16
Andrea Solari (Milano, 1460 - Milano, 1524)School ofGiuseppe Meda (Milano, 1534 - 1599)
Mater Dolorosa
Oil on panel
H 40x28.8 cm - in frame H 75x65 cm
Expertise by Professor Claudio Strinati:
"The work brought to my attention can undoubtedly be classified as a certainly ancient replica of a famous prototype by Andrea Solari (Milan ca. 1465-1524).
Solari was one of the major Lombard Leonardesque painters, very influential in his time and throughout the sixteenth century, and today revalued among the greatest masters of the time. Solari, therefore, created this interesting and suggestive prototype, and he himself executed various paintings of this same subject, today preserved in public collections (for example at the Pinacoteca di
Brera) and private. The pictorial version of our painting here under examination is undoubtedly ancient but it is not, in my opinion, an autograph by Solario but rather a later derivation but still executed within the context of his direct heritage and in the sixteenth century.
In particular, I believe that our version, which is of remarkable quality and well preserved, accentuates the religious character of the images through two peculiar aspects: the very intense expression of the Virgin, and the large hands which seem to be those of a peasant woman who posed for the figure in order to accentuate its humble and popular character.
I believe that the work in question was executed in the strict context of the direct lineage of the artist who was particularly appreciated in the Lombard circle of Giovanni Paolo Lomazzo and Giuseppe Arcimboldi. In this context I believe I can identify the hand that actually executed the work in that of the eminent Giuseppe Meda (1534-1599) painter and
architect, who was in some ways a scrupulous follower of Solario. The workmanship of our painting leads me to date it, in fact, towards the end of the sixteenth century, precisely at the moment of maximum splendor of Giuseppe Meda, famous in ancient times for his notable works, among which worthy of mention is the grandiose fresco of the Tree of Jesse in the cathedral of Monza, executed in the sixties of the sixteenth century.
A reasoned comparison between the figures in the fresco of the Tree of Jesse and our painting leads me to conclude that we are in the presence of the same hand."
€ 12.000,00
Starting price
Unsold