alberoni at Palazzo Alberoni, Innocent XIII Conti in the Quirinal and in the library of S. Croce in Gerusalemme. In 1724 he married Caterina Gosset, the sister-in-law of Nicolas Vleughels, the director of the French Academy in Rome, to which he was admitted in 1732, and as a result he was much patronized by the French. During the 1720s he developed his figure style away from the awkwardness of his early works into one that concentrated on groups of stylishly-dressed aristocrats and skillfully modelled bystanders, sibyls and pseudo-antique figures. These he noted down in drawings (such as a sketchbook in the British Museum) that he drew upon to populate his paintings. He also began to receive commissions to design and record temporary festivals, often for French ambassadors to Rome. By the beginning of the 1730s Panini was developing a distinctive subgenre of the capriccio in which recognizable monuments are placed in imaginary topographical relationships, which were well-received in the classicizing era of Clement XII Corsini. In 1732 he was one of the panel of judges for the competition instituted by Clement for the Lateran façade, and in the following year painted an impressive View of Piazza del Quirinale for the pope. At about this time he was developing his best-known topographical subjects, interior views of St Peter's and the Pantheon, which were much in demand, to judge by the number of extant versions extending into the 1750s. By about 1734 he was beginning to attract the attention of English patrons, who ordered sets of Roman views, such as those at Marble Hill House (1738) and Castle Howard. In 1736, through Filippo Juvarra, he received important commissions from Philip V of Spain for scenes of the life of Christ in the Chinoiserie room at La Granja in Spain (1736). From as early as the 1720s he had been producing some vedute (view-paintings), initially based on prototypes by Gaspar van Wittel, and he developed the genre in subsequent decades in works that would include impressive panoramic views of the Forum or Palatine, although his staple genre was the capriccio rather than the veduta. He also expanded his repertory of church interiors, adding such churches as S. Paolo fuori le Mura and S. Agnese in Piazza Navona, as well as church interiors recording special events. His son by his first marriage, Giuseppe (1718-1805), began to support him in architectural and festival design projects. By the 1740s Panini was at the peak of his powers, and evidently had a considerable workshop helping him meet demand, especially of capricci to be used as overdoors and other decorative installations. Giovanni Paolo was successful in elevating himself socially above the usual artisanal status of genre painters, and would sometimes include a self-portrait in paintings commissioned by the great and powerful. He also appears to have been successful financially, and owned a substantial palazzo in via Monserrato. He increasingly concentrated on important commissions, such as a view of the Lottery in Piazza Montecitorio (London, National Gallery, 1743-1744), the designs for the festival decorations for the birth of the Dauphin in Palazzo Farnese (Waddesdon Manor, 1751), or the view of an imaginary picture gallery housing the collection of Cardinal Valenti Gonzaga (Wadsworth Atheneum, 1749). In the mid-1750s he received an important series of commissions from the Duc de Choiseul, French ambassador to Rome and soon to become one of the most powerful men in France, that included his best-known compositions, Ancient Rome (Roma Antica) and Modern Rome (Roma Moderna). These large paintings, of which there are three sets (in Boston and Stuttgart, the Metropolitan Museum, and the Louvre) represent imaginary picture galleries based on the Valenti Gonzaga composition but hung with what purport to be Panini's own vedute of ancient and modern sites respectively (with corresponding pieces of sculpture). These paintings sum up the eighteenth-century canon of the greatest works of architecture and sculpture, and the equivalence between modern and ancient Rome. By this time Panini was being assisted by his son by his second marriage, Francesco (1748-1800), who was a skilled draughtsman and painter who continued his father's work after his death in 1765. The Farnborough Hall paintings The Piazza S. Pietro and the Campidoglio are important vedute by Panini painted in 1750 and originally installed, with other works by Panini and Canaletto, in the seat of the Holbech family, Farnborough Hall, Warwickshire (National Trust). Farnborough Hall had been inherited in 1717 by William