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Landscape (recto and verso)

Creator: Crescenzio Onofri
Offered by: L' Antiquaire & The Connoisseur, Inc.

Description
River landscape with ruins on recto
Landscape with fortifications on verso

Framed: 29.25" w x 25" h (74.3 x 63.5 cm)

Roman by birth, Onofri appears to have been Gaspard Dughet’s only pupil, and was deeply influenced by him. His style also shows the influence of the Bolognese school, particularly of Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi, to whom Onofri’s drawings are often erroneously attributed. Little is know of Onofri’s career, even the dates of his birth and death are unrecorded. He was undoubtedly a successful landscapist, and, when Dughet’s activity diminished in the 1660’s, he was engaged to decorate several rooms in the palaces of the Pamphilj and Colonna families. Onofri later moved to Florence, probably on account of the reputation of Prince Ferdinando de’Medici as protector of the arts, and for whom he painted large decorative landscapes for Villa Pratolino and his apartment in Palazzo Pitti. Payments are recorded for works by Onofri up until 1717, and he probably died in Florence soon after.
Onofri’s drawings are characterized by a rather meticulous dry technique, which makes use of parallel shading lines, reminding one that he was also an engraver (see Bartsch, XX, p. 237). This drawing shows how the artist, as was often the case, drew his inspiration from the idealized form of Classical landscape created by Annibale Carracci, Domenichino and Grimaldi, but modifying it according to the more realistic manner derived from his master, Gaspard Dughet, and from the Italianate Dutch landscapists. From the latter, in fact, he borrowed the motif of the ruins on the right, which otherwise would not have formed part of this idealized type of landscape. Judging from these elements, the drawing probably belongs to a fairly early moment of Onofri’s Roman period.

More Information

Documentation:	Ample Provenance
Notes:	Provenance: Alliance des Arts (founded in 1842), Paris (Lugt 61) Martello Collection, Fiesole
Origin:	Italy
Period:	Pre 18th Century
Materials:	Black and brown ink on paper
Condition:	Good.
Creation Date:	1630=1717
Styles / Movements:	Old Master, Other
Catalog References:	Literature: M. Boskovits, ed., The Martello Collection: Paintings, drawings and miniatures from the XIVth to the XVIIIth centuries, Florence, 1985, pp. 156-157.
Incollect Reference #:	305337

Dimensions

W.	8.31 in;	H.	12.81 in;
W.	21.11 cm;	H.	32.54 cm;

Message from Seller:

L' Antiquaire & The Connoisseur, Inc. specializes in European works of art, antiques, and paintings, with a rich history dating back to 1935. For more information, contact us at 212.517.9176 or info@lantiquaire.us.