Self portrait
| Reference: | S5373 |
| Author | Pietro TESTA detto "Il Lucchesino" |
| Year: | 1645 ca. |
| Measures: | 170 x 230 mm |
€600.00
| Reference: | S5373 |
| Author | Pietro TESTA detto "Il Lucchesino" |
| Year: | 1645 ca. |
| Measures: | 170 x 230 mm |
€600.00
Description
Etching, circa 1645. Inscribed in the lower plate mark outside the oval: Ritratto di Pietro/ Testa pictore eccel.te/ delineavit et Sculpsit/ Romae superiorum permisu/ Arnoldo van Westerhout formis .
Third final state, with the address of Arnold van Westerhout (1651-1725).
A good impression, printed on contemporary paper, trimmed to the platemark, in good condition.
"Testa appears considerably older here than in the drawing made by his friend Pierfrancesco Mola in 1637. The dense shadows of the etching and the style of the red chalk preparatory study, Testa now in the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid, support the date of around 1645 suggested by the apparent age of the artist. Many of Testa's allegorical inventions may be seen as a kind of self-portraiture, but in this intimate image Testa depicts himself in the very act of self-portrayal in the most direct way, without idealism and without symbol." E. Cropper, Pietro Testa, p. 230 n. 106.
Pietro Testa was called Lucchesino for he was born in Lucca. There are but a few news about his apprenticeship in his hometown; for sure, he went to Rome in 1629 to study in the school of Domenichino first and then, towards the end of the year, he moved to the studio of his real master, Pietro da Cortona. His introvert temper caused him a lot of troubles; Cortona, in fact, was obliged to send him away due to his hostile and disdainful behaviour.
Testa went then to the house of his first patron, the famous collector Cassiano del Pozzo, and for him he realized his drawings from antiques. Maybe it was in this house that he met Nicolas Poussin who deeply influenced his art both in the neo-Venetian phase and the intellectual classicist one, from 1635.
His engravings though, about 40 pieces, have been considered, starting from Sandrart and Bladinucci, the most important graphic works of the Italian XVII century.
Literature
|
Bartsch, p. 215, n. 1; Bellini, pp. 64-65, n. 35; Cropper, p. 230, n. 106
|
Pietro TESTA detto "Il Lucchesino" (Lucca 1611 - Roma 1650)
|
Pietro Testa was called Lucchesino for he was born in Lucca. There are but a few news about his apprenticeship in his hometown; for sure, he went to Rome in 1629 to study in the school of Domenichino first and then, towards the end of the year, he moved to the studio of his real master, Pietro da Cortona. His introvert temper caused him a lot of troubles; Cortona, in fact, was obliged to send him away due to his hostile and disdainful behaviour.
Testa went then to the house of his first patron, the famous collector Cassiano del Pozzo, and for him he realized his drawings from antiques. Maybe it was in this house that he met Nicolas Poussin who deeply influenced his art both in the neo-Venetian phase and the intellectual classicist one, from 1635.
His engravings though, about 40 pieces, have been considered, starting from Sandrart and Bladinucci, the most important graphic works of the Italian XVII century.
His last production is characterized by classical and complex symbols and by the myths of Stoic philosophy, which he had followed all along his life. This pessimistic idea of life and the universal drama that humanity was living can be considered the main causes of his melacholy and sadness which led to commit suicide in 1650, when Testa threw himself down to the Tiber, near Lungara
|
Literature
|
Bartsch, p. 215, n. 1; Bellini, pp. 64-65, n. 35; Cropper, p. 230, n. 106
|
Pietro TESTA detto "Il Lucchesino" (Lucca 1611 - Roma 1650)
|
Pietro Testa was called Lucchesino for he was born in Lucca. There are but a few news about his apprenticeship in his hometown; for sure, he went to Rome in 1629 to study in the school of Domenichino first and then, towards the end of the year, he moved to the studio of his real master, Pietro da Cortona. His introvert temper caused him a lot of troubles; Cortona, in fact, was obliged to send him away due to his hostile and disdainful behaviour.
Testa went then to the house of his first patron, the famous collector Cassiano del Pozzo, and for him he realized his drawings from antiques. Maybe it was in this house that he met Nicolas Poussin who deeply influenced his art both in the neo-Venetian phase and the intellectual classicist one, from 1635.
His engravings though, about 40 pieces, have been considered, starting from Sandrart and Bladinucci, the most important graphic works of the Italian XVII century.
His last production is characterized by classical and complex symbols and by the myths of Stoic philosophy, which he had followed all along his life. This pessimistic idea of life and the universal drama that humanity was living can be considered the main causes of his melacholy and sadness which led to commit suicide in 1650, when Testa threw himself down to the Tiber, near Lungara
|