Pier Francesco Cittadini, known as il Milanese(Milano, 1613/1616 - Bologna, 1681)
Winter and Autumn, 1650/1655 ca.
oil on canvas; inv. P 138, P 149
provenance: Bequest of Pier Ignazio Rusconi, 1930
These two paintings are part of a series representing The Four Seasons,
painted by Cittadini and formerly the property of the Legnani counts.
Spring and Summer are now held by the Galleria Estense in Modena.
Each season depicts an appropriate mythological scene within a garland
of fruits or vegetables that fit with the time of year portrayed.
In Winter Vulcan works in his forge while Mars and Venus
appear in the upper left background of the scene; in Autumn we see a
drunken Silenus and Bacchus, who oversees the wine-making.
The custom of painting a scene within a border of fruit and
flowers originated in Flemish painting and became fashionable during
the mid 17th century. Cittadini, who hailed from Milan but studied in
Bologna with Reni, was a well-known specialist of this genre.
In these paintings he achieves a harmonious blend between the
chiaroscuro naturalism of still life painting, which stems from the
period he spent in Rome, and the classicism of landscapes with figures,
which were inspired by the example of Francesco Albani.
