Lot 223: Giovanni Domenico Ferretti (Florence 1692-1768)

Giovanni Domenico Ferretti (Florence 1692-1768)
The Golden Fleece
oil on canvas, the upper corners made up
85 x 69 5/8 in. (215.7 x 176.9 cm)

Chicago, The Art Institute; Minneapolis, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts; Toledo, Ohio, The Toledo Museum of Art, Painting in Italy in the Eighteenth century: Rococo to Romanticism, 19 September 1970-21 March 1971, pp. 152-3, no. 61 (entry by M. Gregori).

E.A. Maser, Gian Domenico Ferretti, Florence, 1968, pp. 46-7 and 81, no. 92, fig. 76, pl. X.
R. Cialdini, 'Disegni di Giovanni Domenico Ferretti', Accademia degli Euteleti di San Miniato, 1997, 64, pp. 136-7, figs. 3-4.
F. Baldassari, Giovanni Domenico Ferretti, Milan, 2002, pp. 176-8, no. 125, fig. 125.

Baron Ferdinand von Stumm, Rohlstorf, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Anonymous sale; Wëinmuller, Munich, 2 September 1964, lot 1770, as 'Anonymous Austrian Master, 17th century', where acquired by the late owner.

THE PROPERTY OF THE LATE CAESAR AND RUTH PINNAU

The painting depicts the moment in which Jason, having performed with Medea's help all the tasks he was asked by Aeëtes, can finally take the golden fleece and reclaim his inheritance and throne. A preparatory drawing for this painting is in the Museo Civico in Pescia (inv. 1562; illustrated in Baldassari, op. cit., p. 178, fig. 125a).

The son of a goldsmith, Giovanni Domenico Ferretti spent his youth and apprenticeship in Imola, before moving to Florence and spending a period of time in Bologna. In Florence, he became a member of the Accademia del Disegno, in 1717, and started obtaining commissions from religious institutions and private patrons in Florence, Imola, Bologna and Pistoia. His mature style is characterized by a balance of influences from the art of Sebastiano Ricci and Bolognese Classicism. In circa 1728, Ferretti started working for the tapestry workshop of the Grand Duke of Tuscany and the following years are marked by a great number of commissions, as well as academic honours.