Lot 31: Sebastiano Ceccarini (Fano 1703-1783)

Portrait of a child, said to be Marie-Louise of Parma, full-length, with a pet bird
oil on canvas
41 1/4 x 31 3/4 in. (104.8 x 80.7 cm.)

Pesaro, Palazzo Ducale, I Sensi e Le Virtù, 15 July-6 October 2000, p. 31, no. 18.

with Newhouse Galleries, New York, by 1950.
Private collection, USA.
with Richard Green, London, from whom purchased by the present owner.

Born in Fano, Ceccarini entered the studio of Francesco Mancini at the age of 14. He quickly learned from the grand masters of the Baroque period (Domenichino, Reni and Maratta) and produced numerous religious paintings in the classical style of which good examples are in the Pinacoteca Civica e Museo Malatestiano in Fano.

Ceccarini's artistic individuality came to fruition, from the 1720s onwards, in the field of portraiture of which the present composition is a fine example. He manages to combine courtly ceremonial portraiture with the technical skill of rendering fabrics and furnishings. The dress of the sitter, the cushion and drapery are given particular attention and the textures are very pronounced. For other portraits see those of the Gabuccini Family and the Self- Portrait while painting his daughter (all Pinacoteca Civica e Museo Malatestiano, Fano).