Anonymous sale, Paris, Ferri Scp., 17 November 2🅠004, lot 34, where acquired by the present owner.

"The following condition report has been provided by Henry Gentle, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. The canvas is lined. The paint surface is stable and the impasto well preserved. The painting has been restored recently and is generally in a good condition despite some restorations to small paint losses to the scribe and the musician and areas within the foliage which have been strengthened. Modern gilt wood frame, good condition."
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

The attribution of this painting toꦬ Alessandro Magnasco was endorsed by Dott.ssa Fausta Franchini Guelfi just before its first appearance at auction (written communication, 1 December 2003), and has also been confirmed more recently.

The painting shows a cantastorie (storyteller) pointing to a banner on which is inscribed the word 'ORATE', invoking the peasants kneeling before it to pray. Th♏e portable altar containing a statue of Saint Anthony of Padua suggests that the scenes depicted on the banner, and the subject of the cantastorie's account, consist of episodes from the life of Saint Anthony. A man in the centre pl🌺ays a theorbo, providing a musical accompaniment to the storyteller's account.

Dott.ssa Franchini Guelfi dates the work to Magnasco's mature phase, that is to circa 1697-1710, on grounds of style. The painting is thematically linked to a picture in Heidelberg, in which the figures are by Magnasco and the architecture is by Clemente Spera.¹  Its style may also be compared to another architectural capriccio with peasants making music, including a man playing the theorbo, which is in a private collection and has been dated to the beginning of the 18th century.²

1. Museum der Stadt, Heidelberg; see L. Muti & D. De Sarno Prignano, Alessandro Magnasco, Faenza 1994, p. 224, cat. no. 134, reproduced on p. 395, fig. 187.
2. See F. Franchini Guelfi, Alessandro Magnasco, Soncino 1991, pp. 50-51, cat. no. 20, reproduced in colour.