Ancient Sculpture King Victor Emmanuel II '900 Bronze Objects - Italy XX Century

The Nine Muses

Tapestry. The word Euterp appears at the bottom right. The enormous grass juice depicts the nine Muses, female Greek divinities, all sisters, as daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, and having the god Apollo as their guide. They represented the supreme ideal of Art, understood as the truth of the "Everything" or the "eternal magnificence of the divine". Initially considered in a generic way as divinities of song and joyous dances, responsible for putting into music and verse stories such as the origin of the world, the birth of gods and men, the exploits of Zeus, and often depicted accompanied by various musical instruments, starting from the Hellenistic era, all singing and musical expressions were associated with them, including sad and funeral ones, and other arts such as theatre, and each of them was associated with a specific genre of art, so that they could be invoked individually to exercise their inspiration and protection. The word "Euterp"refers to the name of one of them, Euterpe, muse of lyric poetry and music, traditionally depicted with a flute; but the name Euterpe etymologically means "She who cheers" who brings joy, and one can therefore think that the choice of this name to title the tapestry refers to the most ancient function of the Muses, those of bringers of joy through art. In this presentation, the muses appear dancing, dressed in veils and flowering branches; in their hands or placed next to them, instruments or other objects symbolizing the art that they inspire appear (both tragic and comic theatrical masks, the pictorial palette, various musical instruments...). The large painting has signs of wear and humidity stains.

Embroidery on cotton fabric. Japan, Meiji period (1868 -1912). The large panel in embroidered cotton fabric offers a naturalistic subject: eagles and other birds are depicted among stylized mountains, and pine and wisteria branches. The embroidery is presented in style frame.

Portraits of Children, 1930

Photographs retouched with pastels. Signed bottom right. On the back of three of them is the date 11 November 1930. A photographic sequence of the portrait of three children is shown, who slightly change their pose or expression. They are the work of the British photographer Eva Barrett who, after an initial experience as a painter, decided to dedicate herself to photography, thinking that "it was better to be a first-rate photographer than a second-rate [painter]. Having moved to Rome in 1913, she established her laboratory here. Pictorialist, with a small camera, Eva Barrett created her own photographic method that was reminiscent of drawing sketches: she applied a few very light pencil strokes, managing to create subdued images but with particularly dense blacks, thus maintaining the characteristics of photography and portraits. In this way he was very successful and his career took off. Eva Barrett photographed the Italian royal family, the wives and children of foreign ambassadors, as well as received numerous commissions from European royalty in Belgium, Sweden, Greece. The four portraits are presented in style frames.

Still Life with Game

Oil painting on canvas. Signed lower right. On the back, gallery cartouche with the data of the work. Alfio Paolo Graziani chose the faithful transposition of reality onto his canvases, creating almost hyper-realistic compositions due to the precision in reproducing the various materials and surfaces, as well as the effects of the light incident on them. Nicknamed "Prince of Flowers" for the abundant production of floral compositions, he also created landscapes, portraits and still lifes, such as the work presented here, which presents a hunter's corner, where the hunted prey is added, scattered disorderly on a support surface, the remains of the hunting trip (the rifle, the horn, some shells, the remains of some provisions). The work is presented in a contemporary frame.

Oil painting on canvas. At the bottom left there is an unidentified signature. Large composition of variegated flowers, placed outdoors on bare, deserted ground. The colors of the flowers are applied with a certain material consistency, making them stand out and emerge from the almost monochromatic background. The painting has some dirt splashes in the lower left corner. It is presented in a contemporary frame.

Crayons on cardboard. Signed Rossi lower left. Melancholic and ethereal portrait of a young woman, with a serious expression and lost in her thoughts, despite her elegant and graceful party dress. The work is presented in a contemporary frame.

Oil painting on canvas. Signed Bertolotti lower right. It offers a glimpse of a forest, with sparse, tall plants and an undergrowth full of rocks covered by a green lawn; through the trees, a gash opens up in the center, flooded with light, framing rugged mountain peaks. The painting, with a strong scenographic impact, is presented in a contemporary frame.

Man with Dog, 1962

Lithograph, numbered bottom left N.138/170, signed bottom right. Pisan painter and engraver, he achieved national recognition only when he became professor of engraving at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence in 1948, under the chair of Giovanni Fattori. Viviani was able to transfer his personal vision of the world into his engravings, through images that drew on the life of the Pisan coast, the land he loved and where he lived, dedicating himself to his other great passion, hunting. Presented in a plexiglass frame.

Oil painting on canvas. The composition looks at the productions of the 17th century and offers a table richly laden with fruit trays, baskets of cherries, baskets with peaches and bunches of grapes with decorative vine leaves, terrines with seeds, and glasses, surmounted by a curtain and placed on a fabric. Color was used in a highly material manner in some points, to underline for example the stems of grape leaves, or to create reflections of light on the fruit. The painting presented in a style frame.

Thomas's disbelief

Lead glass, with hand painted polychrome glass. The scene from the Gospel is depicted in which Saint Thomas, after having doubted his Resurrection announced by the other disciples, recognizes Jesus who appears to him and asks him to touch his wounds on the Cross with his hand. The work has some slight breaks and some original glasses are missing, which have been replaced. It is mounted in a recent frame.

Trees in the Snow, 1978

Oil painting on canvas. Signed and dated lower right. The painting, coming from a private collection in Pavia, is published on page 73 of Simona Morani's monograph dedicated to the artist Primo Carena (Bolis editions), with the presentation signed by the art critic Rossana Bossaglia. The lake landscape well expresses the subdued intimacy associated with the rigorous realism that characterize the pictorial production of the painter from Pavia. In his landscapes Carena tends "to capture the atmospheric reality of the places without indulging in descriptivism... but constantly supported by a lyrical vein, which is the underlying motif of all his production". The work is presented in a style frame. It is published on page 75 of Simona Morani's monograph dedicated to the artist Primo Carena (Bolis editions), with the presentation signed by the art critic Rossana Bossaglia. The landscape well expresses the subdued intimacy associated with the rigorous realism that characterize the pictorial production of the painter from Pavia. In his landscapes Carena tends "to capture the atmospheric reality of the places without indulging in descriptivism... but constantly supported by a lyrical vein, which is the underlying motif of all his production". The work is presented in a period frame.

Controluce collinare, 1960

Oil on cardboard. Signed and dated lower right. The painting, coming from a private collection in Pavia, is published on page 70 of Simona Morani's monograph dedicated to the artist Primo Carena (Bolis editions), with the presentation signed by the art critic Rossana Bossaglia. On the back there is a stamp of participation of the work in the artist's personal exhibition at the Castello Visconteo in Pavia in 1992. The landscape, a stretch of countryside with a backdrop of hills, well expresses the subdued intimacy associated with the rigorous realism that characterizes the production painting by the painter from Pavia. In his landscapes Carena tends "to capture the atmospheric reality of the places without indulging in descriptivism... but constantly supported by a lyrical vein, which is the underlying motif of all his production". The work is presented in a period frame.