Daniel Gran, 1694 Vienna - 1757 St. Pölten, attributed to, A Celestical Allegory

Oil bozzetto, probably for a ceiling or altarpiece. The saint is kneeling in adoration on a cloud at the top right, wearing a white alba and a choir robe. Opposite him, angels hover in front of a centre of light. Other figures on banks of clouds, including a putto holding a crozier, the saint's attribute. Gran, the son of a court cook and patronised by the House of Schwarzenberg, studied under Sebastiano Ricci in Venice and Francesco Solimena in Naples. In 1727 he became court painter in Vienna. His style shows him to be a representative of the classical direction of Austrian Baroque in accordance with the Viennese imperial style. This also explains the elegant restraint in the use of colour, especially in his large commissioned works, which include large ceiling paintings in the Vienna Court Library, the Schwarzenberg Garden Palace, Klosterneuburg Abbey, Fridau Palace and many others. Oil on canvas , 61 x 51 cm