Lot 217: ILARIO SPOLVERINI

PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION PARMA 1657-1734 TWO BATTLE SCENES BETWEEN AUSTRIAN IMPERIAL TROOPS AND OTTOMAN CAVALRY Quantity: 2 a pair, both oil on canvas each: 72 by 96.5 cm.; 28 3/8 by 38 in.

Probably in the present family's collection since the beginning of the twentieth century.

Despite the double-headed eagle of the Austro-Hungarian flag being prominent in both paintings, the two battle scenes are unlikely to represent actual events. They are probably inspired by the events of the Great Turkish War of 1683-1699 when the Ottomans marched on Vienna with 140,000 men. Other examples of Spolverini's battle scenes between Christians and Turks include the works in the Palazzo Farnese in Piacenza and the Museo di Sanvitale in Fontanellato.1 1. See G. Sestieri, I pittori di battaglia, Rome 1999, p. 486, reproduced figs. 10 and 11.