Holbech (circa 1699-1771), who is documented on the Grand Tour in Florence, Rome and Venice from late 1732 until his return home at the end of April 1734 with his brother Hugh. Holbech is said to have gone on the Grand Tour to recover from a broken heart and to have spent a considerable time there prior to these documented appearances. During his time in Rome he acquired two Paninis, which were seen by an anonymous antiquary around 1746, who referred to various sculptures "all brought from Rome with two pictures, one of the Rotunda, and the other of diverse buildings by Panino" (British Library, Add. MS 6230, pp. 31-32). The Rotunda (the Pantheon) is a painting now in a private collection in New York, and is signed and dated 1734. The Diverse Buildings, which was probably one of Panini's capricci, has not been identified. On his Grand Tour Holbech seems also to have acquired two Canalettos, although they are not mentioned by the antiquary, who may only have had eyes for things Roman. In about 1746-1747, Holbech remodelled the house by creating a Saloon, now the dining room, at the back of the house. This room, the entrance hall, the staircase, library and closet were stuccoed by William Perritt of York, and a bill for this work dated 14 November 1750 survives (or survived until recently; G. Beard, Decorative Plasterwork in Great Britain, London, 1975, p. 233). The two Canalettos acquired on the Grand Tour were installed in the Saloon, together with two new works commissioned from Canaletto, who was then in England and working nearby at Warwick Castle in 1748. The two Paninis acquired on the Grand Tour may have been installed in the Library, as Alastair Laing assumes (op. cit.), while three new works commissioned from Panini in Rome were placed in the Hall and Saloon: the Piazza S. Pietro for the overmantel in the Hall (fig. 1), the Campidoglio as the overmantel in the Saloon (fig. 2), and an Interior of St Peter's (now in Detroit) (fig. 3) on the adjacent wall facing the windows. Two of the Canalettos flanked the Campidoglio, while the others were on the opposite wall. The Interior of St Peter's was therefore effectively the fifth member of the Canaletto set, distinct from the two overmantels. Holbech's installation of his Canalettos and Paninis in fixed stucco frames was unusual for England in 1750, and had probably been inspired by what he had seen on his Grand Tour in Northern Italy, where fixed stucco installations of canvases were common in the 1720s and 1730s (Cornforth, II, p. 51). The Campidoglio and the Interior of St Peter's are both signed and dated 1750, a date that corresponds to the payments for the stucco. The commission for the new Paninis would have been made through an agent, possibly the Roman dealer in antiquities Belisario Amidei from whom some of the antique busts in the Hall were acquired in 1745, who was also a picture dealer; or perhaps the painter Pietro Berton, who on 7 December 1750 shipped a Panini to England. The paintings were sold to Savile Gallery in 1929 and replaced by copies by one Mohammed Ayoub. The four Canalettos were exhibited at Savile Gallery in 1930 and entered the London art trade, finding their way at various times to Augsburg, Melbourne, Ottawa and a private collection. The Paninis seem to have been resold immediately to Knoedler & Co. in New York. When the stucco was removed from the library by Holbech's great-grandson, another William Holbech, shortly after his succession in 1812, the Interior of the Pantheon and the Diverse Buildings may have been taken down. Although there is no record of either painting being at Farnborough subsequently, the Interior of the Pantheon at least must have remained there, since it appeared at Knoedler's in 1930 at about the same time as the other Paninis, and was presumably acquired at the same time from the same source. The Campidoglio was a rare subject for Panini: this is the only known extant version, apart from fictive versions in the Metropolitan Museum (1757) (figs. 4) and Louvre (1759) versions of his Roma Moderna composition (but not in the first Boston version of 1757). Probably Holbech insisted on the choice of subject in order to represent the centre of Rome's civic administration to complement the religious one of St Peter's. The Campidoglio may have been of interest to English patrons because it represented the seat of a form of government they were more comfortable with than the papacy. For example, Canaletto painted the subject, together with English subjects, for Thomas Hollis, 'the most bigoted of all Republicans' in 1755, who may have wanted to 