GIOVANNI CANTI (Parma, 1653 - Mantua, 1716) Battle between Turkish and European cavalry Oil on canvas, 173X294 cm Provenance: Private collection Already referred to the painter Ilario Giacinto Mercanti known as lo Spolverini (Parma, 1657 ; 1734), this large battle of monumental dimensions can be traced back, as suggested by Alberto Crispo, to Giovanni Canti; an artist of Parma origins, but active for Ferdinando Carlo in Mantua where he died in 1716. Ancient sources narrate that the artist moved to the marquisate 'while still a young man' and was 'an excellent painter of battles and towns, and so early in his painting that he made people dizzy' (cf. G. Cadioli, Descrizione delle pitture di Mantova, Mantua 1763, p. 115). We also know that Canti trained with Francesco Monti known as the Brescianino delle Battaglie, but despite his praise as a battalionist, his catalogue counts very few testimonies to date, yet Stefano L'Occaso informs us that: 'there was no eighteenth-century private collection in Mantua that did not contain one of his works, and even in the early nineteenth century the houses of the nobility and bourgeoisie overflowed with his works' (cf. L'Occaso 2011, p. 270). Having said this, it is therefore likely that these canvases are today referred to Monti and, as in our case, to Spolverini, as was the case for the battle painting in the Reggia di Caserta (cf. G. Sestieri, I Battaglisti. La pittura di battaglia dal XVI al XVIII secolo, Rome 2011, pp. 37 and 207), but there is undoubtedly a difficulty in attribution, as was the case for those belonging to the Cassa di Risparmio di Carrara, while a point of reference for undertaking our catalogue are the paintings in Palazzo Sordi from 1687. Reference bibliography: S. Loccaso, Spigolature su pittori e scultori emiliani a Mantova, dal 1637 al 1707, in Annali della Facoltà di lettere e filosofia dell'Università degli studi di Milano, Vol. 63, no. 3, 2010, pp. 113-116 S. L'Occaso, L'opera di Giovanni Canti, in Scritti per Chiare Tellini Perina, Mantua 2011, pp. 263-284