After Maria Giovanna Battista Clementi, Portrait, 1740, Oil on Canvas, Framed

18th Century Italian Portrait Credited to Maria Giovanna Battista Clementi
The painting probably depicts a young nobleman of Savoy court and is characterized by its courtly setting.
The stylistic characteristics definitely suggest attribution to the painter Maria Giovanna Battista Clementi, known as Clementina (Turin, 1692 – 1761).
She was an important painter specialising in portraits who was mainly active at the Savoy court, where she worked from 1722 to 1755 according to documentary evidence.
She trained with the court painter Curlando, and her style reflects the influence of French art, resulting in a particularly recognisable style with the use of vivid and brilliant tones, especially in the drapery, designed to describe the tactile effects of the dress and the red mantle, demonstrating an effective rendering of Savoy iconography.
This artwork, never before on the market, comes from an important private collection and is beautified by an impressive antique frame in gilded wood, in almost perfect condition.
This artwork, never before on the market, comes from an important Italian private collection
Maria Giovanna Battista was the third-born daughter of Giovanni Pietro Giuseppe Buzano, a surgeon, and Maria Cristina Ausineti, the daughter of a doctor originally from Novara but practising in Turin.
Her parents married on 28 April 1686.
The paternal family, originally from Mortigliengo, belonged to the upper middle class as notaries in the area.
The father and at least two brothers decided to move to Turin in order to further improve their social status.
The solidarity that united the brothers consolidated the family’s social rise; in particular, the influence of their uncle Don Giovanni Francesco Buzano was decisive, also for the social rise of their niece.
On 21 November 1711, she married Giuseppe Bartolomeo Clementi, a merchant of whom nothing is known.
In the dowry deed, however, it is stated that the marriage took place under the protection of Princess Maria of Savoy, which suggests that the painter was already introduced to the Savoy court.
Scholars have not yet identified who the princess was, one hesitates between Maria Vittoria di Carignano, daughter of Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia-Carignano and Maria Giovanna Battista di Savoia-Nemours, whose uncle was her chaplain.
She trained in Turin with the court painter Giovanni Battista Curlando.
There was in fact a strong bond between the two families, which materialised in 1718 with the marriage of one of Clementina’s brothers, Pietro Francesco Maurizio with Mariana (or Maria Anna) Curlando, daughter of the famous painter.
During her training she also got to know other painters and portrait painters such as Martin van Meytens.
from 1720 until 1744 she lived with her husband and five surviving children in a large flat on the second floor of Count Carlo Giacinto Roero di Guarene’s Palazzo Roero in Piazza Carlina, for whom she painted numerous portraits. This was a prosperous period for the painter, both in the field of work, due to her numerous productions, and the economic prosperity enjoyed by her family.
Being widowed at the age of 54, with her children still to launch into life, Clementina continued to work for the Royal House until 1755, but this activity was also joined by private commissions.
Of her many children, she had ten, only half survived and only one of them became a painter.
This was the youngest son, Giovanni Battista Claudio Fedele (1732-1784), but he never managed to match his mother’s talent.
Maria Giovanna Clementi is best known for her portraits and was one of the court painters in the service of Charles Emmanuel III of Savoy.
Very few women could become painters and even fewer were able to hold such important positions.
Her talent can be seen in the numerous engravings of her paintings.
She also loved to paint still lifes, and it seems that her style influenced Michael Antonio Rapous.
He also innovatively introduced them into portraits and composed paintings that were highly original for the time, mixing full-length figures with landscapes and allegories, as in the work Father Joseph lecturing Count Eugene de Soisson by setting Prince Eugene as his model.
He also showed considerable skill in painting animals and did not hesitate to tackle religious subjects.
The altarpiece with Saint Pius V at prayer in the left aisle of the church of San Domenico in Casale Monferrato is well-known.
Dimensions are frame included