Alessandro Magnasco Il Lissandro

Alessandro Magnasco (Genoa 1667–1749) Joseph interpreting Dreams, oil on canvas, 134 x 177cm, framed Provenance: Comte Andre Parfait de Bizemont, Orleans; Marquis de Ganay; with A. Ward-Jackson, London, 1979; The British Rail Pension Fund Collection; sale Sotheby´s, London 5th July 1995, lot 57; Private European collection Exhibited: on loan, Leeds Castle, Kent 1980–1995 Literature: A. De Bartoli “Aggiunte al Magnasco Milanese” in Arte Cristiana, 1990, p. 276, no. 739, fig. 11 (as painted entrirely by Alessandro Magnasco). L. Muti and D. De Sarno Prignano Alessandro Magnasco, 1994, p. 340, R. 534 (as not by Magnasco, opinion based on a photograph). Alessandro Magnasco 1667–1749 (exhibition catalogue) Milan 1996, p. 168, no. 32 catalogue entry by F. F. Guelfi (as Alessandro Magnasco) Fausta Franchini Guelfi believes the present painting to have been painted entirely by Alessandro Magnasco without the assistance of artists such as Antonio Francesco Peruzzini or Clemente Spera, and as such it is an important example within the artist´s oeuvre. The theatrical rendering of the interior of a prison apparent in the present painting helps to illustrate an episode from the biblical story of Joseph and the composition almost certainly relates as a ricordo of a backdrop, or scenery, designed for the performance of an oratorio. The story of Joseph offered reflections on both devout meditation and considerations on royal recognition, and the story was the subject of at least three “sacred acts” or oratorios sung at Vienna’’ ’’s Imperial Chapel, all with text and music by Italian authors . The most well-known – Giuseppe (Joseph) by Apostolo Zeno (1722) and Giuseppe riconosciuto (Joseph recognised) by Pietro Metastasio (1733), the first with music by Antonio Caldara, the second set to music by G. Porsile – both focus on the end of the biblical hero’’’’s story when Joseph, as the Pharaoh’’’’s chief minister, recognises his brothers. However the performance of interest here is Gioseffo che interpreta i sogni (Joseph interpreting dreams) with text by Giovanni Battista Neri and music by Antonio Caldara, also performed in Vienna’’’’s Imperial Chapel for Emperor Charles VI in 1726. A copy of the opera libretto, printed in Vienna, is in the Theatrical Library collections of La Scala in Milan (TI.R.909/18); while the score by Caldara is kept in the Archives of Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna. The Parte Prima (First Part) starts precisely with the scene portrayed here by Magnasco, and the obsessive burden of prison in his painting, with connotations of suffering and denial of freedom, with Joseph’’’’s Aria: “Maybe you are unsettled by your foot being / restrained within these walls? Ah! Be consoled in the knowledge / that every man in this world/ is a prisoner, / and whether his prison / be large or small / there is nothing of more pain or less suffering/ than a chain fixed to a wall”. The oratorio would have been performed at a later date in Milan, which was usual practice for many performances first held in Vienna and the oratorio would have been held with the presence of the scenery. This suggests that the religious opera was performed at a convent, monastery or the palace of an nobleman (perhaps the commissioner of the painting himself) who followed the latest musical events of the Viennese court. Particularly appreciated were the works of Antonio Caldara (Venice 1670/1671– Vienna 1736), imperial composer as of 1716; the maestro of Emperor Charles VI who took pleasure in music and appreciated its extraordinary creative versatility. If the painting, as has been suggested by Fausta Franchini Gulefi, were a documentation of the Milanese scenery of Gioseffo (Joseph), Magnasco would have had the sketch directly from the scenic designer in order to depict the scene, according to the commissioner’’’’s wishes. It is currently not possible to propose the name of a scenic designer; however Corpo di guardia reale (The guard) and Anteriore di un serraglio di fiere (Front of a menagerie of animals) designed by Pietro Righini for Medo, performed at the Teatro Ducale of Parma in 1728, and engraved by Jacopo Vezzani and Martin Engelbrecht (see G. Botti, Pietro Righini apparatore e scenografo a Parma, in La Parma in festa. Spettacolarita e teatro nel Ducato di Parma nel Settecento, Modena 1987, fìgs. 6-7), can be compared, hypothetically, with the scenic design of Magnasco’’’’s painting, both for the presence of the pointed arches in the centre of the scene, and the type of prison in Serraglio. The author of the scenic design for Gioseffo che interpreta i sogni (Joseph who interprets dreams) would have been, most probably a pupil of Ferdinando Galli Bibiena, as shown by the “veduta per angolo”; the presence of a large group of Bibiena scenic designers in Milan has been documented for the first half of the eighteenth century (S. Zatti Scenografi in Lombardia dallíllusione al vero, in Settocento Lombardo (exhibition catalogue) edited by R. Bossaglia, V. Terraroli, 1991, p. 441). Fausta Franchini Guelfi dates the present composition to between 1726 and 1730 and it can be stylistically be compared to the works executed by Magnesco for Seitenstetten Abbey, Austria, painted for Conte Gerolamo Colloredo, the Austrian Governor of Milan. These works, and others completed during the succeeding period, such as the Satire of the Nobleman in Poverty (Detroit, Institute of Art) and The Synagogue (Cleveland, Museum of Art), suggest the artist’’’’s active participation in the intellectual debates of advanced aristocratic circles. In the first half of the 18th century in Milan, protests against corruption in the monastic orders, religious intolerance and social prejudice and ignorance began to be expressed in circles that were particularly sensitive to the new ideas of the Enlightenment emerging from France, Austria and the countries of northern Europe. In fact it has been argued that Magnasco influenced by these trends, used compositions such as the present painting and others of his prison scenes to depict the misery of those incarcerated, using such works to show the poor conditions and the cruel methods of torture to which prisoners were subjected. Magnasco´s paintings such as the Transportation of Prisoners (F. F. Guelfi, Magnasco, 1977, p. 123, fig. 118) or a Scene of the Inquisition (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna) were also social comments according to some observers. Whatever the underlying message in Magnasco´s oeuvre it is clear that he excelled in producing canvases of atmospheric interiors. These were often peopled with small, and elongated characters who were frequently dressed in tatters, such as here, and they are rendered in flickering, nervous brushstrokes. Magnasco’’ ’’s style is strikingly original. In late-baroque and Rococo painting, the loose brush became a tool used by other artists and ultimately, his work may also have influenced other celebrated painters de tocco (by touch) such as Gianantonio and Francesco Guardi in Venice. We are extremely grateful to Fausta Franchini Guelfi for her help in the cataloguing of this lot.

