Giovanni Stanchi

Alvarò de Figueroa y Torres, 1st Conde de Romanones (1863-1950);
Thence by descent in the family to the present owner.

"The following condition report has been provided by Henry Gentle, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. The canvas is lined and the paint is stable but raised in some areas. The background is significantly abraded and the ground colour and canvas texture are visible; some of this has been restored out along with minor damages to the left and right hand edges. The impasto and paint is in a good condition within the still lifes and the colours are strong, although the greens have faded somewhat. The removal of the varnish would improve the tonality. Offered in a plain moulded gilt wood frame, with minor losses."
"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."

We are grateful to both Dottoressa Maria Silva Proni and Dott. Alberto Crispo for independently endorsing the attribution to the Stanchi family on the basis of photographs. Dottssa. Proni has compared the arrangement of the fruit to a similar work by Stanchi in a private collection,¹ and the composition as a whole may be compared with the Still life with citrus fruits, flowers and artichokes in an unknown location, in which a vase of flowers sits on a tabletop to the left of  a basket of lemons and other fruit.²

The Stanchi family of painters, comprising Giovanni, Niccolò and Angelo, were working very closely together in Rome in the middle of the 17th century and their style is rooted in the Caravaggesque tradition prevalent in that city throughout the first half of the century. Given their close association it has proved immensely difficult for scholars in the field of 17th century Roman still life painting to identify each particular hand, although several attempts have been made: all of Laura Laureati,¹ Italo Faldi² and Alberto Cottino³ have pronounced a distinction between the separate hands extremely difficult or impossible to establish, while more recently Lanfranco Ravelli⁴ has attempted to separate the two brothers, Giovanni and Niccolò, respectively defined as 'Hand A' and ' Hand B', giving Hand B, or Niccolò, a primary role in the works considered collaborations.

It seems more likely however, given that he was fifteen years older than Niccolò and eighteen older than Angelo, and in light of the many prestigious commissions that he is documented as having received, that Giovanni was the leader of the workshop and it is thus that most works are tentatively attributed to him, rather than the lesser documented brothers.

1. See M.S. Proni in G. & U. Bocchi, Pittori di Natura Morta a Roma. Artisti Italiani, Viadana 2005, p. 299, reproduced p. 301, fig. FS.66.
2. ibid, p. 299, reproduced p. 301, fig. FS.67.
1. I. Faldi, "Giovanni Stanchi", in La Natura Morta Italiana, exhibition catalogue, Milan 1964, p. 69.
2. L. Laureati, "Giovanni Stanchi, Niccolò Stanchi and Angelo Stanchi", in La Natura Morta in Italia, vol. II, Milan 1989, p. 771.
3. A. Cottino, "Le origini e lo sviluppo della natura morta barocca a Roma", in Natura Morta italiana tra Cinquecento e Settecento, exhibition catalogue, Milan 2002-03, p. 355.
4. L. Ravelli, Stanchi dei Fiori, Bergamo 2005.