CORNELIS DE WAEL (Antwerp, 1592 - Rome, 1667) Winter view with soldiers, horsemen and shepherds Oil on canvas, 100X148.5 cm Provenance: Rome, Giosi collection Cornelis de Wael trained in his father's workshop between the first and second decade of the 17th century and together with his brother Luca undertook an educational trip to Italy, reaching Rome and then moving to Genoa around 1619. Their home was a real logistical base for the many Flemish artists who reached the peninsula: first and foremost Antoon van Dyck who found hospitality with his compatriots in 1621. Apart from a few trips to Rome, Cornelio lived permanently in Genoa throughout his career. In 1630 he was, in fact, taxed for the construction of the new walls and in 1642 he made an explicit request to the Republic to be able to declare himself a citizen of Genoa. The painting under examination can be compared with the one in the National Museum in Prague (cf. A. Stoesser, Van Dyck's hosts in Genoa: Luca and Cornelis de Wael's and works, Turnhout 2018, pp. 528-529, no. 51), in accordance with a typical practice of the painter's activity, who often replicated the subjects most requested by collectors. The canvas under examination, although affected by dust and yellowed paint, finds precise correspondences with the autograph works. The style, on the other hand, suggests an early date due to the compositional direction, the meticulous rendering of the figures and the luministic effects of close Flemish influence. We thank Camillo Manzitti for the attribution. Reference bibliography: P. Donati, Le sette opere di misericordia di Cornelio de Wael, Genoa 1988, pp. 24-26 C. Di Fabio, Due generazioni di pittori fiamminghi a Genova (1602-1657) e la bottega di Cornelis de Wael, in Van Dyck a Genova. Grande pittura e collezionismo, exhibition catalogue edited by S. J. Barnes, P. Boccardo, C. Di Fabio, L. Tagliaferro, Milan 1997, pp. 82-104 A. Orlando, La pittura con scene di genere a Genova. Da Cornelis de Wael ad Alessandro Magnasco, in Da Caravaggio a Ceruti: la scena di genere e l'immagine dei pitocchi nella pittura italiana, exhibition catalogue edited by F. Porzio, Milan 1999, p. 390. A. Orlando, Dal Nord a Genova: pittura fiamminga-genovese nel Seicento in P. Boccardo, C. Di Fabio, Genova e l'Europa atlantica: Inghilterra, Fiandre, Portogallo: opere, artisti, committenti, collezionisti, Milano 2006, p. 199, fig. 13