Lot No. 637


Alessandro Magnasco and Collaborator


Alessandro Magnasco and Collaborator - Old Master Paintings

(Genoa 1667–1749)
Two monks praying in a wooded landscape,
oil on canvas, 94.2 x 74.6 cm, framed

Provenance:
European private collection

We are grateful to Fausta Franchini Guelfi for confirming the attribution of the figures in the present painting to Alessandro Magnasco after examining the painting in the original.

The elongated figures rendered with nervous and swift brushstrokes are typical of Alessandro Magnasco, whose distinctive style is found in depictions of monks at prayer in the Three Camaldolesi friars in the hermitage at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and the Landscape with San Bruno also at the Rijksmuseum (see F. Franchini Guelfi, Alessandro Magnasco, Campomorone, 1977, p. 212, fig. 232). The dramatic rock formation and broken branch might be assigned to one of Magnasco’s collaborators, who is as yet to be identified. According to Franchini Guelfi the present work can be dated to circa 1725 owing to the style of the figures.

Alessandro Magnasco was born in Genoa but trained in Milan in the workshop of Filippo Abbiati (1640-1715). He was influenced by the art of 17th-century Lombardy, in which the emphasis on chiaroscuro and earthy colors was very different from the vibrant palette of contemporary Genoese painting. Towards the end of the 17th century, he began to paint scenes showing the lives of monks, gypsies, and bandits, often in wild and windswept landscapes, who gained him a great success. In 1703 he was employed by the Grand Duke of Florence, where he remained for six years before returning to Milan. Early upon his return, he worked for the Lombard aristocracy, including members of the most celebrated families as the Borromeo, Arese, Visconti, until 1735, when he went back to his native Genoa.

17.04.2013 - 18:00

Estimate:
EUR 40,000.- to EUR 60,000.-

Alessandro Magnasco and Collaborator


(Genoa 1667–1749)
Two monks praying in a wooded landscape,
oil on canvas, 94.2 x 74.6 cm, framed

Provenance:
European private collection

We are grateful to Fausta Franchini Guelfi for confirming the attribution of the figures in the present painting to Alessandro Magnasco after examining the painting in the original.

The elongated figures rendered with nervous and swift brushstrokes are typical of Alessandro Magnasco, whose distinctive style is found in depictions of monks at prayer in the Three Camaldolesi friars in the hermitage at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and the Landscape with San Bruno also at the Rijksmuseum (see F. Franchini Guelfi, Alessandro Magnasco, Campomorone, 1977, p. 212, fig. 232). The dramatic rock formation and broken branch might be assigned to one of Magnasco’s collaborators, who is as yet to be identified. According to Franchini Guelfi the present work can be dated to circa 1725 owing to the style of the figures.

Alessandro Magnasco was born in Genoa but trained in Milan in the workshop of Filippo Abbiati (1640-1715). He was influenced by the art of 17th-century Lombardy, in which the emphasis on chiaroscuro and earthy colors was very different from the vibrant palette of contemporary Genoese painting. Towards the end of the 17th century, he began to paint scenes showing the lives of monks, gypsies, and bandits, often in wild and windswept landscapes, who gained him a great success. In 1703 he was employed by the Grand Duke of Florence, where he remained for six years before returning to Milan. Early upon his return, he worked for the Lombard aristocracy, including members of the most celebrated families as the Borromeo, Arese, Visconti, until 1735, when he went back to his native Genoa.


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Auction: Old Master Paintings
Auction type: Saleroom auction
Date: 17.04.2013 - 18:00
Location: Vienna | Palais Dorotheum
Exhibition: 06.04. - 17.04.2013