Circle of Pietro Neri Scacciati (Florence, 1684-1749), Living Nature with Courtyard and Birds

Circle of Pietro Neri Scacciati (Florence, 1684-1749)

Living nature with courtyard and birds

Oil on canvas, 77,5 x 113 cm – with frame 98 x 123,5 cm

The Central Italian school of painting developed from the 16th century onwards a particular predilection for a sincere still-life that investigated with heartfelt vividness and naturalistic virtuosity those subjects traditionally established in the drawing repertoire; live natures of animals thus preferentially prepared creatures of the undergrowth, from the courtyard and from the pastoral. The feverishly tactile working of the pictorial material had encouraged an ever greater predilection for alignment with the tendencies then coming from the Flemish countries which, attuned to Van Dyckian suggestions, found fertile ground especially in the city of Genoa.

The present painting is conceived as a happy ornithological parenthesis, symptomatic of the artist's skilled perfectionism in specifically portraying each animal. A subtle pigmentation outlines with fine highlights the individual feathers of the birds, enlivened by an exceptionally bright and lively eye. In addition to the domestic rooster at the center of the composition whose breed is recognizable in the "Golden-necked Livorno", equipped with flaming wattles and a crest of the so-called carnation type, it is possible to distinguish a mallard - in the duck with a dark green head and white collar, as well as common hens, a black Paduan hen in the specimen with a copious white-spotted tuft on the head and muscat feathers, and also pigeons of various subtypes on the right side of the painting.

Typological and design consonances allow us to bring the present artist closer to the circle of Pietro Neri Scacciati. Son of the flower painter Andrea, Pietro specialized in animal portraits; his live natures, recently the subject of in-depth study by Simari, academically developed the paintings of Bartolomeo Bimbi, another well-known animalier. Scacciati was able to blend the scientific acuity with which he portrayed animals, drawn realistically from living beings or, in the case of rare species, from stuffed animals, with a charming decorative purpose. This contemporaneity of intent is also evident in the present painting, in which, moreover, that typical pyramidal mountain can be observed in the background, which constituted a signature image of Scacciati. In particular, compare the present painting with Scacciati's Still Life Birds and Parrot in a Landscape (Museum of Still Life of the Medici Villa in Poggio a Caiano), with evident figurative assonances. Conceived with a pendant, the above-mentioned painting was commissioned to Scacciati, most likely, by the Medici Grand Duke Gian Gastone himself, once the order by Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici was excluded for documentary reasons. Consider also Birds in a Landscape with a Fountain from the same collection, also executed by Scacciati, of compositional airiness equal to the present one.

The object is in good condition

For Italy only: with Ars Antiqua it is possible to pay in installments up to a maximum of €7.500 at ZERO INTEREST, for a total of 15 INSTALLMENTS

E.g. Total €4.500 = Monthly installment €300 for 15 months.

E.g. Total €3.600 = Monthly installment €720 for 5 months.

For amounts exceeding €7.500 or for a longer period of time (over 15 installments), we can provide a personalized payment.

Contact us directly to get the best quote.

LIVE

– SUNDAY 17.00pm – 21.00pm Dig.terr. 126 – Sky 824

– Streaming on our website www.arsantiquasrl.com and on our social networks Facebook and Youtube

All the works proposed by Ars Antiqua are sold accompanied by a certificate of authenticity in accordance with the law and an accurate information sheet.

It is possible to see the works directly at the showroom gallery in Milan, in via Pisacane 55 and 57.

We personally organize transport and deliveries of the works, both for Italy and abroad.