Landscape with Saint Paul the Hermit

An example of an established pictorial collaboration (extraordinary paintings made by two hands are known), this small painting, dating between 1711 and 1715, combines the overall composition of the scenographic background by the famous landscape painter Carlo Antonio Tavella (1668-1738) with a splendid figure attributable to the brush of Alessandro Magnasco (1667-1749). The latter clearly retains the typical characteristics of Magnasco's rapid and concise constructive brushwork. Amidst trees, foliage, a sky streaked with clouds, and a body of water in the immediate foreground, emerges the figure of an elderly man absorbed in meditation, Saint Paul the Hermit. Considered the first hermit of the Christian tradition, he is recognizable through his iconographic attributes: his naked body is barely covered by a tangle of leaves, his beard is long, and at his feet are the symbols of ascetic life: the Book, the Skull, and the Crucifix, which allude to meditation on the Holy Scriptures, the transience of earthly life, and salvation through faith. Extraordinary paintings, collaborations between the two artists, were created between 1708/1710 (formerly in a private collection in Chiavari). The refined landscape with figure presented here enriches the body of works created before the prestigious commissions that Tavella received from Carlo Spinola and the Brignole Sale family, and testifies to a particularly successful phase of his production and his consolidated understanding with Alessandro Magnasco. An artwork of particular interest that, due to its quality, compositional balance, and documentation of a rare collaboration between Carlo Antonio Tavella and Alessandro Magnasco, is a truly unmissable acquisition!!! Dimensions: canvas 43 x 33.5 cm - gilded frame 59 x 49 cm