Roses, parrot tulips, carnations and other blooms in an urn on a stone ledge

The present lot compares closely with a pair of paintings by Elisabetta Marchioni in the Seminario Vescovale di Rovigo and with two sets of four pictures in private collections (see G. and U. Bocchi, Naturalier. Nouvi contributi alla natura morta in Italia settentrionale e Toscana tra XVII e XVIII secolo, Casalmaggiore, 1998, pp. 419-20 and 422-3, figg. 528-33 and 537-40). All pictures share a similar composition, in which delicate flowers, primarily roses, tulips and carnations overflow from a sculpted urn placed on a ledge emerging from a dark background. Marchioni's compositions are endowed with a strong sense of monumentality, accentuated by the juxtaposition of vibrant reds and the darkness of the background.