Alessandro Magnasco (c. 1667-1749), Monks in a... Lot n° 46

This late Baroque painter was born in Genoa, then spent much of his life in Milan, but also worked in Florence for The House of Medici. He is best known for his portraits and stylized fantastic genre and landscape scenes. His handwriting is legible and characterized by fast brushstrokes and play of light. His expressive paintings are often full of landscapes, ruins and crowded interiors. Figures are miniaturized. The picture shows three Capuchin monks inside a dark cave: two of them are immersed in deep prayers, the third is just coming to join them. The painting is rendered in earthy dark colors, but the drapery's workmanship; its whitish flashes, and the folds lining human figures, excel.