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Lot Essay
Every age, from antiquity to Claudio Bravo, has had its specialists in trompe l'oeil, the French phrase for 'fool the eye'. In eighteenth-century Florence, the foremost practitioner of this entertaining genre was Antonio Cioci. A favorite of the Grand Duke's court, Cioci was kept continuously employed as a decorator of villas, engraver, master of festivals, and designer of semi-precious stone inlay tables. His trompe-l'oeil painting of a Chinese Porcelain Tea Service inspired one of the masterpieces of this Florentine speciality and is exhibited with the table in the museum of the Opificio delle pietre dure.
The present painting has been often reproduced in reference books on Italian still lifes, and is considered a touchstone for Cioci attributions. A related and signed Interior of the Painter's Studio appeared at Sotheby's, Florence, on 18 January 1969, and was acquired by the Uffizi. Cioci is represented by several landscapes and three self-portraits in the Uffizi. One of the latter is a trompe-l'oeil description of the paraphernalia in the artist's studio that is analogous to the present composition, except that the small painting attached to the back wall is a self-portrait instead of a landscape. Luigi Salerno, author of studies on Cioci, observed that 'he was more of a painter' ('era più pittore') than the other trompe l'oeil specialists, 'rising above solid craftsmanship by his subtle capacity for poetic expression in subtle color harmonies.'
We are grateful to Dr. John Spike for the above catalogue entry.
The present painting has been often reproduced in reference books on Italian still lifes, and is considered a touchstone for Cioci attributions. A related and signed Interior of the Painter's Studio appeared at Sotheby's, Florence, on 18 January 1969, and was acquired by the Uffizi. Cioci is represented by several landscapes and three self-portraits in the Uffizi. One of the latter is a trompe-l'oeil description of the paraphernalia in the artist's studio that is analogous to the present composition, except that the small painting attached to the back wall is a self-portrait instead of a landscape. Luigi Salerno, author of studies on Cioci, observed that 'he was more of a painter' ('era più pittore') than the other trompe l'oeil specialists, 'rising above solid craftsmanship by his subtle capacity for poetic expression in subtle color harmonies.'
We are grateful to Dr. John Spike for the above catalogue entry.