Bartolomeo Litterini (1669 Venezia-1731 Venezia),... Lot n° 23

pair of paintings, oil on canvas, W. 57 - H. 155 cm, "Heir of his father and master Agostino, Bartolomeo was one of the most successful and sought-after painters of the various Venetian ecclesiastical commissions. This is a fundamental aspect to bear in mind when analysing the paintings presented here, which are certainly among the most interesting of those with profane subjects. Bartolomeo, who was never completely free in his choices and was strongly tied to his father's teachings and tradition, focused his activity almost exclusively on subjects with religious-devotional themes, The Venus and the Mercury in question are the most significant additions to the catalogue of the painter's works, extraordinarily important because they finally shift the critical attention from the more traditional field of ecclesiastical commissions to that of the interpretative freedom of our artist, evidently fascinated by subjects with profane themes, more lively, perhaps even closer to his sensitivity",