North Italian School - Early Baroque(approx 1615)
THE LOMBARD AND NORTH ITALIAN SCHOOL
Except for Mantua, ruled by the Gonzaga family, Lombardy fell during the 14th and 15th centuries under the sway of the Visconti family and the Sforza dukes of Milan. After the end of the Italian wars in mid-16th century, the rest of Lombardy followed the fortunes of Milan. Spanish rule (15351713) followed. During the Renaissance, Lombardy had a flourishing school of painting whose leading figures were Bernardino Luini and Gaudenzio Ferrari. The tradition continued in the following century with leading painters like Daniele Crespi and Panfilo Nuvolone, when with the advent of the Baroque, the Milanese followers remained eclectic, absorbing into the highly charged, emotional style elements of the previous masters.
Daniele Crespi was born in 1595 in Busto Arsizio, duchy of Milan and
died in 1630 in Milan. An Italian Baroque painter, known for the direct emotional appeal and simple compositions of his religious paintings, he was a Mannerist in style and was influenced by the painter Giulio Cesare Procaccini, who was noted for the idealized beauty of his work. Although he died young of the plague, his output was large and his work is considered to be one of the most typical expressions of the zealous spirit of the Counter-Reformation that affected Milan at the time.
Putto reclining on cushions
Oil on Board, Absolutely Original, Traces of small paint loss (upper right) but in Good Condition overall. Framed in a splendid, elaborate Baroque Frame.
Measurements Painting: 18.5cm x 23.5cm (approx 7.25 inches x 9.75 inches);Framed: 31cm x 39.5cm (approx 12.1 inches x 15.5 inches).
This charming painting, depicting a Putto reclining on Cushions is an early Baroque Old Master, dating approx 1615 and still showing the Mannerist influence of idealized beauty. It belongs to the North Italian School which was prominent in Lombardy and Piedmont during the High Renaissance and remained a major source of inspiration for the following two centuries. It shows iconographic detail indicating that the painting is by a northern artist working in Milan and Piedmont in the early quarter of the seventeenth century and an attribution to Daniele Crespi (15901630) was suggested.
Paintings by the North Italian School and by Daniele Crespi are present in all the most important Museums in the world, including Il Prado Museum, the National Gallery in London and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
LITERATURE: Masterpieces of European Paintings from the Suida-Manning Collection, The Blanton Museum of Art, Un.Texas, Austin 2001; Millain the Great Milano nelle brume del Seicento, Peter Burke, 1989
Acquired by a private Collector in Italy
