Lot 284: RIDOLFO MANZONI CASTELFRANCO VENETO 1675 - 1743/45

PROPERTY OF A FAMILY SETTLEMENT

A LANDSCAPE WITH PAIRS OF ANIMALS AND BIRDS, INCLUDING TIGERS, LEOPARDS, ELEPHANTS AND PEACOCKS;
A LANDSCAPE WITH PAIRS OF ANIMALS AND BIRDS WITH FIGURES SACRIFICING ANTELOPE ON A STONE TABLE

measurements note
each: 22 by 29.2 cm.; 8 5/8 by 11 1/2 in.

the former signed and with remains of date lower right: Rodolfo Manzoni F/ Venise...
the latter signed and dated lower centre: Rodolfo Manzoni F./ Venetia i725
each inscribed on the reverse of the panel in an old hand: The Property of Sir John St. Aubyn Bart./ July 22 1803. J.H.


both oil on vellum laid on pinewood panel, in elaborate carved and giltwood frames, bearing inventory numbers 81 and 86.

PROVENANCE

In the family of the present owners since at least the beginning of the 19th Century.

NOTE

Manzoni was included in Federici's seminal essay on Trevisan art, Memorie Trevigiane (1803) as an extremely graceful figure painter, whose works in Venice, Padua and Castelfranco attest to his skill in this area. However, in Federici's opinion, it was Manzoni's diligent study of flowers, landscapes and animals, executed in miniature and with beautiful colouring, that brought him his greatest reputation as painter^1. The present works beautifully illustrate this painstaking attention to detail and may be compared with the slightly larger work sold in these Rooms, 27 October 1993, lot 181, for £20,000.

1. C. Donzelli, I Pittori Veneti del Settecento, Florence 1957, pp. 144-145.