ALLEGORY OF THE HARVEST "THE SQUEEZING OF THE GRAPES" - unique large-format work by Alberto Sanvitale (Rome, 1927 - Sanremo, 1999). Taken and revisited from a fresco by Pietro da Cortona

Partly taken from  “The Age of Silver” fresco by Pietro da Cortona. Sanvitale portrays only part of Pietro da Cortona's fresco.  Exactly the left side where there is a young Bacchus busy squeezing grapes into a cup to obtain wine and, lying at his feet, the goddess Pomona, goddess of abundance and fruits, who looks at him with a flirtatious air while a putto is intent on eating some bunches of grapes. Sanvitale in the right part of the painting does not paint the figures that can be seen in the fresco but creates his own fantasy. A pergola on which a vine climbs and below, placed in the foreground, he places the fruits that are found during the autumn.  In this way he makes this painting more "his"!   Student and follower of Carlo Carrà, the Roman painter Alberto Sanvitale (Rome 1927 - Sanremo 1999 ) moved in 1966 to the Ligurian Riviera. His pictorial colorism and the great decorative strength of his works originate from a genuine inspiration that made him be indicated as the Italian Matisse. This second of two large tempera panels placed on a masonite slab were part of the painted ceilings of the Sanremo Casino.  Signed work.  Italy - Sanremo 1970 ca.  Measurements: Height cm 185 Width cm 240       Notes:  The Age of Silver represents a period less good than the previous one (Age of Gold) but still favorable and is described by Ovid as the age of sowing the fields: «When Saturn was banished into the darkness the world fell under the dominion of Jupiter who created the four seasons (winter, spring, summer and autumn) and the "Age of Silver" took over.  While the "Age of Gold" is an idyllic age where men and women obtain from nature everything they need to live and where everything is born spontaneously, a moment of serenity.  The "Age of Silver" is a part of life in which men continue to have a peaceful life but they begin to understand that something is changing. The young Bacchus must squeeze the grapes to obtain the wine. Under the watchful eyes of a young goddess, Pomona, who has summer fruits in her hands. In the fresco that is located in the "Stufa" room at the Uffizi, there are several characters intent on working. Some shear sheep to then obtain wool, others have young sheep in their arms to dedicate themselves to pastoralism, etc. In the right part there are girls who have collected ears of wheat and the presence of a plow makes it clear that now man must start working the fields to obtain the food that he will need. But the atmosphere that is breathed is still quite carefree.