Old Master Paintings

Historical department of the auction house, rich in history and tradition, the field dedicated to Old Master Paintings has become in the years a stable reference point in the market.

The period of reference looks at the rich Italian and European artistic panorama between the 14th and the 18th century, and entails the study of works by renowned masters and important regional schools. The regard and trust gained in time are the outcome of the authority of the experts and their ability of making use also of the advice of professionals in the field.

To win the leadership of the ranking's sales of the last Furniture and Old Master Paintings auction is Jacques Sablet with the Portrait of Giuseppe Cristiano, Count of Salmour (lot 426, sold € 237,500).

To achieve remarkable results has been also the 17th century nucleus of Genoese paintings, with the two oils on canvas by the Genoese master of the late 17th century (lot 422, sold € 43,750 - lot 421, sold € 27,500) and Simone Barabino with the Martyrdom of San Lorenzo (lot 419, sold € 27,500).

Always among the best sales, there are two Venetian School architectural Capricci (lot 747, sold € 37,500), Domenico Pecchio with the pair of River Landscapes (lot 403, sold € 30,000).

The heart of the catalogue is also Old Master Painting, which is transformed into an ideal close encounter with great Italian and international masters, starting with religious subjects painted at the turn of the 15th to 16th century and ending with the romantic settings typical of the late 18th century. 

It is difficult not to be enraptured by the brightness of the panel painting on a gold background by a German Master from the end of the 15th century, with its original iconography of Nordic taste depicting the “Visitation” (lot 145, € 9,000 - 10,000) and not to be enraptured by the tenderness of the “Madonna and Child with St. John” by the Florentine Santi di Tito (lot 153, € 35,000 - 40,000).

In the section on late 17th century painting, Alessandro Gherardini's powerful and majestic “Parnaso” (lot 148, € 10,000 - 12,000) stands out. In its swirling motion of figures and brilliant chromatism, this work confirms itself as the “true heir of Luca Giordano in Florence”.

Fascinating and curious testimony of the customs of the time, late Baroque portraiture offers two excellent works by the most sought-after portrait painter in 17th century Rome, Jacob-Ferdinand Voet, both belonging to the “Belle Series” of the Odescalchi Collection, which immortalise respectively “Clelia Cesarini Colonna” (lot 150, € 9,000 - 10,000) and “Ortensia Mancini” (lot 151, € 9,000 - 10,000).

In the section dedicated to the eighteenth century, starting from Emilia, the perspective virtuosity of the two “Capricci architettonici” by the “Mirandolese” (lots 113-114, € 7,500 - 8,000) and the archaizing classicism typical of the views by the Bolognese Francesco L'Ange present with the work “Frati certosini in un paesaggio” (lot 119, € 4,500 - 5,000).

Crossing national borders, the 18th century proposal culminates in the romantic depiction of Roman ruins that characterises the vibrant “Landscape with Washerwomen by a Bridge” by Hubert Robert (lot 155, € 35,000 - 40,000), acknowledged as a master of the genre to such an extent that he earned the nickname “Robert de ruines”.