Lot 336
  • 336

Prospero Mallerini

Estimate
30,000 - 40,000 GBP
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Description

  • Prospero Mallerini
  • a Trompe L'Oeil still life of a portable wooden altar with a rosary, a hand bell and books lying on the ledge beside
  • signed and dated lower left on the altar: P.Mallerini 1832.
  • oil on canvas

Provenance

Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, 9 July 2009, lot 187, where acquired by the present owner.

Catalogue Note

Prospero Mallerini was recorded as an architect and painter and although a document relating to his earliest known work, dated 1794, refers to him as "un pittore di Martinengo [Bergamo]" he seems to have been active predominantly in Rome.1   The present work is the latest known work by the artist and one of only two known 'pure' still lifes by the artist, both depicting a trompe l'oeil space for personal devotion.2  Whilst the ostensible subject matter of the painting is devotional the actual focus of both images seems to be Mallerini's virtuoso handling of the paint and his precise ability to depict naturalistic still life elements. 

1. L.  Barroero, 'Prospero Mallerini: appunti per un pittore sconosciuto', in Prospettiva, nos. 33-36, 1983-4, pp. 334-39.
2. Sold New York, Sotheby's, 25 January 2008, lot 201 for $85,000.