FILIPPO LAURI (attr. A)

(Rome, 1623 - 1694) Ariadne Oil on canvas, 29.3X38 cm. The artist trained with his father Balthasar Lawers, who of Flemish origin italianized the name to Baldassare Lauri (Antwerp, 1578 ; Rome, 1645), but Filippo followed as soon as possible the examples of Gaspard Dughet and Pietro da Cortona, with whom in 1656-1657 he took part in the decoration of the Gallery of Alexander VII at the Quirinal and whose influence can be seen in the frescoes of Santa Maria della Pace, dated 1668-1670, in which he achieves a measured balance between the naturalistic bent and the classicism of Andrea Sacchi. These unique church commissions are probably undesirable for the artist, who prefers the genre of landscape with figure inserts, as is the case in the ovals made by Dughet for the mezzanines of Palazzo Borghese. His catalog, in fact, counts countless easel compositions, highly prized by collectors. Reference bibliography: L. Salerno, Painters of Seventeenth-Century Landscapes in Rome, II, Rome 1977, pp. 684-689 F. Zeri, K. Rozman, European Masters from Slovenian Collections: National Gallery Ljubljana, 1993, p. 143 G. Sestieri, Repertorio della Pittura Romana della fine del Seicento e del Settecento, Turin 1994, pp. 104-107. figs. 599; 622, with previous bibliography