Francesco Caldei

Francesco Caldei called Francesco Mantovano or Mantovani (1587/88 in Mantua – 22 May 1674 in Venice) was an Italian painter, mainly known as a still-life painter of flowers, fruits, animals and musical instruments. He also collaborated on garland and allegorical paintings. He was an art valuer and may also have been active as an art dealer. He worked first in Rome and then for the rest of his career in Venice. Here, his flower pieces with their Roman flavour and the pleasantness of composition earned the artist considerable commercial success with the Venetian bourgeoisie.

Life Little is known about the early life of Caldei. Only recent scholarship has identified that the artist referred to in contemporary sources as 'Francesco Mantovano' was in fact properly called 'Francesco Caldei'. From contemporary records, it has been deduced that he was born in the year 1587–88. His secondary name, 'Mantovano', means 'from Mantua', which indicates that he was originally from the city of Mantua. He is believed to have apprenticed in Mantua in the period from 1600 to 1609. The presence of Caldei in Mantua is documented in a letter sent by Marco Boschini to Leopoldo de' Medici, which states that Caldei had authenticated a portrait of Frans Pourbus the Younger whom Caldei had testified to having known and frequented in Mantua. Abraham Brueghel, the grandson of Jan Brueghel the Elder, introduced the genre into Italy, where he worked for 40 years. An example of Caldei's efforts in this genre are a pair of garland paintings of flowers surrounding an image of the angel Gabriel and the Virgin Annunciate (Sotheby's, 10 April 2013 London lot 95). It has not been identified which artist painted the figures in the garlands, which are based on models by Guido Reni.

Caldei was also capable of reproducing other artists' models in his own compositions. A pair of canvases depicting a Still Life with Vase of Flowers in a Coastal Landscape Setting (Sotheby's, 7 July 2011 London lot 219) shows his good knowledge of Heintz' paintings. They depict in the foreground vases with flowers, birds on the ground and in flight, a butterfly, a snail and in the background a seascape and glimpses of coastal cities surrounded by mountains.