Period: 18th century
Price: € 3.200
Painting, oil on glass, measuring 44 x 35 without frame and 52 x 43 cm with frame, depicting the Madonna with her hand on her chest, also known as Madonna Annunciata, by the painter Giuseppe Bernardino Bison (Palmanova 1762 - Milan 1844). Bison was one of the most representative artists of Veneto during the transition from Neoclassicism to Romanticism. Our artist was born in Palmanova (UD) on June 16, 1762: his parents (his father native to Castelfranco Veneto, his mother Venetian) subsequently moved to Brescia where, noticing their son's interest, they had him study drawing with the painter Girolamo Romani, and perspective with Saverio Gandini. The family then moved to Venice, where the young Bison began to perfect his skills with Costantino Cedini, a master of figure drawing at the Venetian Academy. He took his first steps with the set designer Antonio Manso, who directed him towards a taste for scenography that would remain a fundamental aspect of his culture. In the past, and in particular, starting from the Middle Ages, painting on glass was the prerogative of the stained glass windows of religious buildings, which specialists in the genre embellished by creating masterpieces of incomparable beauty: light reverberated within them, generating effects of extraordinary suggestion. But, precisely, it was limited to that scope. Only from the 18th century onwards do we begin to see evidence of painters using glass as a substitute for canvas. The work in question is a wonderful example of this: the painting, refined and elegant, recalls the manners and aesthetics of this singular Venetian painter, Giuseppe Bernardino Bison, who, in this example, focuses all his knowledge of the great painters of the past but also of his contemporaries, including, in particular, Giovanni Battista Pittoni, whose ascendants are clearly evident here. To support our hypothesis, we hope that, in the meantime, other testimonies will come to light that will allow scholars to expand the catalog of works painted on glass. The work is in good condition. The paintings and art objects published here are my exclusive property and consequently are always available to be viewed in person, by appointment, at my exhibition venues located in Sanremo and Brescia. The work, like every object of ours, is sold with a FIMA photographic certificate of authenticity and lawful provenance; this document identifies the object, adding value to the item. We personally take care of and organize the packaging and shipping of works of art with insurance worldwide. Dr. Riccardo Moneghini, Art Historian