GALERIE G.SARTI

The G. Sarti Gallery is located in an “hôtel particulier”, at 137 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, where are mainly presented Italian painting paintings from the 13th to the 18th centuries.

The Gallery’s reputation has been built over the past 50 years on its research, publications, discoveries and numerous exhibitions organized around two main fields:
. Works from the 13th to 15th centuries and the Renaissance;
. Caravaggesque paintings;

The bilingual catalogues that accompany these exhibitions have often contributed to the advancement of knowledge.

The experts of the G. Sarti Gallery are the only ones recognized by the CNES (the National Council of Specialized Experts) for the Early Italian paintings.

This sumptuous panel originally formed the front of a cassone or wedding chest.

In affluent Renaissance families, the bride would store her trousseau in a pair of such chests, placed in the bridal chamber. Most often, the painted subjects focused on the virtues expected of spouses: fidelity, first and foremost, for women, and courage and heroism for men.

The large size of this painting allows us to follow a luxuriously-detailed description of the procession that took place on the third day of the official Triumph of the great Roman general Lucius Aemilius Paulus, who had defeated the Macedonian army of King Perseus at the Battle of Pydna in 168 BCE. Plutarch recounted the heroism of the Romans, contrasting their integrity and generosity with the avarice and incompetence of Perseus.

The shimmering scene is a feast for the eyes; it includes trumpet-playing horsemen who precede oxen with gilded horns on their way to sacrifice and young men carrying the spoils of war. Behind follows the chariot of the defeated monarch with his weapons and crown. The Macedonian king’s young children, unaware of what is happening, are almost lost in the foreground, while on the far left of the panel, the crowd has already entered Rome, evoked by monuments such as the Colosseum and the Antonine Column.

This extraordinary cassone panel is the work of Bernardo di Stefano Rosselli, the cousin of Cosimo Rosselli, who also specialized in large scenes abounding in detail.

Having entered the workshop of Neri di Bicci at a very young age, Bernardo was already active around 1470, the approximate date of this painting. The extensive and technically impeccable use of gold and silver leaf reveal his status as successor to Apollonio di Giovanni and Scheggia, celebrated in Florence for their talent in decorating rich domestic interiors.