Portrait of the composer Filippo della Casa (1737–1808), inscribed (in the sheet of music at lower right): Trio Bolonese P..., oil on canvas, 117.3 x 85.1 cm, framed

We are grateful to Dr Arabella Cifani for identifying the painter and the sitter. The painting is accompanied by a certificate written by Dr Cifani. The present portrait was only identified recently. It shows a lute player in an elegant interior. Thanks to the sheets of music lying in front of him, we know that he is playing a “Trio Bolognese”, a piece of chamber music that was popular in Bologna during the second half of the 18th Century. From archival material in Bologna, Arabella Cifani identified the young musician as the composer Filippo della Casa of Bologna. He was known for using the lute and the mandolin for his musical works.

Luigi Crespi, the son of Giuseppe Maria Crespi, was trained in his father’s workshop. He was a successful portraitist working at the courts of Vienna and Dresden. Besides, he was also a writer, adding a third volume on the life and work of contemporary Bolognese artists to Malvasia’s Felsina Pittrice. Crespi also worked as an art dealer. His most well known client was the Saxon Prince Elector August III.