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Lot Essay
Carlo Bononi was a pivotal figure in Ferrara at the turn of the seventeenth century. Under the Dukes of Este, the city had produced a rich line of painters notable for their great sense of invention and idiosyncrasy, from Cosimo Tura to Garofalo; Bononi is often seen as the last great artist to emerge from this school. He was apprenticed first to Giuseppe Mazzuoli, il Bastarolo, but the latter’s untimely death – he drowned in the river Po in 1589 – meant Bononi sought the tutelage of Scarsellino, then the most renowned artist in Ferrara. His bold palette and warm tonality would leave a clear impression on his pupil. Bononi then embarked on a series of journeys to major artistic centres, including Rome, Bologna, Parma and Venice, during the first decade of the seventeenth century, absorbing a great range of artists’ work, from Correggio and Schedoni to the Carracci and Caravaggio; to varying degrees, all of these influences were reflected in his mature work. Although he was exceptionally well travelled, he would receive most of his commissions in the towns and cities of Emilia: notably Modena, Reggio and his native Ferrara. His two most significant public projects were the large cycle of works for the church of S. Maria in Vado in Ferrara (completed in 1620-21) and those for the basilica of Madonna della Ghiara in Reggio Emilia in 1622.
This fine copper, vibrant in colour and bold in composition, shows the typically varied influences that defined Bononi’s career. Given its striking Carraccesque feel, the landscape background and such an intelligent, dynamic arrangement of figures, it is not surprising that the picture was attributed to Ludovico Carracci when it was in the collection at Charlecote Park in Warwickshire. Charlecote was originally built in the sixteenth century, with gardens later designed by Capability Brown; it was significantly remodelled in the nineteenth century for George Hammond Lucy, a refined collector who most likely owned this work.
This fine copper, vibrant in colour and bold in composition, shows the typically varied influences that defined Bononi’s career. Given its striking Carraccesque feel, the landscape background and such an intelligent, dynamic arrangement of figures, it is not surprising that the picture was attributed to Ludovico Carracci when it was in the collection at Charlecote Park in Warwickshire. Charlecote was originally built in the sixteenth century, with gardens later designed by Capability Brown; it was significantly remodelled in the nineteenth century for George Hammond Lucy, a refined collector who most likely owned this work.