Bologna frame, late 17th century

FRAME, BOLOGNA, LATE 17TH CENTURY - EARLY 18TH CENTURY Rebate with repeating bellflowers marked in the center by a stylized ribbon, openwork band carved with large acanthus leaves that meet in the centers with specular scrolls, large open leaves mark the corners. Gilding in pure gold on red bole preparation. Light cm 43x49.5; overall dimensions cm 71x77.5 Bibliography Roberto Lodi Catalogue 8, n. 45 This frame features decorative motifs of facing foliate scrolls in the centers. The rebate is made up of bellflowers that can be defined as a basic element among the Emilian decorative motifs since the late sixteenth century. The example, datable between the end of the 17th century and the first half of the 18th, belongs to a genre much requested by wealthy Bolognese patrons, and constitutes, with the repetition of the plant intertwining, a distinctly Emilian typology, as evidenced by the examples preserved in the municipal art collections and at the Davia Bargellini museum in Bologna.