Carlo Magini
Carlo Magini (1720–1806) was an Italian painter of the late-Baroque period and one of the most original of the 18th century Italian still life artists.[1]
Life
Little is known about the life of Magini. He was born in Fano on 16 September 1720 as the son of Francis Magini, who was a goldsmith. His mother, Elizabeth Ceccarini, was the sister of the painter Sebastiano. It is possible he trained with his uncle Sebastiano Ceccarini. in 1736, the Friars of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in Perugia commissioned Sebastiano Ceccarini to paint frescos in the Chapel of the Crucifix in their church. Sebastiano Ceccarini asked to be allowed to bring his nephew to help. The nephew was likely Carlo Magini, who would follow his uncle during his journeys - through cities like Urbino, Perugia, Bologna, Florence and Venice between 1735 and 1738. Carlo Magini was present in Rome in 1742 and in 1743.
By 1748 the artist had returned to Fano where he married Michelina Polinori of Pesaro on July 14 of that year. Their eldest daughter Francesca was born on 30 March 1750. He remained active in his hometown where he died in 1806.[2]
Work
Magini was a still life specialist, mainly specialising in breakfast or bodegón style pieces, depicting mainly table settings with different, apparently unrelated, elements in juxtaposition. He was also recorded as a portrait painter but it is through his still lifes that he is now best known. His known works amounting to about 100 canvases have been attributed on the basis of a number of signed pieces. It is difficult to establish a timeline for his still lifes as the works were never dated and rarely, if at all, documented.[3]
His compositions appear simple but are typically very artfully composed. Magini was interested in exploring the relationships between form, color, light, shadow and textures.[4] His canvases are all composed along the same severe lines, avoiding any baroque frivolity and yet achieve a highly original and effective naturalist aesthetic.[3] The work of Magini stands in the tradition of Caravaggio, Velázquez and his near-contemporaries the Spaniard Luis Egidio Meléndez and the Frenchman Chardin.[4]
Notes
- ↑ Carlo Magini (1720-Fano - 1806) A Pair of Still Lives at Lorenzilli, accessed 17 March 2016
- ↑ Rodolfo Battistini, La Quadreria - Carlo Magini, La vita at Fondazione Carifano (Italian), accessed 17 March 2016
- 1 2 Carlo Magini, (Fano 1720 - 1806), Still Life with Eggs, Cabbage and Candlestick and Still Life with Cup, Bottle, Clay Pot and Candlestick at Galerie Canesso, accessed 17 March 2016
- 1 2 Carlo Magini (Fano 1720-1806), An oil lamp, ceramics, brass lantern, knife, onion and calf's head at Christie's, accessed 17 March 2016
External links
Media related to Carlo Magini at Wikimedia Commons
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