"PITTOCCHETTO"; GIACOMO CERUTI (Milan, 1698 - 1767). "Vecchio mendicante", 1730-1740. Oil on canvas. Re-coloured at the end of the 19th century. It has a patch. Frame from the 17th century, in carved and gilded wood. In perfect state of conservation. Provenance: The work was acquired at the auction "Importanti dipinti antichi" held at Finearte in 2003 for a total of 205000€. Previously Sotheby s New York. Sources consulted: "Giacomo Ceruti. Group of Beggars, ca. 1737", Mar Borobia, Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza. Measurements: 68 x 51.5 cm; 91 x 64 cm. This canvas is a faithful reflection of the exceptional style that led Giacomo Ceruti, also known as the "Pittocchetto", to become one of the leading lights of the late European Baroque. Particularly valued in his production were his depictions of the most underprivileged classes of society (beggars, beggars, peasants, dwarves and vagabonds) and of the humblest trades, depicted with great dignity and realism. Thus, in the present canvas we are faced with the representation of an elderly beggar, whose expressive face becomes the absolute centre of the image, a portrait of great psychological depth worked with an exceptional technique of naturalistic inheritance. The overall intonation, very restrained and warm, also reveals great sobriety; it revolves around the earthy, ochre and reddish tones of naturalism, punctuated by touches of very nuanced white. The lighting, on the other hand, is not as contrasting as in Caravaggio s naturalism and, although it is of great formal importance, excessive contrasts are avoided. Nevertheless, it is a key element in the modelling of the face, its details, its small wrinkles and its expression of joyful complicity, which integrates the viewer into the pictorial space. It is highly probable that the present canvas may have been executed between 1730 and 1740, as were some of his most significant works, such as the "Mendicant" in the Brera gallery and "The Group of Beggars" in the Thyssen-Bornemisza collection on deposit at the Museu Nacional d Art de Catalunya. According to the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza itself, "Critics have attempted to analyse the roots and influences that may have converged in the making of these themes, in which the environment was portrayed in a very different tone from that used by other painters of the time. Among the artists mentioned as sources of inspiration are the Danish artist Bernhard Keil, the Italians Antonio Cifronti and Pietro Bellotti and especially the French artist Jacques Callot, whose engravings Ceruti used for some of his works. Active in the north of the Italian peninsula (Lombardy, Brescia and Venice), where his work was varied and uneven, little is known of his early years. From 1726 to 1728 he worked on the fresco decoration of the Palazzo Broletto, the governor s residence, and the series of paintings of beggars commissioned by the Avogrado family that earned him the nickname of Pitocchetto (the little beggar) dates from the same period. Among his most important commissions was the series of works executed in 1736 for the Venetian palace by Marshal Matthias von Schulenburg, an important German collector, to which the Thyssen painting belongs. Also in 1736 he worked on the fresco decoration of the Palazzo Grassi in Venice. From 1737 to 1742 Ceruti lived in Padua where he is documented working for the churches of the Franciscans and Santa Lucia, where there is an altarpiece dedicated to the saint. Around 1743 he settled permanently in Milan, with occasional trips to Piacenza where he received various public commissions, working on sacred subjects and portraits.