Lot Essay
We are grateful to Professor Dwight C. Miller for confirming the attribution of this hitherto unrecorded picture from a transparency; he dates it c. 1682-5 and will publish it in his catalogue raisonné of the artist's work, currently printing.
Professor Miller points out that in pictures of this date Cignani's influence is still apparent; in the present picture this is most noteworthy in the facial types of some of the putti and in Silenus' drapery. He also notes that Cignani himself painted '...ubbriaco Sileno fatto giuoco, e trastullo di fanciulli, e di Ninfe, e chi lo insulta, e beffa, e chi lo careggia e palpa...' for Prince Johann Adam of Liechtenstein (G. Zanotti, Storia dell'Accademia Clementina di Bologna, Bologna, 1739, I, p. 142), and this would certainly be similar to, and may have been the inspiration for, the present picture. Professor Miller further suggests that the landscape is, probably, by Franceschini's brother-in-law, Luigi Quaini - who assisted the artist with landscapes even at this early stage - noting the 'juicy handling of the leaves', which is typical of Quaini, in contrast to Franceschini's more detailed technique.
The central group of Silenus and the satyr and putto is a variant of that in the Drunkedness of Pan, of similar date, sold at Sotheby's, New York, 30 May 1991, lot 36 ($110,000). Miller also points out that the present picture is very much in the spirit of two later Bacchanals, the compositions of which were recorded by Bartolozzi (Italian School of Design, One Hundred and Fifty-one prints... of Original Pictures and Drawings in the Collection of His Majesty, London, 1835, II, 'Bacchnalian Boys playing; Boys Riding a Goat by Franceschinino').
Professor Miller points out that in pictures of this date Cignani's influence is still apparent; in the present picture this is most noteworthy in the facial types of some of the putti and in Silenus' drapery. He also notes that Cignani himself painted '...ubbriaco Sileno fatto giuoco, e trastullo di fanciulli, e di Ninfe, e chi lo insulta, e beffa, e chi lo careggia e palpa...' for Prince Johann Adam of Liechtenstein (G. Zanotti, Storia dell'Accademia Clementina di Bologna, Bologna, 1739, I, p. 142), and this would certainly be similar to, and may have been the inspiration for, the present picture. Professor Miller further suggests that the landscape is, probably, by Franceschini's brother-in-law, Luigi Quaini - who assisted the artist with landscapes even at this early stage - noting the 'juicy handling of the leaves', which is typical of Quaini, in contrast to Franceschini's more detailed technique.
The central group of Silenus and the satyr and putto is a variant of that in the Drunkedness of Pan, of similar date, sold at Sotheby's, New York, 30 May 1991, lot 36 ($110,000). Miller also points out that the present picture is very much in the spirit of two later Bacchanals, the compositions of which were recorded by Bartolozzi (Italian School of Design, One Hundred and Fifty-one prints... of Original Pictures and Drawings in the Collection of His Majesty, London, 1835, II, 'Bacchnalian Boys playing; Boys Riding a Goat by Franceschinino').