Cod: 379533

Author : Benedetto Gennari (Cento, 1633 – Bologna,1715)

Period: 17th century

Benedetto Gennari (Cento, 1633 – Bologna, 1715) "Madonna with Child in her arms" Oil on canvas Cm 72 x 62 Study by Massimo Pulini Origin: England, Stuart Court (Charles II, regent from 1661 to 1685), (James II, regent from 1685-1688), Catherine of Braganza (1638-1705), Lisbon, private collection The lowered eyes of the Mother, the statuesque nose and the slight smile make up a very sweet face, inscribed in an oval that lengthens, like the neck that supports it. Calibrated in colors and folds are the fabrics that are layered on the bust and head of the Virgin, while it is the playful action of the Son that allows us to identify the painting without error, in the intense activity of Benedetto Gennari, and we discover that it was conceived when he was at the court of the Stuarts. At number 111 of the Note of paintings executed in London from 1674 to 1688, we find the following words, penned by the painter himself: "A small painting of a virgin with the Little Boy who playfully offers her a rose to smell and of this I made a gift to Father Pitir Jesuit advisor to King James" The painting is conducted with a maniacal care of details, the same purist look of other similar works, reaching a painting that seems to have almost forgotten the style of Guercino to get closer to that of Carlo Dolci, the protagonist of the most enameled and precious painting of the century. Benedetto, away from home, did not intend to exploit the family inheritance as a pass for his inclusion in the courts of Paris and London, if not as a pure premise of origin and decided to focus on a decided distancing and on forms directed to a sumptuous elegance. The first French stay marked Benedetto's new style, which will find its maximum expression in London at the court of the Stuarts. Clear are the references to the pictorial preferences of Louis XIV, which ranged from Charles le Brun to Pierre Mignard and those of Charles II, at whose court still resisted the myth of Antony van Dyck , to which was added the more recent of Sir Peter Lely. The Bolognese artist accentuated some of his talents already identified in the formative phase, attenuating the more bloody elements and acquiring in a short time a perfectly Northern European taste. In this sense we can speak of aristocratic purism and a close relationship with the sparkling poetics of sacred and noble affections that Dolci had brought to the extreme consequences in similar subjects, where spirituality is reached following a path of glassy clarity. Bibl. Massimo Pulini, A Madonna and Child for the Court of England, 2021, NFC Edizioni Exhibitions: Unicum, tales at the Museum, Museum of the city Luigi Tonini, T May - June 13, 2021, curated by Massimo Pulini