Lot 67: Paolo Pagani

(Castello Valsolda, Como, c. 1661 ca. - 1716 Milano / Milan) Enea trasporta il padre Anchise sfuggendo dall’incendio di Troia / Aeneas, his son Ascanius at his feet, fleeing the burning town of Troy with his father, (Vergil, Aeneis, 2, 588 ff.), oil on canvas, 225 x 135 cm, framed, (Wo)

Ringraziamo la Professoressa Mina Gregori, che ha provato questo e il dipinto seguente in originale per la determinazione dei due dipinti come opere originali di Paolo Pagani. / We thank Prof. Mina Gregori, who examined this and the following painting and identified them as autograph works by Paolo Pagani.
Perizia / Certificate: Dr. Johann Kronbichler, 26 July 2004: ”The two paintings were conceived as pendants and are likely to have formed part of a larger decoration dealing with the subject of the Trojan War. They reveal an influence of the Venetian tenebrostile in the manner of Antonio Zanchi and Domenico Zanetti, as well as a stylistical closeness to Bolognese painters such as Carlo Cignani and above all Antonio Bellucci. They are clearly autograph works by the Lombardo-Venetian painter Paolo Pagani, who, after his training with Pietro Liberi and an intensive preoccupation with Bolognese and Lombard art, was active in Austria (Vienna and Lower Austria), Moravia (Kremsier, Mikulov and Velehrad) and Poland (Cracow) between 1690 and 1696. The present paintings seem to date from this period. As from 1696, the artist moved back and forth between Milan and his native town Castello Valsolda. Representative works by Pagani are preserved in several towns in Lombardy, Venice, the South Tyrol and Central European collections (Liechtenstein Museum, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Brno Moravian Gallery, Kremsier, Braunschweig, etc.). They all share dynamic compositions of a monumental force and overwhelming expressiveness. Artistically, his works are of the same importance as those by other Upper Italian masters, e. g., Antonio Balestra, Simone Brentana, Ludovico Dorigny, Stefano Maria Legnani, and Alessandro Marchesini. Another painting by Pagani, which is particularly interesting in our context, also deals with Aeneas fleeing with Anchises and Ascanius. It came from the collection of Pagani's Milan patron (Marquis Cesare Pagani) and was sold at Christie’s in London in 1994.”
Bibliografia / Literature: Bozen im 17. Jahrhundert, Die Malerei, exhibition catalogue, Silvia Spada Pintarelli (ed.), Bolzano 1994, pp. 97 - 110.
Provenienza / Provenance: da 200 anni ca. proprietà aristocrata austriaca / for about 200 years in the collection of an Austrian noble family.
Paolo Pagani lavorň a Venezia, a Castello Valsolda, Moravia, Bassa Austria e Vienna ecc. Dipinti di Pagani si trovano tra altro nei Musei di Dresda, Venezia, Liechtenstein (Vienna), San Pietroburgo e Cracovia. Nella sua opera si rivelano intonazioni lombardi, bolognesi - Lanfranco- e ancora vicinanze col coetano Molinari a Venezia. Se č arduo ricostruire la sua fase fromativa, č invece palese ritrovare le tracce della sua arte ariosa, azzardata e squillante negli effetti, in alcuni dei protagonisti della “grande pittura” veneta all’inizio del nuovo secolo. Fu Autore di soggetti religiosi ma anche biblico-profani. Il dizionario degli artisti “Thieme-Becker” lo chiama un precursore nella formazione del corpo nudo mosso e dell’ interpretazione drammatica delle sue composizioni.
Pendant to following lot