25. 25W Andrea Celesti (Venice 1637-1712 Toscolano Maderno) The Adoration of the shepherds Original oil on canvas 159.5 x 122.4cm (62 13/16 x 48 3/16in). Provenance Bianchi Bonomi Collection, Milan, before 1954 and thence by descent to the present owners Literature A. M. Mucchi and C. Della Croce, Il pittore Andrea Celesti, Milan, 1954, p. 85, pp. 142-143, figs. 38-39 A prominent Venetian Baroque painter, Andrea Celesti is celebrated for his powerful and emotive religious compositions. The present and the following work show his typical dramatic lighting and vivid colour, hallmarks of his dynamic style. Influenced by the grandeur of Paolo Caliari, called il Veronese (1528-1588), Celesti was active at the height of the Cinquecento revival in Venice in the 17th Century. He combined the rapid brushwork of Veronese with the darker, contrasting colouring of his near contemporary artists such as Johan Carl Loth (1632-1698). Also recorded in the same collection as the present and following lot is a similarly large depiction of Christ before Caiaphas which presumably formed part of a larger series showing episodes from the Life of Christ.