Oil on canvas, in a wood frame lacquered in faux marble.

Felice Boselli is among the leading Emilian exponents of still life and animal painting between the 17th and 18th centuries. Active mainly in Parma, where he worked for the Farnese court and for important noble patrons, he developed a dense, naturalistic pictorial language rooted in the Lombard and Emilian tradition of the genre.

The artist’s mature output is characterized by crowded compositions combining farmyard animals, game and rustic figures, rendered with a rich, textured brushwork and a warm, earthy palette. The rooster perched on the fence, painted with close attention to its plumage, and the group of sheep and goats gathered around the young shepherd are typical elements of Boselli’s animal repertoire from the early eighteenth century. The composition, arranged across two registers with poultry above and the grazing flock below, near the figure of the shepherd, finds close stylistic parallels in autograph works such as “Selvaggina con bambini che giocano con un cane” (Parma, Galleria Nazionale) and the pair “Vecchio e ragazza con cacciagione” (Collezione Marchese Meli Lupi di Soragna Tarasconi), both datable to 1708-1710, a period to which the present painting can also be assigned.

Condition report: Lined canvas. Good state of preservation of the pictorial surface, with signs of age and wear.

Oil on canvas, in a carved, lacquered and gilded wooden frame.

The composition is arranged on two superimposed planes: on the upper shelf, a blue majolica dish holds a cut watermelon flanked by flowers; at the centre stands a burnished copper basin; on the right, a pumpkin, dark grape clusters and peaches complete the scene. In the background, an architectural setting with columns and a twilight sky lends depth to the composition. The work belongs to the tradition of late 17th-century Neapolitan still life painting, characterised by warm tones, strong chiaroscuro contrasts and careful attention to surface textures.

Condition report: Relined canvas. Good state of conservation of the pictorial surface, with signs of ageing and wear.

Oil on canvas, in a carved wood frame.

The painting depicts a genre scene set in an interior, with a young fruit seller alongside a seated child. The composition is organized around an abundance of fruits arranged in the foreground — baskets of peaches, grapes, figs, sliced watermelon, and citrus fruits — whose chromatic richness recalls the still-life tradition of the Flemish and Lombard seventeenth century, here reinterpreted in the taste of eighteenth-century Italian painting. The female figure, animated in gesture and expression, and the child eating a piece of fruit introduce a popular narrative note characteristic of the genre painting of the period.

Condition report: Relined canvas. Good condition of the pictorial surface, with signs of oxidation and aging.

Oil on canvas, in a carved and gilded wooden frame.

The painting depicts the interior of a barrel-vaulted wine cellar, brought to life by three figures of workers engaged in the grape harvest: in the foreground, a young man in a white shirt holds a copper tub and, together with a second worker, supports a wooden pole with his shoulder; in the background, a third figure is busy near the large barrels. Copper vessels and a white ceramic jug are arranged on the surface of a small table on the left. The scene, rendered in a brown and earthy color palette, demonstrates a fair understanding of the lighting techniques found in Northern and Flemish genre painting, filtered through the 18th-century Italian tradition.

Condition report: Lined canvas. The painted surface is in good condition; some oxidation of the varnish is noted.

Oil on panel, in wooden frame.

Floral composition with a bouquet arranged in a vase decorated in relief with putti figures, set on a stone ledge. The botanical variety is wide — roses, tulips, dahlias — enlivened by butterflies and a bird’s nest with eggs in the foreground to the right. The arrangement draws on the Flemish and Dutch seventeenth-century still life tradition, reinterpreted in a nineteenth-century key. The painting bears the signature “Agricola” at the lower left.

Condition report: Good state of conservation of the pictorial surface, with signs of ageing and wear.

Oil on canvas, in carved and gilded wooden frame.

