Francesco Simonini

Anonymous sale ("Property of a Gentleman,") London, Christie's, 8 December 1995, lot 86.

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 was probably restored in the 1980s and should be hung in its current condition. The canvas has an older wax lining, which is reversible, but functional nonetheless. The canvas is made from two pieces of linen joined vertically through the center. This join is visible but not unstable. The paint layer is very fresh and lively, with well illuminated darker colors and bright lighter colors. The unevenness in the sky is not the result of any damage or restoration, except in the upper right, where some slight discoloration may have occurred. Under ultraviolet light, there are very few restorations visible; there are a couple in the lower left sky and a few restorations down the original canvas join in the center, but no other apparent restorations. For a work of this period, the condition is clearly extremely 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."

Simonini enjoyed great fame during his lifetime as a painter of battles and landscape. From 1733 to 1745 he worked as a painter, draughtsman and advisor to Johann Mathias, Graf von der Schulenberg, the commander of the Venetian army against the Turks. Simonini's military scenes display a detail rare among his contemporaries, the result of his participating in several of Schulenberg's campaigns. They are also distinguished by their interest in the less glamorous aspects of military life, which he clearly observed closely and at first hand. His distinctive style, with its rapid brushwork and vivid colours, was evidently formed under the influence of his Venetian contemporaries, in particular the vedutista Marco Ricci.  

Simonini's connection to Florence began earlier in his career, where during an early stay he studied the battle painting of Jacques Courtois, after whom he made twenty four copies of Courtois' pictures in the Palazzo Piccolomini.  This painting probably dates from late in the artist's life, to his Florentine period (circa 1755).  This painting, along with the following lot, correspond both stylistically and in size to series of works from that period, dating from the end 1754 to the beginning of 1755.  The series was executed by Simonini for the decoration of rooms in the Villa Fagnano, Lombardy, and the present works may indeed have formed part of that group.

We are grateful to Maurizio Zecchini for endorsing an attribution of this lot to Francesco Simonini and for suggesting the link to the decoration cycle for Villa Fagnano, Lombardy.