Angel Playing The Lute, 19th Century Italian School, After Rosso Fiorentino (1494-1540)

XIX Italian School- After Giovanni Battista di Jacopo, known as Rosso Fiorentino (Firenze 1495 – Parigi 1540)

Title: Angel Playing the Lute

Period: Circa 1850

Medium Oil on canvas

Provenance: From a private London collection

Overall size with the frame is 41cm x 31cm x 3cm and the painting measured at 37cm x 27cm

"Angel Playing the Lute" depicts a tender and "clumsy" little angel intent on plucking the strings of a musical instrument larger than himself. It is a famous work by Giovanni Battista di Jacopo, known as Rosso Fiorentino (Firenze 1495 – Parigi 1540). The original, dating from 1521, is a piece of a dismembered and lost altarpiece.

The young boy is depicted playing a lute, which appears enormous compared to his minute dimensions: he has his ear pressed against the sounding board to hear the best sound, his gaze is focused on his left hand, while his right hand is plucking the chords.

The graceful interweaving of his copper-colored locks of hair and the high level of lyricism in this modern and poetic reinterpretation of a traditional theme, make the original work by Rosso Fiorentino one of the icons of the 16th century in Florence.

The present work is a beautiful and skillfully executed oil on canvas after Rosso Fiorentino's original. It exhibits the same lyrical sense of vitality as well as the beautiful tenderness that is characteristic of this wonderful image.

Training under the Florentine masters Andrea del Sarto (1486 – 1531) and Pontormo (1494 – 1557), Fiorentino gained the nickname "Il Rosso" for his bright red hair. He worked in the influence of the Florentine School of painting and was largely responsible for introducing that style to France as part of the School of Fontainebleau.

In 1527, the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, caused great distress in his imperial Sack of Rome, forcing Il Rosso to flee to France. This is where he was patronized by François I, who revitalized the royal Château de Fontainebleau by inviting artist and architects in decorating the new structure. Il Rosso worked with other Italians such as Francesco Primaticcio (1505 – 1570), forming the influential First School of Fontainebleau.

Condition report: In cleaned and restored condition but unlined the paint surface is clean and there is craquelure throughout more noticeable to the central area about the sitter. The canvas is in good tension. There are spears to be one tiny surface repair to the front with associated retouching which appears to be well blended and not noticeable without very close examination. The tonality is good and the paint surface is stable.

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