Girls that glitter love the dark

Most of us never get to know what it feels like.

His residence in Leiden is fully documented from 1667 to 1693, after which he left for London where he worked until returning to Leiden from circa 1702 to 1706.  It appears that he returned to England by 1707 as his last known work is dated to that year and inscribed fecit London.

Collier produced vanitas still lifes throughout his career and this beautifully rendered example has been dated to his Leiden period. Here he has included many of the standard vanitas elements that would have been instantly recognizable to his audience: the hourglass, pocket watch, and candle that has been snuffed out (denoting the passage of time and the brevity of life); the musical instruments (the fleeting pleasure of music); and the astrological globe and scholarly books, here including Plutarch’s Lives (the vanity of learning).  All represent the transience of earthly existence and the vacuity of worldly pursuits.  For further emphasis the artist has included the quintessential vanitas text, from Ecclesiastes 1:2, on a piece of paper at the center of his composition: Vanitas/Vanitatum/Et Omnia/Vanitas (Vanity of Vanities, All is Vanity).

Umberto Giunti (1886 - 1970) was an art restorer and copyist who taught at the Institute of Fine Arts, Siena. A skilled painter, Giunti (a protégé of the art forger, Icilio Frederico Joni) was responsible for the execution of a number of paintings that eventually made their way into the collections of various museums. 

Employing stylistic effects, subjects and compositions that were popular during the Mediaeval and Renaissance periods, Giunti’s pastiches have become collectable items in their own right.

References: Jehane Ragai, The Scientist and the Forger: Probing a Turbulent Art World, New Jersey, World Scientific Publishing, 2017.

Peter Campbell, “At The National Gallery.” In London Review of Books, vol. 32, no. 14, 22 Jul7, 2010, p,33. 

Images: Photograph of Umberto Giunti. © Cultor.org. 

Umberto Giunti, Forgery in the manner of Sandro Botticelli, c.1920 - 1929, tempera on panel, The Courtauld Gallery, London. © The Samuel Courtauld Trust.

Madonna and Child with Two Angels, early 20th century, tempera and gold on wood, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Gift of Lawrence and Julie Salander, 2005. Public domain.

Portrait Group, early 20th century, oil and tempera on wood, The National Gallery, London. © The National Gallery.