Pelagio Palagi – Album with 32 Views of Rome and its Surroundings

          Pelagio Palagi (Bologna 1775-Turin 1860)  Album of 32 views of Rome and surroundings, taken from life with ideal reconstructions of ancient buildings  circa 1806  Album of 30 sheets, of which 29 drawn in pen and brown ink with traces of pencil, two also drawn on the back and one in pencil, 238 × 377 mm each  Provenance: England, private collection    The genre of drawing from life of Roman vedute boasts a centuries-long tradition among the artists of diverse…

Gaetano De Simone – Portrait of the Astronomer Giuseppe Cassella

Gaetano de Simone Naples 1747–circa 1822  Portrait of the astronomer Giuseppe Cassella (Cusano Mutri 1755-Naples 1808)  1789  Oil on canvas, 66 × 52 cm  Signed and dated on the back of the frame, top: “Gaetano De Simone 1789 Napoli”; lower left: “Gaetano De Simoni”  Provenance: Italy, private collection    Gaetano De Simone was rediscovered only recently as a protagonist of aristocratic Neapolitan…

Jacob More – View of the lake Nemi

Jacob More (Edinburgh 1740-Rome 1793) View of Lake Nemi, known as Speculum Dianae in ancient times circa 1780 Oil on canvas, 70.5 × 94.5 cm Old collection label on the frame: “N.5 Italian Landscape Jacob More” Provenance: Holland, private collection; Rome, private collection   “The finest painter of air since Claude” according to Joshua Reynolds,…

Luigi Simonetti – Pair of medallion portraits

Luigi Simonetti (known of from 1823 to 1871) Pair of medallion portraits circa 1835 Two roundels in terracotta, ⌀ 13.5 cm Both signed: “L. Simonetti F.” Provenance: Rome, private collection   Simonetti depicts the intense portraits of this young pair in silent dialogue in terracotta, employing a highly defined approach in the faces and brief…

Giuseppe Bossi – Symposium and figures studies

Giuseppe Bossi (Busto Arsizio 1777-Milan 1815) Scene of an ancient style symposium, with self-portrait in the centre (recto) Study of head and figures reclining at the banquet (verso) circa 1810 Pen and pencil on paper, 445 × 580 mm Rubber-stamped in the centre: “BOSSI” Provenance: Milan private collection   Depicting an ancient symposium that recalls…

Sacchi: saint

Bortolo Sacchi – Selfportrait as a Saint

Bortolo Sacchi (Venice 1892- Bassano 1978) Self-Portrait as a Saint 1920 c. Tempera on cardboard, 69 x 51 cm On the back, in a scroll glued to the frame: “Nihil nisi divinum” Bibliography: Dal Canton, Stringa 2000, p. 87, no.17 Exhibition: Bortolo Sacchi 1892-1978, Bassano, Palazzo Bonaguro, September – November 2000 Provenance: Veneto, private collection…