BARTHOLOMEW BETTERA (attr. to) (Bergamo, 1639 - c. 1699) Still Life with Musical Instruments Oil on canvas, cm 50X73,5 An imitator and probably pupil of Evaristo Baschenis, Bartolomeo Bettera was a refined painter of still lifes with musical instruments and expressed considerable skill in the rendering of decorative details. The similarity between the two artists was, however, at the origin of many attribution errors, which were unravelled in the early 20th century by Michele Biancale and later by a series of monographic studies by Malaguzzi Valeri (1928) and Angelini (1943), up to the fundamental catalogue raisonné edited by Marco Rosci in 1971 and 1985. Reference bibliography: M. Rosci, Production Methods of the Bergamo Workshops and Italian Still Life. Asterisks on Baschenis, Bettera and collaterals, in Arte illustrata, 1.1968,1, pp. 22; 28 M. Rosci, Baschenis, Bettera & Co, production and market of 17th century still life in Italy, Milan 1971, ad vocem M. Rosci, Bartolomeo Bettera, in I Pittori Bergamaschi. Il Seicento, Bergamo 1985, III, pp. 151-183 E. De Pascale, Baschenis e dintorni: il caso Bartolomeo Bettera, in Evaristo Baschenis e la natura morta in Europa, exhibition catalogue curated by F. Rossi, Milan 1996, pp. 79-85