Giovanni Pratesi: The Florentine Eye
Giovanni Pratesi: The Florentine Eye
Giovanni Martinelli
An allegory of Music
Auction Closed
March 22, 07:15 PM GMT
Estimate
30,000 - 40,000 EUR
Lot Details
Description
Giovanni Martinelli
Montevarchi 1600 - 1659 Florence
An allegory of Music
oil on canvas, oval
unframed: 82 x 64.5 cm.; 32¼ x 25⅜ in.
framed: 108 x 94 cm.; 42½ x 37 in.
Where acquired by the present owner in 1993.
T. Strinati in Colori della Musica. Dipinti, strumenti e concerti tra Cinquecento e Seicento, A. Bini, C. Strinati and R. Vodret (eds), exh. cat., Rome and Siena 2000, pp. 196–97, reproduced fig. 40;
G. d’Afflitto, 'Martinelli Giovanni', in Dizionario biografico degli italiani, vol. LXXI, Rome 2008, p. 123;
F. Baldassari, La pittura del Seicento a Firenze: indice degli artisti e delle loro opere, Milan 2009, pp. 524– 25, reproduced fig. 295;
S. Bellesi, Catalogo dei pittori fiorentini del '600 e '700. Biografie e opere, Florence 2009, vol. I, p. 26 and 193, no. XX, reproduced in colour;
G. Cantelli, Repertorio della pittura fiorentina del Seicento. Aggiornamento, Pontedera 2009, p. 46 and 140, reproduced in colour fig. LII;
S. Bellesi, 'I quadri allegorici', in Giovanni Martinelli da Montevarchi pittore in Firenze, L. Canonici (ed.), Florence 2011, pp. 65 and 69, reproduced in colour fig. 31;
N. Bastogi in Giovanni Martinelli, pittore di Montevarchi. Maestro del Seicento fiorentino, A. Baldinotti, B. Santi and R. Spinelli (eds), exh. cat., Montevarchi 2011, pp. 118–19, no. 1.11, reproduced in colour;
F. Baldassari in Florence au grand siècle entre peinture et littérature, E. Fumagalli and M. Rossi (eds), exh. cat., Ajaccio 2011, pp. 186–87, no. 41, reproduced in colour;
N. Bastogi in I tesori nascosti. Caravaggio, Tino di Camaino e Gemito, V. Sgarbi (ed.), exh. cat., Naples 2016, pp. 158–59, reproduced in colour fig. 58.
Dated to about 1650 by Baldassari, this work was created during Martinelli's Florentine period after his brief sojourn in Rome during the 1630s.1 This compositional type conforms to a large set of allegories depicting the liberal arts, sometimes but not exclusively in oval format, that all date to this period of the artist's career.
In this allegory a female flautist is captured in a moment of silence, anticipating the start of her performance. The flute she is holding is a rare and prized example of its kind, bearing a metal tip which is not a tuning ring. The violin resting on the table features a particularly flamboyant body not entirely typical of the period and speaks to the sensual exuberance mirrored in her loose clothing and exposed shoulder. The appearance of two instruments, and only one player, is perhaps an intentional invitation to the viewer to pick up this spare violin and begin making music with her. Behind are two mischievous putti waiting patiently to join in with the duet.
At least two other canvases of female musicians in the guise of allegories are recorded: an Allegory of Music, showing a lady holding a recorder, is in the Galleria Corsini, Florence; and another showing a singer holding a musical score was previously on the London art market.2 Sandro Bellesi has also suggested that the same model appears in an Allegory of Comedy recorded in the collection of Gianfranco Luzzetti, Florence.3
1 Baldassarri 2009, p. 186.
2 Bellesi 2011, pp. 56, 71, both reproduced.
3 Bellesi 2011, p. 65, reproduced.
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