'represent London as the heir to the legacy of Ancient Rome and Renaissance Italy' (see Michael Liversidge and Jane Farrington, eds., Canaletto and England, exhibition catalogue, Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, London, 1993, p. 25). Canaletto also painted the subject for Sir Richard Neave, Ist Baronet (1731-1814) of Dagnam Park, Essex, at the end of his English stay or shortly afterwards (i.e. 1755-1766) (sold, Sotheby's, London, 10 July 2002, lot 8). Like Holbech, Neave mixed Venetian and Roman subjects, but his Roman subjects steer clear of St Peter's: the others were the Piazza del Quirinale and Piazza Navona. While Holbech had gone to both Venice and Rome and commissioned views of both cities, Rome sets the keynote for his decoration: antique busts line the Hall, and its religious and civic centres are the overmantels in the Hall and Saloon respectively. The Piazza S. Pietro The Piazza S. Pietro shows the piazza much as it appears today, apart from the absence of Valadier's late eighteenth-century clocks on the towers. Bernini's colonnade (1656-1667), both ends of which are visible, reaches out its arms to embrace the viewer. In the center of the piazza is the obelisk moved by Sixtus V in 1586 from the left side of the church where it had formed part of the Circus of Nero. On either side are two fountains, the one on the right by Carlo Maderno (1613) and the one on the left created to match it by Carlo Fontana in 1677. Beyond is the rectangular forecourt to the church, the piazza retta, leading to the façade by Maderno, completed in 1610, and the dome by Michelangelo, Giacomo della Porta and Domenico Fontana. To the right of the façade the roof of the Sistine Chapel is just visible, followed by the Cortile di S. Damaso, the palace of the Swiss Guards and the palace of Paul V. A Cardinal is being driven in a carriage across the piazza at the right in the direction of the Borgo Nuovo and Ponte S. Angelo with his blue-liveried retinue and subsidiary carriages. Unlike the later versions of the subject that depict the Duke de Choiseul, there seems to be no intent to portray any particular cardinal: the procession of a cardinal here is presented simply as characteristic activity within the piazza. Various groups of figures, including well-dressed women in brightly colored dresses, Swiss Guards, priests, gentlemen, idlers and a pilgrim are distributed around the piazza. In the foreground an imaginary heap of fallen masonry provides visual interest in an otherwise dead space. Panini painted the Piazza S. Pietro on a number of occasions, and his works falls into two types, one with the viewpoint shifted slightly to left of the axis, as in the Farnborough Hall version, and one with it shifted slightly to the right. The first type is based on a composition by Gaspar van Wittel, of which there are numerous versions from 1684 until 1721 (Fig. 9 van Wittel). The work by Panini that seems closest to Van Wittel and therefore probably the earliest is the version in the Circolo della Caccia, Rome, which has been dated to the second half of the 1730s, but is probably a decade or so earlier. Another, on the London art market in 2002-2009, and a version with workshop participation at Sotheby's, Milan (20 November 2007, lot 137) and currently on the art market in Rome, are closer to an important painting in Toledo (Arisi no. 308) that is signed and dated 1741 (fig. 6). Van Wittel employed a wide format (about 2:1), showed both of the end faces of the colonnade almost to their full extent, and introduced the theme of a heap of masonry to enliven the foreground. His choice of perspective implies a viewpoint located in the small piazza between the Borgo Nuovo and Borgo Vecchio, now the Piazza Pio XII at the top of the Via della Conciliazione. From this viewpoint a building at the left tended to interfere with the view of the end of the left arm, as can be seen from the Nolli map...

The Brut ​collection takes cues from Brutalism and Amsterdam School architecture. A balance of raw materiality and subdued forms with geometrically expressive detailing. Designed b...

This incredible hand crafted Italian (Venetian ) 17th- 18th century Wall Hanging /Valance originated from a gorgeous Palazzo in Venice with i...

Fantastic pair of 19th century Japanese late Edo/early Meiji period six-panel screens titled The seven sages of the bamboo grove. The Kano school screens...

Painted canvas with selenite sunrays and a chalcedony rosette center. The selenite sunray detail is created using selenite -- single, prismatic crystals from Morocco that were forme...