Offered by Antichità Castelbarco
Andrea Scacciati (Florence 1642-1710)
Composition of flowers within embossed vase (1 of 3)
oil on canvas
130 x 90 cm
In antique frame 145 x 105 cm.
Work with expertise by Prof. Emilio Negro
Antique frame, with defects and missing. Painting in good condition, old restuarions, presence of an old surface layer of varnish, partially oxidised.
The important still life on show - of which two other examples may be available - shows a luxuriant bouquet of numerous botanical varieties, described with careful sensitivity thanks to a richly textured and tonal composition, gathered inside an embossed metal vase resting on a square-shaped support.
Given its large size and the fact that it is part of a series, our work was certainly commissioned for the decoration of a patrician palace. It was in fact customary, in large reception halls or in the long corridors connecting the different wings of palaces, to decorate the most important walls with specially commissioned series of works, according to the tastes of the noble owners.
The painting, dating from the end of the 17th century, exhibits purely Tuscan school characteristics and is attributed to the Florentine Andrea Scacciati (Florence 1642-1710), a leading figure together with Bartolomeo Bimbi of this pictorial genre in Florence in the late Baroque period.
Andrea Scacciati is in fact considered the protagonist of the renewal of the Florentine still life in a Baroque sense in a century that constitutes the golden age of this figurative genre: during the 17th century, still life in fact asserted itself as a genre in its own right and all its inherent potential - in terms of visual suggestion, descriptive precision, compositional wisdom and symbolic density - reached an unsurpassed fulfilment.
At the end of the 1860s, the painter set up a workshop in charge of numerous commissions from the ruling house and various noble families. Much loved by the Medici and the most famous patrician families of Tuscany, he was the author of works of the highest stylistic quality, mainly dedicated to floral compositions, defined with expert pictorial skill and enhanced by exclusive colour effects.
His canvases were especially requested by Grand Duchess Vittoria della Rovere and Grand Duke Cosimo III and destined for the Villa dell'Ambrogiana.
As for the characteristics of his style, one can see a descriptive formula imbued with an original eclecticism, borrowed essentially from his knowledge of 17th-century Flemish and Dutch paintings, and from the refinements of the Roman floral compositions of the famous Mario Nuzzi, better known as Mario de' Fiori.
The typology of the composition and the chiselled metal vase are reminiscent of the artist's most typical late period. There are numerous elements typical of the painter that we see again in our still life, including the almost geometric balance of the arrangement of the flowers and the variegated colour scheme in the depiction of the different botanical species, created with variety and elegance, finally enhanced by the dark background.
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.
