- 38
Carlo Dolci Florence 1616 - 1687
Description
- Carlo Dolci
- Christ Carrying the Cross;Madonna
- both inscribed on the reverse of the original stretcher in an old hand, possibly the artist's own, the former: IHS/ Amore/ et/ nostra/ redenzio/ Desiderium and the latter (see fig. 1): AS/ 1678 à 13/ di maggio princi/ piata/ Satisma:/ Maria Ora/ pro nobis pechato/ ribus [AS in compendium]
- a pair, both oil on canvas, unlined, octagonal
Provenance
Thence by family descent.
Catalogue Note
These two unpublished paintings are autograph works by Carlo Dolci and, if the date on the reverse of one of the stretchers is to be believed, they date from a late phase in the artist’s career; that is to 1678. The Madonna, and presumably the Christ Carrying the Cross which was conceived as its pendant, was apparently begun on 13th May 1678 and the old handwriting on the reverse of the stretcher may well be Dolci’s own. The form of the date with interlocking initials - A[nno] S[alutatis] - may be compared to Dolci’s date and inscription on Patience, datable to the previous year.1 The inscriptions on the reverse of the paintings may be interpreted as prayers of redemption, with invocations to Christ and the Madonna to intercede on the artist or patron’s behalf. This, together with their intimate scale, would suggest that the paintings were intended for private devotion. The pairing of Christ with the Madonna is by no means unique in Dolci’s œuvre: a comparable small-scale ‘diptych’ showing Christ and the Madonna, also inscribed on the reverse and dating from 1681, is in the Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen.2
Both compositions exist in other versions within Dolci’s œuvre but no other variant was executed on such a small scale. The Christ carrying the Cross is an almost exact replica of a larger work, dated by Baldassari to the second half of the 1660s, in a private collection in Rome.3 The present variant repeats the larger model almost exactly, with the same choice of colours and an identical composition (the latter being equally suited to a rectangular and an octagonal-shaped canvas). The reddish highlights in Christ’s hair have been replicated exactly and Dolci has used gold paint not only for Christ’s halo here, but also for his hair, lashes and irises. Christ’s eyes have been brought slightly more closely together and Dolci has delicately painted a teary edge along the lower lids, absent from the larger variant. In both versions Christ’s lips are parted, as if he is about speak, and the directness of his gaze underlines the pathos of the scene. The Madonna is similar in composition to a number of works by Dolci, variously identified as the Madonna addolorata or the ‘Madonna del dito’; the former when her clasped hands are also included in the composition, the latter when her finger emerges from her drapery (as here). It was arguably Dolci’s most popular composition and numerous autograph, studio and later replicas exist, the prime original generally considered to be the painting formerly at Stowe, dated by Baldassari to circa 1655.4 This particular representation of the Madonna is almost identical to that of 1681 which forms part of the ‘diptych’ in Copenhagen mentioned above: her drapery falls in identical folds, her expression is similar, as is the porcelain-like rendering of her face and the golden aureole behind the crown of her head. The only difference between the two works is the inclusion of her finger which, given its weak execution, might have been an afterthought.
The two paintings originally hung alongside a third canvas, of similar dimensions and also octagonal, representing The Archangel Gabriel. That work is of inferior quality and was probably painted by an artist active in Dolci’s studio, perhaps commissioned by a patron who wished to own a ‘triptych’ rather than a ‘diptych’. It will be offered in the Old Master Paintings sale at Sotheby’s Olympia on 5 December 2006.
We are grateful to Dott.ssa Francesca Baldassari for endorsing the attribution of these two works to Carlo Dolci, on the basis of photographs and colour transparencies.
1 Recently with Trinity Fine Art Ltd., London; see F. Baldassari, Carlo Dolci, Turin 1995, pp. 172-3, cat. no. 146, reproduced p. 174, fig. 146. The inscription and date on Patience reads: A[nno] S[alutis] 1677 C[arlo] D[olci].
2 See Baldassari, op. cit., pp. 183-4, cat. nos. 158 & 159, both reproduced on p. 183, figs. 158 & 159. The Madonna in Copenhagen is similarly inscribed on the reverse: A[nno] S[alutatis] 1681 festa dei suoi santissimi dolori ultimo venerdí di marzo pagato(?).
3 Baldassari, ibid., p. 147, cat. no. 119, reproduced on p. 146, fig. 119, and in colour plate XXXI.
4 Formerly Duke of Buckingham and Chandos collection, Stowe, and later with Trafalgar Galleries, London; for this and the numerous variants see Baldassari, ibid., pp. 125-7, cat. no. 99, reproduced.