Paolo Piazza, 1537/57 Castelfranco Veneto – 1621... Lot n° 185

SALOME WITH THE HEAD OF JOHN THE BAPTIST Oil on canvas. Doubled. 108 x 173 cm. Inscription lower margin. In ebonized frame decorated with ornaments. Originally from Trevigiano, the painter Cosimo di Castelfranco, known to us as Paolo Piazza, studied Venetian painting at the school of Palma il Giovane, Veronese and the Bassano family. After a brief stay in his native city, where he also left some of his works, he moved to Venice permanently in 1593. Under the name Cosimo di Castelfranco, he took his vows as a Capuchin friar in 1598. He was always associated with sacred representations, his specialty, and to pursue this inclination he was invited to Munich by Duke Wilhelm V of Bavaria, who commissioned him to paint a martyrdom of Saints Peter and Paul. He traveled extensively in Europe and Italy: his presence is documented in Innsbruck, Reggio Emilia, Parma for Ranuccio Farnese and Rome for Paul V and Scipione Borghese. This refined composition shows the various influences and stylistic stimuli that the painter absorbed and brought together during his many travels: the soft color transitions indicate a deep affinity with Venetian painting, but the details of Salomé's clothing reveal an interest in Nordic subtleties; in the horrible expression of the executioner, still holding the sword with which he beheaded the saint, it is obvious that Piazza was under the influence of Caravaggio in Rome. (13908117) (13) Paolo Piazza, 1537/57 Castelfranco Veneto - 1621 Venice, attributed SALOME WITH THE HEAD OF SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST Oil on canvas. Relined. 108 x 173 cm. Inscribed on lower edge.