French or Italian school of the 17th century Four... Lot 50

French or Italian school of the 17th century Four scenes with children's games Oil on canvas 42 x 67.5 cm The subject of playful or dancing putti is a revival from antiquity made in the Italian Renaissance by, among others, Giovanni Antonio de' Sacchis known as Pordenone, Raffaello Sanzio, and in sculpture by Donatello. Later the theme had its fortune in Venice with Titian and thanks to Jacopo Tatti known as Sansovino, who inserted, in the heart of the city, St. Mark's Square, a play of putti and garlands on the facade of the Biblioteca Marciana. With the popularization of prints-remember, among others, Amico Aspertini's Cinque putti danzanti and Marcantonio Raimondi's Cinque putti che danzano in cerchio-the theme had vigorous resonance far beyond national borders. In the Baroque age, the theme of children's games provided the subject for several series of engravings, which popularized the subject widely and generated the production of paintings of the same theme. Among them are: Giacinto Gimignani's Scherzi e giuochi diversi de putti (Rome, 1647); Verscheyde aerdig kinderspel (Amsterdam, c. 1650), with engravings by Michiel Mosijn taken from drawings by Cornelis Holsteyn; Conrad Meyer's Kinderspiel (Zurich, 1657); and Les jeux et plaisirs de l'enfance (Paris, 1657), with engravings by Claudine Bouzonnet-Stella taken from drawings by her uncle Jacques Stella. French or Italian school of the 17th century Four Scenes With Children Playing Oil on canvas 42 x 67.5 cm