Bernardo Strozzi

Paris, Galerie Charpentier sale, 24 March 1952, lot 64, reproduced pl. XXV;
Private collection, Florence, by 1955;
Private collection, Genoa, by 1966;
Thence by family descent.

A.M. Matteucci, 'L'attività veneziana di Bernardo Strozzi', in Arte Veneta, IX, 1955, p. 141, reproduced in black and white on p. 139, fig. 152 (as a female saint);
L. Mortari, 'Su Bernardo Strozzi', in Bollettino d'Arte, 1955, p. 330;
L. Mortari, Bernardo Strozzi, Rome 1966, p. 101, p. 106, p. 128, reproduced in black and white as fig. 130; pp. 159–60 (with incorrect reproduction as fig. 138), p. 166;
L. Mortari, Bernardo Strozzi, Roma 1995, p. 121, no. 182, reproduced in black and white on p. 122 (with the same picture listed and reproduced again on p. 122 as nos 184 and 187);
C. Manzitti, Bernardo Strozzi, Turin 2013, p. 140, no. 152, reproduced in black and white (incorrectly identified as St Catherine).

The canvas has been lined, the paint surface is dirty, and the varnish is slightly discoloured. Much of the original impasto is still intact and the painting will respond well to cleaning. There is a small loss on the lower left margin beside the saint's hand. Inspection under ultraviolet light reveals retouching scattered along all four margins and in the corners, and some strengthening in the darks of the folds of the saint's mantle and in her hair. There are scattered, finely-painted spot retouchings in some of the craquelure in her face and a small, recent patch of restoration, measuring less than 1 cm. squared, just to the right of her martyr's palm. In overall good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The three known versions of the composition have been confused in the literature. A version close to this one and now in the Baltimore Museum of Art once belonged to Italico Brass, Venice, and subsequently to Adolf Loewi, Los Angeles, who lent it to an exhibition in Baltimore in 1944.¹ Mortari mistakenly conflated Loewi’s painting with this version.² This was redressed in her monograph of 1995 but the present version was reproduced and listed three times with separate provenances (nos 182, 184 and 187); all three properly relate to this work. A third version, formerly in the Chigi collection and later in the Navarra Viggiani collection, was sold in Rome in 1950.³

The principal difference between this painting and the Baltimore version is in the colour of the saint's cloak, which in the Baltimore painting is pink rather than ochre. The figure of Saint Apollonia holds the martyr's palm and the pincers that were used to extract her teeth before she was burnt at the stake for refusing to make sacrifices to pagan gods. Manzitti wrongly identified her as St Catherine.⁴ Unlike the Baltimore and ex-Chigi paintings, the saint's halo is omitted here. 

Mortari dated the present painting to 1620–25 on account of the fluid handling of the drapery and the impasto, with the version in Baltimore datable to about 1625, while for the latter Lukehart proposed a slightly later dating of 1627–29. On the basis of a photograph, Mary Newcome has dated this work to the 1620s and considers it to be contemporary with the one in Baltimore.

A workshop version, also on canvas but larger than all three autograph versions, is at the Danske Landmandsbank, Copenhagen.⁵

1. Oil on canvas, 72.2 x 55.5 cm.; 28 1/2  x 21 7/8  in. For colour reproduction see P. M. Lukehart in Bernardo Strozzi: Master Painter of the Italian Baroque, J. Spicer (ed.), exh. cat., Baltimore 1995, no. 20.
2. Mortari 1966, pp. 159–60.
3. Oil on canvas, 71 x 56 cm. [dimensions inverted in the sale catalogue]; Rome, Jandolo, 11 December 1950, no. 344, reproduced as pl. II A; shown in its Chigi frame.
4. Manzitti 2013, p. 140.
5. 86 x 71 cm., published by Mortari 1966, pp. 100–101.