Court Portrait Of A Young Girl, Rome, Second Half Of The 17th Century.

A fascinating painting well worth studying, created by a notable court portraitist active in Italy during the second half of the 17th century.

The young girl is depicted in a three-quarter profile, leaning slightly toward the viewer, with her shoulder positioned so that she can hold a straw basket containing a floral arrangement—an allegorical allusion to youth and the transience of life.
The high rank of the young girl depicted is evident from the richness and quality of the fabrics she wears and from her solemn pose, with a proud gaze directed toward the viewer. The background is very dark—a neutral, intense blackish-brown—which serves to highlight her very fair complexion and the sheen of the fabrics. In this case, the painter has enriched the portrait with a heavy dark green velvet drapery featuring gold-trimmed folds.

This is undoubtedly a painting executed in the last quarter of the seventeenth century by an artist active at a court or within a high-ranking noble family; it warrants further investigation as it may reveal some surprises regarding its attribution.

If we limit our search to the strictly Roman context of the period, we should look for the artist among the close circle of painters—often foreign artists from across the Alps—associated with Jacob Ferdinand Voet, such as Pierre Roche and others.

An interesting point of reference might be certain similarities—particularly in the lower part of the painting—with the portraiture of Antonio Amorosi di Comunanza, who studied in Rome at the Ghezzi workshop and, as early as the late seventeenth century, began painting portraits of boys and girls, which, in addition to being the genre works typical of his output, often led him to be commissioned by nobles to paint authentic, life-from-life portraits of their children and heirs for official representation.

This painting is in excellent condition, although it likely underwent a restoration in the 19th century or early 20th century involving heat-pressing, which may have affected the original interpretation of the work.

The painting measures: Canvas: 50 cm x 60 cm;
Frame: 67 cm x 77 cm

A certificate of authenticity is included with the sale.