1259 - 1259 - XIII

MSA 3610

Unità di misura: cm; Altezza: 22,8; Larghezza: 27,3; Profondità: 4,7

marmo bianco apuano dipinto a tempera

Gravestone of the brothers Simonetta and Percivalle Lercari, buried on 16 August 1259, from the cemetery of the church and hospice of San Giovanni di Prè. The work, a mixture of sculpture, painting and goldsmithing, refers to the artistic culture in vogue at the time in the Île de France: represented in the form of an illuminated page at the centre of which is a silver plaque in the form of a church front in which the two deceased brothers are kneeling before the Madonna and Child.

1301 - 1400

M.G.L. 727

Unità di misura: cm; Altezza: 19; Larghezza: 19,6; Profondità: 13,2

osso, legno, avorio

The casket belonged to Augusto Luxoro since the 19th century. It is mentioned in the catalogue of the 1868 Artistic, Archaeological and Industrial Exhibition as belonging to Dr Luxoro. The casket is part of a vast and varied collection that was previously attributed to the workshop of Baldassarre degli Ubriachi (or Embriachi). Recent criticism has scaled back the catalogue of works actually attributable to Baldassarre's workshop, hypothesising the presence of other active workshops in northern Italy between the second half of the 14th century and the first half of the following century, which produced sacred furnishings (especially altar triptychs) and a large number of caskets that differed greatly from one another, not only in shape and size, but also in the style of the bas-reliefs and their dating. The example in the Luxoro collection, which can be dated to the late 14th century, as revealed by the figurative language still typical of the 14th century and the details of the characters' clothing, can be compared to a small group of similar caskets, which are part of a less accurate type of serial production. The object consists of 16 bas-relief carved bone plates fixed to a rectangular wooden structure, topped by a pyramid-shaped lid with a metal handle, decorated with geometric motifs, in the ‘Carthusian’ style, inlaid in wood and ivory. Traces of gilding can be seen on some of the plates on the side opposite the lock. The subjects depicted include four cherubs holding shields in an angular position, while a series of male and female figures, in pairs or alone, stand out on the other plates.

1932 - 1932 - XX

GAM 697

Unità di misura: cm; Altezza: 93; Larghezza: 60; Profondità: 132

Terra refrattaria

The overall layout of the work owes much to Medardo Rosso's "Sick Man in the Hospital", which was exhibited in the retrospective exhibition at the 1st Quadriennale in Rome in 1931. The idea of capturing an action as it unfolds and the search for plastic unity between the various parts, achieved with an identical sculptural treatment, is much more evident in the refractory earthenware sketch made by Martini in 1932, where the wide folds of the girl's dress, caught in the act of standing up, blend in with those of the armchair (Fergonzi 1989, p. 927). While in the sketch the artist concentrates mainly on the 'monumental' possibilities of terracotta, in the final work, of which there is a version in refractory terracotta (Genoa, Galleria d'Arte Moderna), he seems to want to test the pictorial potential of stone, as the three different levels of finish in the side of the armchair, in the flesh of the arm and in the folds of the fabric clearly show (Vianello, Stringa, Gian Ferrari 1988, p. 217). The simplification of the sculpture's general conception, perhaps also due to the greater difficulty of working with the material chosen for the final realisation, corresponds to a greater attention for the descriptive and pathetic details, duly noted by critics when the work was first exhibited in Martini's solo show in February 1933 at the Galleria Milano (Bucci 1933). The sculpture depicts a young woman abandoned in a rocking chair, her arms resting on the armrest and an open book. The artist was inspired by the face of his daughter Maria, known as "Nena", transfigured and absorbed in a timeless atmosphere, archaic and distant and, for this very reason, of universal and deep human intensity.

1486 - 1486 - XV

MSA 3727

Unità di misura: cm; Altezza: 224; Larghezza: 88; Spessore: 11

marmo

A large quadrangular slab in the centre of which - within an architecturally defined niche - Lazarus Doria is depicted lying down, with crossed arms and his head supported by a cushion. The relief was placed in the chapel of Lazzaro Doria (1412-1486) at the Certosa di Rivarolo, where the illustrious Genoese merchant and politician decided to be buried. Also part of this burial, dismembered in the 19th century, was the seal with a coat of arms and seven spirits now in the Louvre (inv. RF 2012.08).

