Alessandro Rosi (Florence c. 1627- c. 1707)
PROPERTY OF A PRIVATE COLLECTOR
Alessandro Rosi (Florence c. 1627- c. 1707)

The Holy Family

Details
Alessandro Rosi (Florence c. 1627- c. 1707)
The Holy Family
oil on canvas
47 5/8 x 43 7/8 in. (121 x 111.5 cm.)
Provenance
Anonymous sale; Cortot-Vregille-Bizouard, Dijon, 14 April 2007, lot 60.
with Jean-Luc Baroni, London, where acquired by the present owner.
Literature
F. Baldassari, La pittura del Seicento a Firenze: Indice degli artisti e delle loro opere, Milan, 2009, pp. 628 and 641, fig. 387.

Lot Essay

The life and career of Alessandro Rosi had long remained hidden from scholarly attention, until 1989 when Alessandra Guicciardini published a study on his commission for the Palazzo Corsini in Florence. Until that point, many of his pictures had routinely been attributed to Sigismondo Coccapani, a Florentine contemporary, close in style. Rosi led a colourful life, noted by his biographers as a skilled draughtsman, who trained with Cesare Dandini and worked for Ferdinand de’ Medici, and died in an ‘extraordinary accident’: while walking on the via Condotta in Florence, a column fell from a terrace above and killed him (P.A. Orlandi, Abecedario pittorico, Venice, 1753, p. 43).

The arrangement of the Madonna and Child is drawn from a successful invention by Dandini, which Rosi’s master treated on a number of occasions, including versions in the Ospedale di Santa Maria Nuova in Florence and a private collection in Milan (S. Bellesi, Cesare Dandini, Turin, 1996, pp. 177-8, nos. 119-120). Rosi elaborates on the composition with a touch of humour and domestic realism, as the cat paws at the dish on the table, and the Child plays with the bows of the Madonna’s dress; the embroidered draperies and architectural setting meanwhile speak of a new baroque exuberance. The fine condition of the picture allows the vivid colours and fabulous variety of textures to be fully appreciated: Rosi shows a virtuoso touch, from the book held in Saint Joseph’s hand, to the carpet draped on the table and the wonderfully patterned fabric of the Madonna’s sleeve.

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