Rocky landscape with ambush of bandits.

Oil on canvas painting attributed to Pandolfo Reschi (Danzica, 1643 – Florence, 1699) depicting a scene in which a character on horseback, probably a man of noble rank, is ambushed by a group of brigands hiding in the shadow of a large natural arch of rock and vegetation. We are in the midst of the action, the attendant has already been brought down from the horse and is being searched by three men who are blocking him. The Lord resists on horseback and seems to express, through his gestures, strong repulsion to the event, perhaps in an attempt to intercede with their tormentors; but next to them they are already firing, these are other brigands who shoot with rifles at the rest of the company who, frightened, flee with the horses. The landscape where the convulsive scene takes place is impervious, rocky and could refer to the Apennine areas of Lazio around the Castelli Romani. The naturalistic detail is rendered skillfully and seems to belong to the landscape and atmospheric repertoires of this painter both in the rendering of the rocks and that of some plants such as the dry, sloping shrubs. Also typical of Reschi is the theme, in fact he used to depict such types of scenes as travelers marching in the areas of central Italy, as well as stirring battles between armies. Furthermore, the proportions of the characters depicted within the composition and the cold coloring appear to be other points in favor of this attribution. Pandolfo Reschi. – Son of a wealthy merchant, Pandolfo was born in Gdansk (Danzica) in 1640. While still young, he was sent to Germany to learn his father's trade, but, upon the death of his father, he enlisted in the army of Leopold I of Habsburg, until he decided to go to Italy, perhaps passing through Venice. Around the age of twenty he settled in Rome, where, from 1663, he resided in vicolo del Carciofo, in the district of S. Lorenzo in Lucina, in the same house as the Dutch landscape painter Pieter Mulier. He then embarked on a career as a painter and at the same time converted to the Catholic religion. At the end of the 1660s he arrived in Florence, where he lived, except for occasional trips, for the rest of his life. It is possible to reconstruct his life thanks to some 17th and 18th century biographies, starting with that of Francesco Saverio Baldinucci (1725-1730, 1975), the most extensive and interesting for the references to the clients, for the description of the works and for Reschi's placement in the Florentine artistic culture of the last decades of the century. To this must be added the news annotated by Francesco Bonazini in the diary (Florence, Biblioteca nazionale centrale, ms. Magl. XXV, 442, II, 1672-1705) and those of Francesco Maria Niccolò Gabburri (ivi, ms. E.B.9.5., IV, circa 1730-1741). Pandolfo Reschi was the greatest battle painter among Florentine painters. In addition to Salvator Rosa and the aforementioned Mehus, Reschi was strongly influenced by the knowledge of the works of his master Jacques Courtois, called il Borgognone, and those of Pieter Mulier, called il Cavalier Tempesta. Like all Florentine Baroque painting, it was soon supplanted first by the Rococo and then by Neoclassicism. Reschi was thus almost forgotten (like dozens of other painters of the period). His re-evaluation is a rather recent thing. In his style one can recognize the painters mentioned above, although his style stands out for certain metallic colors, bordering on coldness. But this makes his production particularly original and sought after by collectors of his time. Many of his paintings are now in private collections. The painting is in excellent condition and mounted on a stylish frame. The dimensions of the canvas are 137 x 99 cm; The overall dimensions including frame are 152 x 114. We enclose a historical certificate of authenticity with the sale. Discover some of our art proposals on www.antichitabompadre.com