Still Life With Musical Instruments, Bonaventura Bettera (bergamo 1663 - C. 1718) (2/2)

Bonaventura Bettera (Bergamo, 1663 - documented until 1718)
Still Life with Musical Instruments (LINK)

Oil on canvas
90 x 116 cm - Framed 105 x 131 cm.

The pendenat of this painting can be viewed at the following - link -

The merit of the 17th century Bergamasque school of painting is to have ‘invented’ a type of still life, almost exclusively of musical instruments, that was as successful with the collectors of the time as it continues to be with critics and the modern market.

Alongside the dominant figure of Evaristo Baschenis, the great initiator of this pictorial strand, was Bartolomeo Bettera, who had the ability to seize the inheritance but still forged his own identity, with his own pictorial characteristics.

Our beautiful canvas is to be placed precisely in the sphere of this second great painter, and in particular is attributable to the hand of his son, Bonaventura Bettera (Bergamo, 1663 - documented until 1718), and illustrates, according to a scenography dear to the artist, the usual display of musical instruments lying on a surface covered by an elegant draped carpet and framed by a curtain with golden motifs descending from above.

This attribution is corroborated by a comparison with two signed canvases by Bonaventura, around which the painter's, albeit meagre, body of work has been reconstructed: the first is dated 1718 and comes from Palazzo Passi in Bergamo (now in La Spezia, private collection), the second was originally painted for Palazzo Greppi in Milan (now in a private collection in Bergamo) (1).

(1) For both paintings see most recently A. Morandotti, Bonaventura Bettera, in La natura morta in Italia , edited by F. Porzio, 2 vols., Milan 1989, I, p. 278, fig. 324 and p. 275, fig. 325.

It should be borne in mind that many paintings on the art market have often been attributed to his father, given the great consonance in style, although a more in-depth analysis could indeed bring them closer to the production of the younger Bettera: in particular, in Bonaventura we can see the transition to an 18th century decorative taste characterised by a marked lightening and cooling of the chromatic tone compared to his father's paintings, together with a strong simplification of details.

This characteristic can precisely be seen in the painting in the Puskin Museum in Moscow (2), where we see the young Bettera, who, starting from a phase of strict adherence to his father's models, declines them through a brighter register and the adoption of celestial and pastel tones.


(2) Bettera Bonaventura (Moscow, Pushkin Museum, http://www.italian-art.ru/canvas/17-18_century/b/bettera_bonaventura/still_life_with_musical_instrum...)

Returning to the details of our work, and to its pendant, we thus find all the elements of the Bergamasque still life, with the display of objects and musical instruments, such as musical scores, violin, lute, viola, all arranged on a table placed in an asymmetrical position with respect to the proportions of the canvas and accompanied by a worked carpet; in addition, we can see other objects, such as a globe, a casket, a book, and various animals, all typical details of the Bettera workshop.

There are no human figures, but musical instruments left there, inanimate objects, seemingly randomly arranged, as if abandoned, some upturned, on top of others; there is even a layer of dust, next to the musical manuscripts.

By way of comparison, we illustrate below a roundup of works that might be similar to ours, in terms of scenic import and style of composition.

In particular:
- Bettera Bartolomeo - Bettera Bonaventura attr. (https://patrimonioculturale.regione.fvg.it/opera/?s_id=499871)
- Bettera Bartolomeo - Bettera Bonaventura (Moscow, Pushkin Museum, http://www.italian-art.ru/canvas/17-18_century/b/bettera_bonaventura/still_life_with_musical_instrum...)
- Bettera Bonaventura - Still Life with Musical Instruments and World Map (Private Collection. https://www.didatticarte.it/Blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/image-102.jpeg)
- Bettera Bartolomeo, Still Life with Musical Instruments and Apple (Private Collection, Bergamo, https://catalogo.fondazionezeri.unibo.it/scheda/fotografia/151011/)
- Bettera Bartolomeo, Still life with musical instruments (Antiques market, London, https://catalogo.fondazionezeri.unibo.it/scheda/opera/86907/)
- Bettera Bartolomeo (Christie's, 27.1.2010, New York, https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-5287628/?intObjectID=5287628)


ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The painting is sold complete with a nice gilded frame and comes with a certificate of guarantee and authenticity.

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