* Francesco Albani Bologna 1578 - 1660

This copper is a typical example of the artist's late cabinet pictures and probably dates from the 1650s. The painting is characteristic for its vivid palette and the fine execution of details such as the hair and wings of the lower two angels, in sharp contrast to the somewhat schematic depiction of drapery. Albani turned to painting this subject on a number of occasions (see C.R. Puglisi, Francesco Albani, New Haven & London 1999, cat. nos. 7, 34.xviii, 39.iv, 42 and 57) but this composition perhaps comes closest to the small panel in Princeton (Puglisi, op. cit., p. 142, cat. no. 57, reproduced) where the Virgin is shown being held up by angels beneath an aureole of light.

The composition of this copper might reflect that of the Assumption (location unknown) formerly in the collection of Count Ettore Ghisilieri, the connoisseur and patron of the Accademia del Disegno for which Albani served briefly as director. That painting, which was apparently on canvas and of large dimensions, is mentioned in the 1676 inventory of Ghisilieri's collection and it is quite conceivable that, given the importance of Ghisilieri as a patron (he owned a number of works by the artist), Albani may have produced a second variant on a reduced scale.