Lot 99: Carlo Magini (Fano 1720-1806)

Meat on a chopping-board, a mortar, a glass of water, an earthenware pitcher, a candlestick, a cauliflower in a tureen with oranges, onions, spring-onions and bread on a kitchen table; and Fried eggs in an earthenware bowl, a wine casket and a glass, a copper pitcher, a bottle with candlesticks, citrus fruit, lettuce, cheese and cutlery on a kitchen table
oil on canvas
23 7/8 x 31 in. (60.6 x 78.7 cm.)
a pair (2)

L. Dania, 'Nature morte e ritratti inediti di Carlo Magini', Antichità Viva, 1976, XV, no. 3, pp.23-4.
L. Salerno, La Natura Morta Italiana 1560-1805, Rome, 1984, p. 391, the second picture illustrated, fig. 120.7.
P. Zampetti, Carlo Magini, Milan, 1990, p. 141, nos. 94 and 96, both illustrated (with incorrect measurements).

Private collection, Macerata (according to Zampetti, see literature).

THE PROPERTY OF THE ART FOUNDATION OF DOCTOR GUSTAV RAU (LOTS 51 AND 99)

A native of Fano, Carlo Magini was seemingly forgotten until signed still lifes by him were published in 1954. He has since been recognised as one of the greatest Italian still-life painters of the eighteenth century. A pupil of his uncle, Sebastiano Ceccarini, by whom no still lifes survive, little is known about the formation of Magini's distinctive style and apart from a few visits to Rome and Farfa in the Sabine hills, he is thought to have spent his entire life in Fano. His oeuvre consists almost entirely of humble kitchen still lifes, but despite this, he still manages to create endless variety in the arrangement of the objects and their inter-relationship with each other. Hence, many of the elements represented in the present still lifes recur in other works. Typically, they are shown laid out on tables seen from a slightly raised viewpoint, as if tempting the viewer to partake of the food and drink on offer. This effect is enhanced by the way the chopping-board and the cutlery protrude over the table edges into the viewer's space.

Zampetti (loc. cit.) confuses the dimensions of the present paintings and pairs them incorrectly: the Still life of eggs with a Still life of tomatoes, oranges, cardoons, a glas vase, a copper pot and a candlestick (45.5 x 56.5 cm.; op. cit., p. 141, no. 95, illustrated); and the Still life of meat with a Still life of salami, liver, a key, a cup and other implements (ibid., no. 93).

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price plus buyer's premium.