Ever since its foundation in 1960, the Megna Gallery has been in Via del Babuino in Rome. Fabio Massimo Megna took the lead of the business in 1979 and still manages it today, together with his son Tommaso. The Gallery specializes in Italian paintings and art objects, with a particular focus on Roman artworks crafted between the Baroque and the Grand Tour period. The Gallery displays views, landscapes and still lives, preferring the small size and rare media such as copper and paper. Several works sold by the gallery have helped shaping and enriching both private and public collections around the world. The Gallery has taken part in the Florence International Biennial Antiques Fair since 2003 and the Biennale dell'Antiquariato in Rome since 1991; it has also taken part in the Milano international Fine Arts & Antique Fair (from 1999 and 2005) and in Paris Tableau (2012).
The painting is one of the rare examples of "noble painting" by Michelangelo Cerquozzi, considered in his time to be unsurpassed master of "bambocciate" and battles.
Provenance: France, formerly in the Count Schimmelpenninck collection (as per the label on the reverse). This unusual and amusing scene of popular life belongs to the genre of the "pastorellerie", created by De Mura in his maturity, around the middle of the 18th century.
