Bonaventura Bettera (Bergamo, 1663 – documented until 1718) Still life with musical instruments Oil on canvas (90 x 116 cm - Framed 105 x 131 cm.) Full painting details (click HERE) The Bergamasque school of painting of the 17th century deserves credit for having "invented" a type of still life, almost exclusively of musical instruments, which has been so successful with collectors of the time as it continues to be with critics and the modern market. Alongside the dominant figure of Evaristo Baschenis, the great initiator of this pictorial genre, was Bartolomeo Bettera, who had the ability to grasp his legacy while still forging his own identity, with his own pictorial characteristics. Our beautiful canvas is precisely placed within the scope of this second great painter, and in particular is attributable to the hand of his son, Bonaventura Bettera (Bergamo, 1663 – documented until 1718), and illustrates, according to a scenography dear to the artist, the usual display of musical instruments placed on a plane covered with an elegant draped carpet and framed by a curtain with golden motifs that descends from above. To allow us to support this attribution is the comparison with two signed canvases by Bonaventura, around which the corpus, albeit small, of the painter has been reconstructed: the first dated 1718 from Palazzo Passi in Bergamo (now La Spezia, private collection), the second, originally painted for Palazzo Greppi in Milan (now in private collection in Bergamo) (1). (1) For both paintings, see most recently A. Morandotti, Bonaventura Bettera, in La natura morta in Italia , edited by F. Porzio, 2 vols., Milan 1989, I, p. 278, fig. 324 and p. 275, fig. 325. It should be considered that many paintings passed on the art market have often been attributed to the father, given the great consonance of style, although a more in-depth analysis could in fact bring them closer to the production of the younger Bettera: in particular in Bonaventura we can see the transition to a eighteenth-century decorative taste characterized by a decisive lightening and cooling of the chromatic tone compared to the paintings of the father, to which is added a strong simplification of details. This characteristic can be precisely found in the painting preserved at the Pushkin Museum in Moscow (2), where we see the young Bettera who, starting from a phase of strict observance of paternal models, declines them through a brighter register and the adoption of celestial and pastel tones. (2) Bettera Bonaventura (Moscow, Pushkin Museum, http://www.italian-art.ru/canvas/17-18_century/b/bettera_bonaventura/still_life_with_musical_instrum...) Returning to the detail of our work, and its pendant, we thus find all the elements of the Bergamasque still life, with the exhibition of objects and musical instruments, such as musical scores, the violin, the lute, the viola, all arranged on a table placed asymmetrically with respect to the proportions of the canvas and accompanied by a worked carpet; in addition, other objects are identified, such as the globe, a chest, a book, and even various animals, all typical details of the Bettera workshop. There are no human figures, but musical instruments left there, inanimate objects, arranged apparently randomly, as if abandoned, some overturned, on others; there is even a layer of dust, next to the musical manuscripts. For comparative purposes, we illustrate below a series of works that may be similar to ours, in terms of scenic importance and style of composition. In particular: - Bettera Bartolomeo - Bettera Bonaventura attr. (https://patrimonioculturale.regione.fvg.it/opera/?s_id=499871) - Bettera Bonaventura - Still life with musical instruments and globe (Private Collection. https://www.didatticarte.it/Blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/image-102.jpeg) - Bettera Bartolomeo, Still life with musical instruments and apple (Private collection, Bergamo, https://catalogo.fondazionezeri.unibo.it/scheda/fotografia/151011/) - Bettera Bartolomeo, Still life with musical instruments (Antiquarian market, London, https://catalogo.fondazionezeri.unibo.it/scheda/opera/86907/) - Bettera Bartolomeo (Christie’s, 27.1.2010, New York, https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-5287628/?intObjectID=5287628) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: The painting is sold complete with a pleasing gilded frame and is accompanied by a certificate of warranty and authenticity. We take care of and organize the transport of purchased works, both for Italy and abroad, through professional, tracked and insured carriers. If you wish to see this or other works in person, we will be happy to welcome you to our new gallery in Riva del Garda, in Viale Giuseppe Canella 18. We are waiting for you! Contact us for any information or to arrange a visit, we will be happy to answer you. Follow us also on: https://www.instagram.com/galleriacastelbarco/?hl=it https://www.facebook.com/galleriacastelbarco/