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Lot Essay
Born and trained in Siena with Salimbeni, Petrazzi travelled to Rome in 1621 as recorded in Mancini's Considerazioni; he remained there until 1631, when he returned to Siena.
Professor Carlo del Bravo was the first to publish a still life by Petrazzi, a Personification of Winter, which he discovered in a private collection and which appeared to be recorded in Delle Valle's Lettere Sanesi (see C. del Bravo, 'Una figura con natura morta del Seicento toscana', Arte antica e moderna, 1961, nos. 13-16, pp. 322-24, pl. 145a). The depictions of the flowers in a vase on the left of that picture and of those in another Still life of fruit, vegetables, flowers and a monkey show great similarities to those in this picture (L. Salerno, La natura morta italiana 1560-1805, Roma, 1985, fig. 312). As Del Bravo pointed out, familiarity with both Caravaggesque still lifes and Northern still lifes, including those of Jan Breughel, is evident in the work of Petrazzi (C. del Bravo, 'Due nature morte di Alfonso Petrazzi', Paragone, XII, July 1961, no. 139, p. 58). He dates the Personification of Winter to the 1640s, when the artist had already returned to Siena. However, in comparison with that picture the present composition, with its strong sense of symmetry, seems to point towards a slightly earlier date, when the artist was still working in Rome.
Professor Carlo del Bravo was the first to publish a still life by Petrazzi, a Personification of Winter, which he discovered in a private collection and which appeared to be recorded in Delle Valle's Lettere Sanesi (see C. del Bravo, 'Una figura con natura morta del Seicento toscana', Arte antica e moderna, 1961, nos. 13-16, pp. 322-24, pl. 145a). The depictions of the flowers in a vase on the left of that picture and of those in another Still life of fruit, vegetables, flowers and a monkey show great similarities to those in this picture (L. Salerno, La natura morta italiana 1560-1805, Roma, 1985, fig. 312). As Del Bravo pointed out, familiarity with both Caravaggesque still lifes and Northern still lifes, including those of Jan Breughel, is evident in the work of Petrazzi (C. del Bravo, 'Due nature morte di Alfonso Petrazzi', Paragone, XII, July 1961, no. 139, p. 58). He dates the Personification of Winter to the 1640s, when the artist had already returned to Siena. However, in comparison with that picture the present composition, with its strong sense of symmetry, seems to point towards a slightly earlier date, when the artist was still working in Rome.