Footnotes

• PROVENANCE:
  With Galleria d'Arte Bosoni, Milan
  
  EXHIBITED:
  Florence, Palazzo Strozzi, La natura morta italiana: da Caravaggio al Settecento, 26 June - 12 October 2003
  Munich, Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung, Stille Welt. Italienische Stilleben aus drei Jahrhunderten 6 December 2002 - 24 February 2003
  
  LITERATURE:
  La natura morta italiana: da Caravaggio al Settecento, exh. cat., Florence, Palazzo Strozzi, 26 June - 12 October 2003, pp. 418-419
  S. Bellesi, Catalogo dei pittori Fiorentini del '600 e '700 (Florence, 2009), vol. III, p. 300, ill. 1492
  S. Bellesi, Andrea Scacciati. Pittore di fiori, frutta e animali a Firenze in età tardobarocca (Florence, 2012), p. 135, ill.
  
  Born in Florence, Andrea Scacciati began his artistic training as a figure painter with Mario Balassi and Lorenzo Lippi. After the latter encouraged him to make a particular study of the qualities of flowers, he came to focus on still life painting, drawing inspiration from Flemish as well as Roman and Neapolitan sources, developing a style which combined luxuriant and exuberant compositions with a realistic observation of nature.
  
  The present painting is a unique example in terms of size, complexity of composition and in the variety of flowers represented which is almost encyclopaedic. It can be read as a display of the artist's entire repertoire: whereas many of the species depicted appear in other examples of his work, the present work includes a number of particular flowers that Scacciati does not repeat elsewhere. Although a small number of other examples similar in size is known, the present work can be considered unique as the flowers spread across the entire canvas, with both the ornate vase and the background almost disappearing beneath their mass.
  
  The thick impasto, almost in bas relief, perfectly epitomises the artist's output of the 1680s and compares closely, amongst others, to the works commissioned by Vittoria della Rovere (see: Bellesi, 2012, pp. 185-186). The monumental size, the Latin signature and the ambitious composition suggest an important commission, although it has not yet been possible to trace its patron. Andrea Scacciati's refined and dramatic paintings made him one of the most successful still life painters of the Medici Grand Dukes' Court. Amongst his illustrious patrons, Scacciati also enjoyed the lifelong protection of the Grand-Duchess Vittoria della Rovere, various Tuscan noble families and he also gained commissions from members of the British aristocracy visiting Florence and Livorno.

Saleroom notices

• Please note that the measurements for the present lot are incorrect in the printed catalogue and should read: 146 x 204cm (57 1/2 x 80 5/16in).