Lot number 3763 - Auction
DER WIND ZEPHY ODER DIE ALLEGORIE DES FRÜHLINGS

ATTRIBUTED TO GIOVANNI GIOSEFFO DAL SOLE 10 December 1654 Bologna - 22 July 1719 Ibid THE WIND ZEPHY OR THE ALLEGORY OF SPRINGTIME Oil on canvas (oval). 57,5 x 47 cm (F. 68,5 x 58 cm). Verso: On the stretcher on old paper label number '200'. Part. min. old rest., slight old retouching. Frame. Michele Danieli (University of Bologna) writes about the painting offered here: 'In his History of the Clementina Academy (Storia dell'Accademia Clementina), Bologna 1739, I, p. 302, Giampietro Zanotti describes: "He painted in a small oval Zephyr on the clouds, spreading flowers, with some little winds, and it's impossible to see a more agile, bright, cute and gentle thing; the naked body of that young wind, its face, its hair and its attitude make you fall in love; in another similar oval he painted Pomona, also beautiful but not so much in my opinion, and they are both property of the Cardinal Aldrovandi. He replied the same subjects in other ovals, and he added two more, as to say Vulcano and Ceres, and all together they represent the four Seasons of the year". We cannot identify the two ovals owned by Aldrovandi, but Zanotti says clearly that Dal Sole painted at least another series (and probably a few more). In his monography (C. Theim, Giovan Gioseffo Dal Sole. Dipinti affeschi disegni, Bologna 1990, p. 89) publishes a Zephyr (oil on copper, cm 60x40) that he thinks could be the one formerly in the Aldrovandi collection.' Another series with all the four seasons (oil on canvas) is documented in the 18th century in the collection of the Scarani family (Thiem 1990, p. 111) and is probably the one now in the museum of Palazzo Rossi Poggi Marsili in Bologna. But its quality is pretty low. We are gratefull to Michele Danieli (University of Bologna) for his extensive expertise and classification regarding the painting offered here. Provenance: South German private collection.