Alessandro Magnasco, called il Lissandrino (Genoa 1667-1749) Saint Joseph's dream oil on canvas 20 7/8 x 16¾ in. (53 x 42.7 cm.) Bought from the Galerie François Heim, Paris, by the stepfather of the present owner circa 1954. PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE FRENCH COLLECTION This heretofore unpublished painting represents an exciting addition to the oeuvre of Alessandro Magnasco. The Dream of Saint Joseph is recounted in Matthew 1:20-21: "an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.'" The scene takes place in Joseph's workshop, where tools of the carpenter's trade are evident: a hammer is propped upon the sill of the window through which the angel has entered, curly shavings of wood litter the floor, and Joseph himself is seated on a workbench. The angel points to Mary, the subject of his message, who kneels in prayer in an illuminated chamber beyond a curtained doorway. Alessandro Magnasco was born in Genoa but trained in Milan in the workshop of Filippo Abbiati (1640-1715). He was influenced from an early stage by the art of 17th-century Lombardy, in which the emphasis on chiaroscuro and earthy colors was very different from the vibrant palette of contemporary Genoese painting. Hugely successful during his lifetime, Magnasco spent time in Florence where he worked for Prince Ferdinando de' Medici (1663-1713) and his court. There he had access to the legendary Medici collections, and was able to study major works of the Dutch, Flemish, and Spanish schools. Magnasco eventually returned to Milan, where he worked for the Lombard aristocracy, including members of such celebrated families as the Borromeo, Archinto, Arese, Visconti, and Casnedi. Magnasco's distinctive style is found in his many famous depictions of monks at prayer and is characterized by fragmented forms rendered with swift brushstrokes and darting flashes of light. His fluid, expressive handling of paint lends energy and tension to his images, as seen here in the frenetic folds of Joseph's robe and the animated gesture of the angel, whose billowing robes indicate that he has just swooped down, disturbing several wood shavings on the floor. In 1954 Herman Voss saw the present work firsthand and recognized it as a "characteristic and authentic" painting by Magnasco, citing its excellent state of conservation and "very beautiful quality" (private communication, 29 December 1954). We are grateful to Dr. Fausta Franchini Guelfi, who has confirmed the attribution on the basis of photographs.

