Lot 12: Rutilio Manetti (Siena 1571-1639)

Andromeda
oil on slate
10 3/4 x 8 in. (27.3 x 20.3 cm.)

Rutilio Manetti began his career as a student of the late mannerist artists Francesco Vanni and Ventura Salimbeni, whose work, as well as that of Federico Barocci, strongly influenced Manetti's earliest paintings. From 1600 to 1610, Manetti was primarily interested in the figural types of Florentine painters such as Bernardino Poccetti and Domenico Passignano, with their clear narratives and naturalistic illumination. By the early 1620s, his interest had shifted once again, this time to Roman and Bolognese sources, and it is generally believed that the artist visited Rome at some point between 1616 and 1621. Guercino, Caravaggio and the Caravaggisti (including Artemisia and Orazio Gentileschi, Cecco del Caravaggio and Bartolomeo Manfredi) all left an impression on Manetti, evident in the increased naturalism, dramatic lighting, and theatrical gesture present in works from this time. After 1625 Manetti also painted several gaming and concert scenes in a manner recalling Gerrit van Honthorst and Valentin de Boulogne, wherein half-length figures seated around a table are illuminated by candlelight. A late Assumption of the Virgin from 1632 (Forlì, S. Mercuriale) is Bolognese in inspiration, drawing on the dramatic figural arrangements and clear lighting of Guido Reni and Giovanni Lanfranco. Despite the varying influences and frequent experimentation that defined Manetti's career, his figures are typically characterized by plump, oval facial types with delicate features derived from Sienese Mannerism, as in the present work.

We are grateful to Dott. Riccardo Lattuada for suggesting, and to Dott. Alessandro Bagnoli for confirming, the attribution to Rutilio Manetti, on the basis of a transparency (written communication, 27 August 2006). Dott. Bagnoli points out that this work was executed shortly after the Andromeda in the Galleria Borghese, Rome, and dates it to 1614-15.