Still Life Tempera on Canvas Korea XIX Century - Still Life

Oil on canvas. This is a traditional depiction of the event of Jesus' death on the Cross, with his mother Mary and the beloved disciple at the foot of the Cross, contemplating the dying Christ; in the background the city of Jerusalem. Very essential in its depiction, and static in the positions of the evangelical figures, the scene emphasises the drama with a sombre background, although a light opens up high above Christ to announce divine participation in the event. The painting, which has already been retouched, shows some minor colour fading.

Oil painting on canvas. The Holy Family is depicted with Mary and Joseph who, converging one hundredth with their heads close together, frame the Child Jesus, intent on playing with a lamb, the iconographic symbol of the sacrificial victim, therefore a prelude to the Passion, together with the small Cross that the child holds in one hand. The inscription anno 1845 appears at the top right, an indication of the period probably added during the subsequent restoration phase. In fact, the work has been restored and relined. It is presented in a stylish frame.

Mixed technique on paper, applied on cardboard. Italian school. The name of Londonio is proposed on the back: the delicate piece certainly recalls the subject and manner of the work of Francesco Londonio (1723-1783), the Milanese artist who specialized in the animal and pastoral genre. It can be considered a work inspired by Londonio, by an artist close to his field.

Oil painting on canvas. Italian school of the eighteenth century. Rich composition with basin full of variegated flowers, fruit bowl with peaches, a cut pumpkin and a goldfinch that picks grains from the bunch of grapes placed on the table. It is part of that vast production of composite still lifes which in the eighteenth century, deprived of any allegorical or symbolic meaning, was purely aimed at a decorative purpose; he took up multiple, composite, lively inanimate objects, often flanked by a living element, an animal like the goldfinch in this work, which maintained the link with life and everyday life. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a period frame.

Oil on wooden board. Signed lower right. These are three small paintings proposing landscape glimpses, made in the naturalistic style typical of Lorenzo Gignous: the two lateral ones, measuring 24 x 30 cm, propose the most recurring subject in the Lombard artist's production, i.e. glimpses of Lake Maggiore, animated by fishing boats; in the center a smaller landscape (18 x 25 cm) with a group of trees in the countryside. The three small paintings are presented in a single coeval frame.

Composed of woodblocked sheets, sewn together and partly colored, with matching figures and texts. The group consists of 23 booklets, of which two in three copies and one in four copies; another couple has the same cover but different contents. The booklets can be considered as "manga" of the nineteenth century: the word "manga" still today can designate many different productions, such as single cartoons, scattered drawings, more elaborate illustrations, comic strips, comic books, as well as animated drawings. Therefore, starting from the assumption that there is no "manga form" but different ways of conceiving objects and graphic forms all denominated with this word, the term manga can be attested in literary and essayistic use in Japan as early as the eighteenth century to indicate, as mentioned above, drawings and sketches. But it is from the first half of the nineteenth century that Katsushika Hokusai's 15 volumes of illustrations, studies, graphic entertainment and detailed bichromatic prints became established, thanks to the progressive publication, starting from 1814. If, on the other hand, we want to give the word the more specific meaning of “stories drawn in sequence”, then the debut must be placed in the second half of the nineteenth century, similarly to what happened in Europe and the United States for comics. The booklets are in good condition.

Pastoral Scenes

Oil on panel. Decorated with pastoral scenes on a monochromatic light green background, with couples, children, farmers depicted during moments of rest and conversation, in the guise of the models from the 18th century. Probably wooden panels from the doors of furniture, the paintings have been recently mounted on wooden frames. They present some paint losses and spots, especially where the background is.