Sale 74 Lot 1096 ALLESSANDRO MAGNASCO (Italian, 1667-1749). BACCHANALIAN, oil on canvas. - Framed, 23 in. x 31 in. Estimate $15,000-25,000 Lined; surface dirt and debris. Overall craquelure with areas of uneven varnish. Horizontal crack across three quarters at the top of the canvas. UV: Scattered areas of inpainting, most notably: at right side in tree, 3 inch area in upper left in tree top and in foreground.

Alessandro Magnasco (Genoa 1667–1749) Two nuns playing musical instruments, oil on canvas, 52.5 x 38 cm, framed We are grateful to Professor Faustina Franchini Guelfi for confirming the attribution. The present composition displays the influence of the dramatic artistic style prevalent in 17th Century Lombardy on Alessandro Magnasco´s oeuvre. His work is characterized by swift, loaded brush strokes and the dramatic contrastof light and dark with earthy tones, far removed from the bright, glowing colors of contemporary Genoese painting. From about 1703 to 1709 Magnasco was in Florence, where he worked for Grand Prince Ferdinand de’’’’ Medici and his highly cultured court. He responded to the ironic low-life paintings by Dutch and Flemish artists, of which there were many in the Medici collections, and the lively court of Ferdinand encouraged an interest in burlesque art. After returning to Milan in 1709 Magnasco worked for the Lombard aristocracy and began experimenting with completely new subject-matter, as in the Capuchin Friars’’’’ Refectory, the Capuchin Friars Studying and the Catechism in Church (all Seitenstetten Abbey, Austria), painted between 1719 and 1725 for Conte Gerolamo Colloredo, the Austrian Governor of Milan. These works, and others completed during the succeeding period, suggest the artist’’’’s active participation in the intellectual debates of advanced aristocratic circles. In the first half of the 18th Century in Milan, protests against corruption in the monastic orders, religious intolerance and social prejudice and ignorance began to be expressed in circles that were particularly sensitive to the new ideas of the Enlightenment emanating from France, Austria and the countries of northern Europe. Magnasco returned to Genoa in 1735, remaining there until his death. We are grateful to Professor Faustina Franchini Guelfi for her help in cataloguing the present work.

Alessandro Magnasco (Genoa 1667-1749) The Nativity with inscription 'Castiglione' and with number '4' traces of black chalk, brush and brown and grey wash, heightenedwith white, inscribed arch, on blue paper, unframed 12½ x 7 7/8 in. (31.5 x 19.9 cm.) I confirm that I have read this Important Notice and agree to itsterms. Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 6 July 1993, lot77. Property from a distinguished Canadian Collection M. Bona Castellotti (ed.), Alessandro Magnasco: 1667-1749,exhib. cat., Milan, Palazzo Reale, 1996, p. 276, under no.88. Related to one of a series of four oil sketches previously inthe Bossi Collection, Genoa. The bozzetto of The Nativity is now inthe Philadelphia Museum of Art (inv. 50-4-11), while the threeother bozzetti represent The Flight into Egypt (Cleveland, Museumof Art, inv. 48.13), The Visitation (present location unknown) andThe Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine (Kansas City, Nelson-AtkinsMuseum, inv. 47-93). For further details on the series, whichcannot be related to any finished works by Magnasco, seeCastellotti (op. cit.). We are grateful to Dr Mary Newcome Schleier for confirming theattribution to Magnasco on the basis of a photograph.