Pier Francesco Cittadini (Milan, 1616 – Bologna, 1681) Jacob and his family travel to Egypt Oil on canvas, 109 x 190 cm (canvas only). Frame L 214 x 145 x 10 Price: confidential negotiation Item accompanied by a certificate of authenticity and historical-artistic expertise (link at the bottom of the page) The valuable oil painting on canvas depicts Jacob and his family traveling to Egypt, and we believe that, given the high pictorial quality, it may be an autograph work by Pier Francesco Cittadini (Milan, 1616 – Bologna, 1681) created after 1647. The work, in excellent condition, is accompanied by a contemporary frame in finely carved and gilded wood. The depicted scene, which in past years was confused with the Flight into Egypt, should instead be identified with the biblical episode of Jacob's journey. In the foreground, reading the painting from left to right, one observes a caravan composed of animals, including donkeys, dromedaries, goats, dogs, and horses, and people, women, men, and slaves, who, laden with goods, continue their journey along the banks of a river, following a path that, towards the right, seems to lead to crossing a small bridge. Beyond the watercourse is described an environment characterized by large rocks that steeply reach far to cover the entire verticality of the painting. On the left, in the distance, we see the tail of the caravan that travels the steep path. Tall trees enliven and harmonize the environment, as do white and gray clouds characterize the predominantly clear and illuminated sky on the right by sunlight. The story is told in the Bible, Book of Genesis, 30, 25, a passage that describes Jacob's escape from Carran after conflicts with Laban, the father of his wife Rachel. Jacob is the third great patriarch of the Bible. The twelve tribes of the people of Israel originate from his descendants. He is the son of Isaac and Rebecca, who urged him to flee from Esau's wrath to Carran to find refuge with his brother, Laban. At his uncle's house, Jacob met his daughter Rachel. As soon as he saw his cousin, Jacob was conquered by her. Jacob will stop for seven years in the service of Laban to marry his beloved Rachel. But Laban, with a trick, will first give him Lia, the less beautiful older daughter, and only after another seven years the splendid Rachel. From the first wife he will have several children, while Rachel will give birth to the beloved son, Joseph, who will become viceroy of Egypt. After years of service, Jacob asked to be paid with every dark-colored head among the sheep and every spotted and speckled head among the goats. Laban accepted and had all the heads of that kind removed by his sons. So Jacob took fresh branches of poplar, almond, and plane tree, peeled them and put them in the watering troughs. The optical suggestion induced the goats and sheep to conceive and give birth to dark, striped, and speckled heads. He also made sure that all the stronger and healthier heads of Laban's flock would drink near the peeled branches, thus ensuring a genetic superiority to his part of the flock. His flocks grew numerous and strong and he became richer than his relative, arousing his envy. It was clear that Laban would not respect him much longer. At the suggestion of the Lord, Jacob thus decided to return to Canaan. Trying to avoid any possible dispute, he left with his family while Laban was away shearing sheep. But when, three days later, his uncle returned home, he was furious, feeling offended because Jacob had left secretly and had not allowed him to greet his daughters and grandchildren. Moreover, his teraphim, the statuettes, or idols, which depicted the family deities, had disappeared. After 7 days of pursuit, Laban and his men reached Jacob's group on Mount Gilead, in the mountainous region west of the Euphrates River, where uncle and nephew had a stormy conversation. The younger man was indignant at being accused of stealing the idols and told Laban to search at will in his family's tents. Indeed, neither of them could know or even imagine that it was Rachel who had taken the idols and had hidden them in the camel's saddle. During the search, she sat firmly on the saddle, apologizing for not being able to get up, «because I have what happens regularly to women» (Gen 31,35). Thus the stolen goods were not discovered. The author of the work that is the subject of this study was inspired for the composition by the print of an engraving by Stefano Della Bella (1610/1664) from around 1647. The engraving by Stefano della Bella bears the title "Iacob sur ses vieux jours quitte sans fascherie pour voir son filz Ioseph, sa terre et sa patrie" and is signed at the bottom left "Stef. della Bella In. et fe.”, while on the right it is declared “Cum privil. Regis”, or with the king's license. Stefano Della Bella (Florence, May 18, 1610 – Florence, July 12, 1664) was born into a family of painters, sculptors, and goldsmiths and, having been orphaned early by his sculptor father, he dedicated himself first to the goldsmith's art at the school of Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione and Gasparo Mola, then directing his attention to drawing and engraving. Soon he began to draw figures and copy Jacques Callot's etchings, which inspired his early works. Under the protection of the Medici, in particular Don Lorenzo, the younger son of Grand Duke Ferdinando I, Della Bella has the opportunity to make study trips to Rome, where he stays from 1633 to '36; in Rome he meets French engravers and print publishers such as Israël Henriet and François Langlois, who greatly influence his decision to move to Paris in 1639, four years after the death of Callot. In Paris he soon achieves, thanks to the engravings commissioned by Cardinal Richelieu, even worldly success; he frequents courtiers, theater artists, and writers, while refusing honors that are too oppressive. In 1646-47 his travels continue, in Holland, Amsterdam, Antwerp, and Dordrecht. Returning to Florence in 1650, he resumes working under the protection of the Medici court, working for his patrons. In 1656 he became a member of the Accademia degli Apatisti. The painting that is the subject of this study is reasonably attributable to Pier Francesco Cittadini, or Pierfrancesco Cittadini, known as il Milanese or il Franceschino (Milan, 1616 – Bologna, 1681) as some illustrative stylistic comparisons proposed below can demonstrate. Pier Francesco Cittadini was an Italian Baroque painter, mainly active in Bologna. His artistic training took place first with the painter Daniele Crespi; subsequently, in about 1634, he moved to Bologna, where he followed the teachings of Guido Reni. He then moved to Rome, where he obtained commissions also from Louis XIV, thanks above all to the success achieved with still lifes and landscapes. In 1650, he returned to Bologna, where on June 19, 1653 he married Giulia Ballarini, with whom he had numerous children and of whom at least three, Carlo Antonio, Angelo Michele, Giovanni Battista, would follow in their father's footsteps. His works are preserved in important museums and collections such as Villa Estense in Sassuolo, Bologna, Giovannini collection, Galleria Estense in Modena, Pinacoteca civica of Bologna, Galleria nazionale d'arte antica in Trieste, Pinacoteca civica of Forlì. The painting in question, of high pictorial quality, certainly belongs to the corpus of important works of the artist, in which we find depicted the female figure with the turban that the painter loves to insert in his canvases several times. Observing the layout of the canvas in question and the description of the landscape, the rocky reliefs and the plays of the various perspective levels, it is possible to propose some similar layouts, in which there are also subjects that lend themselves to a similar description, such as caravans of wayfarers and herds or the "Return from Egypt" of the Pushkin Museum. Also interesting is a black ink drawing by Cittadini, kept at the Royal Collection Trust, in which a study for a landscape seems very close to that later depicted in the canvas, with trees acting as wings to the scene, large rocky reliefs arranged in a way very similar to the final version. It is understood how for Cittadini there is an authentic feeling of the landscape, felt as a protagonist not secondary to the figures. In conclusion, the work, in good condition, is attributable to Pier Francesco Cittadini and datable following the engraving by Stefano della Bella of 1647, probably made after the artist's return to Bologna (1650). The canvas is therefore added to the corpus of works by a painter representative in the development of Baroque painting, especially Bolognese. Carlotta Venegoni