BARTOLOMEO GUIDOBONO (Savona, 1654 - Turin, 1709) Madonna and Child with St. Joseph Oil on canvas, cm 56X43 Provenance: Private collection In this painting Bartolomeo Guidobono expresses all his rocaille elegance and predilection for Correggio's art, which he learnt during his study trip to Parma. The pictorial text is of considerable refinement, not only for the scenic construction, but also for the preciousness of the drafts and pigments, which herald the French art of the 18th century, aspects that facilitated the painter's critical fortune at the Savoy court and his alignment with European taste. These clues lead the date to his maturity, when the artist clearly revisited Emilian classicism by adopting soft drafts, subdued tones and, finally, attention must be paid to the beautiful still life piece in the foreground, particularly the cut roses, which further testify to the artist's skill in this pictorial genre. As far as the date of execution is concerned, the work can be placed in the early years of the 18th century, in harmony with the Madonna and Child conserved in the right transept of the Cathedral of La Spezia, due to the similarity of the Virgin's face, which in turn is close to a mezzotint painted in Turin not before 1700 (Newcome Schleier, 2002, p. 61, no. C16). The work is accompanied by an expert opinion by Adolfo Venturi with the attribution to Correggio (1936) and by Amadore Porcella with the attribution to a follower of Correggio (1936). Reference bibliography: C. Manzitti, Genua Tempu fa, Munich 1997, ad vocem M. Newcome Schleier, Bartolomeo and Domenico Guidobono, Turin 2002, ad vocem Fables and Magic. I Guidobono pittori del barocco, exhibition catalogue edited by C. Arnaldi di Balme, G. Romano, M. Newcome, G. Spione, Milan 2012, ad vocem