GIOVANNI BATTISTA BEINASCHI (Fossano, 1636 - Naples, 1688) Venus and Adonis Oil on canvas, 178X231 cm Provenance: Norway, private collection London, Sotheby's, 1 November 1972, lot 110 (as Giovanni Battista Beinaschi) Private collection Bibliography: F. Navarro, Giovan Battista Beinaschi, in Civiltà del Seicento a Napoli, exhibition catalogue edited by R. Causa and N. Spinosa, Naples 1984, p. 117 (cited) F. Navarro, Beinaschi, Giovan Battista, in La Pittura in Italia, Il Seicento, edited by M. Gregori, E. Schleier, Milan 1989, vol. 2, p. 631 A. Gesino, in Giovan Battista Beinaschi. Pittore barocco tra Roma e Napoli, edited by V. Pacelli and F. Petrucci, Rome 2011, p. 314, no. Cb8 The painting was unknown after its sale in London in 1972, so its discovery is extremely valuable, as it is the only work with a profane subject by the artist and where he best expresses his extraordinary Baroque sensibility. The scene, depicting Venus rescuing Adonis according to the narration by Ovid (Metamorphoses, X, 524-559), is conducted with a Neo-Venetian pictorialism, Emilian influences derived from Giovanni Lanfranco and Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, but the dark feeling of Mattia Preti is evident. The typology of the faces and the turning of the garments are reminiscent of the Holy Family with St. Joachim and St. Anne formerly in the Canesso Gallery (Gesino, cat. Pp, 313-314, Cb7), and we can see the close affinity in the female features, elusive and rendered delicate by soft nuances designed to draw the forms, creating chiaroscuro effects. The painter's attention converges on the narrative aspects and does not omit to emphasise the drama with a precise gestural direction, while the backdrop marked by a sky veiled in darkness makes the protagonists stand out, illuminated by an intense source of light coming from above to the left, creating suggestive flashes. All of this leads the painter to a lexicon that stands out as an antithesis to Cortonism, outlining a peculiar interpretation of the Capitoline Baroque with affinities to the naturalism of Pier Francesco Mola and, as Francesco Petrucci stated, 'representing a deviated rib with unforeseen results of Caravaggism'. These clues lead to a date that runs between 1660 and 1665. It is therefore difficult to establish whether the execution should be placed in Rome or in the very early Neapolitan period, but there is no doubt that Beinaschi's inventive vitality allowed him to take a leading role in Neapolitan fresco decoration, anticipating solutions that would be developed by Luca Giordano and Francesco Solimena. Reference bibliography: L. Pascoli, Vite de' pittori... moderni, II, Rome 1736, pp. 223-234 B. De Dominici, Vite dei pittori... napoletani [1743-46], III, Naples 1844, pp. 534-539