1682 - GIACOMO ANTONIO CERUTI, KNOWN AS “IL PITOCCHETTO”

GIACOMO ANTONIO CERUTI, KNOWN AS “IL PITOCCHETTO” St. Augustine Oil on canvas, 101x76 cm; set in a Venetian carved and gilded wooden frame; accompanied by a critical study by Prof. Giuseppe Sava. The stylistic tone and the original cultural “milieu” of this painting reflect the character of Giacomo Ceruti, an artist born in Milan but of Brescian origin and by adoption, whose name is renowned in connection with the “pauperistic” movement. He represents the most powerful and intense voice of a genre that focused on the downtrodden, the wretched, and the paupers: a genre through which the traditional Lombard cultural commitment to “realism” perhaps reached its zenith. He was established in this role by Longhi’s insights, the major 1953 exhibition *I pittori della realtà in Lombardia* (*The Painters of Reality in Lombardy*), the studies by Gianni Testori, and the seminal monograph by Mina Gregori (1982). This work is accompanied by a critical essay by Prof. Giuseppe Sava.