Silvestro Lega (1826-1895) - Pagliai al sole

Silvestro Lega (1826-1895) 'Pagliai al sole' (Campagna del Gabbro) oil on panel of cm 27,5x38 without frame and cm 46x56 with frame... signed at the bottom left S.Lega.....The present panel constitutes an extraordinary and unpublished testimony to Silvestro Lega's full painterly maturity, configuring itself as an authentic masterpiece of Macchiaioli landscape portraiture...The work relates directly to the famous homologous painting housed at the prestigious Ricci Oddi Art Gallery in Piacenza...However the executional freshness, the vibrant immediacy of the 'macchia' and the chromatic application, which cleverly exploits the natural grain of the visible wooden support, suggest that this exemplar could be configured as the primordial and prefiguring station of the compositional invention. It would thus be the first and purest lyrical intuition captured from nature by the artist in the Gabbro countryside, from which the subsequent museumised version sprang. The monumental, almost sculptural grandeur of the haycocks, bathed in the dazzling Tuscan sunlight, expresses here the maximum poetic tension of the master, rendering this lot of exceptional importance for elite collecting. The painting boasts an impeccable documentary corollary that secures its authenticity and definitively historicizes its critical and commercial value: the authentic historical note on the back of the support bears the precious autograph attestation by Marco Calderini (1850-1941), a respected painter and art critic of his time, who first recognised and historicised the excellence of Lega's hand on this panel. Andrea Baboni's scholarly archiving: The work is officially archived and authenticated on photography by Professor Andrea Baboni, the leading and undisputed international specialist in Macchiaioli painting. His final scientific opinion places the work in the official corpus of the maestro Romagnolo’s authentic masterpieces. The work is enriched by a majestic and elegant period frame in carved wood. The frame is offered as a gift; therefore we do not accept disputes nor are we responsible for any damage during shipping... We do not ship outside Europe.