VENETIAN PAINTER OF THE 18TH CENTURY Achilles discovers the body of Patroclus Oil on canvas, 95X132.5 cm Provenance: Bologna, private collection Private collection Bibliography: E. Martini, La Pittura del Settecento Veneto, Udine 1982, p. 502, note 170, fig. 540 Atti ; Classe di scienze morali, lettere ed arti, Volumes 142-143, Istituto veneto di scienze, lettere ed arti. Class of moral sciences, letters and arts, 1984, p. 363 (cited) P. Oluf Krückmann, Federico Bencovich 1677-1753, New York 1988, VI-3 bis G. Crosilla, Federico Bencovich: la fortuna critica, un itinerario un itinerario, in AFAT, no. 31, 2012, pp. 75-94 footnotes 66 and 69 (cited) G. Crosilla, Federico Bencovich, Soncino 2020, pp. 247-248, B6 Clearly of Veneto origin, the painting was made known as an unpublished work by Federico Bencovich by Egidio Martini in 1982. The scholar highlighted its theatrical tension characterised by strong chiaroscuro and therefore considered the canvas significant for understanding the painter's mature style, presumably before his trip to Vienna in 1713. Having said this, the work was expunged from Bencovich's catalogue by Oluf Krückmann and later by Crosilla (2020), but it should be noted that both scholars examined the case on a photographic basis. Therefore, here we can only emphasise Martini's judgement on the qualitative aspects of the painting and maintain due attributive caution.