Alina Malova

19/06/2026

Architectural drawing: design for a monumental façade with statues, balustrades and obelisks in the style of the Galli Bibiena, 18th century

Italian school, c. 1760–1780.

Ink, graphite and watercolour on laid paper with watermark
49.5 × 36 cm

Monogram in the lower right-hand corner.
Watermark of the Cornelis & Jacob Honig paper mill, Zaandyk (Netherlands), in collaboration with Jean Villedary, attested between 1736 and 1812.

The elevation occupies almost the entire surface of the sheet with a complex and theatrical composition, organised across several levels, whilst a precisely drawn plan appears in the lower section. The combined presence of the perspective view and the plan suggests a work conceived within a professional context, probably as a design study, an advanced academic exercise or a model intended for a scenographic or celebratory realisation.

The overall layout is reminiscent of the work of the Galli Bibiena, the famous family of architects and set designers who revolutionised the language of European set design between the 17th and 18th centuries.

The watermark on the paper is of particular interest. The sheet is in fact made of high-quality laid paper produced by the Dutch paper mill Cornelis & Jacob Honig in Zaandyk, one of the most highly regarded in Europe during the 18th century and frequently used for architectural drawings, set designs and fine graphic works. This is material evidence that is fully consistent with the drawing’s 18th-century dating.

The work is set in a recent dark wooden frame, designed with an architectural profile that complements the subject depicted. It is in a good state of preservation.
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18/06/2026

Turkeys, Sheep and Rustic Utensils — Genre Sketch
Italian School, 19th century (18th century not excluded)

Oil on card, laid on panel by a restorer (conservation intervention). 29 × 18.5 cm.

Two turkeys with dark plumage and vivid red wattles flank two sheep with ivory fleece, gathered around an earthenware pot and an overturned oval vessel.

The palette of warm browns and deep blacks, combined with the energetic handling of the fleece, places this work within the great animalier tradition of northern Italy — running from Jacopo Bassano and his Venetian workshop through the Lombard followers of the 17th century to the genre painters of the Po Valley. The pronounced chiaroscuro, light concentrated on the volumes of the animals, and the spare dark background recall the manner of the Bergamasque and Brescian painters, heirs to this rustic and vital tradition. No apparent signature.
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13/06/2026

Artist: Emma Sterrer, Puis Emma Pascal-sterrer (vienne, Xixe Siècle – Active à Lyon Entre 1879 Et 1900 Environ)
Portrait of a Young Woman in Ottoman Balkan Costume, Signed Emma Sterrer, ca. 1880

Signed Emma Sterrer and retaining an old exhibition label partially visible on the front, this portrait offers a rare testimony to the work of an Austro-French woman artist active between Vienna and Lyon during the late nineteenth century.

Emma Sterrer, later Emma Pascal-Sterrer (Vienna, 19th century – active in Lyon between 1879 and circa 1900)

Oil on canvas.

French frame from the second half of the nineteenth century, carved, stuccoed and gilded wood.

The painting is signed in red “Emma Sterrer”, the name used by the artist before adopting the form Emma Pascal-Sterrer after her marriage. Born in Vienna, she later settled in the Lyon area, where her activity is documented through the Société des Amis des Arts de Lyon. She appears in Lyon exhibition catalogues during the 1880s and remained active in French artistic circles around 1900.

Among her recorded works are The Bear Keeper in Turkey (1879) and La Favorita (1880), paintings that demonstrate her interest in the territories of the Ottoman Empire and in figures dressed in Oriental costume. This background makes the present portrait particularly significant, as its attire clearly belongs to the same cultural sphere.

Emma Sterrer likely belonged to the wider artistic circle of the Sterrer family, an important Austrian artistic dynasty. The painter Franz Sterrer (1818–1901), also from the Vienna region, spent much of his career in the Ottoman Empire before settling in Écully, near Lyon. This family and cultural context may help explain the artist’s familiarity with Balkan and Ottoman-inspired subjects and costumes.

The painting retains its original French frame and an old exhibition label partially concealed beneath the frame rebate, an interesting documentary feature that may relate to an earlier public presentation of the work.
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Original canvas.
Canvas dimensions: 60 × 50 cm.
Framed dimensions: 75 × 65 cm.
Good state of preservation.
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12/06/2026

An interesting selection of Graphic Arts from our antique shop “Antichita di Alina”

10/06/2026

07/06/2026

Jean Jacques Marie Castin (Rossillon, Ain, 1797 – Lyon, 1869 or 1870)
Portrait of a Young Lady with Dog and Cat, Signed

Dated 1838
Oil on canvas, signed and dated “Castin 1838” lower left.
This charming portrait, painted in 1838 by the Lyonnais artist Jean Jacques Marie Castin, depicts a young woman shown half-length before a rolling landscape dotted with a village and distant hills. An unusual detail enlivens the foreground: a dog chasing a cat, introducing a touch of movement and everyday life into the composition.
The sitter wears a dark dress with wide sleeves, complemented by a white lace-trimmed collar fastened with a small geometric brooch. Her hairstyle, with softly waved side curls and gathered hair, is characteristic of late 1830s fashion. Long pendant earrings and the delicate modelling of the face reflect the painter’s careful attention to detail.
The background combines architecture, countryside and distant mountains in soft, harmonious tones. The presence of such a developed landscape gives the painting a character that goes beyond a conventional portrait and approaches genre painting in spirit.
The work is housed in its antique gilded wood and gesso frame dating from the first half of the 19th century. The canvas appears to have undergone an old relining, a common conservation practice for paintings of this age. Overall condition is good.
Jean Jacques Marie Castin studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Lyon under Jean-Claude Bonnefond. Active primarily in Lyon, he regularly exhibited at the French Salons between 1833 and 1856. His work is largely devoted to bourgeois portraiture and reflects the restrained elegance associated with the Louis-Philippe period. This painting is a representative example of his mature production.

