ANTONIO TIBALDI Lot n° 35

(Rome, c. 1633 - c. 1684) Still life with textiles, tray with sweets and embossed metal vases Oil on canvas, 96X129 cm Provenance: Italy, private collection Antonio Tibaldi was a pupil of Francesco Noletti known as Il Maltese (1611-1654), from whom he derived his complex iconographic representations composed of elegant carpets, draperies, silverware, musical instruments and many other precious objects. The rediscovery of the artist is critically recent and was due to the discovery of a painting inscribed 'Il Tibaldi. Romano', on the back of a book and another painting signed 'Ant. Tibaldi' (cf. Bocchi 2005). Starting with his first name, surname and profession, investigations focused on parish archives, allowing us to trace his registration in the 1675 States of Souls of Santa Maria del Popolo. His production exhibits the use of filling the pictorial space to the widest possible extent, placing heavy carpets and brocades on tables where armor, clocks, musical instruments, cushions, boxes, books, sugary sweets are distributed, and often, as in our case, he closed the scenic space with heavy gilt-edged fabrics. Inventories of ancient Roman collections have made it possible to learn about his powerful patrons, such as the Barberini (Pope Urban VIII) and the Chigi (Pope Alexander VII). Reference bibliography: G. and U. Bocchi, Pittori di natura morta a Roma. Italian Artists 1630-1750, Viadana 2005, pp. 473-490 G. Bocchi, Antonio Tibaldi detto il Conte, a painter in Rome in the second half of the seventeenth century: new acquisitions and definitive confirmations, in Parma per l'Arte, Nuova Serie, XXVII, 2021, pp. 199-262