Attributed to Paris Bordone Treviso bapt 1500 -1571 Venice

Sir George Lindsay Holford, Dorchester House, London;
His deceased sale, London, Christie's, 15 July 1927, lot 21 (as "Paris Bordone. Ecce Homo. Christ bound with attendant placing a robe over his shoulders, 37 in. by 40 in."), sold for £22 to
Erik Ljungberg, Consul General, Stockholm;
His deceased sale, Stockholm, 26 September 1958, where acquired by
Gösta Edström, Växjö, Sweden;
Thence by descent.

The painting was not known to Giordana Canova Mariani when she wrote her monograph on Bordon in 1963 and she subsequently mentioned it in an article (see Literature) where she discussed it in relation to two other paintings of similar composition. The first was formerly on the art market in Treviso and the second was in the Sacrestia dei Canonici, Padua Cathedral: both show Christ flanked by two figures instead of one. The disposition of the purple cloak is closer to that in the Paduan example, which also includes some description of setting (though different from that shown here). The composition was clearly one of Bordon's most successful and was further replicated by artists in his circle; something which Canova Mariani discusses in relation to this particular canvas, never having seen it in person and therefore avoiding giving a definitive judgement on the picture's authenticity. This painting is accompanied by a photostat letter by Prof. Rodolfo Pallucchini, dated Venice, 18 July 1970, in which he considers the painting to be an autograph work by Paris Bordon ("Si tratta di un'opera notevole, di pieno carattere manieristico, da inserire nell'ultima attività dell'artista trevigiano").

We are grateful to Mrs. Alexandra Jackson of the University of Aberdeen for providing the information relating to the Holford provenance. She dates the present work to Bordon's mature period, to the 1550s.