Description

Christian Reder known as Monsù Leandro (Leipzig, 1656 – Rome, 1729)

An outdoor meal; Resting hunting party
Oil on canvas, size with frame 65×93 cm. (46×74).

One can try to analyze the subject of this painting, trying to trace it back to a specific episode or event; the author’s ability to stage such a variety of characters cannot leave the viewer indifferent.
But it is precisely this indeterminacy of the subject, which escapes any episodic framework, which allows us to recognize this pair of oils on canvas as of Monsù Leandro, the German Christian Reder.
Cresciuto ad Amburgo, compie viaggi dapprima in Inghilterra e poi a Venezia -dove resta alcuni anni- e a Roma: in città collaborerà anche con l’amico Pieter van Bloemen e vi resterà fino alla fine dei suoi giorni. According to his main biographer Lione Pascoli, the military experience gained from the war against the Turks led him to completely dedicate his paintings to hunting and war themes.
This painting, probably still belonging to the seventeenth-century phase of its production, is affected by the compositional constructions of Jacques Courtois and illustrates the different phases of a day dedicated to hunting: the impetus and the charge of the horses, the rest in the company of elegant ladies, the outdoor dining and rest.
The style of this artist will change significantly in his eighteenth-century phase: influenced by the agitated battles of Burgundy, Monsù Leandro dedicates himself to a more narrative representation of war events, compared to the decorative one, as in this case, of the Baroque age. (Zeri)

Bibl.: G. Sestieri, I pittori di battaglie: maestri italiani e stranieri del XVII e XVIII secolo, Roma 1999, p. 413 figg. 14-15; F. Zeri, ‘La battaglia nella pittura del XVII e XVIII secolo’, Parma 1994, pp. 9; 27

Our reference: A04127