Offered by Brozzetti Antichità
Pier Francesco Cittadini (Milan, 1616 - Bologna, 1681)
Jacob and his family go to Egypt
Oil on canvas, cm 109 x 190 (canvas only)
The valuable painting, made in oil on canvas, depicts Jacob and his family go to Egypt and we believe it can be, given the high quality painting, autograph work of Italian Pier Francesco Cittadini (Italy Milan, 1616 - Bologna, 1681) made after 1647. The work, in excellent condition is accompanied by a coeval frame in wood finely carved and golden.
The scene depicted, which was confused with the Flight to Egypt in the past years, is instead identified with the biblical episode of Jacob’s journey. In the foreground, reading the painting from left to right, we see a caravan composed of animals, including donkeys, dromedaries, goats, dogs and horses and people, women, men and slaves, who carry on their journey along the banks of a river, following a path that to the right, would seem to lead to the through of a bridge. In addition to the watercourse is described an environment characterized by large rocks and impervious come far to cover the entire verticality of the canvas. On the left, in the distance, we see the tail of the caravan that runs along the steep path. Large trees enliven and harmonize the environment, as well as white and grey clouds characterize the predominantly clear sky and illuminated on the right by sunlight.
The story is told in the Bible, Book of Genesis, 30, 25, passage in which is described the flight of Jacob from Haran after the contrasts with Laban, father of his wife Rachel.
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The author of this work was inspired by the composition of an engraving by Stefano Della Bella (1610/ 1664) of about 1647. The engraving by Stefano della Bella bears the title "Iacob sur ses vieux jours quitte sans fascherie pour voir son filz Ioseph, sa terre et sa patrie" and is signed on the bottom left "Stef. of the Beautiful In. et fe." while on the right it is declared "Cum privil. Regis", that is with license of the king.
Stefano Della Bella (Italy - Florence, May 18, 1610 - Florence, July 12, 1664) was born in a family of painters, sculptors and goldsmiths and was left early orphan of his father sculptor, he dedicated himself first to the art of goldsmith at the school of Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione and Gasparo Mola, then turning his attention to drawing and engraving. He soon began drawing figures and copying the etchings of Jacques Callot, which inspired his early works. Under the protection of the Medici, in particular of Don Lorenzo, cadet son of Grand Duke Ferdinand I, Della Bella has the opportunity to make study trips to Rome, where he stayed from 1633 to '36; In Rome he met French engravers and publishers of prints such as Israël Henriet and François Langlois, who influenced his decision to move to Paris in 1639, four years after the death of Callot. In Paris he soon reached, thanks to the engravings commissioned by Cardinal Richelieu, the success also worldly; he frequented courtiers, theatre artists and writers, while refusing too oppressive honors. In 1646-47 he continued his travels in the Netherlands to Amsterdam, Antwerp and Dordrecht. He returned to Florence in 1650 and resumed working under the protection of the Medici court, working for his patrons. In 1656 he became a member of the Academy of Apatists.
The painting object of this study is reasonably attributable to Pier Francesco Cittadini, or Pierfrancesco Cittadini, called the Milanese or the Franceschino (Italy - Milan, 1616 - Bologna, 1681) as some exemplary stylistic comparisons proposed to follow can prove.
Pier Francesco Cittadini was an Italian baroque painter, mainly active in Bologna. [...]
The painting in question, of high pictorial quality, certainly belongs to the body of important works of the artist, in which we find depicted the female figure with the turban that the painter likes to insert several times in his paintings.
Characteristic is also the color palette, characterized by saturated colors, bright and full, as well as the special treatment of the sky with clouds streaked and blue intense.
Observing the setting of the canvas in question and the description of the landscape, the rocky reliefs and the games of the most perspective levels it is possible to propose some similar layout, in which there are also subjects that lend themselves to a similar description, such as caravans of wayfarers and herds or the "Return from Egypt" of the Puskin Museum.
Also interesting is a Citizen’s China Drawing, kept at the Royal Collection Trust, in which a study for a landscape seems very close to the one then depicted in the canvas, with trees that act as a backdrop to the scene, large rocky reliefs arranged in a way very similar to the final version. It is understood that for the Citizens there is an authentic feeling of the landscape, felt as a protagonist not secondary to the figures.
In conclusion, the work, in good condition, is attributable to Pier Francesco Cittadini and datable following the engraving of Stefano della Bella in 1647, probably made after the return to Bologna of the artist (1650). The canvas is therefore added to the body of works of a representative painter in the development of Baroque painting, especially that of Bologna.
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