Pseudo-Vitali (Active in Bologna in the first half of the 18th century), Pairs of Still Lifes

Pseudo-Vitali (Active in Bologna in the first half of the 18th century) Pairs of Still Lifes with poultry, sheep, wicker basket Oil on canvas, 80 x 170 cm With frame, 95 x 185 cm Critical Note by Prof. Alberto Crispo Bibliography: R. Roli, Bolognese Painting 1650-1800. From Cignani to Gandolfi, Bologna A. Cicatelli, entry in Art and Piety. The cultural heritage of the Opere Pie, exhibition catalog, Bologna 1980, p. 208. 1977 M. Danieli, On still life in Bologna. Two additions to the ‘pseudo-Vitali’ The two compositions of the same horizontal format are clearly attributable to that strand of still lifes of Bolognese tradition created for some noble residence. The first describes a passage of living nature in which white sheep with thick coats are depicted along with live and dead poultry within an airy landscape. In the second canvas, a duck accompanies dead poultry and wicker baskets and animal cages. The very high quality of the two canvases allows us to return them to the catalog, which is still to be reconstructed, of a very refined, if enigmatic, painter active in Bologna between the 17th and 18th centuries: the so-called Pseudo-Vitali. This personality has been identified relatively recently and owes its name to the Bolognese characteristics present in his works and the close relationship with the style of Candido Vitali (1680 – 1753), a very skilled painter of still lifes who enjoyed extraordinary success. The critical story that led to the birth of the pseudo-Vitali began in 1977 when Renato Roli included in the catalog of the painter Candido Vitali a Still Life with poultry and basket of flowers now kept at the Opera Pia dei Poveri Vergognosi. The scholar Amelia Cicatelli traces some similar characteristics in another canvas with Birds and melon of the Museo Dava Bargellini, which differ, however, from the art of Candido. And from here begins the first nucleus of works that form a solid point for the drafting of the catalog of our artist. In subsequent years scholars such as Daniele Benati and Alberto Crispo have further expanded the catalog of the painter, to which these two unpublished canvases are now added. On more than one occasion there have been attempts to bring this skilled personality out of anonymity, to the scholar Daniele Benati we owe in fact a suggestion of a possible identity with Andrea or Giacomo Monticelli contradicted only by the labile reconnaissance carried out by Massimo Pulini in an attempt to superimpose on the figure of Pseudo Vitali that of Carlo Cittadini (? -1661). In his works it is possible to recognize a usual repertoire of animals, flowers, fruits and vegetables dictated by a frank and real rendering. The remarkable ability of the pseudo-Vitali to structure the space in depth, to integrate the still life into the landscape context and to harmonize the surrounding vegetation with the composition, draws inspiration from the influence of the most illustrious master of Bolognese still life of the 17th century, Pier Francesco Cittadini. See examples such as Vegetables and fruit of the Galleria Estense in Modena or the Vase with musical instruments (Galleria Colonna, Rome). Despite this, the exclusive focus on Bolognese influences does not fully account for the stylistic complexity found in the works attributed to the pseudo-Vitali. The marked concreteness of his representations suggests a deep knowledge of the artistic currents dominant in western Emilia. In particular, there is a notable affinity with the production of Felice Boselli, whose compositions share a similar repertoire of subjects and an analogous formal setting. The stylistic affinities are not limited to individual elements, but embrace the entire conception of the landscape, in which the background opens like a theatrical backdrop of lush trees envelops a twilight and dark sky. A more careful analysis also reveals links of commission with the work of Angelo Maria Crivelli, known as the Crivellone, suggesting an artistic dialogue and a reciprocal influence between the two painters. Furthermore, to prove the great technical and constructive ability of the painter it must be emphasized that the pseudo Vitali often goes beyond the easel format common to all the other Bolognese specialists, including Candido Vitali himself. The large paintings that are part of his catalog indicate an artist specialized in the decoration of large environments, since it is obvious that canvases of such dimensions could not fulfill the function of over-door or furnishing accessory common to still life paintings. It cannot be excluded that he had some contact with the Parma, Lombard, or Piedmontese patronage, which commissioned large cycles of canvases depicting landscapes and animals to Boselli and Crivellone, with which to decorate their suburban or even city residences.