(Mauerkirchen 1679–1748 Rome)
Peonies, tulips and other flowers in a glass vase, on a stone ledge with two butterflies; and
Roses, carnations and other flowers in a glass vase, on a stone ledge with two snails,
oil on canvas, each 43.5 x 34 cm, framed, a pair (2)

We are grateful to Francesco Petrucci for endorsing the attribution.

Intimate in scale and well-observed in charming detail, the present pair of paintings is characteristic for Ignaz Stern. Born in Mauerkirchen, Austria, in 1679, Stern arrived in Italy around 1695 to train with Carlo Cignani in Bologna and Forlì. Cignani had lived in Forlì for about two decades, where he painted the frescoes in the cupola of the local cathedral. Stern soon had the opportunity to benefit from Cignani’s Roman clientele, especially the Farnese, who would early become important patrons for the artist. He stayed in Rome for about a decade (1702–1712). After his return to Forlì in 1713, where he remained until 1724, Stern, probably supported by his former master, set up his studio independently, enjoying assiduous working relations with clients at the court of the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza. Towards the end of 1724, Stern settled permanently in Rome, where he was active until his death.

Repeatedly, compositions representing flowers comparable to the present painting would have been attributed to Ignaz’s son Ludovico Stern. It is thanks to Francesco Petrucci’s recent monograph on Ludovico Stern (F. Petrucci/D. Marignolin, Ludovico Stern. Pittura rococò a Roma, Rome 2012), that a clearer distinction between the works of father and son became possible.

During his final years in Rome, Ignaz Stern painted a number of elegant, small-scale flower pieces, as is perfectly exemplified by the present pair, as well as by another composition conserved in the Musée Granet in Aix-en-Provence, that represents flowers in a glass vase. At the same time, Stern was able to create more baroque and elaborate compositions, such as the signed and dated Flowers in a vase with two putti in the Residenzgalerie Salzburg (inv. no. 499).