Luca GIORDANO ** Lot n° 1248

(Naples, 1634 - 1705) Cavallo isabellino con staffiere moro Cavallo isabellino con staffiere dal turante bianco Oil on canvas, 225X283 cm (2) Ascribed to Luca Giordano's catalog by Nicola Spinosa, the paintings have parietal measurements and the characters of style suggest a dating to his full maturity, around the eighth decade, at a time that precedes, but heralds, that great making of the Spanish period, when in 1692 the painter was invited by King Charles II to Madrid by virtue of his extraordinary talent. In these years, Giordano expresses a sublime compositional maturity, enabling him to conceive in large spaces unprecedented settings, and his art is modulated on the dictates of the French academy, Renaissance texts and Cortonesque Baroque. The scenes depicted here stand out for their monumentality and naturalism, highlighting the important influence of the Venetian art of Titian and Jacopo Tintoretto, perceptible when observing the landscapes and the way they connote the drawing. It should also be emphasized that the horses depicted can be considered true portraits, forerunners, for example, of the Equestrian Portrait of Mary Anne of Neuburg preserved in the Prado. These are works in which the artist modulates his Baroque taste in neo-Venetian solution, combining it with strong dark chiaroscuro accents, in analogy with the works of Mattia Preti, developing a very personal renewal in a naturalistic key of his art. We thank Nicola Spinosa for the attribution. Reference bibliography: O. Ferrari, G. Scavizzi, Luca Giordano. L'opera completa, Naples 1992, ad vocem Luca Giordano 1634-1705, exhibition catalog edited by O. Ferrari, G. Scavizzi, N. Spinosa, Naples 2001 O. Ferrari, G. Scavizzi, Luca Giordano. Nuove ricerche e inediti, Naples 2003, ad vocem Luca Giordano. Dalla Natura alla Pittura, exhibition catalog edited by S. Causa and P. Piscitello. Milan 2020. ** Lot temporarily imported and coming from non-EU States