Stormy sea, oil on canvas, 17th century. Attributed to Monsù Montagna (c. 1608-1660) with contemporary frame.

Interesting painting depicting a shipwreck scene of a sailing ship at sea during a storm near a fortification perched on rocks. The painter who executed it is an artist active in the mid-seventeenth century, fascinated by maritime scenes popularized by those landscape painters, who we can define as proto-romantic, prone to a lively and vibrant painting, such as Salvator Rosa, Filippo Napolitano, Paul Bril and many others of Flemish-Dutch origin. The work in question can be connected to the restless seas that often depict shipwrecks by the Flemish painter Matthieu Van Plattenberg, known as Monsù Montagna (Antwerp 1608-1660), with a quick comparison of his pictorial catalog. We can note that there are many coinciding references, such as the type of vessels with red flags, the same topographical quality of the settlements, the atmospheres and the proto-romantic verve with which these scenes are corroborated. The painting is in excellent condition and includes a gilded contemporary frame finely engraved with floral scrolls of central Italian manufacture. On the back there is a Verner stamp with a date. It would seem that these inscriptions are posthumous to the period of execution of our painting. The measurements are: 95 x 73 cm canvas only; 117 x 95 cm including the frame. We attach a certificate of authenticity to the sale.