(Genoa 1667–1749) and (Ancona 1643–1724 Milan)
Women washing pots below a waterfall in a wooded landscape, a fortified dwelling beyond,
oil on canvas, 89 x 127.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
Collection of John F. Uihlein (1921–1986), New York;
art market, USA;
Private European collection

We are grateful to Fausta Franchini Guelfi for confirming the attribution of the present painting

Alessandro Magnasco, who is also known as il Lissandrino, is known for his stylised, fantastic, genre and landscape paintings, in which he often collaborated with other artists. The landscape in the present painting is by Antonio Peruzzini whose painterly style is charaterised by a flickering, nervous, but lively brushstrokes such as those visible in the clouds in the present painting.

The flame-like figures and the painting style which leaves the priming coat visible under the painting to serve as part of the final colour scheme, is a typical example of the mature style of Alessandro Magnasco. The palette used in the painting is reduced to brown, blue and white tones, creating a mysterious atmosphere and underlining the hard reality of the washer women in the foreground.

Born in Genoa, Magnasco went to Milan and worked in the studio of the Venetian painter Filippo Abbiati. The Lombard capital was ruled by Spain at this period, which influenced the Genoese painter. Among other early influences on his painting style are the work Salvator Rosa and Jacques Callot, who above all gave him the taste for the small figures sparkling with life that are essential to his paintings. In Milan he came into contact with Sebastiano Ricci, who painted in a more monumental and mystic style, and had a strong impact on the young Magnasco.