Description

17th Century Italian OLD MASTER Painting Attributed to Pietro DANDINI of St Cecilia as Noblewoman CNX
17th Century Italian OLD MASTER Painting Attributed to Pietro DANDINI of St Cecilia as Noblewoman CNX

Early and important Old Master oil on canvas from a Southern estate.

The painting has significant attributes of the work of Florentine Baroque painter Pietro Dandini (Italian, 1646-1712) and our research is still ongoing.

The individual from whose estate it comes had embarked on a research project to confirm authorship by Dandini that was never completed. What has emerged from the scholarly project thus far has been fascinating. The subject, an elaborately attired young woman with exquisitely detailed jewelry and a slightly upward gaze seated at a gilded Baroque desk or harpsichord with a landscape in the distance has been suggested by a New York City art historian to be a disguised portrait of St. Cecilia. Furthermore, classic Dandini compositions such as Soloman and the Queen of Sheba show related brooches, as does the portrait of Diana sold at Dorotheum in Germany in 2005.

If you examine the detail images it is apparent that the hand is quite masterful and we feel has a significant opportunity to be identifiable with further study.

Our pre-sale auction estimate for this painting is $6,000/9,000. and we think it will bring more, however the reserve is very small. A fraction of the potential value. Don't miss this opportunity to acquire a very early work of art from a fine estate collection!

DANDINI, Pietro (Attributed to or School of), (Pietro Dandini: 1646 - 1712, the present work circa late 17th Century or early 18th Century), oil on canvas (lined on replacement stretchers), 30 " high x 24.5 " wide (36 " x 30 3/4 " x 2 ", framed - excluding screw-affixed gallery lamp), no visible signature, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA framing label affixed to stretcher backing paper on reverse. Ornate gilt molding and gilt gallery lamp of contemporary manufacture. Provenance: Southern estate.

About Pietro Dandini:

Pietro Dandini (1646-1712) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly in Florence. He was the son (or nephew) and pupil of the painter Vincenzo Dandini. Pietro's uncle, Cesare Dandini, was also a painter. Vincenzo's sons, Ottaviano and Vincenzo Dandini the younger also became painters. He is also called Pier Dandini. His works can be seen in Villa La Petraia near Florence, the cupola of Santa Maria Maddalena in Florence, and a painting of St. Francis in Santa Maria Maggiore of Rome.

Some background on Saint Cecilia:

Saint Cecilia (Latin: Sancta Caecilia) is the patroness of musicians and Church music because, as she was dying, she sang to God. It is also written that as the musicians played at her wedding she "sang in her heart to the Lord". St. Cecilia was an only child. Her feast day is celebrated in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches on November 22. She is one of seven women, excluding the Blessed Virgin, commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass. It was long supposed that she was a noble lady of Rome who, with her husband Valerian, his brother Tiburtius, and a Roman soldier Maximus, suffered martyrdom in about 230, under the Emperor Alexander Severus. The research of Giovanni Battista de Rossi, however, appears to confirm the statement of Venantius Fortunatus, Bishop of Poitiers (d. 600), that she perished in Sicily under Emperor Marcus Aurelius between 176 and 180. A church in her honor exists in Rome from about the 5th century, was rebuilt with much splendor by Pope Paschal I around the year 820, and again by Cardinal Paolo Emilio Sfondrati in 1599. It is situated in Trastevere, near the Ripa Grande quay, where in earlier days the ghetto was located, and is the titulus of a Cardinal Priest, currently Carlo Maria Martini.The martyrdom of Cecilia is said to have followed that of her husband and his brother by the prefect Turcius Almachius. The officers of the prefect then sought to have Cecilia killed as well. She arranged to have her home preserved as a church before she was arrested. At that time, the officials attempted to kill her by smothering her by steam. However, the attempt failed, and she was to have her head chopped off. But they were unsuccessful three times, and she would not die until she received the sacrament of Holy Communion.Cecilia survived another three days before succumbing. In the last three days of her life, she opened her eyes, gazed at her family and friends who crowded around her cell, closed them, and never opened them again. The people by her cell knew immediately that she was to become a saint in heaven. When her incorruptible body was found long after her death, it was found that on one hand she had two fingers outstretched and on the other hand just one finger, denoting her belief in the trinity.The Sisters of Saint Cecilia are a group of women consecrated religious sisters. They are the ones who shear the lambs' wool used to make the palliums of new metropolitan archbishops. The lambs are raised by the Cistercian Trappist Fathers of the Tre Fontane (Three Fountains) Abbey in Rome. The lambs are blessed by the Pope every January 21, the Feast of the martyr Saint Agnes. The pallia are given by the Pope to the new metropolitan archbishops on the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, June 29.
Both the Dandini and St. Cecilia citations from Wikipedia.

Subject Matter: Elaborately attired young woman with exquisitely detailed jewelry and a slightly upward gaze seated at a gilded Baroque desk or harpsichord with a landscape in the distance that has been suggested by a New York City art historian to be a disguised portrait of St. Cecilia.

Condition

As discovered in the estate, canvas back has been lined with old canvas probably in the 19th century then recently lined again with a new backing canvas behind the old lining on new replacement stretchers and frame is of contemporary manufacture in the period taste. There appears to be various old conservations and prior cleanings however sufficient original painterly detail on the head, torso, arms and hands of the sitter appears to have survived. The gown and likely lips are probably overpainted along with some of the drapery. At some point a very long time ago the canvas was stored rolled and horizontal linear paint losses exist together with some angular formerly creased losses together with typical craquelure and thinning as well as old surface dirt and varnish that has not yet been removed. The composition is charming, lyrical and possesses a simultaneous facility of depth and delicacy indicative of noteworthy talent. Frame is excellent.