This still life reflects the enduring influence of Flemish and Lombard Baroque tradition in nineteenth-century Italian painting. The composition features a broad array of fruits, white and dark grapes, peaches, plums, open pomegranates, and a large melon, arranged on a surface with a basket at the centre, against a dark background with a faint reddish sky. The compositional structure and chromatic approach are rooted in the naturalist Baroque tradition, as interpreted through nineteenth-century Italian painting culture.

Condition report: Original canvas. Good overall condition of the painted surface; some traces of wear and minor surface abrasions are present.

Oil on canvas, in a period carved and gilded wooden frame.

The painting depicts a bouquet of red-orange flowers arranged in a cylindrical green ceramic vase, set against a background painted to imitate the texture of canvas. The composition, in a naturalistic style, follows the tradition of late 19th-century floral still lifes, with a meticulous rendering of the petals and foliage. The reverse of the canvas bears a stamp from a London supplier, suggesting that the work likely originated in Britain.

Condition report: Original canvas. The painted surface is in good condition.

Oil on cardboard, in a gilded wood and stucco frame.

Signed lower right: “O. Cartel”.

Still life depicting strawberries arranged on lettuce leaves, with an overturned basket in the background. The small-format composition is rendered with a loose, direct brushstroke characteristic of the Belgian Realist tradition of the late nineteenth century. The palette plays on the contrast between the vivid red of the fruit and the brown and green tones of the background.

Condition report: Good state of conservation of the pictorial surface.

Full figure in carved, lacquered and painted wood.

The group depicts the Pietà according to traditional iconography: the Virgin Mary seated supports the lifeless body of Christ resting on her knees. The composition, small in format and intended for private devotion, reveals a skilled hand in the rendering of volumes and the articulation of the drapery. The modelling is concise but effective, with particular attention to the expressive quality of the faces. The original polychromy, partially preserved, shows the Virgin’s mantle in dark blue and her robe in red, the canonical colours of Marian iconography. The shaped base is painted red, consistent with the tradition of Italian devotional sculpture of the 18th century.

Condition report: Good overall state of preservation. Signs of ageing, wear and old woodworm activity are present.

Full-round figure in carved, lacquered and painted wood.

The sculpture depicts the Virgin Mary in a praying pose, with hands clasped on her chest and gaze directed upward. The drapery, rendered in broad flowing folds, demonstrates solid technical skill in conveying volume and movement. The figure is carved from a single block of wood, including the shaped base.

Condition report: Some losses and flaking of paint across the surface.

Full-length figure carved from wood, lacquered, and painted.

The sculpture depicts Saint Mauro in a full-length standing pose, identified by the inscription at the base: “MAVRV..”. The saint is depicted in monastic robes, wrapped in a wide cloak whose drapery falls in deep, articulated folds, with a frontal and composed posture. The rendering of the drapery reveals a solid technical mastery of carving, with a treatment of volumes still indebted to the late Gothic tradition, updated to Renaissance solutions in the structure of the face and the overall composition of the figure. The work, likely intended for devotional purposes, is part of 16th-century Italian sculptural production intended for the liturgical furnishings of churches or private chapels.

Condition report: Partial loss of the polychrome surface and gilding. The structure is in good condition, with signs of aging, wear, and some missing sections.

Full-length figure in carved, lacquered, and painted wood.

Saint Robert is depicted standing in full figure, identified by the inscription “ROBERT..” on the base. He is shown in monastic dress, with a veil framing the face and a wide mantle falling in broad, fluid folds. The left hand holds an attribute while the right supports a book, following a recurring iconographic type in 16th-century devotional sculpture. The carving reveals a confident technical hand, with a treatment of volumes that, while retaining elements of the Late Gothic tradition, moves toward the formal simplification of the Renaissance. The work was most likely made for the liturgical furnishings of a church or private chapel, as a pendant to the figure of Saint Maurus by the same hand.

Condition report: Almost total loss of the polychrome surface and gilding. Structure in good overall condition, with signs of age, wear, and some lacunae.