Oil on canvas. The painting depicts Jephthah and his daughter, two biblical characters from the Old Testament. The girl is depicted in profile, dressed in the attire of a 17th-century Venetian lady: a low-cut dress, cinched at the waist with a golden belt and flowing sleeves; her blond hair is gathered and braided with strings of pearls; and dangling earrings adorn her ears. With one hand, she raises a cloth to her face to dry her tears, while with the other, she holds her father\'s hand. Jephthah, on the other hand, wears armor, a heavy red cloak draped over his right arm, and seems to be pointing out of the painting; his expression is one of pain. The feelings expressed by the protagonists—desperation bordering on madness in the character in question, meek resignation in the weeping girl, who holds the man\'s hand as if to console him—well illustrate the tragic story of the warrior returned victorious but forced by a vow to sacrifice his own daughter. According to the analysis of art historian Dr. Ludovica Trezzani, whose expert opinion is attached, the painting under examination here is a replica, varied in size and slightly closer framing, of a composition by Girolamo Forabosco, also known as \"Medoro and Angelica\"because the painting\'s subject has always been sought within the context of Ariosto\'s poem. Dr. Trezzani retraces in her analysis the sequence of hypotheses that led to the work\'s interpretation of the Old Testament subject. The expert defines the painting as \"precious in its materiality and skillful in many passages but not so successful in others, and therefore probably executed in Forabosco\'s workshop, partly with his direct intervention but with the extensive responsibility of one or more assistants, as was the practice in workshops of the time\". The painting shows signs of previous restoration and relining. It is presented in a frame.
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PLATINUM Seller in Milano, Italy
