Back to Genre Paintings PreviousNext
Alessandro (Lissandrino) Magnasco
(Italian, 1667 — 1749)
The Banditti at Rest (1710)
Inventory Number: 4036
Oil on canvas.
62 x 42 inches (157.5 x 106.5 cm)
By the end of the century, Magnasco had established himself in Milanese circles as a specialist in landscapes and a painter of imaginary ruins. Between 1703 and 1710-13, Magnasco worked for the Grand Duke Ferdinand de' Medici.
Magnasco's temperamental and whimsical art leads the viewer into a fantastical world filled with strange and mysterious figures. Monks, gypsies and soldiers seem to be living amongst the ruins. Their figures are painted with sharp, broken strokes and a sketchy manner, which reinforces the infernal impression. The Baroque ruins, stretching up high into the sky, seem to be decorated with statues coming to life.
Size can be commissioned smaller or larger.
Collection of the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia.