Lot 157: Silenus, with centaurs, leopards and a barrel of fruit in an extensive river landscape

Abraham Brueghel (Antwerp 1631-1697 Naples) and Nicola Malinconico (Naples 1663-1721) Silenus, with centaurs, leopards and a barrel of fruit in an extensive river landscape signed 'A.Brughel' (lower right) oil on canvas 29½ x 39¼ in. (75 x 99.7 cm.)

The first to recognise Malinconico as responsible for the figures in this painting was Lanfranco Ravelli (op. cit.) in his groundbreaking article which explored the activity of the artist as a painter of still lifes. He dated the painting to circa 1683, when Nicola would have been 20 years old and Brueghel settled in Naples for a few years. In a letter to the owner after the publication of his aforementioned book, Professor Luigi Salerno confirmed the figures in this picture to by Nicola Malinconico, describing the work as an 'opera bellissima'.