Does anyone know this signature?

signature by federico manfredi posted May 8, 2017 at 9:49 AM

Hello everybody,
I'm new to this forum and i would like to ask if anybody knows this signature.

Thanks in advance!

 

Hello Federico, welcome.
Looks like it says F: S Tappeny.
Could we see the entire painting?

 

Beautiful.
Given the age and style of the painting, the F: probably stands for Fecit, made by.

 

Many thanks! This is of great help.
That's exactly what I was thinking when trying to decipher the signature.
I tried to search the name but without results...
I wonder if someone might know the painter and might give me more info on its country and age.

 

Pleasure, of course.

This is a true quality painting, there is bound to be someone who knows more. There may even be people on this forum who know, but just haven't looked yet. It is early days.

 

Did you get this on eBay? Or list it there? The thumbnail shows up half a dozen times in an image search - all eBay France - but the listing has apparently expired.

 

Yes, I recently bought it on ebay france a week ago. Unfortunately despite the efforts the signature continues to be a mystery.

 

There is something familiar about it. Possibly a detail of a larger work.

 

Looks maybe Flemish to me.
Could the signature probably read Tappery.
If I'm correct Tappery translate to brewery from Vlaams/Dutch into English so it's possible?

Strong developed arms and hands. Sitter was maybe a farmer or a blacksmith or did a other heavy job? Only the way the hair is painted bothers me. Still a nice piece but unfortunately no hits under the artist Tappery or Tappeny. Who knows. Maybe the signature was added later? Who knows.

Can we maybe see the back of the painting. Which canvas was used, nails, stretcher, labels, inscriptions on the canvas or stretcher.

 

It is ALMOST always true that a signature on a painting is of no use whatsoever. Almost every painting you will encounter in everyday life is by some unknown artist and of the relatively few known ones, many are 'bears signature'.

The acid test is quality. Does the painting have something more than its obvious parts. Learning to evaluate works of art does not really involve signatures at all. You learn the ''look' of a region and a period.
To give a familiar example, consider the motor car. Probably a very large number of people could distinguish the period and region of a selction of photos of cars without thinking of themselves as an auto expert. It is just something you are familiar with.
Usually the signature is the last thing a picture appraiser looks at.

 

I thought French, it immediately reminded me of Géricault.

That is what it looks like, but I must say, it is wonderful as it is.

 

The subject could be Achilles mourning Patroclus.

 

Minimum decor background. To me it looks like he is in a prison? Looks like he's lying on a concrete bed covered with a maybe straw filled matrass and the light is shining trough the bars in the right top corner (must be a very small window)? Indeed very possible that it was part of a larger work, bigger works were very common in the early days, they had much bigger houses/mansions than we own today. Are the sides where its nailed onto the stretcher also painted?

 

The model in the painting sure looks a lot like the model (and similar style) in Dirck Van Baburen's Narcissus Gazing at His Reflection 1622. He was at Utrecht during that time, perhaps they painted together (far fetched, I realize). Regardless, this painting is stunning...excellent ebay find!