Dimensions with frame: 53 x 44.5 cm
Canvas: 40.5 x 32 cm

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06/06/2026

Madonna of the Apocalypse with Heart-Shaped Ex-Votos. Viceroyalty of Peru, Colonial Art, 18th Century
Period: 18th century.
Technique: Oil on canvas laid down on a rigid support.
School: Viceroyalty of Peru, Spanish Colonial Art.
Dimensions: 100 × 70 cm.
Frame: Modern frame.
A large devotional painting depicting the Madonna of the Apocalypse, identifiable by her star-studded mantle and the crescent moon beneath her feet. The Virgin, crowned and richly adorned, is shown beneath an elaborate ceremonial canopy, while the Christ Child emerges from the ample mantle, following an iconographic tradition closely associated with the miraculous Marian images of the Viceroyalty of Peru.
A particularly unusual feature is the presence of the large heart-shaped ex-votos painted on either side of the figure. Together with the jewels and abundant floral ornaments, they suggest that the artist was not simply portraying the Virgin, but rather translating into painting the image of a sacred statue richly dressed and decorated with offerings from the faithful. In this respect, the work recalls the celebrated miraculous Virgins of the Lake Titicaca region, including the famous Virgen de Copacabana, although it cannot be firmly associated with any specific sanctuary.
This iconography emerged from the encounter between the Christian image of the Woman of the Apocalypse and older Andean religious traditions, in which the sacred mountain was regarded as a place of divine presence and protection. The fusion of pre-Hispanic beliefs with Marian devotion became one of the most distinctive features of Spanish Colonial art in South America.
The canvas, now mounted on a rigid support, shows wear consistent with having once been stored rolled, a condition not uncommon for devotional works intended for private worship. These traces of age do not diminish its visual impact and instead add to the historical charm of this rare example of colonial painting from the Viceroyalty of Peru.
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05/06/2026

Artist: Alessandro Allori, Atelier. Portrait of A Lady In A Black Velvet Hat.
Oil on copper.
Workshop of Alessandro Allori (1535–1607), Florentine School.
Florence, circa 1570–1580.

Fine antique carved and gilded wooden frame.

Dimensions: 17 x 13.5 cm.

This small portrait on copper depicts a noblewoman wearing a black gown, lace ruff and a distinctive cylindrical black velvet hat, characteristic of the austere Spanish fashion adopted by the Medici court during the later decades of the sixteenth century
The headdress belongs to a type frequently encountered in Florentine court portraiture of the 1570s and 1580s. Comparable examples appear in portraits of Giovanna of Austria, wife of Francesco I de’ Medici, including the full-length portrait in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, and the posthumous portrait with her son Filippo in the Uffizi, associated with Giovanni Bizzelli. A closely related bust-length portrait of the same typology was also offered by Dorotheum as a work by Giovanni Maria Butteri, another painter trained in the circle of Alessandro Allori.

The painting is closely connected to the workshop of Alessandro Allori (1535–1607), one of the leading painters of late Renaissance Florence and a central figure in Medici court portraiture.

Recent works attributed to Alessandro Allori include two small portraits on copper of almost identical size: a Portrait of Giovanna of Austria sold at Sotheby’s New York (27 January 2022, lot 3; 16.5 x 12.7 cm) and a Portrait of Eleonora di Toledo or Virginia de’ Medici sold at Sotheby’s New York (26 January 2023, lot 101; 16 x 12 cm). These comparisons reinforce the connection of the present work with the Florentine courtly portrait tradition of the late sixteenth century.
Accompanied by an expertise by Professor Federico Berti, who attributes the painting to the workshop of Alessandro Allori and dates it to the eighth decade of the sixteenth century.
Good overall condition.
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30/05/2026

Reverse glass paintings with gallant and musical scenes in the taste of Pietro Longhi
Venice (?) – 18th century.
Pair of reverse glass paintings depicting gallant and musical scenes set in elegant interiors and loggias opening onto a landscape. The figures wear costumes recalling theatre, Venetian carnival and Italian comedy of the 18th century. One scene shows a musician beside a young lady at her toilette, holding a small mirror while a maid arranges her hair. The other composition presents a serenade or musical conversation with a figure dressed in vivid red theatrical costume.
The ensemble recalls Venetian genre paintings in the taste of Pietro Longhi, with their atmosphere of music, entertainment, masquerade and refined social life. The light architectural settings, elegant poses and decorative costumes reinforce the Venetian character of the scenes.
The works are painted on the reverse side of the glass and preserved in their original dark wooden frames with gilt inner molding. Handwritten ink inventory numbers remain visible on the reverse.
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Good condition.
Dimensions with frame: approximately 28 x 22 cm each.
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