Bidspirit auction | Giuseppe Antonio Petrini (Carona, 1677

Giuseppe Antonio Petrini (Carona, 1677 – Lugano, 1759) Circle - David with the head of Goliath - Oil on canvas. Dimensions: 100 x 78 cm. This painting depicts the biblical episode of David's triumph over Goliath, conceived in a monumental foreground that emphasizes the drama of the moment. David appears kneeling beside the giant's decapitated body, firmly holding his sword aloft and gazing directly at the viewer. The composition is articulated through a powerful interplay of diagonals: the first, marked by the raised arm and the sword, energetically traverses the scene, while a second, more subtle diagonal is established between the faces and the recumbent body of Goliath, intensifying the narrative tension. The background opens onto a turbulent night sky, rendered with loose brushstrokes and deep tones, contributing to the sense of rotational momentum and Baroque immediacy. From a stylistic point of view, the work shows clear affinities with the compositions of Giuseppe Antonio Petrini and his circle, both in the fleshy and smooth modeling of David's youthful face and in the dynamic treatment of the red drapery, with its broad curves and luminous accents, as well as in the atmosphere of intense theatricality. These characteristics are closely related to the painting ”Davide con la testa di Golia” (David with the Head of Goliath) held in the Ferrazzini Collection (Lugano) and catalogued by Rudy Chiappini in the 1991 monographic exhibition (exhibition catalogue Lugano–Milan, 1991, pp. 174–175, no. 34), where the same subject is documented with very similar formal solutions. The text also mentions the existence of an earlier replica in the Palazzo Vescovile in Lugano, a composition which, due to its typological similarity and the workshop's common practice of repeating successful models, could correspond to the present work or belong to the same production line. In this regard, Professor Riccardo Lattuada (Università degli Studi della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”), in an email correspondence, has considered the painting to be a work from Petrini's workshop, a judgment supported by direct comparison with known versions by the master. The overall quality, the scenographic sense, and the coherence with Petrini's repertoire allow it to be placed within the workshop or immediate circle of the painter, probably around the time of his artistic maturity. Batch in international warehouse (within the EU). Intra-EU shipping: no import duties apply within the EU. An export permit from the country of origin may be required.