
Graphite, brown wash, watermark cross within a shield
184 x 300 mm. (7 x 11 in.)
There have been numerous comparable Battle Scenes by Simonini on the market in recent years1.
Simonini worked as a genre and battle-piece painter and draughtsman. He was a pupil of Francesco Monti and Ilario Spolverini. When he was in Florence he copied the battle-pieces of Jacques Courtois, which had a great influence upon Simonini. Simonini also worked in Rome and Bologna, and by the 1730s was in Venice. During this period he painted battle scenes in the Villa Pisani at Stra. Simonini worked as an illustrator for Marshal Schulenburg, and seemed to have accompanied him on his campaigns against the Turks.
1.Sothebys London, 3 July 1980, lot 70 and Christies London, 7 July 1998, lot 15.