Manfredi, Bartolomeo
Manfredi, Bartolomeo
Ostiano 1582 - Rome 1622 - and workshop
1620-1622. Oil on canvas. Relined. 129 x 95,5cm. Framed.
Certificate:
M. Gregori, Florenz, following assessment of the original on 23.06.2015.
Provenance:
Private ownership, Italy.
Like Michelangelo Merisi, known as Caravaggio, Bartolomeo Manfredi comes from Lombardy and was born in Ostiano near Cremona in 1582, but settled in Rome in the early 17th century. We have no reliable information about his education and his artistic and personal relationship with Caravaggio (although there is much speculation about this) certainly Manfredi was one of the protagonists of the Caravaggists in Rome, the main figure of that very diverse group of artists who, a few years after Caravaggio's flight from Rome and his death in 1610, took his place to satisfy the growing demand of the art market and collectors.
At the beginning of the second decade of the 17th century, Manfredi was a star of the first order in Rome and received numerous commissions from princes, cardinals and wealthy collectors. The Roman registers of registrations often record Manfredi in the company of servants who also worked as apprentices and painters. His students also came from many other cities, not only from Italy, to study with him. Manfredi's most important merit is the foundation of his own school of painting in the spirit of Caravaggio and his extraordinary contribution to the spread of Caravaggism in Italy and Europe. Two of his most important students were the Frenchman Nicolas Tournier and the Flemish Nicolas Régnier, while many others remain nameless or have indirectly adopted his style.
Manfredi mainly produced paintings for the market and private collections only one altarpiece is known (Leonessa, St. Peter's). His works are characterized by the lifelike reproduction of life-size half-figure compositions of simpler subjects, such as players or fortune tellers. The painting presented here depicts David as a triumphant over the Philistine giant Goliath, whose head the future king of Israel proudly shows.
The painting was considered by Mina Gregori to be an authentic work painted by Bartolomeo Manfredi (written communication to the consignor dated 23.06.2015) this attribution was recently qualified somewhat by John Gash, who sees in this painting the - albeit minimal - support of a collaborator. As a model for this work, Gash cites David's Triumph, now in the Louvre in Paris, in which David - armed with a sword and with the head of Goliath - stands on the left side of the painting, while a maid with a tambourine accompanies him on the right. The figure of David in the Louvre painting has many similarities with our painting: the figures are indeed depicted in very similar poses and both wear the same clothes. However, there are also some very significant variations, such as the giant's head pointing in a different direction. The David with the head of Goliath is probably a direct evolution of this painting, which was reworked in some details to be sold on the art market, where such paintings were very sought after.
We are grateful to John Gash, Aberdeen, who confirmed the attribution of the present painting based on high resolution digital photography.
Explanations to the Catalogue
Bartolomeo Manfredi
Caravaggisti
17th C.
Old Masters
Old Testament
Painting
Figure / Figures
Estimated Shippingcost for this lot:
Arrangement after the auction.
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Manfredi, Bartolomeo
Ostiano 1582 - Rome 1622 - and workshop
1620-1622. Oil on canvas. Relined. 129 x 95,5cm. Framed.
Certificate:
M. Gregori, Florenz, following assessment of the original on 23.06.2015.
Provenance:
Private ownership, Italy.
Like Michelangelo Merisi, known as Caravaggio, Bartolomeo Manfredi comes from Lombardy and was born in Ostiano near Cremona in 1582, but settled in Rome in the early 17th century. We have no reliable information about his education and his artistic and personal relationship with Caravaggio (although there is much speculation about this) certainly Manfredi was one of the protagonists of the Caravaggists in Rome, the main figure of that very diverse group of artists who, a few years after Caravaggio's flight from Rome and his death in 1610, took his place to satisfy the growing demand of the art market and collectors.
At the beginning of the second decade of the 17th century, Manfredi was a star of the first order in Rome and received numerous commissions from princes, cardinals and wealthy collectors. The Roman registers of registrations often record Manfredi in the company of servants who also worked as apprentices and painters. His students also came from many other cities, not only from Italy, to study with him. Manfredi's most important merit is the foundation of his own school of painting in the spirit of Caravaggio and his extraordinary contribution to the spread of Caravaggism in Italy and Europe. Two of his most important students were the Frenchman Nicolas Tournier and the Flemish Nicolas Régnier, while many others remain nameless or have indirectly adopted his style.
Manfredi mainly produced paintings for the market and private collections only one altarpiece is known (Leonessa, St. Peter's). His works are characterized by the lifelike reproduction of life-size half-figure compositions of simpler subjects, such as players or fortune tellers. The painting presented here depicts David as a triumphant over the Philistine giant Goliath, whose head the future king of Israel proudly shows.
The painting was considered by Mina Gregori to be an authentic work painted by Bartolomeo Manfredi (written communication to the consignor dated 23.06.2015) this attribution was recently qualified somewhat by John Gash, who sees in this painting the - albeit minimal - support of a collaborator. As a model for this work, Gash cites David's Triumph, now in the Louvre in Paris, in which David - armed with a sword and with the head of Goliath - stands on the left side of the painting, while a maid with a tambourine accompanies him on the right. The figure of David in the Louvre painting has many similarities with our painting: the figures are indeed depicted in very similar poses and both wear the same clothes. However, there are also some very significant variations, such as the giant's head pointing in a different direction. The David with the head of Goliath is probably a direct evolution of this painting, which was reworked in some details to be sold on the art market, where such paintings were very sought after.
We are grateful to John Gash, Aberdeen, who confirmed the attribution of the present painting based on high resolution digital photography.
Explanations to the Catalogue
Bartolomeo Manfredi
Caravaggisti
17th C.
Old Masters
Old Testament
Painting
Figure / Figures
Estimated Shippingcost for this lot:
Arrangement after the auction.
Estimate
Time, Location
Auction House
