MILAN.- 82 lots devoted to Old Master works on sale at Sotheby’s Milan on 16th November 2010.

The selection shows among first lots a big oil on canvas of the Florentine painter Matteo Rosselli which figures the Sacrificio di Isacco.

Rosselli during his youth was the right hand of the Tuscan Gregorio Pagani, of the Mannerism School; the painting is estimated 80/120.000 euro.

Cristo davanti a Pilato is the subject of the work by Leonello Spada, the artist from Bologna had spent sometime in Rome where he was strongly influenced by Caravaggio’s style.

Leonello possibly knew him in Naples just before the death of Merisi. Having returned to Emilia Romagna, Leonello became one of the favourite painter of Alessandro d’Este and Ranuccio I Farnese. He was also protected by Maffeo Barberini, future Pope Urbano VIII. The canvas is estimated in the catalogue 80/120.000 euro.

The painting Paesaggio con casolare, cascata d’acqua e figure by Salvator Rosa is signed on the botton right Rosa and has a value between 80/120.000 euro.

The painter arrived in Florence in 1640 on the invitation of Prince and future Cardinal Giovan Carlo de’ Medici, who in addition to the painting on sale came to own 16 works by Rosa.

Very similar to this paysage is the painting kept at the National Gallery in London and that one at the Kunst in Vienna.

The Luca Giordano’s Nozze di Cana dated 1680 ca has the same value as the paintings mentioned above. This subject which was dearly loved by the painter from Naples is the same as the one displayed at the Walpole Gallery in London.

Six lively views of Rome, six obligatory stops on the Grand Tour are the subject of the Roman School tempera valued 50/70.000 euro (for the 6).

Finally we mention the Capriccio by Giampaolo Panini, formerly in an English collection, which show the Arco di Costantino, the Colosseo, the Massenzio Basilica, the Antonino and Faustina temple, the Colonna Traiana and the Sant’Angelo bridge in a sort of fantastic composition painted by the artist with his best archaeological taste. The oil on canvas estimated 100/150.000 euro comes from his most mature period middle of 16th Century.

The 19th Century paintings published in this November Milan catalogue features La Terrazza di Pirulin Pecunia, an oil on canvas by Telemaco Signorini created in 1893 (estimated 60/80.000 euro) and a Madonna col Bambino by Piccio, of the same age, exhibited in 1974 at Palazzo della Ragione in Bergamo. The estimate is 30/50.000 euro.

Balcone con vitigno by Angelo Morbelli, a perfect example of Pointillism painted in 1915 ca, when the artist stayed at Villa Carelli in Laveno, Maggiore Lake (est. 50/70.000 euro).

To be mentioned, in addition, Passeggiata nel parco by Plinio Nomellini, a Tuscan Pointillist painter who created this oil on canvas in 1920-30; it is estimated 120/180.000 euro.

Same value, same year of execution, but different technique and different ways of painting and subject for Grand Boulevard, Paris by Giuseppe Canella (est. 30/50.000 euro). Comes from Durand-Rouel Gallery in Paris and from the Sommaruga Collections in Paris and in Milan the ombrellino a pois by Federico Zandomeneghi, an oil on canvas 46x38 cm estimated 220/280.000 euro.

In the section dedicated to the Furniture stands out for its grandeur and historical importance the Flemish tapestry part of the Acts of Apostles series. The Guarigione dello Storpio (Brussels – 17th Century) created by Raffaello’s drawings which in the early 16th Century the Pope Leone X commissioned the designs for the first series of tapestries made for the Cappella Sistina in the Vatican.

The tapestry in the auction comes from the collection of prince Giulio Torlonia of Rome. It is part of a series of tapestries commissioned by the courts of Mantova, Madrid, Milano and Berlino to be manufactured in Brussels.

The catalogue price is estimated at 75/85.000 euro.

You may remember that for the visit of Pope Benedetto XVI in September this year, 4 tapestries from the Sistine Chapel, including even the Guarigione dello Storpio, were on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

There are two well-preserved group statues in bisquit porcelain which come from an important private collection in Naples belonging to the hardworking Angela Carola Perrotti. One represents Castore e Polluce (Est. 60/80.000 euro) and the other the kidnapping/abduction of Helen(of Troy)estimated 30/50.000 euro.They are both the work of Filippo Tagliolini for the Real Fabbrica in Naples.

Of the 70 important books from a private Italian collection, we could mention two magnificent Campi Phlegraei of William Hamilton, Naples, 1776/79 first edition.

Sir William Hamilton, British Minister at the Court of Naples, was a refined scholar, a
passionate collector of antiquities and a volcanologist.

When Sir William was 60 years old he married Emma Lyons who later became the lover of Horatio Nelson.

William Hamilton requested the painter Pietro Fabris to follow him and paint sketches during his ascents (over 20) of Vesuvius.

The result of the collaboration was the first edition of colourful plates published in 1776. The two lots, both first editions, are estimated at 60/80.000 euro and 40/50.000 euro.