Lot 226: Luigi Miradori, il Genovesino (Genoa c. 1600/10-1656/7 ?Cremona)

A vanitas still-life with a baby on a red velvet cushion resting on a skull, by an hourglass
oil on canvas
14 1/2 x 20 1/8 in. (36.9 x 51.2 cm.)

Born in Genoa, Miradori's early work was understandably much influenced by Strozzi, Assereto and Fiasella. It was not long, however, before he left the city, and although he proudly declared his Genoese origins in a number of inscriptions in his paintings, he seems to have spent most of his career from around 1641 onwards working in Cremona. It has been suggested that he visited Rome before this move, and it may have been here that he came into contact with the work of Caravaggio, which was to have such a profound impact on his mature style. Miradori's art from this period is distinguished by its naturalistic rendering of detail and a dramatic sense of chiaroscuro that reveal a deep understanding of Caravaggio's work.

Miradori received many commissions in and around Cremona, as well as executing works for Milanese patrons. The present work clearly owes its inspiration to Caravaggio's celebrated Amor dormiente (Florence, Palazzo Pitti). Miradori also painted his own version of Sleeping Putto (Cremona Museum) where, as in the present work, the naked child is combined with a vanitas still life. The present composition proved to be extremely popular and the artist executed a number of versions, including one formerly with the Trafalgar Galleries, London (exhibited at the Royal Academy, London, 1983, no. 5; see M. Bona Castellotti, La pittura lombarda del 1600, Milan, 1985, fig. 371).

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