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A Manfredi for the Getty
1/5/24 - Acquisition - Los Angeles, The J. Paul Getty Museum - It’s a happy company, at least at first sight. A group of men are drinking wine around an improvised table that looks like an ancient Roman altar, while listening to one of them play the lute. There are a few caveats to the celebrations: the figure on the right stares melancholically at the viewer, the hilt of his sword in full view, while a knife at the edge of the table is just as menacing. It’s only a short step from feasting to fighting. In the background, a couple of servants are having a picnic, one of them gobbling down victuals with his head upside down while the other drinks straight from the bottle, turning away so as not to be seen.