79 - Pietro Bardellino

Pietro Bardellino (Naples 1732 – Naples 1806) Adoration of the Shepherds Oil on canvas 63.5 x 76 cm. Framed We are grateful to Prof. Riccardo Lattuada for identifying this painting as an authentic work by Pietro Bardellino. This refined painting reveals clear influences from the art of Paolo De Matteis and, above all, Francesco De Mura, reinterpreted through a more distinctly elegant Rococo sensibility. Characterized by a pervasive luminosity and centered on the Holy Family—around whom all the other figures are arranged in a circular composition—the scene displays a structure distinctly inspired by De Mura, at once lucid and far from conventional. Every figure is captured in motion, each engaged in a specific action, while the rustic and domestic atmosphere, imbued with an almost familial intimacy, perfectly conveys the spirit of the narrative recounted in the Gospel of Luke (2:8–20).The brightness of the color palette, the graceful elegance of the composition, and the gently theatrical tone that animates the narrative all point to an early work by Pietro Bardellino, the most gifted of De Mura’s pupils. Similar examples can be found in the pair of paintings *Shepherds at a Campfire* and *Shepherds Preparing Ricotta*, now in the National Museum of Basilicata in Matera (from the Camillo d’Errico Collection at Palazzo San Gervasio). Private collection, Rome.