Roman Charity, Circle Of Willem Drost (1633-1659)

A Dutch artist born in Amsterdam, he entered Rembrandt's studio at a very young age, around 1644. At that time, Rembrandt's studio comprised several dozen highly skilled painters, and he received commissions from all the European royal courts. Despite his young age, Willem Drost was noticed and became "one of Rembrandt's most talented pupils," according to Jonathan Bikker, author of the book *William Drost: A Rembrandt Pupil in Amsterdam and Venice*. He is also the curator of 17th-century paintings at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Between 1650 and 1655, Drost produced works of great quality that brought him to the attention of the major collectors of the time. One of his works, Bathsheba, now in the Louvre Museum, can be considered a remarkable masterpiece. Many paintings long attributed to Rembrandt have, in fact, been reattributed to Willem Drost in recent years. In 1655, at the age of 22, he decided to travel to Italy, the second home of all painters of the era. He focused particularly on the Venetian Tenebrosi school, which stemmed from the work of José de Ribera (1591-1652). Thus, the lines of his style diverged from the representations of the Dutch school, but his acquired technique remained intact: finely applied brushstrokes, and the omnipresent chiaroscuro. In Venice, he worked with Giovanni Langetti and Carl Johann Loth on several projects, and his works quickly found an audience. He was a favorite of the Italian aristocracy, and although he died suddenly in 1659, only four years after settling in Italy, his style left a lasting mark on the period. A similar work (see photo gallery) was rediscovered at a Christie's New York sale on January 31, 2024, lot 62. It was definitively attributed by Jonathan Bikker, and is slightly different in size (131.3 x 109.8 cm) compared to the original (141.7 x 117.8 cm), with some minor differences in the flesh tones of the figures. Our large-format painting depicts the story of a daughter's altruism towards her father, who is condemned to starve to death. In chiaroscuro, the tired and exhausted body of Cimon is shrouded in shadow, while Pera's body is bathed in a light emanating from an uncertain, almost spiritual source. Her pearly flesh recalls the beauty of Bathsheba's body (Louvre Museum), while that of the In the New York painting, the color of his skin blends with Cimon's; in the version for the New York sale, the basement window is depicted. His works are held in the following museums: Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Louvre Paris, National Gallery London, Copenhagen, Warsaw… Dimensions with frame: 149.7 cm x 135.8 cm Dimensions without frame: 141.7 cm x 117.8 cm