(Rizzoli 1677–1727 Cremona)
A pair of Trompe l’oeil paintings, one with an engraving, a globe and musical instruments, the other with a rosary, spectacles and an ink stand,
oil on canvas, each 92.5 x 70.5 cm, framed, a pair (2)

Provenance:
sale, Sotheby’s, London, 17 May 1989, lot 98 (as Cremonese School, 18th Century);
sale, Dorotheum, Vienna, 6 December 1989, lot 488 and 489 (as Benedetto Sartori);
sale, Finarte, Milan, 14 November 1990, lot 33 (as Benedetto Sartori);
Private collection, Switzerland;
sale, Koller, Zurich, 23 March 2018, lot 3068 (as Antonio Gianlisi);
where acquired by the present owner

Literature:
A. Cottino, in: C. Giardini et al. (ed.), Dipinti e disegni della Pinacoteca Civica di Pesaro, Modena 1993, p. 134, mentioned under no. 123;
N. Roio, in: L’anima e le cose. La natura morta nell’Italia pontificia nel XVII e XVIII secolo, ed. by R. Battistini et al., exhibition catalogue, Modena 2001, mentioned p. 158 (as Vettor Romogni);
M. Zanardi Ricci, Antonio Gianlisi junior (Rizzolo [PC] 1667 - Cremona 1727), autore di trompe l’oeil: nuovi contributi, in: Strenna piacentina, 2006, p. 79, pp. 102-103, figs. 89–90 (as Antonio Gianlisi il Giovane);
G. Alberti, Inganni dipinti. Trompe-l’oeil nella Fototeca Zeri, Bologna 2015, p. 44, figs. 39–41 (as Antonio Gianlisi il Giovane)

The present paintings are registered in the Fototeca Zeri (nos. 93627-93628) as Benedetto Sartori.

The present two Trompe-l’oeil paintings share the same dimensions and were likely conceived as a pair. Initially attributed to the eighteenth-century school of Cremona and then to Benedetto Sartori (active first half of the eighteenth century), they were subsequently referred to Antonio Gianlisi the Younger by Margherita Zanardi Ricci; this attribution has not been challenged since.

Alongside still-life painting, in which his analytic interest for details is evident, Gianlisi also painted numerous trompe-l’oeil works. The two present paintings perfectly fit the type of picture made by the painter, which can be characterised by their backgrounds of light wood with large knots, the presence of objects hung on the wall surfaces and the frequent application of prints or landscape paintings to the depicted wood panel walls. Other items are typically arranged on a small shelf, that, as in the present painting, is usually present: books, musical instruments, an inkwell, an hourglass, a globe. Moreover, shown hanging from the shelf, thereby accentuating the painting’s impression of three-dimensionality, there are other items: a key, a page of sheet music and a pair of scissors. Attached to the wooden wall there is an oval shaped painting, a landscape engraving, and a sonnet dedicated to the city of Cremona on the occasion of the victory of Imperial troops during the siege of Belgrade (an episode in the Austro-Turkish war of 1716–1718). The name of Eugenio Savoia-Soissons, better known as Prince Eugenio, is especially prominent and he was the leading proponent of the conquest of Belgrade. This victory led to the peace of Passarowitz (modern Požarevac), the annexation of which led Austria, at the Ottoman Empire’s expense, to gain various territories in Southern Serbia and Banat, thus bringing the Austrian Empire to its maximum expansion in the Balkans.

The year 1718, which is inscribed on the lower right of the sonnet, provides a dependable terminus post quem for the dating of the painting.