The Maestro dei Riflessi Active in Venice during the second half of the 18th Century

D.G. van Beuningen, Rotterdam-Vierhouten, The Netherlands;
By whose Estate sold, London, Sotheby's, July 8, 2004, lot 170.

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com , an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting has been recently restored. The canvas has an old lining but the paint layer is stable and well textured. In its current frame, the picture should be hung as is. Under ultraviolet light there are no serious restorations apparent. The background above the figures has weakened slightly and there is some retouching to reduce the red ground color. In the foreground and in the blue dress of the central female figure there are also a few dots of restoration which address thinness. However, the thinness to the picture is to be expected with works from this period. The restoration is very good and although originally there may have been slightly more articulation to some areas of the painting, overall the condition is good.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

This composition is based on a work by Pietro Longhi, datable to 1746, now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (inv. 36.16).¹  Longhi's work was engraved by Charles Joseph Filipart (in reverse) and by Hayd (in the same sense); both engravings served as sources for many copies and variants by Longhi's followers.  The present painting, like the Filipart engraving, is in the opposite direction of Longhi's original.

The Maestro dei Riflessi, like the Maestro del Ridotto, was an artist working in Longhi's circle, possibly one of his pupils, whom Pignatti identified and under whose name he grouped a number of works.²  The paintings associated with this master's hand are characterized by their lively brushwork, particularly in the costumes, and this brushwork, which Pignatti described as "cangiante," is what gives the Master his name ("riflessi" literally means "reflections").  In addition to the stylistic similarities between this and and other canvases given to the Maestro dei Riflessi, an attribution to this artist is further supported by the fact that he is known to have produced painted replicas of Filipart's engravings on other occasions.³

1.  See T. Pignatti, Pietro Longhi, Venice 1968, p. 93, reproduced plate 78a.
2.  See for example Pignatti, op. cit., figs. 466 and 467.
3.  For example, The Declaration in the Aldo Crespi collection and The Card-Game in the Treccani collection, Milan.