Takács Imre – Buzási Enikő – Jávor Anna – Mikó Árpád szerk.: A Magyar Nemzeti Galéria Évkönyve, Művészettörténeti tanulmányok Mojzer Miklós hatvanadik születésnapjára (MNG Budapest, 1991)
CZÉRE Andrea: Michele Rocca négy újonnan meghatározott képe
contact with Trevisani's circle. Just like Trevisani, Rocca had been an acknowledged painter in Rome by 1721, honoured with Academic membership since 1719. These two paintings of the Museum of Fine Arts were recently published as the joint works by Pfeiler and Trevisani, on the basis of their similar joint compositions preserved in the Schönborn castle of Pommersfelden. 20 In our view, however, only the subject matter and the still-life painter are identical in the pictures of Budapest and Pommersfelden. The grouping of the putti, their painting technique, facial and bodily proportions and forms are dissimilar, and the atmosphere of the activity of Rocca's putti is also different from Trevisani's. While Trevisani's children are characterized by lively movements, dancing and playing, action is restrained in the Budapest pictures of a pastoral mood predominated by the tone of relaxation. The Rococo figures in the Budapest pictures are late descendants of Correggio's putti; their gracefulness, warmth and French charm suggest the authorship of Rocca. The facial type, stature, soft Correggesque shading of the reclining child with a rose in his hand shown frontally (fig. 7) are identical with the nymph's crowning the satyr in the Satyr with Nymphs Making Music in a Hungarian private collection, discussed above (fig. 2). The middle putto of the still-life with grapes (fig. 8) has its counterpart in the mentioned Coral Fishing in Prato's Galleria Comunale. 21 On account of their forms reminiscent of Roman painting, the pictures in Hungary constitute a transition to Rocca's third great creative period. They must be pairs due to their identical sizes and complementary compositions. As is well known, Rocca had a liking for series and twin pictures. Though the elaboration of themes in the third period of the artist is similar to the Hungarian mythological pictures, it is predominated by a more painterly approach: the brush work is more calligraphic and articulate, the palette is lighter. In this period the influence of Venetian painting and Luca Giordano was preponderant Its beginning cannot be defined precisely but it certainly lasted until the painter's death, presumabry in Venice, after 1751. 22 It is highly likely that the Exile from Paradise in the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford 23 , the Toilet of Venus in the Rhode Island School of Design , its version in an Emilian private collection and Lot and his Daughters also in an Emilian collection 25 can be dated to the Venetian period. The bright colours and picturesque texture of the brushstrokes in Rocca's Samson and Delilah 26 (fig. 4) also in the Budapest Museum of Fine Arts suggest a dating to the Venice period as well. The liberated handling of the brush reminding one of Venice and the brightening harmony of colours mediated the true unfolding of Rocca's personality with an intimate charm that likens his art to French Rococo painting, to the works of painters his pictures were frequently confused with. One such painter is François Le Moyne (1688-1737) to whom the picture in the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest was earlier attributed. NOTES 1 For a bibliography on the artist see Nicola Pio: Le vite di pittori scultori et architetti (Cod. ms. Capponi 257. Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana), Ed. Engass, C.-Engass, R.: Città del Vaticano 1977, 327.;Rudolph, S.: La pittura del '700 a Roma. Repertori fotografici Longanesi & C. Milano 1983, 799-800. 2 Voss, H.: Michèle Rocca, ein vergessener italienischer Rokoko-Maler. Zeitschrift für Bildende Kunst. N. S. XXXJI. 1921. 69-75.; Voss, H.: Die Malerei des Barock in Rom. Berlin 1924, 623-624., plates on 384-385. 3 Sestieri, G.: Michèle Rocca. Quademi di Embléma 2. Bergamo 1973,83-96. 4 CastelnovL G. V: Settecento minore: contributi per G. Petrini, P. F. Guala, M. Rocca. Studies of Art Dedicated to W. Suida. London 1959, 333. 5 Sestieri, op. cit. plates 66 and 67. 6 Pio, op. cit. 111. 7 Sestieri, op. cit. 84. 8 Sestieri, op. cit. 92. 9 Sleeping Nymphs and Cupids, Sleeping Cupids, private collection. Reproduced: Giuseppe Maria Crespi. 1665-1747. Exhibition catalogue by Emiliani, A. and others. Bologna 1990, entries 34 and 35. 10 Sestieri, op. cit. 84 and 95. no. 8. 11 Triumph of Diana, Venus and Adonis, Rome, Galleria Borghese. Reproduced: L'ideale classico del Seicento in Italia e la Pittura di Paesaggio. Exhibition catalogue by Arcangeli, P. and others. Bologna 1962, plates 40 and 4L 12 Shapley, F. R: Italian Paintings XVT-XVTH. Century. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. London 1973, 119. Inv. no. Kl 760, 52.7 x 39.4 cm, plate 241. 13 Voss 1921, op. cit. plates 5 and 7; Voss 1924, op. cit. 385. 14 Rhode Island School of Design, Inv. no. 1955. 029. Reproduced: Clark, A. M.: A Mythological Subject by Rocca. Bulletin of the Rhode Island School of Design. Nov. 1955, title page; Emilian private collection, reproduced: Zeri, F. and others: Arte Emiliana dalle raccolte storiche al nuovo collezionismo. Modena 1989, plate 163. 15 Sestieri, op. cit. plate 80. 16 Sestieri, op. cit. plate 81. 17 Pio, op. cit. 111. 18 Inv. nos. 431 and 440, o.e., 146x195.5 and 146 x 195 cm, Esterházy collection. Pigler, A.: Katalog der Galerie alter Meister. Budapest 1967, 539-540. 19 The 1719 catalogue of the Schönborn castle of Pommersfelden registers two co-authored paintings datable to 1710-15 under the heading „Other paintings to be found in
