Marchigian School, 18th century
Portrait of Scipione Baldassini, half-length, holding a letter and seated at a table
Lot Closed
April 28, 02:52 PM GMT
Estimate
2,000 - 3,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Marchigian School, 18th century
Portrait of Scipione Baldassini, half-length, holding a letter and seated at a table
inscribed on the letter centre left: All'Ornatissimo Sig.re / Il Sig.re Scipione Baldassini / Jesi; inscribed on the letter lower centre: Conto de lavori / fatti da Luigi La[?...] / [...] Scipio [?...]
oil on canvas, unframed
86 x 66 cm.; 33⅞ x 26 in.
Scipione Baldassini was a patrician from Jesi, in the Marches, whose family originally came from Pesaro. Baldassini appears to have been closely involved with various architectural and artistic projects in Jesi, including the decoration of his family residence, Palazzo Pianetti; paintings for the dome of the Duomo di Jesi; and the construction of the city's theatre, which was completed in 1797. These endeavours, in which Baldassini acted as agent, make sense of the letter on the table in this painting, which appears to be a request for payment for 'lavori' (works).
This portrait bears many similarities to those of Carlo Magini (1720–1806), an artist from Fano who specialised in still lifes, but who also painted a number of likenesses of local figures, many of which include similar motifs of open letters, quills and inkpots in front of the sitters.1
1 See http://www.fondazionecarifano.it/Quadreria/CarloMagini/QuadreriaMaginiPhotoGallery.htm; and also: http://catalogo.fondazionezeri.unibo.it/scheda/opera/65383/Anonimo%20romano