Bonaventura Bettera (Bergamo, 1663 – documented until 1718) Still Life with Musical Instruments Oil on canvas (90 x 116 cm - Framed 105 x 131 cm.) Complete details of the painting (click HERE) The Bergamasque school of painting in the 17th century is credited with having “invented” a type of still life, almost exclusively of musical instruments, which has been so successful with the collectors of the time as it continues to be among critics and the modern market. Alongside the dominant figure of Evaristo Baschenis, the great initiator of this pictorial vein, was Bartolomeo Bettera, who had the ability to grasp his legacy but still forge his own identity, with his own pictorial characteristics. Our beautiful canvas should be precisely placed within the context 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 laid on a plane covered by an elegant draped carpet and framed by a curtain with golden motifs that descends from above. To allow us to support this attribution is a 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 a 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 indeed approach them to the production of the younger Bettera: in particular in Bonaventura we can find the transition to an eighteenth-century decorative taste characterized by a decisive lightening and cooling of the chromatic tone compared to the paintings of the father, in addition to a strong simplification of the 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 in detail to 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 placed on a table arranged in an asymmetrical position 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 different 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, for scenic import 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 (Antique 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) SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION: The painting is sold complete with a pleasing golden frame and is accompanied by a certificate of guarantee and authenticity. We take care of and organise the transport of the purchased works, both for Italy and abroad, through professional, tracked and insured carriers. If you would like 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 organise 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/