Permanent Collection

1600–1700

WORKSABOUT THE PERIODARTISTS

WORKS

Sebastian Stoskopff, follower

(Strasbourg, 1597 – Taunus, 1657)

Pike, Onions and a Jug
oil, canvas, 74,2 x 90 cm

NG S 813, National Gallery of Slovenia, Ljubljana

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These are probably allegories of speed and calmness represented by the pike, which moves fast, and the carp, which is slow.
The style of both still lifes, which were undoubtedly painted as companion pieces, is reminiscent of some of Sebastian Stoskopff's works (see, for example, the signed picture in the Jouffroy collection in Montbéliard). The typical chiaroscuro also brings this artist to mind, although the quality of the treatment does not reach his usual precision and love of detail. That both pictures come from the French-Flemish-German cultural area is indicated by some of the objects which are arranged on the two stone tables: in the picture Cat. No. 91 are a plaited loaf and a beer jug; in the picture Cat. No. 92 a pewter pot with a screw top (sechsseitige Schraubflasche).

The artist who painted these important works will probably have to be sought in the hitherto little-known circle of Stoskopff's pupils and imitators – compare for example Nichon or Michon (it could be Antoine Michon), who signed a copy after Stoskopff which is kept in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (Massachusetts, USA); compare also the Still Life with Fish and Onions, 78 x 100 cm, which was on sale at Sotheby's in Munich on 6 December 1991, No. 247 (as a work by Pierre Boucle).

Restored: 1978, Štefan Hauko.
Provenance: LBG, Graz, No. 237 and 238, until 1903, when the paintings were transferred to Rogaška Slatina to decorate the rooms of the spa; the Narodna galerija, Ljubljana, received the paintings in 1932, old Inv. Nos. 417 and 418 (17C).
Exhibitions: 1983, Ljubljana, No. 95; 1985, Belgrade, No. 52; 1989, Ljubljana, No. 45.
Lit.: Zeri [& Rozman] 1983, p. 165, Cat. and Fig. No. 95 (Carp, Onions and a Jug); Zeri and Rozman 1989, p. 141, Cat. No. 45, Fig. 44 (Carp, Onions and a Jug); Hahn-Woernle 1996, p. 283, Fig. A20.1 (second half 17C).

ABOUT THE PERIOD

From Mannerism to Baroque

Although imported early-Baroque works prevailed in this period and those by itinerant artists, the 17th century paved the way for the future. The political circumstances in the region were relatively stabilized in spite of the Thirty Year War and the patronage gradually grew stronger. The arrival of the Jesuits in Ljubljana, the activity of the polymath Johann Weichard Valvasor, particularly his graphic workshop at Bogenšperk/Wagensperg Castle, and the foundation of the Academia operosorum at the end of the century were the key events of the time.

Characteristic of sculptural production on the Slovenian territory in the 17th century were the so-called “golden altars”. As a rule, these were gilded and polychrome carved wooden retables with rich ornamentation, first with crustaceous patterns which turned into vine and grapes that covered architectural framework until the achantus foliage took over and obliterated architectural structure completely. The making of golden altars included several branches of fine arts: prints, carving, gilding, painting. Religious painting of the first half of the century still contains Mannerist elements; in the second half also secular motifs became more numerous, particularly genre scenes and aristocratic portraits. The artworks mainly echo northern early-Baroque influences.

Noteworthy among the newcomers who settled in Carniola with their workshops were the painter and gilder Hans Georg Geiger von Geigerfeld in the mid-century, who had moved to Carniola from the region of the Central Alps, and the Fleming Almanach in the third quarter of the 17th century, known only by his nickname, who worked here only for a few years. The extraordinary productivity and skills of the latter are evidenced by his rare surviving works, mentions in Valvasor’s books, and aristocratic probate inventories.

ARTISTS

Owner	Birth - death
Francesco Pittoni	(Venice, ca 1654 − after 1724)
Joannes Almenak	(Antwerpen ?, ca 1640/45 – after 1684)
Anonymous	-
Alvise (Luigi) Benfatto	(Verona, 1554 – Venice, 1609)
Bartolomeo Bettera	(Bergamo, 1639 – ?, after 1688)
Antonio Calza	(Verona, 1653–1725)
Giovanni Andrea Carlone	(Genoa, 1639−1697)
Giacomo Francesco Cipper	(Feldkirchen, 1664 – Milan, 1736)
Giovanni Stefano Danedi	(Treviglio, 1618? − Milan?, 1690)
Giuseppe Diamantini	(Fossombrone, 1621–1705)
Felice Ficherelli	(San Gimignano, 1603 – Florence, 1660)
Frans Francken II	(Antwerp, 1581–1642)
Hans Georg Geiger von Geigerfeld	(?, c. 1610 – Zagreb, 1681)
Luca Giordano	(Naples, 1634–1705)
Janez Frančišek Gladič	(Rijeka, 1635 – Ljubljana?, 1663)
Jacob Jordaens	(Antwerp, 1593–1678)
Eberhart Keilhau	(Helsingør, 1624 − Rome, 1687)
Gregorio Lazzarini	(Venice, 1655 – Villabona Veronese, 1730)
Pietro Liberi	(Padua, 1605 – Venice, 1687)
Maestro Jacopo	-
Pieter Mulier	(Haarlem, 1637 – Milan, 1701)
Jacob Pynas	(Haarlem, c. 1585 − after 1650)
Carl Ruthart	(Danzig, c. 1630 – L'Aquila, c. 1703)
Jacob van Kerckhoven	(Antwerp, c. 1637 – Venice, after 1712)
Peter van Kessel	(Antwerp, ? – Ratzeburg, 1668)
Otto van Veen	(Leiden, 1556 – Brussels, 1629)
Herman Verelst	The Hague, 1641/1642 − London, 1702)
Giuseppe Vicenzino	(active 2nd half 17th cent.)