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拍品專文
We are grateful to Professor Dwight Miller for confirming the attribution to Marcantonio Franceschini and Studio on the basis of photographs. The composition of Maternal Charity exists in a larger version on canvas (Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum), as well as in aricordo formerly on the Milanese art market (Stanza del Borgo; see D. Miller, Marcantonio Franceschini, Turin, 2001, nos. 170 and D73). Miller notes that much of Maternal Charity is of a quality as to be by Franceschini's own hand, while the leftmost infant and the landscape are likely to be by one of his studio assistants, perhaps the trusted Luigi Quaini.
The companion piece, depicting a personification of Hope, seems to be painted by a different hand, either within Franceschini's studio or perhaps that of an independent master. It has been suggested that it may be the work of a Roman artist, painted in a paragone with Franceschini during the latter's year-long stay in Rome in 1711; this would explain the absence of any record of the present pictures in Franceschini's libro dei conti, which meticulously records his work in Bologna - we are grateful to Dr. Fabio Chiodini for checking the account book. The substantial weight of the copper plates suggests that they would have been the product of an important commission; it is tantalising to think that there may have been a third, untraced pendant, perhaps by a third artist, depicting Faith - thus completing a set of the Three Theological Virtues as described by Saint Paul (1 Corinthians 13:13), a well-loved theme of settecento painting.
The companion piece, depicting a personification of Hope, seems to be painted by a different hand, either within Franceschini's studio or perhaps that of an independent master. It has been suggested that it may be the work of a Roman artist, painted in a paragone with Franceschini during the latter's year-long stay in Rome in 1711; this would explain the absence of any record of the present pictures in Franceschini's libro dei conti, which meticulously records his work in Bologna - we are grateful to Dr. Fabio Chiodini for checking the account book. The substantial weight of the copper plates suggests that they would have been the product of an important commission; it is tantalising to think that there may have been a third, untraced pendant, perhaps by a third artist, depicting Faith - thus completing a set of the Three Theological Virtues as described by Saint Paul (1 Corinthians 13:13), a well-loved theme of settecento painting.