ANDREA CELESTI (Venice, 1637 - Toscolano, 1712) The Repudiation of Hagar Oil on canvas, 124.5X167 cm Provenance: Milan, Finarte, 1985, lot 43 (as Andrea Celesti) Milan, private collection 'The painting of this valentuomo was very singular in manner. Many times he did not mix the colours on the palette, as everyone does; but by putting a strip of white lead, a strip of red earth, a strip of yellow earth, and other colours on the canvas, he united everything on the painting itself and formed those parts, which he had thought of with incredible happiness, and with a beautiful effect of tenderness. [...] The outline of Celesti's figures were not of the most erudite; but his character was great, his strength beautiful, and the compositions of his works harmonious; until he is deservedly held to be one of the first masters of that age' (Zanetti 1771). Explicative is this description of the painting technique of Andrea Celesti (Venice, 1637 ; Toscolano?, 1712), whose modern critical fortune contrasts with the quality of his works, as can be seen by observing the canvas under examination, which displays a rich colouring of impasto, enlivened by a nervous brushstroke and fluid backgrounds, which the artist acquired from Sebastiano Mazzoni. Between 1659 and 1669, Celesti secured important commissions in Venice and the appreciation of these works is testified by his investiture as a knight by Doge Alvise Contarini in 1679-80 and his appointment as prior of the College of Venetian painters in 1687. His subsequent activity took place mainly in Brescia and the Garda area until 1700, when his presence in the lagoon city is again attested. The canvas presented here can be dated to his late maturity due to the subtle luministic modulations, the alternation of naturalistic passages and 18th century refinements peculiar to the last decade. We thank Giorgio Fossaluzza for the attribution. Reference bibliography: R. Pallucchini, La pittura veneziana del Seicento, 2 vols., Milan 1981, vol. I, pp. 265-271 I. Marelli, Andrea Celesti: 1637-1712. Un pittore sul lago di Garda, San Felice del Benaco 2000, ad vocem M. Pavesi, in Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo. Catalogo delle opere: Seicento e Settecento edited by M. B. Castellotti and E. Lucchesi Ragni, Venice 2011, p. 59, n. 22