(Venice 1652–1736)
Galatea,
oil on canvas, 146 x 190 cm, framed

Nicolò Bambini was highly praised in his own time; an artist whose skill “ne’ fondamenti dell’arte” and accuracy “nel disegno al par di ogn’altro” was acknowledged by the connoisseur Antonio Maria Zanetti in 1733. Actually, as Zanetti noted later in 1771, Bambini’s contribution to Venetian art lay in his study of other Italian schools of painting outside of Venice, resulting in a style that, though rooted in the Venetian tradition of Pietro Liberi and Sebastiano Mazzoni, was clearly influenced by international classicism of Carlo Maratti and Carlo Cignani, together with Luca Giordano’s brilliant virtuosismo. These various stylistic influences are recognizable in the present picture, which highlights Bambini’s position in Venetian painting around 1700.At this time, mainly through the work of Sebastiano Ricci, a new sensuality marked Venetian painting in general, which was based on bright colour schemes and frivolous themes. The present painting betrays some similarities to Ricci’s stylistic manner, but it is typical of Bambini’s more restrained version of Venetian barocchetto art.

The work shows the nymph Galatea, a favorite subject both of Ricci, seen for example in the monumental canvas in Burlington House, London of 1712-14, and of Bambini himself as depicted in a large picture with the same subject in a Venetian private collection, (see R. Radassao, Nicolò Bambini ‘pittore pronto spedito ed universale’, in: Saggi e memorie di storia dell’arte 22, 1998, p. 173, fig. 121); another one, particularly riccesque, known in more than one version, (see U. Ruggeri, Nicolò Bambini nell’orbita di Sebastiano Ricci, in: Sebastiano Ricci 1659-1734. Atti del Convegno Internazionale di Studi, ed. G. Pavanello, Venice/Verona 2012, p. 384, fig. 1). The present painting is an important addition to the corpus of Nicolò Bambini.

We are grateful to Professor Bernard Aikema for his help in cataloguing the present painting.