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Lot Essay
The elegant arrangement of musical instruments, books and Kangxi period (1662-1722) Chinese porcelain, with their sensitively rendered reflections and textures, are typical of the still-life paintings that won Cristoforo Munari great fame throughout his lifetime. After making a name for himself in Reggio Emila under the patronage of Rinaldo I d’Este, Duke of Modena, Munari moved to Rome for three years before settling in Florence, where he produced still lifes for the Medici court. The present work is apparently unique within the artist’s oeuvre due to the presence of the female figure; no other paintings by the artist include staffage, with the exception of Munari’s Self-portrait (Uffizi, Corridoio Vasariano).
Francesca Baldassari (loc. cit.) suggests that Munari painted the present still life around 1710, and that the lute-playing figure was painted by his Florentine contemporary, Francesco Conti (1681-1760), an attribution later confirmed by Federico Berti (loc. cit.). Baldassari compares the graceful facial features and painterly draftsmanship to the Saint Lucy that Conti painted for the church of San Martino in Terenzano, near Florence. Since both Munari and Conti are documented as working for the Riccardi around 1710, Baldassari speculates that the present lot might have been a commission from that distinguished Florentine family. The harmonious union of the figure and still life elements in this painting suggests that the artists worked well with one another, and led Baldassari to suggest that the Riccardi may have commissioned other collaborative works from them, which are now untraced. In fact, Berti has identified one particular payment of 15 scudi from the Riccardi to Munari for "un quadro dipintovi Istrumenti musicali" as possibly relating specifically to the present lot (ibid.).
Early sources indicate that Conti was a student of Simone Pignoni (see O. Marrini, Serie di ritratti di eccell. pittori dipinti di propria mano..., II, 1, Florence, 1766, n. XIII). Under the Riccardi’s patronage, he traveled to Rome, where he completed his studies under Giovanni Maria Morandi and Carlo Maratti.
Francesca Baldassari (loc. cit.) suggests that Munari painted the present still life around 1710, and that the lute-playing figure was painted by his Florentine contemporary, Francesco Conti (1681-1760), an attribution later confirmed by Federico Berti (loc. cit.). Baldassari compares the graceful facial features and painterly draftsmanship to the Saint Lucy that Conti painted for the church of San Martino in Terenzano, near Florence. Since both Munari and Conti are documented as working for the Riccardi around 1710, Baldassari speculates that the present lot might have been a commission from that distinguished Florentine family. The harmonious union of the figure and still life elements in this painting suggests that the artists worked well with one another, and led Baldassari to suggest that the Riccardi may have commissioned other collaborative works from them, which are now untraced. In fact, Berti has identified one particular payment of 15 scudi from the Riccardi to Munari for "un quadro dipintovi Istrumenti musicali" as possibly relating specifically to the present lot (ibid.).
Early sources indicate that Conti was a student of Simone Pignoni (see O. Marrini, Serie di ritratti di eccell. pittori dipinti di propria mano..., II, 1, Florence, 1766, n. XIII). Under the Riccardi’s patronage, he traveled to Rome, where he completed his studies under Giovanni Maria Morandi and Carlo Maratti.