The Maestro dei Riflessi (Active in Venice during the second half of the 18th Century). The Meeting

oil on canvas. 73.5 by 56 cm. Estimate 20,000—30,000 USD

PROVENANCE: D.G. van Beuningen, Rotterdam-Vierhouten, The Netherlands;
By whose Estate sold, London, Sotheby's, July 8, 2004, lot 170.

NOTE: This composition is based on a work by Pietro Longhi, datable to 1746, now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (inv. 36.16).¹ Longhi's work was engraved by Charles Joseph Filipart (in reverse) and by Hayd (in the same sense); both engravings served as sources for many copies and variants by Longhi's followers. The present painting, like the Filipart engraving, is in the opposite direction of Longhi's original.

The Maestro dei Riflessi, like the Maestro del Ridotto, was an artist working in Longhi's circle, possibly one of his pupils, whom Pignatti identified and under whose name he grouped a number of works.² The paintings associated with this master's hand are characterized by their lively brushwork, particularly in the costumes, and this brushwork, which Pignatti described as "cangiante," is what gives the Master his name ("riflessi" literally means "reflections"). In addition to the stylistic similarities between this and and other canvases given to the Maestro dei Riflessi, an attribution to this artist is further supported by the fact that he is known to have produced painted replicas of Filipart's engravings on other occasions.³

1. See T. Pignatti, Pietro Longhi, Venice 1968, p. 93, reproduced plate 78a.
2. See for example Pignatti, op. cit., figs. 466 and 467.
3. For example, The Declaration in the Aldo Crespi collection and The Card-Game in the Treccani collection, Milan.

Sotheby's. Old Master and 19th Century European Art. 31 Jan 09.  New York. photo courtesy Sotheby's. www.sothebys.com