Offered by Antichità Castelbarco
Antonio Maria Piola (Genoa 1654 - 1715)
A late 17th-century Ligurian sketch depicting ‘the Immaculate Virgin'
Last quarter of the 17th century
59 x 45 cm.
Framed 71 x 58 cm.
Conservation status: Excellent
Expertise Dr. Stefano Causa
We offer in our gallery this splendid painting, of refined taste and pictorial value, depicting the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception portrayed according to the canons that were imposed from the first half of the 17th century;
The Madonna is shrouded in clouds and beset by the serpent, knotted around the globe while holding a red apple in her mouth, an obvious reference to Eve. On the globe we find the little Jesus, supported by his Mother's arms, intent on crushing the head of the tempter, who is writhing in the foreground pierced by the Cross.
This Marian image is extremely rare compared to the canonical depiction of the Immaculate Conception, where usually only the Virgin is immortalised.
As pointed out by Prof. Stefano Causa, who has studied the work in depth, it is a valuable preparatory sketch, a study for a larger altarpiece or even more likely for a fresco, whose stylistic analysis leads us easily to the environment of the late Genoese Baroque of the second half of the 17th century.
In particular, we are in the painting milieu of Domenico Piola (Genoa, 1627-1703), an absolute protagonist of Genoese culture at the end of the 17th century, at a time of maximum productive intensity, owner of the most important city workshop of the time, known as ‘Casa Piola’, where his sons Paolo Gerolamo and Anton Maria also collaborated.
During his production, which specialised in a type of highly decorative, profane and allegorical paintings intended for the decoration of patrician palaces in Genoa, he also devoted himself to a refined series of works of a religious nature.
In terms of style, the canvas is the work of his son Anton Maria Piola (Genoa 1654 - 1715), who preferred intimate devotional compositions, and was a continuator of a family painting tradition that is clearly recognisable in the type of faces with gentle expressions, in the rendering of puffy and opaque drapery, in the tendency to flatten volumes and space, in the chromatic range that emphasises the prevalence of cold tones with a grey-blue dominant and makes the luministic apex coincide with the spatial centre of the scene, which in this case is the Child Jesus, who emanates light with his white robes and the grey-blue hues of the Virgin's dress.
Delevery information :
We take care of and organise the transport of the purchased works, both for Italy and abroad, through professional and insured carriers.
We take great care We personally take care of the packaging, to which we devote a great deal of care: each work is carefully packed, first with arti- cle material, then with a custom-made wooden box.
Should you have the desire to see this or other works in person, we would be happy to welcome you to our gallery in Riva del Garda, Viale Giuseppe Canella 18, we are always open by appointment only.
