The Master of the Reflections

With Thos. Agnew & Sons, London, before 1952;
Nelson Atkins Museum, Kansas City, Missouri, acquired 1954 (inv. 54-57);
By whom sold, New York, Christie’s, 31 May 1991, lot 101 (as After Pietro
Longhi);
Where purchased by the present collector.

London, Agnew's, Coronation Exhibition of Thirty-Five Masterpieces of Venetian Painting (In Aid of King George VI Memorial Fund), 1953, no. 23 (as Pietro Longhi);
Pittsburgh, Carnegie Institute, Genre Painting in Europe 1500-1900,  14 October- 12 December, 1954, no. 46 (as Pietro Longhi).

The Illustrated London News, 3 November, 1951, p. 718;
Apollo, March 1952, LV, no. 325, reproduced on the cover in color, p. 92;
D. Grafly, “On the Subject of Man. A Report on the Carnegie Institute’s ‘Genre’ Show and the Arensberg Collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art,” in American Artist, vol. 18, no. 10, December 1954, p. 40, reproduced, p. 41 (as Pietro Longhi);
F. Kiesler, "Mozart 1956-1756," in Art News, no. 54, January 1956, p. 25, reproduced (as Pietro Longhi);
Handbook of the Nelson Gallery of Art-Atkins Museum, 1959, p. 75, reproduced (as Pietro Longhi);
Encyclopedia of World Art, VI, 1962, reproduced, fig. 75;
T. Pignatti, Pietro Longhi, London 1969, p. 118, reproduced plate 478 (as the "Master of the Reflections");
B.B. Fredericksen and F. Zeri, Census of Pre-Nineteenth Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections, Cambridge, MA 1972, pp. 108, 589 (as School of Pietro Longhi);
T. Pignatti," Aggiunte per Pietro Longhi," in Arte Illustrata, vol. V, no. 47, January 1972, p. 4.

The canvas is lined. An elegant image reads well and preserves some intricate details as seen with the gowns the sitters wear. The canvas is slightly abraded along the left and right edge, though this is not too distracting. There is a minor line of paint loss, less than 2 inches long, at center right. Some craquelure is barely visible especially on the skin of the central figure sitting on the bed. Some possible retouching on the background is visible to the naked eye, though inspection under UV is difficult to read due to a thick varnish. Some inpainting possibly to address craquelure fluoresces at center left, especially on the three ladies. What appears to be a small, circular old repair also fluoresces at the center left of the red robe the man wears. The painting is offered unframed, but can otherwise hang in its present state. The painting is offered in a gilded and elaborately carved frame.
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The Master of the Reflections (“Maestro dei Riflessi”) was a follower of Pietro Longhi who produced paintings based upon his compositions, presumably for the open market in Venice.  Terisio Pignatti identified a number of works by the Master, naming him after his flickering brushwork, and connected this painting with his grouping of that master.    Like all paintings attributed to the Master, the source of the present composition is a now lost original by Longhi, for which three preparatory drawings survive in the collection of the Museo Correr, Venice.¹  One is a nearly complete study of the husband, seated in a chair and holding a broadsheet.  The others are studies of the lady, one with her maid adjusting her robe, and the other a study of her skirt, focusing on the appliqued decoration along the bottom.  All of these studies are in the opposite direction of the present example (and all other known versions), which suggest that the original painting by Longhi was as well.   Thus, the direct source for this picture is likely the print of 1748 by the French engraver Charles Joseph Flipart, who produced a series of prints after Longhi.  The print is accompanied by poetic couplets which identifies the subject as one of marital life.³

Other versions of this composition by the Master of the Reflections exist, include one formerly in the collection of Alfred Beit and now at Bowes Castle, and another of more horizontal format in the Salom Collection, Segromigno Monte.²

1. See T. Pignatti, 1969 literature, p. 113, figs. 475-477.
2. See T. Pignatti, 1969 literature, reproduced, p. 473.

3. "Sorta fuor delle piume ancor ammira/ la propria sposa il Cavalier gentile,/ ma se la gloria un nuovo ardor gl'ispira/ di tal ozio arrossisce, ed hallo a vile."