71. * W Niccolò Ricciolini (Rome 1687-1772) Allegory of the Hope of Beatitude oil on canvas, painted in an oval oil on canvas, within a painted oval 188.4 x 126.5cm (74 3/16 x 49 13/16in). Provenance Sale, Blindarte, Naples, 24 November 2013, lot 126 With Galleria Giamblanco, Turin, 2014 Sale, Hampel, Munich, 20 June 2022, lot 293 Private collection, Switzerland Literature F. Petrucci, in Vanvitelli segreto. I suoi pittori tra Conca e Giaquinto, la "Cathedra Petri", Rome 2014, pp. 21-22, fig. 13 and 14 Formerly attributed to Giacomo del Po (1654-1726), the present lot and the following painting have since been recognised as by Niccolò Ricciolini by Riccardo Lattuata (Blindarte catalogue note), followed by Francesco Petrucci (see Literature). These works are to be considered as bozzetti, for two of the eight Allegories of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit by Niccolò Ricciolini, executed for the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli, Rome. Realised between 1730 and 1734, they also functioned as preparatory models - traditionally referred to as "cartoons" (cartoni) - for the mosaic decoration of the dome in the chapel dedicated to the Madonna della Colonna in the Basilica of San Pietro.