1720 - 1720 - XVIII

669

Unità di misura: cm; Altezza: 68; Larghezza: 50

carta- acquaforte ritoccata a mano

Jean-Baptiste Nolin and his son of the same name (✝ 1762), were the true innovators of French cartography. Their activity took place between the end of the 17th century and the first half of the 18th century, when the primacy of cartographic production passed from the Dutch to the two emerging “imperial” navies, the English and French.
The atlas they edited, the Theatre du Monde, is dedicated to Louis XIV, the Sun King, who appears on the book's title page as the new Apollo and leads the sun chariot through the clouds.
The text of the volumes is articulated, the maps are complete and complex: they represent a world still largely undiscovered, but in which the exploratory routes to be followed are already outlined: this is the case of Australia, whose east coast will only be 'mapped' some seventy years later but which here sees the outlines of a new continent anticipated.
Another great contribution of J. B. Nolin is then the great contribution of J. B. Nolin. B. Nolin's great quadripartite map - i.e., divided into four plates, present at the beginning of the book - entitled ‘Le globe terrestre réprésenté en deux pian hemispheres dressé sur les dernières observations’: produced in 1700, with the precision of its engravings and the abundance of geo-cartographic details, it marked the advent of a new era in cartography. Collection of maps bound in one volume.

19th - 1851 - 1900

C.D.A. 481

Tipo di misura: altezzaxlarghezzaxspessore; Unità di misura: cm; Valore: 97x56x19

Nuova Zelanda

Decorativa/simbolica Decorava un elemento architettonico (architrave, stipite, trave del tetto, palizzata). Costruzione di edifici

Wooden sculpture of a human figure (tiki).The rectangular frieze is carved with spiral motifs and a relief anthropomorphic figure, which is in an upright position entirely covered with ornamental carvings depicting tattoos. A disc of mother-of-pearl is inserted on the top of the head and two other discs are inserted in the orbital cavities. A tongue protrudes from the large mouth. Tridactyl hands resting on the belly. Decorative spiral motif, derived from the volutes of fern leaves, symbolising the coming of light and knowledge to earth. It was carved in wood with a chisel (of basalt or jade) and a wooden hammer. The carving was then painted with baked red ochre mixed with shark oil. Inlays of “paua” (abalone) shell were then added. The carvings generally were of two types: anthropomorphic (tiki), with the characteristic of having a disproportionately large head (since it was considered to be the seat of the “tapu,” the sacred) and an accentuated mouth with a protruding tongue as a sign of defiance and to ward off evil, they represented mythical figures and ancestors; or representations of the bird-man (manaia). The object, which has slightly different characteristics than traditional sculptures, was probably commissioned to adorn a dwelling of white people; in fact, anthropomorphic figures traditionally have their lower limbs slightly bent and spread apart, whereas this one has them together.

C.D.A.1250

Nuova Guinea

<p>La testa veniva tagliata, scarnificata e nelle cavità orbitali venivano inseriti dischi di legno. Il teschio veniva tinto e l'apertura della bocca decorata da piccoli pezzi di madreperla e semi. I teschi, se crani-trofeo provenienti da nemici uccisi in guerra, venivano privati della mandibola e spesso recano traccia di aperture praticate per cibarsi del cervello. Se invece provenivano dagli antenati erano completi.</p>

<p>Simbolo di prestigio/funzione protettiva I crani dei nemici potevano essere portati nei campi per propiziare il raccolto oppure potevano favorire le capacità produttiva degli uomini. I crani degli antenati potevano essere appesi al collo o usati come poggia testa per dormire e riposare così da garantirsi una protezione contro gli spiriti maligni. Vita quotidiana</p>

Entire skull painted ochre with orbital cavities filled with paper with painted eyes. Inscription in illegible ink. On the top of the skull is a crown of feathers with a calamus attached to a vegetable fibre cord, the front decorated with shell discs. It was hung on the wall of the dwelling. Skulls, if skull-trophies from enemies killed in war, were deprived of the mandible and often bore traces of openings made to feed on the brain. If, on the other hand, they came from ancestors, they were complete.