ODOARDO PERINI

(Verona, 1671 - 1757) Adoration of the Shepherds Oil on copper, 41.2X59.6 cm Provenance: London, Christie's, April 22, 1994, lot 220 (as Francesco Maffei's circle) London, The Matthiesen Gallery (as Odoardo Perini) Italy, private collection The work is a valuable testimony to the art of Odoardo Perini, an artist trained at home in the workshop of Andrea Voltolini and later in Bologna by frequenting Giovanni Maria Viani, before returning to Verona in 1700. The work under consideration, datable to his early Veronese activity, exhibits influences from the Bassanos and bore an attribution to Francesco Maffei and Girolamo Brusaferro, erroneous but understandable references if one observes the loose brushstrokes of the figures that seem to dissolve the outlines. On the other hand, the work also evokes the style of the Venetian Brusaferro, which allows us to place its execution during the early eighteenth century. That said, scrolling through Odoardo's production we perceive his constant evolution and during his maturity conceiving more and more complex compositions, such as the altarpiece of the Miracle of St. Dominic in the Veronese church of San Domenico (c. 1720) or in the later ceiling of the Venetian Scuola di San Giovanni Evangelista in 1730. Returning to the copper presented here one can sense the influence of Maffei and Antonio Balestra. These clues confirm a dating to the first decade. Reference bibliography: S. Marinelli, Odoardo Perini, in La pittura veronese nell'età barocca, edited by L. Fabbri, F. Magani, S. Marinelli, Verona 2017, pp. 338-343; figs. pp. 496-500