Battle Between Christian And Turkish Cavalry

Marzio Masturzo (Active in Naples and Rome in the second half of the 17th century) Attributable

Battle between Christian and Turkish cavalry

Oil on canvas

78 x 144 cm - 99 x 162 cm in frame

Reference bibliography: Sestieri G., ‘I pittori di battaglie. Maestri italiani e stranieri del XVII e XVIII secolo’ (Battle painters. Italian and foreign masters of the 17th and 18th centuries), Ed. De Luca 1999

Complete details of the work (click HERE)

The painting depicts a heated battle scene between Christian and Turkish cavalry, set in a vast plain near a fortified city. The scene, characterised by marked dynamism and expressive force, immortalises the two sides in the heat of battle, while lifeless bodies, scattered weapons and wounded horses lie on the ground, heightening the drama of the clash.

The scene - which captures all the energy of the clash with a complex and well-balanced composition - the ample descriptive space assigned to the setting, the colour palette, as well as the way in which the characters are depicted, allow us to attribute our painting to a painter active in Naples in the mid-17th century.

The battles of Neapolitan painters are often enhanced by intense colours and vivid, marked brushstrokes, with bright reds and blues standing out, suggesting to the observer the crucial point of the conflict, with the characteristic swirling clouds rising from the clash.

The canvas, in particular, recalls the pictorial results of the artistic production of Marzio Masturzo, an emblematic exponent of the genre of Italian “battle painters” of the 17th century, active in Naples and then in Rome in the second half of the 17th century.

A distinctive feature of this scene is the depiction of the combat in the foreground, described with realism, excellent pictorial quality and careful direction, which highlights the vortex of violence that reaches its peak in the centre of the canvas, with the two opposing knights, in a surprisingly realistic tone.

Another typical feature of the Neapolitan artist is the presence of side wings created by fortified hills dominated by fortresses and castles, sometimes inspired by real buildings, which, together with clouds and black smoke, create a sort of stage presence around the space of the clash. In our canvas, a fortification with round towers stands out on the right, evoking the Maschio Angioino, which the painter described several times, often with interpretative variations.

The canvas can be compared to several other works in his oeuvre, as can be seen in some of the comparative images below, characterised by the same elements, including similar speed of execution, caricatured physiognomies and side wings with towers, such as those in Palazzo Barberini. Works of certain attribution (including the battle in the National Gallery in Rome, https://catalogo.beniculturali.it/detail/HistoricOrArtisticProperty/1200252356, fig. 1) testify to the painter's closeness to Salvator Rosa, of whom he was a pupil and friend, but also to the early phase of Jacques Courtois, known as Il Borgognone.

We can also see these parallels in the “Combat between Turkish and Christian Knights”, signed MM on the back and published in Sestieri's monograph (p. 388 n. 9, fig. 2). Among Masturzio's works comparable to ours, we would particularly like to mention the paintings of the same subject in two private collections, one in Parma (https://catalogo.fondazionezeri.unibo.it/scheda/opera/86110/, fig. 3) and the other in Modena (fig. 4), as well as the Battle Scene, also depicting a clash between Christian and Turkish cavalry, catalogued in the Zeri Photo Library under number 84536 (https://catalogo.fondazionezeri.unibo.it/scheda/opera/86459/, fig. 5). All three of these works reproduce, in a context of precise compositional similarities, the central figure of the warrior on a white horse charging towards the enemy, pistol in hand, from our painting.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Good condition, complete with gilded and lacquered frame.

The work is sold complete with certificate of authenticity and descriptive iconographic card.

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