In thirty years and more of activity, Maurizio Nobile Gallery has established a solid reputation as a leading art dealer in Italian Old Master Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture from the end of the 15th to the beginning of the 20th century. Founded in Bologna in 1987, the interest shown in his pursuits by international private collectors and public institutions led Maurizio Nobile to expand in 2010, choosing Paris as the place to locate his second branch. Over time, the gallery has become a point of reference for refined private collectors as well as prestigious international museums such as the National Gallery of Art in Washington, the Szépművészeti Múzeum in Budapest, the Morgan Library and the Metropolitan Museum in New York and many others. The gallery also participates in the most important international art fairs and events, including BIAF - the Florence International Biennial Antiques Art Fair, the Salon du Dessin (Paris), MIART (Milan) and TEFAF - Maastricht (Pictura section).
The attribution of the drawing to Guercino is confirmed by David Stone. As the scholar notes, the drawing is not related to any of the artist's known works; it is a figure study preparatory to a possible commission for an Adoration of the Magi or an idea for an engraving. It can be dated to around 1635-1640.
The painting is a recent entry in Paolini's catalogue and can be dated to his youthful period. It is a hermetic image that is difficult to interpret, as is typical for the artist, in which perhaps we can recognise an ideal portrait of Lesbia; the woman unluckily loved by Catullus and celebrated by the poet in his poems.
It was since 1936, when the work was sold at a Doroteum auction, that the traces of this extraordinary painting by the young Fetti had been lost. As already suggested by Eduard Safarik (1990 and 2009) and confirmed by MIchele Danieli on the basis of the most recent studies, the work dates back to the end of his stay in Rome. An important recovery that shows the great painter's talent. PROVENANCE: Vienna, Alfred Scharf Collection (until at least 1933); Vienna, Dorotheum, 27-29 February 1936, lot 9 (as The adolescent Esau); Vienna, collection of Eng. Herbert R. Spatschek (2009) to his heirs and descendats (?); Vienna, Kinsky Auctions, 19 June 2024, lot 3030; Rome, private collection.
CATALOGHI E SCHEDE
