A remarkable collection of masterpieces has crept into the catalogue of the French auction house Rossini. Gathered by a couple of enthusiasts in the 1980s in Florence, the set includes nearly 70 paintings from Italian and Flemish schools, including religious paintings, still lifes and landscapes tracing two centuries of history.
First of the major works is this portrait of Martin Luther signed by the studio of Lucas Cranach the Elder, painter and engraver of the German Renaissance. Cranach and Luther were close friends (each was godfather of the other's children), and Cranach converted to Lutheran ideology and actively participated in the creation of Protestant iconography. The figure of the famous theologian and professor appeared several times in the painter's work, as evidenced by this painting in the sale as well as his portraits made around 1520-1525, like the one kept at the Museum of Basel.
Giovanni Pietro Rizzoli, known as Giampietrino, was a pupil of Leonardo da Vinci who greatly contributed to the dissemination of his master's work by reinterpreting many of his compositions. He is known in particular for a copy of The Last Supper, kept at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, as well as a Salvator Mundi formerly attributed to De Vinci. A prolific artist, Giampietrino produced many altarpieces and Madonnas similar to this Marie-Madeleine Repentante, which will be auctioned on 24 March.
Tintoretto is represented with a Madonna and Child executed by his workshop. The composition is inspired by a sculpture by Jacopo Sansovino and is found in several paintings by the master, such as The Holy Conversation, which is kept at the Cologne Museum, the Virgin and Child at Hampton Court, and that from the Barbaro Curtis collection in Venice which, here, appears on a landscape background. Despite being an artist with many varied themes, the most famous Tintoretto works remain his series of scenes from the life of Jesus, the Virgin Mary and Moses.
Make way for a Flemish painting with a superb landscape. It is attributed to Joost de Momper, an Antwerp artist known for his appropriation of atmospheric perspective (a pictorial technique that consists of marking the depth of space by a gradual gradient of colours and the softening of contours). By systematising this process, de Momper found his personal style, alternating throughout his career both lower and higher perspectives.
The Virgin and Baby Jesus with Saint James and Another Saint is an oil on canvas attributed to Jacopo Confortini, a Florentine painter of the 17th century. A pupil of Giovanni da San Giovanni, Confortini participated in the decoration of the Casino Mediceo di San Marco (Medicean city residence of Florence) between 1621 and 1624, before his admission to the Accademia del Disegno in 1628. He mainly produced religious paintings intended for the provincial churches of Tuscany, one of his last known works being a baptism of Christ dated 1667 in the church of Santo Stefano al Ponte in Florence.
Rarer in the selection, this superb mythological scene with a Caravaggio atmosphere is attributed to Pietro Paolini, who was active in Venice and Rome in the 17th century. The canvas takes up the theme of Hercules and Omphale, which is found in particular in a famous painting by Rubens (1603). Hercules, condemned to a year of servitude by the oracle of Delphi, is bought as a slave by Omphale, and carries out in his service many exploits to cleanse the kingdom of the monsters. There are several interpretations of their love, and the diversion of the heroic figure of Hercules, a reflection on the inversion of male/female domination, has fascinated many artists.
In addition to the works in this impressive collection, there are four paintings by the Viennese painter Balthasar Wigand, as well as a beautiful still life by the Flemish Baroque artist Alexander Adriaenssen.
Trained in painting on parchment, Adriaenssen was first labelled a watercolour artist by his contemporaries before he tried his hand at oil. His talent for still life was such that it was enough to build his reputation and to grant him the respect of Rubens, who bought two of his works, and of Antoine van Dyck, who painted his portrait.
Rossini’s catalogue includes a total of 104 paintings and works on paper. For more information about the sale, including dates, please contact the auction house directly.
