Description:

oil on paper laid down on canvas
both 510 x 410 mm

Provenance:

Private collection, UK

Note:

Drawn in the second quarter of the 17th century, these two pendants depict two of the popular public games which animated the streets and squares of Florence from the Medieval period onward: the Gioco dell’Anello, and the Gioco del Pallone. Although the identity of the artist remains uncertain, a group of six other works by the same hand are known: four lunettes depicting public processions in Florence - three of which are in the Museo di “Firenze com’era” and one in the Museo degli Argenti - and two larger versions of the scenes depicted here. These two larger scale canvases are painted in tempera, as opposed to oil, and are in the collection of Francesco Giuntini

In the 17th century both the Gioco dell’Anello and the Gioco del Pallone were staged in the via Tornabuoni, between Palazzo Strozzi and Basilica di Santa Trinita, forming part of the fabric of Florentine urban and ceremonial culture.

The Gioco dell'Anello is not a traditional joust but a game of lance, contingent on mounted precision. Riders must drive their lance through a small silver ring suspended from a frame which can be seen to the left of centre.

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