The present sculpture depicts the Virgin Mary while receiving the words of Archangel Gabriel, with her hands in prayer and kneeling in front of an elegant pulpit with molded profiles. While reading the sacred text, she turns her gaze downwards with an elegant bowing of her head in sign of subdued acceptance of the miracle. …
This monumental and refined bronze mortar, flared in shape, has a foot adorned with a twisted cord. The body, decorated at the bottom with large acanthus leaves, is embellished, about halfway up, by a double twisted cord; at the same height, in diametrical position, two beautiful heads of young boy facing downwards protrude from both …
Very high quality of ironworking is the distinctive feature of this elegant sealing press. Over an oval plate with moulded rim is fixed a frame consisting of a curved arm, ending with a polylobed element with vertical passing screw crowned in the upper part with a moulded cap, and two small quadrangular driving bars. The …
This impressive head depicts a bearded man caught in a moment of powerful dramatic expression. The head swerve, the gaze turned suddenly upwards, the contraction of the forehead, his corrugated eyebrows and the small mouth with fleshy lips, describe effectively the intense emotion of the character. The sculptor lingered in the detailed rendering of the …
This gorgeous pair of frames fully represents the triumph of Baroque iron. The frames are entirely made of embossed iron (repoussé): a particularly complex technique and a French prerogative that was brought back to excellent levels precisely during the Baroque era. The embossed iron is obtained from a foil and this implies (in fact, obtaining …
A wide and deep frame encloses the figure of the Child Jesus placed in a landscape at sunset. The Redeemer is represented as a naked little boy, resting on his side, with the right hand on his chest, the eyes looking upwards, and his mouth half open. The scene is rich in meaningful details: Jesus …
The quality of this nice pair of bronze doorknockers with dark patina is mainly due to their formal richness: a lyre-shaped body with arms adorned by foliages and vegetal scrolls among which – in the centre and in correspondence of the knocking element – appears the mask of a satyr with goat horns. Leonine and …
At first sight, this refined and curious object might look like a pistol but it is in fact a remarkable example of a mechanical tinder lighter designed for domestic use or, more precisely, a tinder-pistol. The piece examined here just looks like a small pistol, with an elegantly shaped walnut wood body on which different …
With the catalogue “Painting and goldworking in conversation. A Rare Fourteenth Century Sienese Casket“, the Alessandro Cesati gallery continued in 2019 a series of publications intended to significantly document important works of art, this time focusing on an extraordinary mid-fourteenth-century Sienese casket. The great importance of the piece led to the publication of a special …
Painting and goldworking in conversation. A Rare Fourteenth Century Sienese Casket Read More »
This rare coat of arms of a Cardinal, carved in low relief, painted and gilded, is the heraldic shield of Don Luis Manuel Fernandez de Portocarrero Bocanegra y Moscoso-Osorio (1635 -1709), a prominent figure in the history of Spain and then also in that of Sicily. Shields like this were located in representative places and …