Piero Corsini (1938-2001) was an inveterate buyer at auctions at both ends of the scale, buying major recognised paintings as well as lower value works which caught his ever inquisitive eye. The paintings in this sale, many of which have been stored away since his death, are part of Piero Corsini’s legacy and his journey of discovery in Old Master Paintings. 

Featuring a curated selection of works from the Renaissance to the 19th century, some of the sale’s highlights include A capriccio with figures conversing by classical ruins by Sebastiano Ricci and Clemente Spera, whose collaboration achieves a masterfully dynamic atmosphere, bringing to life both the figures and the classical ruins around them. Ricci’s painterly brilliance is evidenced in a further highlight of his Temptation of Saint Anthony, which merges the scandalous yet moralising subject that he so favoured.  Francesco Fidanza plays with the atmospheric effects of light and shadow in his nocturnal seascape to reveal a Mediterranean harbour with fishermen working in the light of a full moon, and betrays the artist’s direct knowledge of the Neapolitan follower of Claude-Joseph Vernet, Carlo Bonavia. The Flight into Egypt by François Perrier is a singular testament to the artist’s iterant lifestyle and is a mélange of various influences, including the elegance of Vouet, the earthy naturalism of Roman painters – in particular of Annibale Carracci, Lanfranco and Pietro da Cortona – and the classicism of antique statues and reliefs. A further highlight is Baldassare Franceschini’s Orpheus, the legendary Greek hero endowed with extraordinary musical skills, and is an excellent example of Franceschini’s consummate skill as a brilliant colourist and an inspired observer of the natural world.

Select highlights from the sale will be on view at our King Street location from 24 to 30 September.

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