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Lot Essay
Gaetano Gandolfi, along with his elder brother, Ubaldo, have long been recognized as the pre-eminent painters in Bologna in the second half of the eighteenth century. As versatile as they were talented, they executed large-scale fresco cycles and altarpieces, as well as etchings, drawings and paintings of both Biblical and mythological subjects, genre scenes and portraits, and even sculptures in terracotta. Gaetano enrolled at the Accademia Clementina at the age of 17, where he excelled as a student, and by the mid-1750s he was already charged with several private commissions. His artistic horizons were broadened by a year of study in Venice in 1760, made possible by the generous financial support of the Bolognese merchant Antonio Buratti (1736-1806). This marked a key turning point in Gaetano's career, and the impact of contemporary Venetian masters was seen immediately in his work. His mature style, evidenced in this fine depiction of Saint Lawrence, combined the rigors of Bolognese academic training with the lustrous color and lively, fluid brushstrokes that he would have encountered in the work of Tiepolo, Ricci and Pittoni.
Professor Donatella Biagi Maino, who confirmed the attribution at the time of the sale in 2012, dates the picture to circa 1764-65, when Gaetano’s career was truly flourishing. He would produce a number of head studies and portraits during the same period, a genre that allowed him to demonstrate his virtuosity. Painted with typical verve, confidence and fluidity, it can be closely compared to the modelling of the figures in his Saint Lawrence and Young Woman Depicted as Flora (see D. Biagi Maino, Gaetano Gandolfi, Turin, 1995, no. 15, fig. 16). Such ‘heads’ were made for a number of purposes: as standalone portraits of individuals, as preparatory studies for larger compositions or as vibrant teste di carattere. In this instance, Gaetano uses the format to show Saint Lawrence, one of the seven deacons of the Roman Church, who was martyred in 258 AD, here with part of a gridiron, the symbol of his martyrdom, visible lower left and partially covered by a palm frond.
Professor Donatella Biagi Maino, who confirmed the attribution at the time of the sale in 2012, dates the picture to circa 1764-65, when Gaetano’s career was truly flourishing. He would produce a number of head studies and portraits during the same period, a genre that allowed him to demonstrate his virtuosity. Painted with typical verve, confidence and fluidity, it can be closely compared to the modelling of the figures in his Saint Lawrence and Young Woman Depicted as Flora (see D. Biagi Maino, Gaetano Gandolfi, Turin, 1995, no. 15, fig. 16). Such ‘heads’ were made for a number of purposes: as standalone portraits of individuals, as preparatory studies for larger compositions or as vibrant teste di carattere. In this instance, Gaetano uses the format to show Saint Lawrence, one of the seven deacons of the Roman Church, who was martyred in 258 AD, here with part of a gridiron, the symbol of his martyrdom, visible lower left and partially covered by a palm frond.