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Lot Essay
Pietro Ricchi received his earliest training in Florence under the tutelage of Domenico Passignani and spent a period in Bologna in the studio of Guido Reni, before traveling through France and then on to Milan circa 1634. His early style was influenced by seventeenth-century Lombard art, which imbued his works with the dramatic chiaroscuro that he retained throughout his career. From Milan, Ricchi progressed to Venice in the 1650s, where his compositions incorporate the vivid palette of that city.
This painting can be compared to Ricchi’s Card players in the Maestri collection, Forli (P.D. Poggetto, Pietro Ricchi 1606-1675, Rimini, 1996, p. 331-332, no. 202) and his Morra Players formerly with Galerie Canesso, Paris (S. Ferrari, Pietro Ricchi a lume di candela. L’inviolata e I suoi artefici, Riva del Garda, 2013, p.118-121, no. 4). The strong chiaroscuro and muted tonalities point to a date in the first half of the 1650s, either just before or after he arrived in Venice.
This painting can be compared to Ricchi’s Card players in the Maestri collection, Forli (P.D. Poggetto, Pietro Ricchi 1606-1675, Rimini, 1996, p. 331-332, no. 202) and his Morra Players formerly with Galerie Canesso, Paris (S. Ferrari, Pietro Ricchi a lume di candela. L’inviolata e I suoi artefici, Riva del Garda, 2013, p.118-121, no. 4). The strong chiaroscuro and muted tonalities point to a date in the first half of the 1650s, either just before or after he arrived in Venice.