Domenico Olivero
Game of bowls Oil painting on canvas by Domenico Olivero

About the Item

Domenico Olivero (Turin, August 1, 1679 - January 13, 1755) Game of bowls Oil on canvas, 43 x 65 cm With frame, 54.5 x 76 Expert opinion Prof. Alberto Crispo The painting shown here depicts peasants playing bowls near a farmhouse, while one of them offers sweets to a little girl. The canvas, in my opinion, can be traced back to the hand of Pietro Domenico Olivero (Turin, August 1, 1679 - January 13, 1755), as revealed by comparisons with other works by the artist, such as the Peasants' Feast already at the Gilberto Zabert Gallery in Turin, where we find an entirely similar layout, with the figures crowded around the building, placed on the left, and some household goods piled up on the right, including a copper cauldron almost identical to the one sketched in our painting. But see also other similar subjects painted by the Turin-based artist, such as the Game of Bowls already at the Cantore Gallery in Modena or the other version on the Genoese market in 2019, which, although radically different compositionally, confirm the painter's interest in playful themes and manifest the same ways in delineating characters, with synthetic and robust brushstrokes. The artist was born in Turin, in the parish of St. Thomas, on August 1, 1679 to Giovanna and Francesco, a carver by profession. He trained at the workshop of the painter and architect Melchiorre Baldassarre Bianco. He was esteemed by Victor Amadeus II of Savoy, who commissioned paintings for the Venaria Reale (1714), the Royal Palace of Turin (1716), and Rivoli Castle (1724), as well as by his ministers Pietro Mellarède and Carlo Vincenzo Ferrero di Roasio marquis of Ormea whose collections counted many of the painter's works. His success on the Turin art scene earned him election as prior of the Accademia di San Luca in Turin (1726). In 1731 he painted the eleven canvases with Stories of Franciscan Saints in the sacristy of the church of St. Thomas in Turin, while in 1734 he made the Marriage at Cana for the sanctuary of Oropa. The Savoy commissions continued with the ten canvases executed for the castle of Agliè (1737), the decoration of the third room of the New Archives in the Royal Palace of Turin (1739-41), and the thirty or so works for the hunting lodge at Stupinigi (1748-51). The painter also measured himself in designing sets for the Teatro Regio in Turin (1745-46). He made his will on November 15, 1754, and died in his hometown on January 13, 1755. Olivero's genre scenes, such as the one commented on here, reveal a focus on Flemish painting, particularly by David Teniers the Younger, Peter Mauritz Bolckman, Theodor Helmbreker, and Cornelis de Wael, as well as Roman bamboozlers such as Pieter van Laer, Michelangelo Cerquozzi, and Jan Miel. His pupils and continuers of his manner were Angela Maria Pittetti and Giovanni Michele Graneri.

Creator:

Domenico Olivero (1679 - 1755, Italian)

Dimensions:

Height: 21.66 in (55 cm)Width: 29.93 in (76 cm)

Medium:

Canvas,Paint,Oil

Period:

18th Century

Condition:

Gallery Location:

Milan, IT

Reference Number: