Bonaventura Bettera (1663-1718 post), Still life with musical instruments, sheet music and carpet

Bonaventura Bettera (1663-1718 post) Still life with musical instruments, sheet music and carpet Oil on canvas, 85 x 110 cm With frame, 111 x 138 cm The painting we can observe here fully embodies the Bergamo tradition of musical still life, which, from Evaristo Baschenis (1617 – 1677), the true creator of the genre, was transmitted to other Bergamo painters, including his contemporary Bartolomeo Bettera (1639- post 1688) and the latter's son Bonaventura (1663- post 1718), to whom this work can be assigned. Going beyond the subject, we can already deduce the distinctive traits that evolved the still lifes created by Bartolomeo first and then by Bonaventura, born and raised in the Bergamo area, into a more sumptuous, contrasting, and opulent dimension; the family, in fact, had origins that can be identified in the centers of the mid-Seriana valley, in particular in Gandino and the homonymous valley, thus coming into contact with Baschenis' production. While Bartolomeo traveled first to Rome and then to Milan in 1687, where he remained until his death, which probably occurred at the end of the century, little is known about Bonaventura's biography, although the works attributed to his hand are mainly found in Lombard and especially Bergamo collections, thus suggesting an area of activity still linked to his homeland. Although the connections with Baschenis are evident in the subject, layout, and sense of realism, Bettera distinguished himself by elaborating compositions characterized by a greater concentration of objects, almost always related to the musical field, by a sumptuousness that can be well observed in the preciousness of the embroidery of carpets and curtains, shining and with bright colors, and by a more crowded arrangement characterized by more daring perspectives of the elements, piled up in an opulent and weighted disorder that creates a sort of pile in the center of the composition. These traits, derived from the works of his father, are revealed clearly, as can be seen in the virtuoso perspectives of the lutes and violins and the use of precious blue and gold tones of the curtains and carpets, luminous, vibrant, and in contrast with the dimly lit environment with more muted colors; furthermore, we can note typical features of his compositions such as the partial and disarranged opening of the curtain, the pile of objects, the apparent disorder on the table, revealed by the crumpled scores, the misaligned and superimposed instruments, and the books submerged below, among which one can be identified with the word Tasso written on the spine, perhaps referring to Torquato Tasso, author of the famous Gerusalemme liberata, whose family belonged to the ancient Bergamo nobility and was therefore linked to the same territory where Bettera operated. If the series of works by his father Bartolomeo, often signed, consists of a more substantial and certain catalog, those by Bonaventura are instead extremely rare and difficult to identify; two of his certain works are exhibited at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow, and reveal in the protruding warp of the canvas in the parts of the carpets, a distinctive feature compared to Bartolomeo, which we also find in our work. Several others have passed through the antiquarian market or are found in private collections, and in many of these this peculiar detail is found, to which is then added a more homogeneous and opaque use of light and a particular taste for cold tones, such as blue and light blue, also used in this canvas.