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Lot 169 - Auction 28

FOREING ARTIST ACTIVE IN ROMEAllegory of Good Luck First quarter of the seventeenth century

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Description

FOREING ARTIST ACTIVE IN ROME

Allegory of Good Luck
First quarter of the seventeenth century
Oil on canvas, 95 x 74.5 cm
The Roman artistic environment of the XVII century is characterized by the presence of young talented painters who came from every corner of Europe to specialize in the art of Caravaggio and of his representation of reality.
Many of them, especially Flemish, German and French, became highly appreciated by the market and the Roman nobility. Their way of life didn’t pass unnoticed, they associated with cardinals, princes and prostitutes. Thus, Rome ""of the slums"" became the subject of their art, including realism, caricature and moralizing themes.
The canvas, presented here, certainly arises in this context of the so-called ""ridiculous paintings"". Sitting at a table on which there is a series of objects - a piece of bread, a dish with snails, a knife, a glass of wine, a pitcher, an onion - a man, probably a beggar, makes the gesture of horns while a mocking laughter invites the viewer to imitate him, to forget the rule of morality.
Rice, however, acquires a different meaning: it leads to a cathartic virtues driving morality and not an outrage to the powerful, to the pleasure of the senses.
The painter, anonymous, was very skilled in the rendering of objects - to note the lightness of the glass. Some of them have a negative meaning such as the cat behind him, the snails - symbol of discord - and the onion used in the past against the evil witches.
Probably, the work could be read as an Allegory of Good Luck.
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