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(Naples, 1689 - 1750)
Still life with game
Oil on panel, cm. 28 x 40.5
Size with frame, cm. 41 x 52 x 6 approx.
NOTES: Publication of the catalog of works from the Intermidiart collection. Certificate of Guarantee and Lawful Origin. Work with antique (?) gilded and worked frame (defects):
Splendid ancient painting, oil on panel depicting Still Life with Game. The subject and the formal characteristics allow the canvas to be attributed to an artist of the Neapolitan school close to the Neapolitan painter Baldassarre De Caro (Naples, 1689 - 1750), who lived between 1689 and 1750 and is still known today as a specialist in game scenes .
Born in Naples in 1689, De Caro was a pupil of Andrea Belvedere, master of the tradition of the "fioranti" (painters of flower vases), from whom he initially inherited, as well as the style, the subjects of the paintings. Towards the years 1720-1730, thanks to the suggestions provoked by contact with the art of Francesco Solimena, the colors used in his paintings became less lively and light, veering towards heavier tones; at the same time, naturalistic attention resumed with greater vigor. The game scenes with which the artist became famous date back to this period: remember, among others, those conserved in the National Museum of San Martino in Naples and in the Pinacoteca D'Errico in Matera. Sources have handed down little information about the artist (1689-Naples 1750), but the habit of initialling or signing his works has allowed critics to formulate a fairly substantial catalog of his production, especially in recent years thanks to the frequent appearance of canvases in international auctions and on the market. Unfortunately it is difficult to establish a precise chronology, due to the rarity of dates (among the few exceptions the table of the Banco di Napoli executed in 1715 and a Still life with animals and flowers, signed and dated 1740, in a private collection in Barcelona, reported by Urrea Fernandez) and for a style that is always the same, in which it is not possible to highlight a coherent evolution. He later devoted himself to the representation of animals and dead game with a style, albeit tinged with innovative ambitions, rather anodyne and monotonous. With his paintings he met the favor of the local aristocracy and the nascent Bourbon court, as De Dominici tells us: "Baldassar di Caro also has the honor of serving his Majesty in his beautiful paintings of hunts, birds and fairs , as also of other animals, in which he made himself singular, as can be seen from his beautiful works in the house of many lords, and especially in that of the Duke of Mataloni, where he painted many hunting pictures ... becoming one of the virtuosi professors who do honor to the country '' (cited Achille della Ragione, 2021).
At the center of our painting there is a game in which we can see some birds arranged not in a rigorous but apparently random way, some with their legs up, others lying on their sides. With his ornithological attention, De Caro - in his works - portrays birds with precision and abundance of detail, demonstrating those skills that still make him appreciated by art specialists. They are outlined with precise and safe hatching as regards the plumage, as well as the beaks and legs. There is also attention to the chromatic passages, in particular to the red spots that light up from time to time on the clear dominant notes. Also note the detail of the scattered feathers in the foreground, which gives greater likelihood to the scene, which takes place outdoors, in fact, in the background, one can glimpse an open field landscape and part of the sky furrowed by large clouds, which they seem to portend an imminent change in weather.
Thanks to the suggestive lighting effects, the game takes on a remarkable plastic prominence and the viewer's attention is directed to it in the first instance. The painter carefully paints the reflections and iridescent effects of the animals' coats, fully revealing his mimetic ability.
The painting is embellished by a beautiful frame - probably ancient (?) - in gilded wood and worked in the Baroque style, and to be considered an integral part of the work, both for artistic and economic value (about € 500/800).
With regard to its state of conservation, the panel is in fair general condition considering the age of the painting, the pictorial surface is dirty and in patina. You can see – in Wood's light – some scattered restorations and some slight unveiling and oxidation of the pictorial surface. There are no serious conservative problems to be highlighted, and that does not seem to require intervention. In sunlight, a fine craquelé is visible in relation to the period. The measurements of the table are cm. 28 x 40.5. With regard to the frame, however, it has a patina and there are some defects, such as drops of gold, and wear over time. The dimensions of the frame are cm. 41 x 52 x 6 approx.
Provenance: Coll. private
Publication:
? Unreleased;
? The Myths and the Territory in Sicily with a thousand cultures. UNEDITED QUADRERIA general catalog of paintings from the collection of the cycle "Myths and the territory", Editore Lab_04, Marsala, 2022.
We also guarantee accurate packaging with external wooden crate and bubble wrap / cardboard / internal polystyrene (packaging cost approximately € 100.00) and tracked shipping (€ 100.00 Italy). For export, the work is subject to a request for a Certificate of Free Movement (European Community) or Export Certificate (Extra-Community Transport), at the export office (Superintendency of the territory) with the times and costs incurred ( € 300 / € 800, all included: shipping, packaging and particular exports).
The shipment could be delayed by a few days/weeks for logistical and administrative reasons. 67498223
