Onorio Marinari

Private collection, Germany.

The catalogue illustration is much too yellow. Contrary to as stated in the printed catalogue the medium is in fact oil on canvas laid on board. The paint surface is well preserved over all. There are however a few restored damages: one immediately beneath the head of the angel approx 2 by 2 cm., and another on his knee approximately 4 by 7 cm., and there is a short restored horizontal tear in the extreme lower left corner of approximately 10 cm width. Inspection under ultra violet light reveals only a very few further restorations, all of a minor nature. The painting would benefit from a surface clean and rerestoration. Sold with a modern gilt frame
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The son of a painter, Marinari started his artistic career under the auspices of the highly successful Carlo Dolci, whose style he convincingly emulated. Although his earliest works often repeat Dolci inventions or at the very least imitate his master's refined pictorial style, Marinari's paintings tend towards a greater narrative expression and his increasingly dynamic compositions owe more to his short apprenticeship with Volterrano than to Dolci. Indeed in his Vita Gabburri talks of Marinari's perfect blend of these two artists' styles; both of which are perfectly exemplified here.¹ The painting must date from 1660 or shortly after; compare, for example, his Saint Jerome in the church of SS. Simone e Giuda, Florence, where an angel of similar type appears.²

An autograph variant of this composition, on a smaller scale and with notable differences, is in the Cassa di Risparmio di Pistoia e Pescia.³ The positioning of figures and cattle is the same in each picture but the colours are different, the angel has been considerably altered, and a mountain and cross have been introduced into the background. This is not a unique example of Marinari repeating his compositions: his Flight into Egypt exists in two versions, one in Empoli and the smaller of the two in Munich.⁴ It is unclear whether these smaller paintings were produced as bozzetti or modelli, or whether they were merely autograph replicas executed at a patron's request.

We are grateful to Francesca Baldassari and Silvia Benassai for independently endorsing the attribution to Marinari, on the basis of photographs.

1. F.M.N. Gabburri, Vite di pittori (ms. c. 1730-1742, vol. IV, c. 129r, p. 2011: "conserve in parte lo stile di Carlin Dolci, ma ingrandì la maniera col farne una mista con quella di Baldassar Franceschini, detto il Volterrano".
2. See S. Benassai, Onorio Marinari. Pittore nella Firenze degli Ultimi Medici, Florence 2011, pp. 108-9, cat. no. 26, reproduced (and also in colour).
3. 76 by 59 cm.; see Benassai, op. cit., p. 95, cat. no. 7, reproduced (and also in colour).
4. Benassai, ibid., pp. 112-3, cat. nos. 29 and 30, both reproduced.