MARZIO MASTURZIO (attributed)
(Naples 1675 - 1699)

The style characteristics still influenced by Salvator Rosa, of whom Masturzio was a pupil, friend and skilled imitator and the remarkable quality, constitute the salient elements of this painting, to be placed in the mature production of the artist, therefore emblematic for the understanding of his catalog. . According to the biography written by Bernardo De Dominici merged with the life of Salvator Rosa, the two arrived in Rome and shared the activity by updating their Falconian training on Cortonesque examples, also influencing the artistic evolution of the Borgognone. In this regard, it should be noted the excited description in the foreground of the clash between the knights, according to an illustrative modality that will be typical of Jacques, focusing on where the bitter struggle thickens clumps of smoke and dust with intense realistic intonation and on which the colors of the uniforms and harnesses stand out. It should be noted how these aspects are supported in this case by the good conservation, made with dense, pasty and soft brushstrokes.