Antonio Travi (Genova 1608 - 1665) cerchia

Antonio Travi, known as Sestri (Sestri Ponente 1608 - Genoa 1665), circle Landscape with ruins and biblical scene First half of the 17th century oil on canvas, cm 82 x 121, with antique frame cm. 105 x 145 Complete descriptive and photographic details: www.ANTICHITACASTELBARCO.it The beautiful painting published, a large landscape with architectural ruins, fully reflects the pictorial poetics of Antonio Travi (Sestri Ponente 1608 - Genoa 1665), the first landscape painter of the Genoese school; poetics that remains constant throughout his fruitful career: from his beginnings, as a student of Bernardo Strozzi, until his death in 1668, when his flourishing workshop was flanked by numerous sons and pupils. The imposing ruins, highlighted by an icy and bright luminosity, form the backdrop to the biblical episode of the Flight into Egypt, with the Holy Family in the foreground. Observing the stylistic characteristics, we note the evidence of the brushstroke and the love for color typical of the master Strozzi, but also a clarity and precision typical of the Flemish artists active in Genoa, with a particular reference to the German Goffredo Waals, present in various collections of the Genoese aristocracy. Waals' luminous and metaphysical scenographies are translated into Travi's painting with a ruinist taste in a Ligurian key, through quick brushstrokes, dense with color and a fantastic naturalism accentuated by silvery luminosity. From the proposed canvas, typical elements of his palette can be seen, such as the accurate chromatic chords and the studied insertion of brighter colors on the basic tones of earths and whites. As for the composition, his passionate investigation of the Italianate landscape remains almost unchanged over time, where the traces of time that passes inexorably – the ancient ruins and dilapidated houses – inhabit the scenarios of a silent nature. His works are always animated by small figures, who simply carry out their daily activities: they take the flocks to drink or graze on the banks of the river. The same popular everyday life of his genre subjects also characterizes paintings with a sacred theme, such as the one under examination, always dominated by an order that infuses a sovereign quiet to the environment. However, it should be emphasized that the presence of man never appears decisive but indeed, the true protagonist of his works is a nature that shows itself in all its simplicity. This canvas explains it well: almost a manifesto of his poetic vein, where the ruin is the true queen of the scene: the inexorable passage of time to which nothing can be opposed, except Mother Nature, in her silent resistance made of eternal blue skies crossed by clouds, streams that will always descend to the sea, meadows and valleys, trees and stones. The quality that is perceived is that of a work of exquisite autograph: see the reflections on the water, the descriptive detail of the ruin in every stone and even in the traces of decoration on the arches above, the brushstrokes of white that are flashes of light. Certificate of authenticity (FIMA)