ADEODATO ZUCCATI

(active in Bologna in the late 17th century) Pair of still lifes with basin of flowers on a carpet Oil on canvas, 96.5X143 cm (2) Provenance: Forli, private collection Italy, private collection Recalled by Masini 'an expert in painting au naturale' (Cf. Masini 1666 ; 1690), for Marcello Oretti, Zuccati was a pupil of Pier Francesco Cittadini, admitting, however, that he did not know his works (Ms B 128, 18th cent., c. 45). However, we know that the collection of Count Annibale Ranuzzi, whose inventory is known to us thanks to Giuseppe Campori, counted several works by the artist in 1697. While two 'countries with fruits and perspectives' were in Sedazzi's house in 1700 (Cf. Morselli, 1998, p. 412, no. 51). As we can see, biographical information is rather scarce and in ancient times, in addition to the memory provided to us by Pietro Zani, we have to wait for the intervention of Luigi Salerno, who in 1984, on the recommendation of Adriano Cera, published a canvas similar to these under examination bearing on the verso the inscription 'Del Zuccati Pittor celebre di Bologna'. Thanks to this discovery it has been possible to outline a catalog of the painter and to allow the recognition of the pair of still lifes formerly by Paolo Brisigotti (Cf. Sambo 2000 and Mazza 1994) and the Natura morta con con conca di fiori su un tappeto kept at the Opera Pia Prati in Forlì, which in terms of scenic construction and dimensions conforms perfectly to the canvas presented here (Fig. 1, cf. Colombo Ferretti 1989). The analysis of these works manifests an air of family with Cittadini's compositions but even more with Antonio Gianlisi's creations, giving the author a role as 'Mediator between Emilian and Lombard culture' (Cf. Sambo 2000). Gianluca Bocchi is thanked for the attribution. Reference bibliography: A. P. Masini, Aggiunta alla Tavola e al catalogo dei pittori e scultori moderni della Scuola di Bologna, 1666 ; 1690, c. 67 P. Zani, Enciclopedia metodica critico-ragionata delle Belle arti, Parma 1817-1824, I/19, p. 450 G. Campori, Collection of unpublished catalogs and inventories of paintings, statues, drawings from the 15th to the 19th century, Modena 1871-1872, ad indicem L. Salerno, Still Life in Italy, Milan 1984, p. 423 A. Colombo Ferretti, in La natura morta in Italia, edited by F. Porzio, F. Zeri, Milan 1989, v. I p. 488 R. Morselli, in Collections and picture galleries in seventeenth-century Bologna: inventories: 1640-1707, edited by A. Cera Sones, Los Angeles 1998, pp. 409-412, no. 51 E. Sambo, in Still Life in Emilia and Romagna. Painters, centers of production and collecting between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Milan 2000, pp. 101-102