Genoa, at Castle Mackenzie the important Old Masters auction with more than 130 artists from the 14th to the 18th century

In Castello Mackenzie, the Genoese headquarters of Cambi Casa d’Aste, the important Old Masters auction will be held on Thursday, June 13, 2024 at 4 p.m., involving works by Italian and international masters from the 14th century, 15th century, Renaissance, Baroque, to the late 18th century. More than 130 artists and nearly 160 lots, including landscapes, still lifes, genre scenes, religious subjects and portraits, selected by the Department of Old Master Paintings and Drawings, directed by Gianni Minozzi.

Absolute top lot in the catalog is the tempera on panel with gold background Saint John the Evangelist by Spinello di Luca Spinelli, better known as Spinello Aretino (1350 - 1410), estimated between 60,000 and 80,000 euros. A key figure in the spread of the late Gothic style in late 14th- and early 15th-century Tuscany, the work dates from the artist’s first Florentine sojourn, during which he also created the frescoes with stories from the life of St. Benedict (1388) in the sacristy of San Miniato al Monte. This panel, depicting St. John the Evangelist in a sweet and almost somewhat melancholy attitude, juxtaposed with the refined color choice of iridescent pinks and greens for the saint’s robes, well testifies to the new elegance proposed by Spinello in the late 1380s. Also among the highly prized works is the Madonna and Child with St. John between Saints Zacharias and Catherine of Siena by Vincenzo Catena (Venice, 1480 - 1531), estimated at between 20,000 and 30,000 euros. The work takes up a composition typical of artistic production in the Veneto area in the second half of the 15th century: a sacred conversation set outdoors, in which the figures of the Madonna and saints, depicted in half-length, stand monumental under a blue sky. This prototype of Bellini’s matrix is later taken up and reinterpreted by Vincenzo Catena, the painting’s author, who replicates it several times, placing at the center of the composition the Virgin and Child in silent dialogue with St. John, St. Zacharias and a saint, identified as Catherine of Siena because of her royalty and rich robe.

Also among the Top Lots were Susanna and the Old Men by Venetian artist Nicola Grassi (1682 - 1748), estimated between 40,000 and 50,000 euros, the Expulsion of the Merchants from the Temple by Luca Giordano (1634 - 1705), one of the leading exponents of seventeenth-century Neapolitan painting, estimated between 40.000 to 60,000 euros, Andromeda freed by Perseus, an oil on canvas by Genoese artist Gioacchino Assereto (1600 - 1649) estimated between 50,000 and 60,000 euros, and Landscape with herds by Paulus Potter (1625 - 1654) estimated between 30,000 and 40,000 euros.

Also featured in the auction are other important international artists, such as Flemish landscape painters Paul Brill (1554 - 1626), Jan Frans van Bloemen called The Horizon (1662 - 1749), Pieter Mulier called the Storm (1637 - 1701), or Swiss painter Angelika Kauffmann (1741 - 1807), who specialized in portraits and historical landscapes, whose painting Woman with a Wreath of Flowers and Canary is in the catalog. Also, a portrait of Enrichetta d’Este by the Venetian portraitist and miniaturist Rosalba Carriera (1673 - 1757), a Natura Morta by Orsola Maddalena Caccia (1596 - 1686), a religious woman and artist who was among the few artists of the Italian seventeenth century, and the Triumph of David with the Head of Goliath by the Venetian Giulia Lama (1681 - 1747).

Beginning at 2 p.m. then on the same day on Thursday, June 13, the Antique Drawings catalog will also go on auction: 132 lots featuring artists such as Francesco Salviati, Guercino, Domenico Beccafumi, Federico Zuccari, Canaletto and Guardi. These include the watercolor on parchment Vanitas with books by Jean François de La Motte (estimate 8,000 to 12,000 euros). In his trompe-l’oeil Jean-François De Le Motte depicts with precision and realism many kinds of subjects and objects such as papers, sheets, letters, tickets, books, drawings paintings and engravings. Very often he evokes the shelves of a painter’s workshop with palette and hand rest, brushes and agglutinators, containers for mixing colors, glasses and canvases, scissors and frames. Cross-references from one canvas to another are frequent and characteristic of the genre as are the quotations and references to other painters.

Also up for auction is a rare tarot card by Bonifacio Bembo, depicting La Giustizia (Justice), made on tempera parchment and punch-worked gold (estimate 10,000 to 15,000 euros).

All info can be found at www.cambiaste.com, where you can follow the auctions live streaming and actively participate by buying in real time. Auction display: Friday, June 7 to Monday, June 10, 2024 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Genoa, at Castle Mackenzie the important Old Masters auction with more than 130 artists from the 14th to the 18th century

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.