Bartolomeo Bettera

This pair of still lifes draws upon a rich artistic tradition popularized in seventeenth-century Bergamo by Evaristo Baschenis and his pupil Bartolommeo Bettera. With a particular emphasis on the elegance of forms and balance of geometries, each painting depicts a dynamic array of objects, either musical or maritime in nature. The identification of "Provence" on the map of Italy in the latter work suggests that the artist was probably a French or Flemish painter active in Italy and perhaps had the initials "C.H.," which are prominently displayed in the music book of the former work.