A full moon over a bay, figures at the water's edge, the whole scene held in the particular silver-blue light that makes summer nights in coastal Italy feel like a condition of the air rather than just an absence of the sun. Talani works at the largest scale his standard board format allows, using the square's equality of dimensions to distribute the moonlight evenly across the composition. Nothing is fully in shadow, nothing fully illuminated. Everything exists in the same luminous half-dark, and the figures inhabit that condition with the ease of people who have spent their entire lives beside the sea at night. One of the finest works in this collection, The Bay With Full Moon is a major Talani work and a museum-quality acquisition. The deep blue palette and generous square format make it a commanding presence in any significant interior. Giampaolo Talani (1955–2018) was born in San Vincenzo, Tuscany, on the Tyrrhenian coast, and trained at the Florence Academy of Fine Arts under Goffredo Trovarelli. After completing his training, his work moved from traditional and fresco painting through sculpture and interpretive exhibition, culminating in his passion for public art — most notably a 20-meter bronze sailor installed in the Port of Miami and installations at Berlin's East Side Gallery. He was exhibited at the Venice Biennale (2011), the Palazzo Vecchio, the Uffizi, and the Pinacoteca del Quirinale, and received the prestigious Lorenzo il Magnifico Lifetime Achievement Award at the Florence Biennale in 2015. The painting comes with a certificate of authenticity.