GIOVANNI ANDREA DE FERRARI (Genoa, c. 1598 - 1669) Lot and the Daughters Oil on canvas, 156X125 cm Provenance: Private collection The work can be traced back to the catalogue of Giovanni Andrea De Ferrari and can be well compared with two similar paintings: one on the antiquarian market in Turin and a second belonging to the Koelliker collection in Milan (cf. A. Acordon in Collezione Koelliker. Dipinti genovesi dal Cinquecento al Settecento, edited by A. Orlando, Turin 2006). As we know, the artist trained with Bernardo Castello and was later a pupil of Bernardo Strozzi, becoming one of the protagonists of the early 17th century painting scene in Genoa. If from Castello the artist learnt the fundamentals of drawing and the diligence of working, it was the Cappuccino who instilled in him a taste for rich, full-bodied colour. Indeed, not a few of his early works have been attributed to the master, especially when he devoted himself to making copies. Our canvas, on the other hand, shows a maturity he has reached, expressing his temperament in full autonomy by realising refined colour draftings. Always present, however, is that naturalistic echo that leads him to describe the liveliness of the clothing, but here undoubtedly interpreted with an achieved Baroque sensibility. This mingling of influences and qualities seems to suggest that our artist looked closely at the works of Orazio Gentileschi and, paraphrasing Roberto Longhi, his 'luxury tailoring', but also at the elegance and pictorialism of Antoon Van Dyck. Reference bibliography: G. V. Castelnovi, La Pittura a Genova e in Liguria dal Seicento al Primo Novecento, Genoa 1971, pp. 112-159 F. R. Pesenti, La pittura in Liguria. Artisti del primo Seicento, Genoa 1986, pp. 308, 315-316