Corpus of Works of Art Offered at Auction in Italy, 1800-1914
Welcome to the Corpus of Works of Art Offered at Auction in Italy, 1800-1914. This online research tool includes descriptions of more than 122,000 works of art offered at auction in the Italian Peninsula between 1800 and 1914. The coverage of the database is both comprehensive and unique. Worldwide, 573 auction catalogues have been identified and analysed, many of which are not mentioned in the Répertoire des catalogues de ventes publiques by Frits Lugt.
Scope of Works Covered
The Corpus contains descriptions of Western paintings, bronze and marble sculptures, drawings and prints from the late Middle Ages to the modern period. In addition tapestries, wooden sculptures, and Antique and Byzantine sculptures may be included if made by known masters or if illustrated in the original auction catalogs.
Sale Results
Copies of sales catalogs often include handwritten annotations providing information about the sale results, including the buyer and sale price. This information may come from the auctioneer or from a collector who attended the sale. Since each copy of an auction catalog may have different annotations, hammer prices and buyers' names are mostly mentioned with specific references to the catalogs we have consulted.
Database realised with the financial support of Utrecht University, Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca (Rome, Italy), K. F. Hein Fonds and Stichting Vrienden van het Kunsthistorisch Instituut in Florence.
Research and coordination: Waldemar de Boer, Raffaella Colace, Bert W. Meijer, Gert Jan van der Sman
