Corrado Giaquinto

Anonymous sale, New York, Sotheby's, 28 May 1999, lot 110, where acquired by the present owner.

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. The paint layer is clean. The canvas has an old lining, but the tacking edges have been reinforced more recently. The cracking is slightly raised, but there is no instability. The varnish beneath the hands of Mary has been slightly disturbed, but the paint layer is healthy. Retouches have been very carefully added in a loss which includes the upper most fingers and thumb of the Madonna's clasped hands, her left wrist and her torso, including the blue ochre and pale fabric in this area. There is another similar retouched loss above the shoulder on the left side of the Madonna. These two areas of loss are very isolated and beautifully retouched. The remainder of the painting is in lovely condition.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Executed in the 1750s in Spain, when Giaquinto was at the peak of his career, this beautifully moon-lit painting is a typical work by the artist. As an angel holds up Christ's body at the foot of the Cross, his mother mourns over him, the crown of thorns and the nails lying by his feet.The characteristic physiognomies, the carefully modelled figures and the voluminous folds of the drapery are bathed in a silver light which renders all the more acute the poignancy of the scene.

The figures of Christ and the angel to his right recur in Giaquinto's fresco of the Trinity in the vault of the presbytery of the Capilla Real in Madrid, for which a preparatory canvas, possibly a ricordo, is in the Museo del Prado (inv. no. 3204).¹ A drawing for the figure of Christ is in the Museo di San Martino in Naples (fig.1).

At the time of the 1999 sale the attribution was confirmed by Irene Cioffi following first-hand inspection.

1. See Corrado Giaquinto y Espana, exhibition catalogue, Madrid 2006, pp. 204-05, cat. no. 49, reproduced in color.