Lot No. 104


Master of the Armenti


Master of the Armenti - Old Master Paintings I

(active in the second half of the 17th Century)
Children playing with cats and a mouse,
oil on canvas, 145.5 x 195 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private European collection

We are grateful to Gianni Papi for suggesting the attribution of the present painting on the basis of a high-resolution digital photograph and for his help in cataloguing this lot.

The present work represents a significant example of this, as yet, unidentified artist, to whom, Papi gave the moniker of the ‘Maestro degli Armenti’ (see G. Papi, Il Maestro di Baranello, fra Salini e Napoli, in: Bulletin de l’association des historiens de l’Art italien, 17, 2011, pp. 10-23).

This artist’s oeuvre has been distilled from the previously enlarged corpus of work given to Tommaso Salini. Attempts to identify the various hands previously associated with Salini have also been undertaken by Franco Paliaga (see F. Paliaga, Sui dipinti di genere con animali vivi attribuiti a Tommaso Salini, in: P. Carofano, Atti delle Giornate di Studi sul Caravaggismo e il Naturalismo nella Toscana del Seicento, Pontedera, 2009, pp. 117-144). His studies focused on works with compositions similar to the present compostion; to these he assigned the name ‘Pseudo Salini’.

In 2011, in an article that attempted to separate the various artistic personalities hidden within the Salini group. Papi specifically focused on various figurative paintings (of both sacred and profane subjects) all referable to a specific master, whom he identified as the Master of Baranello on the basis of comparisons with an Ecce Homo preserved in the Museo di Baranello, which serves as the name-piece of the group. On the same occasion he further reconfigured the group of works given to Salini, assigning some to the Maestro dell’ Elemosina di Santa Lucia (who is very close in style to Azzolino, and so therefore likely a Neapolitan). Subsequently the Salini group was further divided creating the Maestro della Flagellazione Lampronti in a study published by Papi in 2016 (see G. Papi, Il Maestro della Flagellazione Lampronti, in Entro l’aria bruna d’una camera rinchiusa. Scritti su Caravaggio e l’ambiente caravaggesco, Napoli, 2016, pp. 211-227).

In his article of 2011 Papi also briefly mentioned a series of paintings representing farmers and shepherds with animals (this group of pastoral works was the same as that discussed two years previously by Paliaga). As it was believed that more than one hand appeared to exist within the ‘Pseudo Salini’ group the moniker ‘Maestro degli Armenti’ – ‘Master of the Armenti’ was introduced with specific reference to a painting representing a Shepherd with sheep and goats which was published by Viktoria Markova as a work by Salini (see V. Markova, Alcune nuove proposte per Tommaso Salini, in: Paragone, 475, 1989, pp. 26-41).

On a stylistic level, these groups of works still present a complex situation which current studies are only beginning to resolve. It remains likely that within the group assigned to the Maestro degli Armenti (which includes most of the works assigned by Paliaga to the ‘Pseudo Salini’) several hands can still be identified. Moreover, it seems the production of these works spanned a considerable period engaging more than one generation of painters. As Salini died in 1625, it is evident that all these works could not have been executed before that date.

The present painting here under discussion belongs to a sub group within the broader body of work assigned to the Maestro degli Armenti. This group includes genre subjects that primarily represent children at play, mostly with domestic animals. Exemplifying this series are the Cook with copper implements, a little girl and a chained monkey which was with the Lasson Gallery, London, in 1967, or the Countryman holding a mirror up to a monkey (private collection) and another three paintings representing the theme of ‘taking chestnuts from the fire’: the first of which depicts Children playing with a monkey, a cat and a goose (also identified as Taking chestnuts from the fire) formerly with Colnaghi, while the other two include one painting that was with Christie’s New York, (26 January 2011, lot 157 as attributed to Salini).

According to Papi the present painting belongs among the productions of the highest quality of this group; it corresponds in style with those mentioned representing children and youths at play. Perhaps that to which it is closest, owing to the evident correspondences in the representation of the subject’s robes and physiognomies, is the Children playing with a cat and a mouse in the Drury Lowe collection at Locko Park, published in a 1989 article by Markova as a work by Salini (see op. cit. Markova, 1989, pp. 26-41). Two further paintings are also very close to the present work: Youths playing morra (private collection) and Youths playing cards, with two dogs and a large baker’s basket which was at Christie’s London, 3 December 2008 as by the circle of Tommaso Salini. The present painting is among the most significant of these works, and it can be dated to the mid-seventeenth century, or later.

