Lot 538: ANDREA SEMINO

ANDREA SEMINO GENOA 1525 - 1595 MUTIUS SCAEVOLA Pen and brown ink and wash over black chalk, in a drawn lunette; bears inscription in pen and ink on the backing: un antico sacrifizio 198 by 243 mm; 7 3/4 by 9 5/8 in

The graphic style of Andrea Semino seems to be highly influenced by the fluid penmanship of Perino del Vaga, whose presence in Genoa was crucially important for future generations of artists. This drawing could relate to the decoration mentioned by the 17th century biographer Soprani as having been executed by Semino circa 1570 in the piano nobile of the palace of Baldassarre Lomellino (Campanella), showing episodes from the life of Mutius Scaevola.υ1 Elena Parma, when writing on the decoration of that Genoese palace, publishes a study by Semino, in a private collection, which is related to the scene of Mutius Scaevola entering the tent of Porsenna.υ2

1. See R. Soprani, Le Vite de' Pittori, Scoltori et Architetti genovesi e de' Forastieri che in Genova operarono con alcuni ritratti de gli stessi, Genoa 1674, p. 58
2. E. Parma, La pittura in Liguria, Il Cinquecento, Recco (Genoa) 1999, p. 228, reproduced fig. 219