BETTERA, BONAVENTURA
STILL LIFE WITH MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
Bottom right is the signature: "B. Ventura. Bettera F. in Bergamo".
This picture from the Pushkin Museum collection is of interest as an extremely rare authentic work by the son of Bartolomeo Bettera – Bonaventura, about whom only very sparse information has survived. In his works Bonaventura Bettera made wide use of motifs found in the canvases of Baschenis, the creator of a special kind of still lifes containing musical instruments. The casket depicted in the picture in the Pushkin Museum and decorated with incrustation incorporating a female figure is also found in a signed still life by Bartolomeo Bettera held in a private collection in Milan.
Provenance: donated to the Museum in 1937 by M.B.Benediktov (Moscow).