Bartolomeo Bettera Bergamo 1639 - end of the 17th Century, Milan

The painting is slightly cooler and less red than the catalogue illustration suggests. The canvas appears to be unlined but has been laid onto a new stretcher. The paint surface is in excellent condition retaining all of its original impasto, especially in the highlights (e.g. on the copper bowl lower centre) and in the tassels on the carpet and curtain. The paint surface is not very dirty but the varnish is opaque and uneven. There is a visible craquelure pattern throughout, more visible in the darker areas of the still life. Inspection under ultra-violet light reveals scattered retouchings throughout the still life, small but quite numerous: these are particularly concentrated towards the lower edge and lower corners, on the darker body of the cello right of centre, on the violin and trumpet below it, and on the handle of the lute lower centre. Further retouchings are visible on the curtain near the upper edge and there is a large horizontal repaired tear running approx. 5cm. from the top (measuring approx. 60 cm. in length), also on the curtain. This tear has been carefully retouched and patched on the reverse, and is only visible upon close inspection. All other retouchings are not obvious to the naked eye and the painting is in good condition overall. The paint was solidly applied and the picture surface has not suffered from wear. The plain modern frame is painted black and in good condition.
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This large and impressive work by Bartolommeo Bettera demonstrates the artist's masterly command of perspective and foreshortening. Bettera was apprenticed to Evaristo Baschenis (1607-1677) in Bergamo whose style he spent a lifetime successfully imitating, without ever quite reaching the highest standards set by his master. Bettera's still lifes are characterised by a richer palette and usually include a denser arrangement of objects than those of his master; he adapted Baschenis' style to the taste and decorative elaboration of the late-Baroque.

There have been many confused attempts in the past to separate the oeuvres of  Baschenis and Bettera from each other and it was not until Marco Rosci's catalogue in 1971 that any distinctions between the two became clear.¹  Bettera's oeuvre has, furthermore, been separated from that of the mysterious 'Monogrammist B.B.' who has since been identified as a copyist of Baschenis working after the latter's death, when demand for still lifes of this type reached new heights.

We are grateful to Dott. Alberto Crispo for endorsing the attribution to Bettera on the basis of photographs.

1. M. Rosci, Baschenis, Bettera & Co., Milan 1971.