Antonio Tibaldi (Rome, circa 1633 - circa 1684)
Still life with precious objects, brocaded fabrics and sweets on a plate
circa 1650/1660
Oil on canvas (96 x 130 cm - Framed 115 x 150 cm)
For further information on the author, see the essay: 'Still life painters in Rome. Italian artists, 1630-1750' - Gianluca and Ulisse Bocchi - 2005
Full details of the work (click HERE)
This prestigious still life, with incredible scenic effect, depicts an opulent display of precious objects, including vases, jugs and plates in precious metals, a stringed musical instrument, specifically a guitar, a cushion and an elegant embroidered fabric with gold threads, while on the right a precious damask curtain opens the scene as in a theatrical curtain.
The large dimensions of the canvas fall within the typically Roman format of the so-called 'tela da imperatore', a Baroque definition for framing canvases of approximately 130 x 90 cm.
The painting is a work by the Roman painter Antonio Tibaldi, whose compositions were very successful in Baroque Rome, thanks to his particular attention to rendering the precious details of the objects depicted, which make each of his works particularly precious and elegant.
He worked at the same time as Carlo Manieri, with whom he partially shared the exhibition modules but, while the latter lingered in the description of elaborate architectural structures, Tibaldi showed a more accentuated tendency to saturate the spaces and closed backgrounds with heavy draperies, according to the fashion imposed by Francesco Maltese.
For comparative purposes, in support of our attribution, it is easy to mention the two 'Still lifes with brocades and goldsmith's objects' held at the Musée Fresch in Ajaccio in France (image 1 - https://www.musee-fesch.com/tag/antonio-tibaldi), commissioned around 1650 in Rome by Cardinal Fresch, which have more than one competitive element that we see taken up in the canvas proposed here.
The pair of 'Still lifes with casket, sweets and precious objects', correctly attributed to Tibaldi and passed on the Milanese antiques market in 1987 (image 2 - Finarte, Milan 6-7 May 1987, lots 246 and 247, as F. Fieravino) are almost analogous to ours. In one of the two canvases, on the important chiselled casket, there is the heraldic emblem with the three bees, to witness the commission by the Barberini family.
This is testament to the fact that Antonio Tibaldi enjoyed considerable esteem among a Roman patriciate particularly inclined to these pompous depictions, working for the most powerful Roman families: among the most influential clients, in addition to the Barberini (Pope Urban VIII), we know that there were also the Chigi (Pope Alexander VII) and the Colonna.
Our painting also presents a coat of arms, albeit difficult to interpret (in the area near the base band of the embossed vase in gilded metal) with a rampant lion in an oval shield surmounted by a crown.
Tibaldi's artistic production is characterized by a series of recurring motifs, which we also find in our work: among these is the tendency to fill the pictorial space as much as possible by placing carpets or damask fabrics on stone tables decorated with Renaissance-style motifs. But also the typical sugared sweets, here arranged on a silver plate: these are biscuits and candied fruit that Tibaldi rendered in a completely personal and characterized way, giving them the impression of a 'spongy' consistency. We can find the same sweets, as well as in the works mentioned above, in the 'Still life with carpet, plate of candied citrus fruits and sweets...' that passed through Christie's in London (image 3 - 8-9 December 1994, n. 379) https://catalogo.fondazionezeri.unibo.it/scheda/opera/88018/ .
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
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