ANTONIO GIANLISI
Rizzolo San Giorgio, 1677 – Cremona, 1727
Still life with draperies, fruits and goldfinch
oil on canvas, 74×105 cm
In a manuscript which may be dated to around 1790 referred to as Gallery of Painters, Sculptors and Architects from Cremona, Arisi remembers the artistic activity of Antonio Gianlisi, noteworthy specialized author of still lives who worked in the years between the Seventeenth and Eighteenth century as follows: “on the canvas he coloured carpets laid on the table, and on them he painted fruit bowls in various metals, baskets laden with fruits, and candied flowers […]”. The repertory of images used by the Cremona-born painter in his works, his highly distinctive way to render objects, the characteristic fringes and tassels hanging from the draperies, the rich arabesque decoration, make Gianlisi’s paintings, as the one presented here, unmistakable. Also the goldfinch, which appears in the bottom left of the painting, is often found in his works, as for instance in the still life by the painter found at the Ala Ponzone Civic Picture Gallery of Cremona. Both in the latter and in this canvas we also find the characteristic deep folds of the colourful carpet laid on the table, and the landscape visible in the background, another element which is characteristic of the Cremonese master.
Publications:
“Caratteri da Collezione. Mostra internazionale di calligrafia contemporanea in caratteri Han”, exhibition catalogue edited by Consiglio Regionale della Toscana, Florence, 2012, p. 260.
