Pasquale Ciaramponi Sold at Auction Prices

CIARAMPONI, PASQUALE - 1734 Treia (Marche) - 1792 Treia (Marche)? - attributed - Erminia and Vafrin find the Wounded Tancredi.

CIARAMPONI, PASQUALE 1734 Treia (Marche) - 1792 Treia (Marche)? - attributed Erminia and Vafrin find the Wounded Tancredi. Oil on canvas. Relined. 121 x 158cm. Framed. This painting illustrates an episode taken from the epic poem "Jerusalem Delivered" by Torquato Tasso (Canto 19, line 809-912). The subject of this epic poem is the conquest of Jerusalem by the Christians. The Christian warrior, Tancredi, is heavily wounded by the cruel Saracen, Argante, and is lying in front of Jerusalem's walls. Argante, who is killed in action, can be seen in the background. Tancredi is found by his squire, Vafrin, who is dressed up like a Saracen, and princess Erminia, who is secretly in love with Tancredi. Erminia bents down over Tancredi and is deeply upset. This work's painter is an artist who was active in Rome in the 18th century and whose work clearly shows an influence by Carlo Maratta and is also reminiscent of the works of Luigi Garzis and Andrea Casalis due to the atmosphere of the scene. After a critical analysis of the style of the painting Michele Danieli identifies the painter to be Pasquale Ciaramponi, who was born in Marche, but went to Rome in his youth. There he became a student of Gaetano Lapis (who is also from Marche), later he worked in the workshop of Pompeo Batoni. After a few years, in which he unsuccessfully tried to make a name for himself in Rome, he returned to his home area. The only painting which can doubtlessly be considered a painting from his Roman period is "Achilles is warned by Iris". This painting is in the Accademia di San Luca and can very well be compared to the present work. Danieli points out the characteristic colours with a wisp of cold blue which can be found in both paintings and recalls Bantoni's teaching. In both paintings the drawing in the background is slightly diffuse. Likewise, the realization of the drapery of the two works is comparable, this shows particularly in the red cloaks of Achilles and Tancredi. The composition, which is dominated by the few and monumentally depicted persons, seems to be inspired by Gaetano Lapis' paintings. In 1730 the latter was also concerned with scenes from Tasso's epos, because the family Loreti had ordered these. Today they can be found in the collection of the Cassa di Risparmio di Pesaro. In comparison with Lapis' paintings the arrangement of the folds is more lively in the present work, but the fabrics seem to be frozen in the movement. The flesh tints are rich, especially in Erminia's profile. Danieli argues that Ciaramponi was very active in Marche, because there he achieved the success that he missed in Rome. Nevertheless in his later period the quality of his paintings decreased. There is only very little evidence of this activity, which might be the reason why this artist is hardly known. As another comparative example for the attribution of the work Danieli mentions Ciaramponi's painting "Saint Vincent Ferrer and the ill woman" in the Pinacoteca Comunale in Cingoli - this is another painting of good quality. In this work, the similarity is revealed in particular in the profiles of the Saint and Erminias (P. Zampetti, Pittura nelle Marche, IV, Firenze 1991, p. 323). To sum up, one can say that Michele Danieli attributes the painting "Erminia and Vafrin find the wounded Tancredi" to this little-known painter and dates it ca. 1760 (Ciaramponi's period spent in Rome). Literature: Amico Ricci, Memorie storiche degli artisti della Marca di Ancona, Macerata, 1834, II, pp. 428-430 A.C. Toni, La pittura del Settecento nel Maceratese, in "Studi Maceratesi", 12, 1978, pp. 122-145 S. Rudolph, La pittura del '700 a Roma, Milano 1983, ad vocem. We would like to thank Michele Danieli, Bologna, for his kind support.