Offered by Brozzetti Antichità
Pieter Van Lint (Antwerp, 1609-1690)
Allegory of industriousness leading to peace and abundance
Oil on copper; frame measures cm H 132 x W 159 x D 8, copper measures cm H 104 x W 130
Artwork signed (bottom center) "P.V. Lint F./ en A.B"
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The important and valuable painting, made of oil on copper, depicts the Allegory of industriousness that leads to peace and abundance.
The work is signed in the bottom and center "P V Lint", or Pieter Van Lint (Antwerp, 28 June 1609 - Antwerp, 25 September 1690), famous Flemish painter and designer active in Antwerp in the second half of the seventeenth century.
Van Lint elaborates a complex and articulated composition in which he inserts several figures also drawn from mythology to propose the allegorical message of industriousness that leads to peace and abundance. The artistic style of the author is characterized by meticulous realism and by the careful attention to detail and the rendering of the materials that make up the objects described. As we will see later, every detail represented within the work contains a symbolic and allegorical meaning that reinforces the message that already the same figures express.
The remarkable dimensions of the copper support, not so infrequent in the artistic production of the artist, contribute to make the work of great value: Unfortunately, many of these artifacts have been lost because copper was often recovered in times of war and famine, and reused to obtain weapons and common tools. The copper foil proved to be ideal for oil painting because it constituted a non-absorbent support, rigid, smooth and characterized by the same reddish coloring that was used for the preparation of funds. The major production centers were Antwerp, Hamburg and Amsterdam, although the technique was widely used in Italy.
The considerable cost of the material indicates a wealthy client, interested in possessing a valuable and durable work over time, this characteristic that the metal foil has more than the canvas.
The painting, symbolically representing the celebration of the industrious life in peace and prosperity, sees in the center placed the goddess Minerva (the Greek Athena), seated in front of a richly laid table. [...]
The painting is accompanied by a frame in carved wood and gilded not coeval.
Van Lint chose several times the copper support that allowed him that luminous rendering and meticulous details that he liked to introduce in his works. [… ]
Pieter van Lint was born in Antwerp on 28 June 1609. [... ]
A versatile artist of great skill, he painted historical, mythological, pastoral and genre scenes and, on commission, he also painted portraits and cartoons for tapestries. [...]
We apologize for any translation errors.