22.10.2019 - 17:00

Realized price: **
EUR 125,300.-
Estimate:
EUR 80,000.- to EUR 120,000.-

Master of the Armenti


(active in the second half of the 17th Century)
Children playing with cats and a mouse,
oil on canvas, 145.5 x 195 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private European collection

We are grateful to Gianni Papi for suggesting the attribution of the present painting on the basis of a high-resolution digital photograph and for his help in cataloguing this lot.

The present work represents a significant example of this, as yet, unidentified artist, to whom, Papi gave the moniker of the ‘Maestro degli Armenti’ (see G. Papi, Il Maestro di Baranello, fra Salini e Napoli, in: Bulletin de l’association des historiens de l’Art italien, 17, 2011, pp. 10-23).

This artist’s oeuvre has been distilled from the previously enlarged corpus of work given to Tommaso Salini. Attempts to identify the various hands previously associated with Salini have also been undertaken by Franco Paliaga (see F. Paliaga, Sui dipinti di genere con animali vivi attribuiti a Tommaso Salini, in: P. Carofano, Atti delle Giornate di Studi sul Caravaggismo e il Naturalismo nella Toscana del Seicento, Pontedera, 2009, pp. 117-144). His studies focused on works with compositions similar to the present compostion; to these he assigned the name ‘Pseudo Salini’.

In 2011, in an article that attempted to separate the various artistic personalities hidden within the Salini group. Papi specifically focused on various figurative paintings (of both sacred and profane subjects) all referable to a specific master, whom he identified as the Master of Baranello on the basis of comparisons with an Ecce Homo preserved in the Museo di Baranello, which serves as the name-piece of the group. On the same occasion he further reconfigured the group of works given to Salini, assigning some to the Maestro dell’ Elemosina di Santa Lucia (who is very close in style to Azzolino, and so therefore likely a Neapolitan). Subsequently the Salini group was further divided creating the Maestro della Flagellazione Lampronti in a study published by Papi in 2016 (see G. Papi, Il Maestro della Flagellazione Lampronti, in Entro l’aria bruna d’una camera rinchiusa. Scritti su Caravaggio e l’ambiente caravaggesco, Napoli, 2016, pp. 211-227).

In his article of 2011 Papi also briefly mentioned a series of paintings representing farmers and shepherds with animals (this group of pastoral works was the same as that discussed two years previously by Paliaga). As it was believed that more than one hand appeared to exist within the ‘Pseudo Salini’ group the moniker ‘Maestro degli Armenti’ – ‘Master of the Armenti’ was introduced with specific reference to a painting representing a Shepherd with sheep and goats which was published by Viktoria Markova as a work by Salini (see V. Markova, Alcune nuove proposte per Tommaso Salini, in: Paragone, 475, 1989, pp. 26-41).

On a stylistic level, these groups of works still present a complex situation which current studies are only beginning to resolve. It remains likely that within the group assigned to the Maestro degli Armenti (which includes most of the works assigned by Paliaga to the ‘Pseudo Salini’) several hands can still be identified. Moreover, it seems the production of these works spanned a considerable period engaging more than one generation of painters. As Salini died in 1625, it is evident that all these works could not have been executed before that date.

The present painting here under discussion belongs to a sub group within the broader body of work assigned to the Maestro degli Armenti. This group includes genre subjects that primarily represent children at play, mostly with domestic animals. Exemplifying this series are the Cook with copper implements, a little girl and a chained monkey which was with the Lasson Gallery, London, in 1967, or the Countryman holding a mirror up to a monkey (private collection) and another three paintings representing the theme of ‘taking chestnuts from the fire’: the first of which depicts Children playing with a monkey, a cat and a goose (also identified as Taking chestnuts from the fire) formerly with Colnaghi, while the other two include one painting that was with Christie’s New York, (26 January 2011, lot 157 as attributed to Salini).

According to Papi the present painting belongs among the productions of the highest quality of this group; it corresponds in style with those mentioned representing children and youths at play. Perhaps that to which it is closest, owing to the evident correspondences in the representation of the subject’s robes and physiognomies, is the Children playing with a cat and a mouse in the Drury Lowe collection at Locko Park, published in a 1989 article by Markova as a work by Salini (see op. cit. Markova, 1989, pp. 26-41). Two further paintings are also very close to the present work: Youths playing morra (private collection) and Youths playing cards, with two dogs and a large baker’s basket which was at Christie’s London, 3 December 2008 as by the circle of Tommaso Salini. The present painting is among the most significant of these works, and it can be dated to the mid-seventeenth century, or later.


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Auction: Old Master Paintings I
Auction type: Saleroom auction
Date: 22.10.2019 - 17:00
Location: Vienna | Palais Dorotheum
Exhibition: 12.10. - 22.10.2019


** Purchase price incl. charges and taxes

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