Lot 12: Andrea Casali (Civitavecchia 1720-1784 Rome) Esther before Ahasuerus

Esther before Ahasuerus
oil on canvas
110.7 x 148cm (43 9/16 x 58 1/4in).

PROVENANCE:
In the present owner's family since at least 1926

We are grateful to Prof. Giancarlo Sestieri for suggesting the attribution to Casali on the basis of a colour photograph.

The present painting could most probably be dated to Andrea Casali's extended stay in England between 1741 and 1766. The treatment of the architecture and of the more sketchy figures in the background comes close to the series of large canvases commissioned by Alderman Beckford for Fonthill House in the late 1750s. Some of these can now be found at Burton Constable, Yorkshire, such as his signed The Story of Gunhilda, exhibited at the Society of Arts in 1760.