Lot 170: Anton Domenico Gabbiani (Florence 1652-1726)

Group portrait of three gentlemen, half-length, one in a red doublet holding a viola da gamba in one hand and a miniature portrait in the other, the second in a brown coat with a silk cravat, holding a letter, the last holding up a medal from a chain around his neck, a view of St. Peter's, Rome and the Castel Sant'Angelo beyond.
oil on canvas
41 1/4 x 39 1/2 in. (104.8 x 100.3 cm.)

Mrs. B.O. Hall; Sotheby's, London, 19 April 1972, lot 1 as Carlo Dolci (£5,200)
with Christopher Gibbs Ltd., London.
Bought from Haynes Fine Art of Broadway, 21 December 1989.

Anton Domenico Gabbianifirst first trained at the Medici court with the painter Justus Sustermans, before moving to Rome in May 1673 to study under Ciro Ferri and Ercole Ferrata at the Accademia Fiorentina. After a period in Venice, he returned to Florence and in Prince Ferdinando de' Medici found a particularly loyal patron. It was during this period that the artist painted a number of group portraits for the Villa Pratalino including Ferdinando de' Medici and his favorite Musicians and A Portrait of three Musicians, both of which are now in the Palazzo Pitti, Florence.

We are grateful to Professor Gian Carlo Sestieri and to Professor Francesco Baldassari for confirming the attribution after inspection of the original. The latter suggests a date of execution early in the artist's oeuvre.

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