Evaristo Baschenis Artwork valuations, appraisals and auction estimates

Evaristo Baschenis (Bergamo, 7 December 1617 – Bergamo, 16 March 1677) was an Italian painter. Evaristo Baschenis applied himself almost exclusively to the genre of Still Life, mainly portraying sets of musical instruments, often veiled by a thin layer of dust, to indicate the passage of time, like a sort of Vanitas. Read the full biography

Evaristo Baschenis (Bergamo, 7 December 1617 – Bergamo, 16 March 1677) was an Italian painter. Evaristo Baschenis applied himself almost exclusively to the genre of Still Life, mainly portraying sets of musical instruments, often veiled by a thin layer of dust, to indicate the passage of time, like a sort of Vanitas. The interest in musical instruments is due to the fact that Evaristo Baschenis was also an appreciated musician of the time, as demonstrated among other things by his self-portrait in the Agliardi Triptych. Moreover, musical practice, associated with poetry, literature and the study of history, was a very widespread practice at that time in the noble families of Bergamo. Around the 1650s, the painter became friends with Jacques Courtois, known as Borgognone, who was in the Lombard city for work reasons, with whom he maintained epistolary and professional relationships for many years. Baschenis also painted some copies of his works, which were highly sought after by collectors of the time. But Baschenis's most prestigious and challenging work remains the (largely lost) one for the library of the monastery of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice.