Neal Auction 2012

16 35. Pio Panfili (Italian/Bologna, 1732-1812) , “Quarter Design for a Quadratura Ceiling” (recto), with architectural sketches (verso), c. 1755, ink and bistre wash on buff paper, unsigned (but numbered “90A in circle and “IV” en verso), 9 3/8 in. x 15 3/8 in., in a modern mount (numbered R91A). $1000/2000 Provenance: Art Market, Great Britain; James R. Lamantia, Jr., New Orleans and New York. Note: This exuberant design for an illusionistic architectural perspective “al di sotto in sù” (from below looking up) is a brilliant product of Panfili’s training in the 1740s at the Academia Clementine in Bologna, under Petronio della Volpe. In the 1750s he apparently collaborated with Alfonso Torreggiani (1682-1764) in the decoration of a monastery at Rimini, and further worked at Palazzo Comunale in his native Fermo; Panfili was also a noted printmaker specializing in views of Bologna. He developed this classic Bolognese manner from a series of pioneer compatriots: Girolamo Curit (1575-1632), who first established the technique of ceiling decoration in Bologna; Agostinio Mitelli (1609-1660), whose many drawings at the Kunstbibliothek, Berlin, are direct precursors of this splendid sheet; a little-known Bolognese quadratista draftsman of the early 18th c. named Bernasconi, represented at the Royal Institute of British Architects; Giovanni Antonio Torricelli (1716-1781), whose drawing from the Janos Scholz collection at the Metropolitan Museum in New York is one of this sheet’s closest cognates; and possibly as well from his almost exact contemporary Flaminio Minozzi (1735-1817), whose highly colored and finished drawing (again at the Metropolitan Museum) features the same trophies, banners, flags, and urns. Behind all these masters stands the dominant dynasty of the Galli-Bibiena, extending from the 1650s to the 1780s: their multi-generational talents for quadratura and stage design were nurtured in Bologna, but were exported by many family members to virtually all the capitals of Europe. References: Ebria Feinblatt, Agostino Mitelli Drawings from the Kunstbibliothek, Berlin, Los Angeles, 1965, esp. no. 18; Italian Architectural Drawings [from]the R.I.B.A., London, Washington, 1966, esp. no. 24; Mary L. Myers, Architecture and Ornament Drawings [at] The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1975, esp. no. 59; Daniel Rabreau, Architectural Drawings of the 18th C., Paris, 2001, esp. no. 4; Christie, Manson & Woods, Fine Architectural and Decorative Drawings, London, Sale 2335, 24 March 1982, Lot 42: Stage Set by Pio Panfili. 36. Alessandro Sanquirico (Italian, 1777- 1849) , three set designs for operas, each ink and ink washes on paper, approx. 8 1/4 in. x 11 1/2 in. each, matted. $1000/1500 35 36 (1 of 3)