Old Masters - Austria / II. Republic of Austria 2012 - 170 Euro Cent

With the present special stamp "Bernardo Strozzi - Sleeping Child", the popular series "Old Masters" now finds its attractive continuation. The original of the precious oil painting, which adorns the stamp, is under the inventory number 567 in the Salzburg Residenzgalerie and has a size of 34.6 x 47.5 cm. About the person: Bernardo Strozzi (1581 to 1644) is considered one of the most important representatives of the so-called colorism in the 17th century. His work is a combination of many stylistic influences - while Caravaggio was the defining model for his famous altarpieces, he got the corresponding suggestions for the beautiful genre paintings by the Flemish painters Peter Paul Rubens, Anton van Dyck and Pieter Aertsen. Strozzi, called "il Prete Genovese" and "il Cappuccino", spent most of his creative career in Venice. Already as a 17 -year-old he entered the Capuchin Order, from 1610 he was a world priest, and between 1614 and 1621 harbor engineer of the Republic of Genoa; in 1633 he finally settled in Venice. After the commission to portray Claudio Monteverdi, his fame grew rapidly and soon he was an indispensable figure under the name "il Prete Genovese" (the priest from Genoa) mentioned above. Even today, many contemporary Venetians can be found on Strozzi's portrait paintings in the most important museums in the world. A very special work by Bernardo Strozzi is, of course, the picture "sleeping child" on the new special stamp. The masterly portrayal of this child, without being embedded in a historical or religious scene, is an exception - both in terms of time and in Strozzi's oeuvre. With reddened cheeks, the child lies in deep sleep, his little fingers seem to move in the dream. Strozzi renounced distracting accessories and built the composition close to the foreground in a concise image detail. Effectively, he modeled on a dark background surface with the broad bristle brush in a Blauweißausmischung bonnet, shirt and pillow. The impasto white and cream tones show the coarse brushwork, which proves to be the artist's autonomous handwriting. Rubens' stay in Genoa in 1607 influenced Strozzi to change his color to warmer tones - contrasting with the warm red nuances. The glowing red of the blanket, which the child is wrapped in, harmonises beautifully with the rosy flesh and delicate red of the coral bracelets, which should protect against illnesses and evil influences.