(Lucca 1603–1683) A Maker of Mathematical Instruments, oil on canvas, 87.3 x 66.5 cm, framed

Provenance: European private collection

Exhibited: Il cannocchiale e il pennello, nuova scienza e nuova arte nell’età di Galileo, Pisa, Palazzo Blu, 9 May–19 July 2009, no. 145

Literature: „Il cannocchiale e il pennello, nuova scienza e nuova arte nell´età di Gallileo“, exhibition catalogue. Pisa 9th May-19th July 2009, no.145;

The present painting, which has only recently been published, represents an important addition to Pietro Paolini’s oeuvre. At the age of sixteen, the artist, born in Lucca in 1603, was sent to Rome to complete his studies and was introduced to various painting schools, such as Caravaggio’s or the Bolognese and Florentine Schools, under Angelo Caroselli’s guidance. In 1628 he went to Venice in order to improve his knowledge of Venetian painting, but returned to Lucca as early as 1631. Paolini seems to have lived in his native town for the subsequent fifty years. In 1640, he founded the Accademia del naturale, which became an educational institution for local artists and familiarized Lucca and its surroundings with the most fundamental problems of aesthetics. Paolini’s important role in Lucca’s artistic enviroment is particularly attested to by the reputation he enjoyed among his contemporaries, as is confirmed by historical documents and additionally elaborated on in Eva Struhal’s essay ‘Pittura e poesia a Lucca nel Seicento: il caso di Pietro Paolini in Lucca città d’arte e i suoi archivi’, Marsilio 2001, p. 389. The Lucan historian Giacomo Sardini (1751–1811) writes about the artist’s life: “Pietro Paolini numbers among the most splendid artists of the Luccan painting school, who is our ‘Guercino’ for more reasons than can be listed and who not only enriches our churches and palaces with innumberable works, but also raises the art of painting to sublimity…” (comp. Archivio Sardini, Ms 124, G. Sandini, Notizie di Pietro Paolini, p. 525). As do most of this artist’s surviving genre scenes, also the present painting, dating from circa 1640, reveals the idiosyncratic feature of a close affinity with engravers, chisellers, and scientists, which is corroborated by the fact that Paolini’s works deal not only with decorative issues, but also with astronomical knowledge. “This work by Paolini stands out for the reintroduction of a well-known motif that carries a special meaning. It addresses music as an intellectual activity and aspects of the old craft of violin makers, who, through the production and tuning of instruments, “give life” in the true sense of the word. The young instrument maker is presented secluded in the microcosm of his workshop, where he presents, not without pride – his tools, carefully arranged on a table” (comp. P. Giusti Maccari in: Il cannocchiale e il pennello, nuova scienza e nuova arte nell’età di galileo, exh. cat., Pisa 2009, p. 319, no. 145). The young “engineer” has a pair of dividers in his left hand, thereby exposing the octagonal hinge that links the two branches. The manner in which he holds the dividers suggests that he is about to treat the hinge with the file in his right hand. Various instruments are laid out on the table (from left to right): the handle of a pair of tongs, a vice attached to the table by a metal bar, a lever rotating around a screw, a hammer, a saw whose handle rests on the latter and whose blade faces the beholder, a drill fixed to a stick, and, finally, a second file. At the far right end of the table one can see a pair of thumbscrew compasses. The fact that the pair of compasses is shown isolated from the rest of the instruments suggests that it is not simply a tool, but an invention made by the instrument maker. In the background appears an unusual armillary sphere (Ptolemiac? / Copernican?) whose fixed-star sphere is shaped as a glass globe. On the right-hand side one can discern a geometric square, which was used both for astronomical purposes and for surveying and alignment (hour quadrant). We are grateful to Dr. Giorgio Strano, curator at the Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza in Florence for his assistance in attributing the present painting.

Provenance: European Private Collection; Exhibition: Pisa, Palazzo Blu, „Il cannocchiale e il pennello, nuova scienza e nuova arte nell´età di Gallileo“, 9th May-19th July 2009, n. 145.; Literature: „Il cannocchiale e il pennello, nuova scienza e