Angelo Bartolomeo Vacca senior Pair of Still Lifes with Flower and Fruit Composition in a Garden Technique and Measurements: Oil on canvas, frames: cm W 105.5 x H 75.5 x D 7; canvas cm W 93.5 x H 63 Price: private negotiation Object accompanied by a certificate of authenticity and expertise (downloadable at the bottom of the page) The paintings, executed in oil on canvas and in good condition, depict two still lifes with compositions of flowers and fruits. Stylistically, they are attributable to the painter Angelo Bartolomeo Vacca senior (Turin, July 11, 1746 – December 30, 1814), active in Turin in the second half of the 18th century. The painting presented here on the left depicts a ceramic vase with blue decorations, overflowing with a sumptuous composition of flowers that gently cascade toward the ground. In the foreground on the right, a serving dish rests obliquely against a low wall, on which some fruits are placed: white and black grapes, a mushroom, and peaches. Above the wall, other flowers chromatically balance the composition. On the left in the foreground, an architectural base topped by a vase protrudes from the frame, on which some flowers and bellflowers bring light and color. The described still lifes are set in an outdoor garden context, with large trees with green and lush foliage, some rocks that draw a path that fades into the distance. The clear blue sky gives brightness to the whole. Pendant to this painting is the still life presented here on the right. In a similar and related landscape context, a large terracotta vase ornamented with acanthus leaves in bas-relief stands out in the center of the canvas. Inside the vase, a collection of flowers of the same type and color as the painting analyzed previously are gathered. Other cut flowers, vine leaves and black grapes, and some peaches lie on the ground. In the foreground on the right, a backlit plant, analogous to the base described previously, acts as a backdrop to the scene, creating vivacity and depth to the composition, played on several perspective levels. The flower still life, with its vibrant and saturated colors, stands out against a darker background, recreated by the insertion of a large tree with lush foliage. The sky, serene and with light tones, is marked by some vaporous clouds. The two canvases are very close to some works by Angelo Vacca made for prestigious commissions and royal palaces. The figure and work of the painter Angelo Vacca senior are still little known within the complex Turinese painting of the second half of the eighteenth century. He was born in 1746 to Giorgio Vacca, a descendant of the Vacca marquises of Saluzzo and a wealthy merchant from Turin, and Margherita Navés. From his marriage (1777) with Margherita Cometto he had five children, Luigi, Felice, Giovanni, Carlo and Simplicio, all painters. In 1780, Angelo Vacca's career as a painter was already well underway: he already appears in the Royal Almanac, a sign that he was by then known and established within the artistic community of the subalpine capital. His name also appears among the artists of the Turin Academy of Painting; in 1792 he is among the Councilors of the Academy; in 1794 among the Promoters of the Academy; in 1788 he had even become Prior of the Academy; in 1797 he is again among the Councilors. On October 18, 1778 he appears registered in the Register of the brothers of the Company of San Luca. On December 9, 1787, he is registered among the Professors of the Arts of Design. Vacca senior worked a lot in Turin in the service of the Savoy family and noble families, and also in some centers of the province. "Much loved", he is remembered as a "virtuous Painter in every genre", capable both in portraiture and in landscape, still life, miniature, and scenographic design: a versatile and eclectic artistic personality, certainly not common. Some documented, signed, and dated works by Angelo Bartolomeo Vacca senior are known, while others have been attributed to him with reasonable certainty by critics. Among the most significant works are those paid in 1789 for the parade apartment of the Dukes of Aosta, Royal Palace of Turin, in which he paints paintings depicting allegorical putti of refined pictorial rendering and purely French taste that testify to his skill and mastery of the means. Also for the Royal Palace, in the apartment of Madama Felicita (the sister of Vittorio Amedeo III of Savoy), he created a series of overdoors depicting putti and still lifes. Dating back to around 1789, they are of fundamental importance for the history of still life in Piedmont, as they clearly show the stylistic transition from Michele Rapous' rocaille modes, with whom he has often been confused, to the still life of neoclassical taste. Angelo Vacca developed a very vast and articulated artistic activity also for churches, theaters, and Piedmontese palaces. In 1787 he painted for the Carignano Theater, in the Royal Castle of Rivoli, in the Falconers' Hall (formerly the apartment of the Dukes of Aosta) between 1783/1784; he is in Stupinigi between 1790 and 1791. We also find him documented active for the Church of the Madonna del Pilone and in the palace in via dell'Arsenale in Turin. The works in question are presented inside gilded and carved wooden frames in the Baroque style. Carlotta Venegoni

Period: 18th century

• Author   Angelo Bartolomeo Vacca senior
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